Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties

Pat & Dan Grider, owners of the downtown Auburn nightclub, the SkyBar, are suing the city.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in civil court on February 23rd. They claim that the city "targeted" them by police surveillance and numerous citations in an effort to shut them down. They believe that the Mayor, Bill Ham, the City Manager and the Public Safety Director conspired to close down the bar so that condominiums could be built on the site where the SkyBar is located.

The SkyBar is located on Magnolia Avenue, just off of Toomers Corner across from Auburn University's campus and, no doubt, would be an ideal spot for more condominiums.

Of course, no one is talking about the underage drinking that occurs there, the fire code violations (too many people stuffed inside), the numerous bar brawls that have gone on, the destruction of neighboring businesses by the bar's patrons, or the business practices of giving away free drinks of. They think they're trying to be shut down so that yet another more-than-half vacant condo complex can be built in its place. Yeah right. Though the spot would be a good one for housing, Auburn has a serious over-abundance of condos and it seems unlikely to me that they (the city's leaders) would pull a stunt like trying to close a business to build condos that would take years to fill.

I could be wrrong. Mayor Ham has been involved in several private developments both as an investor and as a beneficiary. Could he be using his power and lengthy list of contacts to exercise some influence for his personal gain? Perhaps.

The City Manager, actually both the current manager, Charles Duggan, and the former City Manager, Douglas Watson, were named defendants in the case. Both could stand to benefit (hypothetically) from the bar's closing and a new develpoment constructed. On the other hand, bars in Lee County, and more specifically Auburn, pay a substantial amount of taxes and closing another one would certainly make a dent in the city's revenue.

Now the Public Safety Director, William James... I fail to see where he could gain monetarily by the SkyBar's closing. At least not personally. He's not exactly a real estate mogul and if anything, he could lay off a few employees if he didn't have to keep paying the officers who, it would seem, stake out the downtown nighlife scene, in which the SkyBar plays a huge part of. Now I believe that a police presence downtown is a necessary and for obvious reasons. We as a city, must have uniformed officers patrolling the area. But if you drive by the SkyBar on ANY given night that they are open, you'll see Auburn's finest loitering about near the entrance.

I consider Pat and Dan friends. I think that they are the most successful barkeepers this town has ever seen. Everything they touch turns to gold. They constantly change the properties they own, expanding and renovating to keep things fresh. They don't squander. They reinvest. They're very intelligent businessmen. Have they done some things wrong? Sure. Have they pushed the envelope to the edge with what should be allowed of an alcohol-serving establishment? Oh yeah. Have they paved a rough road for any other potential barowners who will have a rough start with the city, county, and ABC board? Most definitely. But will they survive? You better believe it.

It's not of my opinion that this is a frivolous lawsuit, but if you're a barowner, you don't want to be barking up that tree. Of course, they have outstanding legal representation with Davis Whittelsey. Don't know many other lawyers who would have the balls to sue the city! But I'll tell you this: I'll be watching this one like a sporting event. Should be REAL interesting.

Not sure if folks saw this or not. I'll be honest with you, I didn't. To tell you the truth, I hardly ever watch the Today Show. Not because I'm not up and out of bed early enough like most realtors in my area, but because I'm too busy getting myself and my family ready for the day while the show is on.

It's rather exciting to have our little corner of the universe featured on the Today Show though. Here ya go:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/28193890#28193890

I really like Barbara Corcoran. She's an out-of-the-box thinker in an in-the-box world. You can check out more about her and her company here.

British personality/actor Stephen Fry on his show that airs on the BBC network called "Stephen Fry in America" talks about the Iron Bowl: the yearly gathering of football teams from the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

Fry uses many adjectives to describe Amercian football as well as the Auburn-Alabama game, but one word sticks out...American.

For me, growing up in the shadow of Jordan-Hare Stadium going to football games, there is no greater sports event of the year than the Iron Bowl. There is no other college football rivalry so anticipated, so revered. It's chocked full of tradition. From "Punt, Bama, punt!" to the first game played in Auburn in '89, to "Fear the Thumb."

When you're born in the state of Alabama, it is said that you either look over and see orange and blue, or you look up and see crimson and white. You're either an Auburn fan OR an Alabama fan. All season long you may pull for the other team as long as they're playing someone else, but come Iron Bowl day, it's war.

Yes, Mr. Fry was right. This game is as American as they come. Folks outside of our little corner of the world may not ever understand what the words, "Roll Tide," or "War Eagle" mean. That's okay. We don't expect them too. But rest assured, if they ever visited, there's no doubt that the excitement wouldn't latch on as if they'd been watching these two teams all of their life. It's contagious. It is frought with the American spirit. No wonder Mr. Fry and his crew chose an event such as this one to film and show the rest of the world exactly how American it is.

Where we live, the City of Auburn, Alabama, has a curbside reclycling program. When the garbage trucks come by, another truck comes by on the same day and collects recycling. It's pretty awesome that the cost is built-in to our sanitation services bill which comes on our water invoice.

The city accepts aluminum, cardboard, newspaper, glass (clear and brown), plastic (#1 and #2 BOTTLES only), and steel (tin) cans at the curb. In addition to that, they have a drop-off center off of Donahue Drive that accepts the aforementioned as well as: green glass, magazines/mixed paper, telephone books, rechargeable and non-rechargeable transistor batteries. For more information about the City of Auburn's garbage and recycling collection, go here. The Environmental Services Department handles all this for the city of Auburn, and does an outstanding job.

As cool as this is, the city does not provide, nor do they even sell, containers for residents to collect their recycling. Some people use clear trash bags, while others use empty egg crates. Some have boxes and some have plastic containers. I've looked into a few sold online, some that are fairly cheap if sold in bulk.

What I'd like from you, dear readers, is ideas.

Please upload your pictures, videos, or links of residential recycling bins, that can be kept in the home and set out on the curbside on pick-up day. What I'd like to do is get these for my clients and get my fellow realtors to do the same, so that when driving through neighborhoods, not only will you see the standard garbage carts, but standard recycling containers. It's not necessarilly a problem, but it would sure look a whole lot neater.

Please upload or post pictures, video, or links of your best ideas for residential recycling bins!

Here's some good ones I found off of recyclingbin.com.

Wth the closing of Century 21 Paramount in Auburn (see previous post), Prudential Preferred Real Estate has doubled in size and added some outstanding agents as well as a new broker.

Taylor Britton, who was a top producer the last few years at C-21, is now the new broker at Prudential, which is located in the Bruno's shopping center off Glenn Avenue in Auburn, Alabama. He brought with him some good friends and fellow producers: Ryan Edwards, Jimmy DeVenny, Debbie Whitley, Bryan Huff, Annie Williams, Brian Huddleston, and Charity Edwards (who is the new office manager).

Of course, the veteran Prudential agents are still performing their best: Missy Harris Thompson, Dawn Radnitz, Wendy Hamme, Chrystal Ingram, Becca McVey, Amy Smith, Chad Williams, owner - Stacy Williams Jordan, and yours truly.