DAPHNE, Ala.—A ‘Spirit of Cooperation’ town hall meeting—set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Daphne Civic Center—will bring political representatives and residents from Daphne, Fairhope and Spanish Fort together to coordinate efforts to secure federal funding.

Set to speak Thursday is state Rep. Jo Bonner; Chuck Spurlock, state director for U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions; state legislators; and county commissioners.

“The reason why we’re having (this meeting) is because the three cities have decided that, going forward together, we will improve our odds of gaining appropriations and grant requests,” Daphne City Councilman Derek Boulware said. The meeting—which is free, open to the public and sponsored by the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee—will focus on environmental, transportation and infrastructure within the tri-city area.

The environmental portion will focus on curbing storm-water runoff.

Watersheds surrounding Mobile Bay over the years have succumbed to erosion, causing sediment loads to fill area streams.

Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rob McElroy said the tri-city territory is an escape corridor for lower Baldwin County and that improvements to traffic flow during emergencies are necessary.

“If the roads are planned out well, we’ll all benefit,” McElroy said.

He added that traffic-infrastructure upgrades will open new roads for commercial development.

A growing trend

“It’s about regionalism,” McElroy said. “We have been told by state, federal and county (officials) that regionalization is the way to go moving forward.” He added that state leaders have said the only way the Gulf Coast will receive the funding it needs is if the three cities work together.

State representatives do not want a single proposal from each of the 450 municipalities in the state of Alabama: “they want to put the money where they’re going to get the most ‘bang for the buck,’” McElroy said.

The logic behind “the greatest good for the most people” concept is basic: Suppose the city of Daphne had $20,000 to spend on road improvements; it would benefit more people by fixing a broken traffic light or repairing a street littered with pot holes than by doing $1 of work at 20,000 houses.

“Because of the state of the national economy, and knowing we have less tax money to spend, (the federal government is) going to look at the biggest project that will influence the largest number of constituents,” Boulware said.

Close to 70,000 residents inhabit the tri-city area. “You don’t think of it as being quite that big,” Matthews said. “If people get together and work on this, it can be a big voice.”

McElroy stressed that the town hall is not a forum to discuss health care, as he expects that topic to dominate a portion of the meeting. McElroy has contacted Bonner’s office to clarify that the chamber’s intentions for the meeting are to discuss regional solutions to environmental, transportation and infrastructure issues.

The meeting—which officially starts at 6 p.m., will be preceded by a light dinner and entertainment from the Fairhope High School jazz band, and will conclude with a question-and-answer session.