Businesses have a wait-and-see attitude
Published 1:13 am Friday, February 12, 2010
Local businesses are taking a wait and see approach to the winter weather blowing through Selma.
From 2-to-4 inches of snow was predicted for today by the National Weather Service in Birmingham — conditions that could make driving difficult.
But Thursday afternoon, cloudy skies and temperatures in the 50s didn’t convince some that snow is on its way.
Many of the local gas stations will be open, including the Crossroads Exxon, Highland Avenue BP and United Fuel and Food on Highway 80 have all said that they will be open despite the snow.
Local retail, business offices and industrial plants are in a more cautious mode.
“With southern snow like this you don’t know if the front will go high and the snow miss or go low and we get a lot of it,” said Wane Vardaman, president of the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority.
Vardaman plans to wait until today to get in touch with his employees about the work situation.
“I’m telling my folks to call me, or I will call them,” said Vardaman. “I think that plants will have their people on alert and then notify them through radio or television in the morning.”
According to B.J. Smothers, administrative assistant to Mayor George Evans, Selma City Hall is also planning on waiting until early today to make a final decision on whether it will be open.
Evans has said the public works department will go into high gear in the city if the snow falls.
“We can operate with a skeleton crew at City Hall, but public works will have to get out there,” he said earlier in the day.
Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce Director Sheryl Smedley said that the chamber hasn’t been notified of any business closing yet except for one.
“We haven’t received any calls informing us of closings yet other than the Courthouse which will be closed tomorrow,” said Smedley.
A number of food places should be open at their regular business times today if people should need to go out to eat.
Burger King, Churches Chicken and Papa Johns have all said that they will be open and operating at normal hours tomorrow.
