public class PropertyLoader {

    private static Properties prop;

    private PropertyLoader() {
    }

    public static synchronized String getProperty(String propertyName) throws IOException {
        if (prop == null) {
            prop = new Properties();
            InputStream in = PropertyLoader.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("local.properties");
            prop.load(in);
            in.close();
        }
        return (String) prop.get(propertyName);
    }

}