Council Takes first Steps For New City Hall,
Maybe
| At Wednesday's hastily called council meeting, Lenoir
City Council members took what could be the first steps to secure
property for a new City Hall/Fire Hall. With only four members present,
absent were Aikens and Henline, the council was presented with a
proposal from Mayor Brookshire to buy two properties that just became
available.
The properties are, one located on the corner of Rock Springs and Grand St. occupied with a house and the other adjacent to the first on Rock Springs occupied by a small multi unit storage building. Both properties are owned by the same person. According to the Mayor, the committee appointed to prepare a plan for a new City Hall had already identified this area for the new city facility. The Mayor explained the need to move quickly was driven by the fact that several other people had shown interest in buying the property and if the city wanted the property, they would need to take action now. Brookshire stated that if we wait till the property changes hands one or two more times, it could cost far more in the future to buy the property then it would now. The four councilmen, Buddy Hines, Gene Hamby, Blackie Johnson and Eddie Simpson, not quite sharing the mayor's enthusiasm or urgency, had a number of concerns and questions. All agreed that as soon as word hit the street of the plans for the new City Hall, it was a sure thing that the other properties in the planed foot print of the new facility would surely go up expeditiously. Council members voted to buy the two parcels of property for a total cost of $178,000.00 and agreed to pay down a 5% earnest fee contingent on the city receiving a sixty day option from the owner. The other properties the city will need to acquired for the current planed new "Safety Building" include the used car lot and the old Jim White Chevrolet building, both owned by a Greenville individual. The old vacant Firestone Building and the building currently occupied by the Karate school and Shot Wilson's Trading Post. Chief of Police, Don White who is a member of the City Hall Committee, stated that none of the other property owners had yet been contacted about selling their property. Click Here For
Full Size Site Plan (PDF)
Click Here For Property Listing # 1
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