Oneida board approves financing plan for city park
Oneida’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen Thursday night approved a financing plan for property adjacent to Oneida City Park, agreed to sell a small parcel for a substation expansion by Plateau Electric Cooperative, and appointed Alderman Sharon Miller to a one-year term on the town’s Planning Commission.
Although it was the board’s first meeting since October 19, the agenda was short and the meeting brief.
After hearing a report from Mayor Jack E. Lay, the board voted 4-0, with Alderman Cecil Anderson absent, to approve a financing plan for the purchase of 33+ acres of property lying to the north of and adjoining Oneida City Park.
During its August meeting, the board voted to buy the property from Ayers Real Estate & Auction at a total cost of around $68,000, and since that time has been shopping around for the best interest rate possible to finance it.
Thursday night’s vote authorized a capital outlay note in an amount not to exceed $70,000 and was approved on a motion by Jeff Tibbals. The interest rate, according to Mayor Lay, will be 4.48%, and the property will be paid off over a seven-year period.
Also by an all-aye vote, the board approved selling a small parcel of property at the town’s water treatment plant at the corner of Coopertown Rd. and Industrial Ln.
That action came following a request by Plateau Electric Cooperative General Manager John Seale. who said that the property was needed for the future expansion of PEC’s Oneida substation.
Because of the lag time in obtaining new transformers and related equipment for the expansion, Seale said the “energizing date” for the substation’s expansion would probably be in the fall of 2008.
Once the motion was approved, Seale said he would like to complete the transaction (to acquire the deed to a .19 acre parcel) before the end of the year in an effort to get started on the project. The cost of the property was not revealed during the course of the discussion which preceded the vote, other than Seale’s comment that it was based on the same per-acre price as had been negotiated with officials of the Denim Processing Plant.
In other business Monday night, Mayor Lay called upon Attorney Mark Blakley to give the Board of Aldermen an update on the planned demolition of the old Creative Glas building (former Troxel Motors facility) on U.S. 27 across from the Scott County News.
Blakley informed the board that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had completed its work in removing toxic chemicals from the building (at no cost to either the owners of the property or the Town of Oneida), and that the owners have been formally notified that they have 15 days in which to claim and remove any personal property from the building before workmen begin to demolish it and remove the debris from the site.
Blakley estimated that the building could start coming down by the seventh or eighth of January.
On a motion by James Smith, the board voted to appoint Sharon Miller to a one-year term on the Planning Commission. She will be replacing Alderman Cecil Anderson at the town’s representative on the commission. Anderson’s term has expired, Mayor Lay stated.
The mayor also announced that the town’s Industrial Development Board, in conjunction with the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, has found a client for the Bear Creek Industrial Park building which formerly housed East Tennessee Trailers.
Barna Log Systems will be taking over the lease of the building within 60 days by paying the accrued interest and picking up the lease payments, Mayor Lay told the board.
Mayor Lay explained that the Barna company is needing the space for one of the final phases of its log manufacturing process and is out of space at its Bear Creek plant, which is located nearby. The mayor also stated that Barna’s acquisition of the building will result in additional jobs.
Items discussed but not acted on by the board Thursday, included:
• the possibility of finding an access point for fishing boats at the Howard H. Baker, Sr. Watershed Lake;
• the potential for a $98,000 grant from the Soil Conservation Service to be earmarked for the developing Bear Creek Recreation Park; and
• the popularity of the “Christmas in the Park” decorations, which are attracting motorists from miles around.
Immediately after adjournment, the board reconvened as the town’s Beer Board and on a motion by Tibbals voted 4-0 to approve a beer permit for Jacquline West to sell beer for off premises consumption at the Discount Gas location.