The McMinnville board of Mayor and Alderman met in a special session Monday night at the Milner Recreation Center to hear proposals concerning the Blue Building property. Officials in the end decided to consider it at least one more week before a final decision is made.
Representatives from Investment Partners and Hickory Creek Partners of Knoxville presented power point presentations. Investment Partners, which were represented Monday night by Bobby Kirby, Jewel Hale and Kirby’s son, Lake Kirby, plan calls for Condos to be put in the blue building. The condos will be sold and not rented. Hickory Creek’s plan is to also put in condos that consist of 40 one bedroom units.
After the proposals, several city residents voiced their opinions about the property. Among the concerns were increase in traffic flow, property values and parking.
Alderman Everett Brock made a motion to vote on one of the contracts and was seconded by Alderman Sally Brock. Alderman Zac Sutton was not comfortable and said a thorough assessment should be done moving forward. Alderman Steve Harvey said with the proposals and concerns by citizens that they were bombarded with a lot of information. Kirby and Leach both said their proposals were not time sensitive. After several minutes, Everett Brock withdrew his motion and Sally Brock withdrew her second.
The board decided to defer action until their next board meeting which is next Tuesday Nov. 23rd at City Hall. It passed unanimously.
The Blue Building has an appraisal value of 622,400 dollars and has been vacant since late 2009.