Knox County sold 8.8 acres of land to Hidden Hills Winery in August but when the sale was announced Board Chairman Brian Friedrich was unsure of how the money would be used.
Members of the building committee last night put an action item ahead of the full board meeting this month, asking them to invest it all into the building fund.
Bid documents for exterior improvements are being prepared to be let out in October, including fixing entrance steps that architectural consultant Cody Basham expects to be around $100,000.
Member Barb Foster also says the courthouse needs plumbing and electrical work which will take at least $300,000 more than the building fund has.
Committee Co-Chairman Greg “Chops” Bacon articulated that it seems to make sense that the building fund would get the sale money.
“Because we’re going to build the road to that out of this fund and out of this committee so that’s going to chew up a lot of that $100,000 if we do the same style of road that Love’s (Travel Stop & Country Store) is putting in there– a little curb and gutter road– that’s going to be a good chunk of land,” Bacon told committee members. “That’ll be $30,000 to $40,000 for 200 [sic] feet of it.”
In theory, if the seven building committee members vote for the transfer at the full board meeting then they would only have to sway one additional member for the motion to pass.
