A Look At County Properties And Building Projects

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The Dade County Board of Commissioners has been juggling a number of building projects and land acquisitions in recent years—some have stirred controversy, while others have received less attention. Here’s an update on each ongoing or recently concluded project with information from Don Townsend (county executive).

Earlier this year, renovation of the Dade County Senior Center (9622 US 11 South) was successfully completed, so that’s checked off the list.

The elections building, however, still has no final floor plans or budget. A quick recap: Discussion of the project began in 2022, which led to debate among citizens about the need for the building and the best location. The commission then purchased 3.2 acres just east of 12660 North Main Street in November 2023 for $100,000. This is where the new building will be.

Townsend reported that the commission has not yet voted on a budget for the building because they are waiting on final drawings from the architects and engineers. He anticipates that these will be revealed this month, and he wants to present them to the commissioners and move forward on the project as soon as possible. The county could act as the general contractor for the project, or they could hire a general contractor or construction management company.

As for the Sells Lane property (just east of 934 Sells Lane), no steps have been taken toward a reservoir. The Sentinel asked Townsend about the permitting process. He said the permitting hasn’t happened because “it got kind of dropped from the political discussions. It was put on the back burner.”

The Sentinel asked if plans for a reservoir are being abandoned and/or if the county is switching the purpose of this property. Townsend said the reservoir is not being dropped, adding, “The land itself is beneficial and conducive to parks and recreation. I’d like to see us expand on recreational opportunities. Could there be a lake? Absolutely.”

However, Townsend confirmed that no steps are being taken toward the reservoir.

He continued, “Georgia heavily supports reservoirs and the development of anything that creates a source of freshwater. We have had need of freshwater in the past when we’ve had horrible wildfires. It could happen again in a bad drought situation. Also, we have two major railroads through the county. If there was a derailment, that could pollute our water.”

Related to the recreational potential for the Sells Lane property is the proposed Dade County Community Forest (which would be the land surrounding GA-136 going up Lookout Mountain). Noel Durant (Tennessee State Director of Trust for Public Land) first presented the vision for the forest at the September 2024 commission meeting, and he is working to secure funding to make the forest a reality. (See issues of the Sentinel from fall 2024 for more details.)

Townsend reported that Durant had submitted the first grant application ahead of the October 2024 deadline. The Sentinel contacted Durant but did not hear back before press time.

The joint city-county animal control facility has remained stagnant this last year. The selected site is still the land behind the Dade County Transfer Station (888 Sunset Drive).

Townsend said, “Final plans will need to be produced by qualified architects and engineering firms. Then, from those plans, we will produce a set of building specs that may be bid out to local contractors. It is unclear if we will utilize a general contractor or simply have the city/county serve as a general contractor and subcontract out the work locally.”

While the City of Trenton approved floor plans for the facility at the May 2024 monthly meeting, Townsend reported that he has not yet seen the plans, nor has the county approved them.

The Sentinel asked if the budget for the building is just the $61,000 allocated from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and where supplementary funds will come from. Townsend said the building plans will need to be approved before a budget is set, and other SPLOST funds will have to make up the rest of the budget.

As for annual operating costs, Townsend had no information on estimates, but he reported that these expenses will come from the county and city’s general maintenance and operation budgets. While the facility will produce some revenue, it won’t be enough to be self-sustaining.

Townsend explained that the elections building is a higher priority than this project, but he believes that the animal control facility needs to be brought to fruition. “Once we get the elections building underway, I think the time has come to initiate plans to follow through with the people’s choice to have an animal control facility.”

Restoring the old train depot (111 Railway Lane) is very near completion, but some minor exterior work remains, including adding several parking spaces, planting some shrubs, and some final painting. The interior was completed earlier this year, so the public defender’s office and soil conservationist (Stephen Bontekoe) have moved into the building.

Although final expenses are not yet accounted for, just under $255,000 had been spent on the building halfway through last year, with $79,190.40 coming from the insurance claim after the depot burned.

The Sentinel asked how Bontekoe’s old office inside the Dade County Administrative Building is being used. It now serves as extra office space. Townsend noted that he would love to hire a part-time or contract grant writer who could utilize this office. He mentioned this to the commissioners at last week’s monthly meeting, saying, “A good grant writer will pay for themselves.” He said he would be looking into the possibility further.

With the public defender’s office now housed in the train depot, the old public defender building (129 Case Avenue) can be sold. At the November 2024 monthly meeting, the commission approved selling the building, but before it can be put up for sale, some remaining files must be cleaned out.

Townsend explained, “The public defender still has some old case files that need to be disposed of before we may proceed, but I anticipate this process to be completed by mid to late February, if not before then. To my knowledge, the county has no plans to maintain this old building as a capital asset, therefore, returning it to the tax rolls for future revenues.”

Ted Rumley (former county executive) had said that TVN/Trenton Telephone Company wanted to buy the building, and while Townsend noted that the company may have a vested interest due to the location, he said, “We still have to go through the legal process. We have to dispose of it as surplus property capital asset.”

The long-awaited completion of the historic courthouse (12371 North Main Street) restoration project is nearing, but there’s still no definite word on when the final touches will be done. As reported at last week’s county commission meeting, the restoration of the original floors is complete, but electricians and painters are working on final touches.

As covered previously, the restored courthouse will house the Alliance for Dade, visitors center, Dade County Industrial Development Authority, and City of Trenton Downtown Development Authority. A room will also be dedicated to the Trenton-Dade County Historic Preservation Commission and Dade County Historical Society with an archive of old books and documents.

The upstairs conference room and old courtroom can be rented for meetings and events, and Townsend hopes to eventually have museum cases added to this space. He said, “That would be contingent on receiving grants, and we’re talking over years.”

He reported that government entities will not be charged for use of the upstairs rooms, but the public can rent the space for 24-hour periods. The upstairs kitchen is not intended for cooking but can be used for warming and staging food.

The fees are not intended to create a large amount of revenue for the county but rather to help with cleaning up after events. The fees are $100 for nonprofits and $150 for for-profits. If alcohol will be served, there is an additional application process, a $50 processing fee, and a $200 refundable deposit.

At the November 2024 commission meeting, Phillip Hartline (District Two commissioner) asked about the rental fees for the first-floor office space. One of his questions was about the fair market value price, but that was not directly answered at the meeting, so the Sentinel asked Townsend about it again.

As a refresher, there are four agreements: One for the Industrial Development Authority for $3,000 a year ($250/month), and three under the umbrella of the Alliance for Dade each for $3,333 a year ($277.75 a month).

Townsend said he had a casual conversation with a local real estate agent out of personal interest rather than an official inquiry. He said, “Bottom line, these fees are less than what it would be, but office rental space was not the intent of the building. The intent was to make it an economic hub for Trenton and Dade County.”

With the Alliance for Dade (i.e. Chamber of Commerce) housed inside the building, hotel/motel excise tax funds can be used for the courthouse’s maintenance and operation.

Townsend added that the point of having a gift shop inside the courthouse is to draw visitors into the building. “It’s not as much about buying something there, but it is about getting the foot traffic inside the building.”

Lastly, the Sentinel asked Townsend about plans for the old North Dade School (18277 Highway 11 North). He answered, “There’s been no further discussion as to what or how we may proceed regarding this real property. The original intent was to attain the property for the future site of a storm shelter, but that project would require a grant from Homeland Security before proceeding with any such plans.”

The Sentinel asked if Townsend himself is in favor of keeping or selling the property. He is not interested in selling it, saying, “It has a lot of historic value, so I would love to see us save the building, but for what purpose? I have no idea. If there’s some kind of historic preservation there, I’d like for us to pursue that.”

He said the building is in bad shape, but he still hopes it can be used for something. “At some point, we will clean out the buildings and examine the structural integrity of both the historic old schoolhouse (upper building) and the lower building.”

The Sentinel asked if there is a time frame for how long the property will sit before any action is taken. Townsend said it is, unfortunately, an indefinite period, and because the property was attained through a swap with the Dade County Board of Education, it did not cost the taxpayers anything extra, nor had it been on the tax rolls prior to the county’s ownership of the property.

He also explained that the Shelton family who originally owned the property still owns surrounding parcels. “They deeded that property over for the purpose of a school, so in all fairness to that family, that gets tricky when wanting to sell a piece of property in the middle of their property.”

Personally, Townsend hopes to see something like Chattanooga’s Construction Career Center come to Dade, and this could be a good location. He noted that this is a long-term goal and would be a decision of the entire board of commissioners.

He envisions a collaborative effort, like that in Chattanooga. The Construction Career Center’s partners are Hamilton County, the City of Chattanooga, Associated General Contractors of America, Chattanooga State Community College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Hamilton County Schools, Tennessee State Government, and Chattanooga’s chamber of commerce.

Listing the county, city, school board, IDA, Joint Development Authority, and local industries, Townsend concluded, “All those groups have a vested interest in training people how to run forklifts, how to be electricians and plumbers, even some general contracting skills.”