City in line to receive old plant building

Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, November 29, 2011

By the end of the year, city leaders hopeto have taken full ownership of all buildings located on the formerStahl-Urban Manufacturing plant property.

    The city currently owns the main plant building and one of twowarehouses located on either side of the main building, all locatedon Main Street.

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    The owner of the other warehouse, Arthur Jeppe, will deed what heowns to the city at no cost. The transfer only awaits anappraisal.

    Jeppe needs an appraisal for tax purposes, and the city also needsone, said City Attorney Joe Fernald.

    “The city needs the appraisal to fix the value on our books,”Fernald said.

    If all goes as planned, Fernald hopes to officially transfer thedeed at the city board’s Dec. 20 meeting. Mayor Les Bumgarneroffered a similar timeline and said he hopes the city takes controlby Jan. 1, 2012.

    Once the city takes the deed, it will have acquired all buildingson the former manufacturing site by donation.

    M.C. “Bud” Urban Jr. donated the buildings currently owned by thecity in 2006, while Bob Massengill was mayor. Urban died in 2009and according to Bumgarner, Jeppe now controls some of the propertyformerly belonging to Urban.

    Both the warehouse in Jeppe’s possession and the warehouse owned bythe city are currently rented by Bert Carollo. For the immediatefuture, that will continue.

    “The buildings will probably continue to be rented until the citycan come up with something else to do there,” Bumgarner said.

    However, the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce collectsthe rent from the city’s warehouse.

    “When we took possession of it, somehow the chamber got involvedand (Carollo’s) been paying the chamber,” Bumgarner said.

    Once the city owns all buildings on the property, Bumgarner plansto direct all rental fees to the city, he said.

    According to the mayor, the rent from the buildings will offset thetaxes on the property.

    Chamber Executive Vice President Cliff Brumfield does not objectand is not sure why the chamber currently collects the building’srent.

    “We had probably put some money into a city project and that wassome kind of payback,” Brumfield said. “But it’s not a lot. It onlypays about half our light bill here at the chamber. It will be goodto see the city utilizing the city’s property.”

    As to utilizing the property, Bumgarner sees potential in thestorage capacity the Stahl-Urban buildings offer.

    “(It’s) such good storage room and every city department is crampedfor space,” Bumgarner said.

    Bumgarner pointed to the fact that city Christmas lights are storedin a shed and explained the importance of more space.

    “Things last longer if you store them properly,” Bumgarnersaid.

    According to Ward One Alderman Dorsey Cameron, city leaders havediscussed other storage-related possibilities.

    “We’ve talked about one particular thing, but we’re not sure ifthat’s going to be it,” Cameron said. “We’ve talked aboutrelocating some of the city barn equipment.”

    Cameron, in whose ward the Stahl-Urban site is located, also hassome long-term ideas for the property.

    “What I’ve always wanted to do is that we have a police precinct onthe east side of town,” Cameron said. “We only have one station andthat’s out on the highway.”

    When the Godbold Transportation Center opened on Railroad Avenue inAugust, discussion occurred then about putting a police precinct inthat facility.

    City leaders agree now, as they have for some time, that the mainfactory’s condition requires that it be torn down. The timetablefor this remains undetermined, however.

    In 2009, city leaders tabled plans to seek bids for the building’sdemolition after plans with a salvage company fell through.

    “There are concerns about how it would be torn down and what thecost would be,” Fernald said. “There are also some concerns aboutasbestos and things like that.”

    The 2009 plan called for the building to be torn down in exchangefor the building materials. Fernald and Bumgarner explained thatthe city still wants to obtain a similar deal rather than pay forthe building’s demolition.

    “There is quite a bit of stuff in there that is salvageable,”Fernald said. “There is some tremendous lumber.”

    However, determining the building’s fate and the purpose of theproperty probably remains in the future, some city leadersindicated.

    “That will be a question for another day,” Fernald said.