RED BAY | Following a recommendation by the Industrial Development Board, the Red Bay City Council voted last week to purchase a 20-acre parcel of land on the city’s west side, along the Mississippi state line, for potential future commercial or industrial development.
The Council agreed to purchase the property at a cost of $15,000 per acre from current owners Charles and Leland Brown. Currently, the property is heavily covered with timber, but the future use of the land could bring a major change to the city’s commercial landscape.
“The Industrial Development Board has been working on this for several months, looking at this property, negotiating on it. It’s prime property adjacent to our industrial park and it could be used for industrial purposes as well as retail,” Mayor Charlene Fancher said. “There are a lot of possibilities for this property. I think this is a very good move by the Industrial Development Board.”
The $300,000 purchase price will be financed, and the Industrial Development Board was expected to meet following last week’s Council meeting to begin the process of seeking loan funding.
Fancher said there are no definite plans in place yet for the property – not even speculative – but she knows what she wants to see developed there.
“Personally, what I’d like to see and will be working toward – this is not for approval, and nothing is concrete – I’d like to see a mini-mall, or retail mall there,” Fancher said. “It’s doable. If we had a four to five retail store building or something like Burke’s Outlet that would be wonderful. We need more retail clothing businesses in Red Bay. We need more restaurants. We need more retail businesses. That’s what I’m going to be working toward achieving. It may not be (the store names mentioned), but we can work toward it.”
The purchase was discussed and approved as part of a relatively light agenda by the Council. Several board position openings were posted during the meeting, including for the Tree Commission, the Little League Board, Red Bay Soccer Board, and Parks and Recreation Board. Deborah Parker was appointed to the Senior Citizen Board, replacing Billy Boyd, whose term expired Oct. 1.
It was also noted during the meeting that Judy Bullen’s position on the Waters Works and Gas Board is up for renewal, and any person interested can sign up for consideration.
Also discussed was a petition signed by residents of 7th Avenue and 9th Avenue NW who are seeking a speed bump on each street to slow down traffic. Red Bay Police Chief Janna Jackson advised the Council that she had monitored traffic along those streets on three different afternoons and noted there was very little traffic each time she was watching, with no one speeding through.
In comments at the end of the meeting Fancher took a few minutes to commend the city’s Sewer Board for its work the past few years.
“There is lots of action going on behind the scenes, and many times if citizens can’t see it visually, they think there isn’t a lot going on in Red Bay,” Fancher said. “Four years ago the city’s sewer (department) was struggling. They were just putting band aids on equipment. The Sewer Board has come a long way since then.”
Fancher said the Sewer Board is pursuing work on the main trunk line through town right now. That line ultimately handles all sewer service west of Hwy. 11 North and serves business, industries, and residences. The Board has applied for $200,000 of funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission to begin needed repairs on the trunk line, and Fancher said the Board is also seeking State Revolving Funds support to complete the rest of the roughly $600,000 project.
“Mayors before me wanted to see this trunk line repaired and be able to run at capacity,” Fancher said. “With all projects involved it’s a $1.5 million project. Council, you can be proud of this because that will take care of our industries for many years down the road. Thank you, Council, for all you do to support them.”
In other action, the Council:
- Heard from Parks and Recreation Director Dean Hubbard, who told the Council that youth league basketball signups have begun, and that work was continuing on completing the flowerbeds along the Hoyt Keeton Sr. Walking Trail at the Red Bay Fun Park.
- Approved closing deposit accounts on the Red Bay Farmer’s Market ($100.01), the Corridor V Project ($100), with those funds moving to the General Fund, and ARC 19536 Project ($69,744.39) with those funds moving to the Sewer Fund.
- Approved a $3,500 contract for services with the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
- Acknowledged Fancher’s hire of Eric Zills as a permanent full-time police officer with the Red Bay Police Department.
- Accepted the resignations of Jason McCarley and Drent Robbins from the Street Department.
The next meeting of the City Council is set for Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 3:30 p.m.
