Nashville council tables vote on church purchase again

The Nashville Town Council on Tuesday tabled a vote on whether to purchase the vacant Fellowship Church building for a new town hall. The council decided to take up the matter again at its Aug. 6 meeting, so that council members could receive information about the consistency of soils on the property, if expansion of the septic system was possible and how much it would cost if it was.

This is the second time the council voted to table a vote on the issue. The council initially discussed the matter at its June 16 meeting.

The property owner, Michael Johnson, who is the current pastor of Fellowship Church, said he would take $250,000 off the purchase price if the council voted to approve the purchase of the building that night. Fellowship Church currently holds its church services at another facility in Nashville.

“I’ve talked to my board. That covers your difference right there,” Johnson said, mentioning the high-end estimate of expanding the drain field there.

With a possible drain field expansion cost of $300,000, Councilwoman Kate Burns wanted to know if Nash County and state officials would approve the capacity of the current septic system for the anticipated uses at the property, located at 969 Old White Oak Road. She made a motion that the council delay its decision to further study the issue.

Councilman Bill Lumpp also requested that a soil scientist investigate the viability of soil there to expand the drain field. Lumpp noted that it hasn’t been established if the soils on the property would even support a drain field expansion.

Town Manager Randy Lansing said that information would be available at the end of the following week. And it appeared to be the sticking point in the proceedings.

The council voted 3-2 to table the vote until its next scheduled meeting. Mayor Brenda Brown voted in favor of the extending the town’s due diligence period 16 days and to vote on the matter Aug. 6, breaking a 2-2 tie vote. Lumpp voted in favor of Burn’s motion. Councilmen Larry Taylor and Xavien Harrison voted against the motion. Johnson voiced no objections to the extension of the due diligence period.

Taylor said investing in the building could result in unanticipated costs that the town could ill afford. One cost not considered was the construction of a walkway to serve pedestrian traffic, especially children, Taylor said.

“It’s not a good deal for the town and what we need,” Taylor said.

Harrison said the council committed to approving or opposing the purchase at Tuesday’s meeting and he noted that the council should honor that commitment.

“We should vote on it tonight instead of kicking it down the road,” Harrison said.

With a projected remodeling estimate from Dawson Construction Services of $1.9 million combined with the cost of buying the property at $1.5 million, Lansing informed the board that those combined expenses would total $3.4 million.

In his presentation to the board, Lansing also showed the cost of building a 9,000-square-foot town hall complex on town-owned land and on a lot that would need to be purchased on Bodie Street would cost $4.7 million.

Lansing also showed a scenario where a 4,800-square-foot addition to the current town hall building providing additional office space was projected to cost $2.4 million.

Neither scenario would provide space for recreational use nor provide the town council with its own meeting room. The council currently meets in a room at the town’s library.

Before the council members began discussing the issue, they heard from residents who were in favor and against the town purchasing the 22,000-square-foot building and the 5.5 acres of land the church sits on for $1.5 million, payable over three years at a 5 percent interest rate.

Nashville resident James Baker advised the council against buying the building because the town could ill afford it, saying that taxpayers have already been hurt by increases in property taxes due to the recent revaluation.

Maureen Peacock, a Nashville resident in favor of the town purchasing the property, cited the building’s gymnasium as a valued addition to the town’s recreation opportunities. Peacock noted that the church sanctuary would be ideal for town council meetings.

Sara Hinton, a local resident who toured the property with others, said she endorsed its purchase.

“I was very impressed with the property,” Hinton said. “There’s so much potential there.”

The Nashville Town Council typically meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month for its regular meetings.