Buyer hoping for quick sale as county looking to state for permission
“Everybody remember that in your prayers because this would be a huge help, not only to the east side of our county, but to everybody in our county,” Polk County Executive Robbie Hatcher said of the potential of Copper Basin Medical Center’s being bought during a meeting Thursday, August 20.
Hatcher added that he and County Attorney Eric Brooks talked with State Representative Dan Howell to set up an appointment with the attorney general.
“Selling the hospital is not like selling a piece of property... it does take some time,” Hatcher said.
Although the buyers would like to make a quick sale, “It will fall back into the attorney general as far as letting us progress with this sale, so there’s a lot of moving parts to get together to get to that point,” Hatcher said.
Adding to that, he said the buyer would like to revive the facility back to a “functioning hospital.”
The buyer is staying in touch with Hatcher and the IED board, he said, and is trying to get on the ball with the purchase.
In other action, Commissioner Greg Brooks recommended asking the State of Tennessee give the county authority to grant variances.
The recommendation came in response to issues property buyers have been experiencing within the local health department.
“I’d like to mention, we’re having a lot of people having difficulties getting septic permits through this Janet person, and now they’re going above her, to her boss Michah, and we’ve got numerous complaints,” Property Assessor Randy Yates said.
The issue was brought to the surface after a potential property buyer explained that, in order to hook up to the City of Benton’s water, they would have to pay $40,000 per lot since there are no crossovers to connect across the highway, where it is located.
The builders plan to build nine $250-300,000 homes on the property, which would bring the county some much needed extra revenue, according to Brooks.
The problem these buyers are having is yet another issue brought before the commissioners.
Commissioner John Hoyt Pippenger said he has already called the supervisor in response to these complaints and was told the health department hadn’t received any complaints.
“It’s not working good,” Chairwoman Debi Davis said of the issues they’ve seen. “I’m afraid it’s gonna start scaring people off, and we’ve always had the reputation of being one of the easiest places to come in and build...”
Adding to the issue with the health department, Yates said that this Janet is charging builders for herself to come out and inspect and is asking builders to hire their own independent soil samplers, whereas, the department used to do that themselves.
Yates agreed to request that state representatives come to a meeting in two weeks from the August 20 meeting.
Pippenger requested a suspension of rules on the policy manual for the health department after a prior discussion over comp time and the collection of days.
After reviewing the policies, Pippenger said that health department workers “are not county employees. ... They are paid by the state through a supplement into our revenue.”
The motion to suspend the policy passed with Commissioner Dewey Esquinance voting in opposition.
Members voted to approve the revised handbook with Esquinance passing on the vote and Commissioner James Woody voting no.