Commissioners hear building owners demand for $750 rent
Deborah Williams told Polk commissioners that the county’s library board is in a desperate financial situation.
Williams spoke to the commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday, November 19, at the county courthouse in Benton.
She explained that for “several years” the East Polk Library in Ducktown has been operating in its current location rent free. “Now the owners want us to start paying rent,” she said.
County Executive Robby Hatcher said he had been in contact with the owners to see if they would hold off starting the rent payment until the new budget year. Currently, they are asking for $750 month with a commercial lease starting January 1, 2021.
That lease would mean the tenants would be responsible for any needed repairs to the building, repairs the owners currently make, Hatcher said.
The library faces Main Street in the commercial building that once housed Ducktown Dodge. Besides the East Polk Library, the building now houses several businesses including the Southeast Tennessee Regional Transportation Authority, a beauty shop, and another business.
Hatcher told the commissioners he has contacted the owners about any possible flexibility and was to hear back from them by the next day. However, he said it is clear they will not reduce the amount of the rent.
Williams presented the commissioners with several facts about the East Polk facility from the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Among those are that during Fiscal Year 2019, 216 children and 353 adults attended library programs, 13,436 items were borrowed from the library, and 71 children and 23 adults participated in summer reading.