Hartselle considers renting armory
The old National Guard armory in Hartselle could have a new tenant in the near future.
The City of Hartselle is hoping to lease the facility, which was vacated more than a year ago and purchased by the city, for $800 per month to United Country Four Oaks Realty & Auction to hold auctions.
Dwight Tankersley, realtor and co-owner of Four Oaks, said they needed a facility so that they could house their auctions, which are currently being held outside under tents. While the old armory doesn’t have air conditioning, Tankersley said it’s still better than what they have now.
“If it rains right now, we don’t have any place to go,” Tankersley said during a City Council work session. “So the air conditioning isn’t a major factor at this time. Plus this would give us a facility to hold multiple auctions at one time.”
The City of Hartselle, however, hasn’t done much to the facility since the city purchased it after the 152nd Military Police deployed and then vacated it last year.
Mayor Don Hall said he had the plumbing checked for leaks a while back, but all of the utilities have been turned off ever since.
“The plumbing has been drained and I’ve had the other utilities turned off,” Hall said.
The City Council proposed leasing the building for $800 per month based on the square footage of the building and the fact that the facility will need some repairs before Four Oaks Realty & Auction can use it.
Hall said the city is leasing the Premier Furniture building for $2,400 per month. Based on the square footage of the two buildings, Hall estimated the armory lease at $1,000.
But Tom Chappell said the city could come down from that price based on the savings that the city won’t have for maintenance of the facility.
“They’re going to be cutting the grass for us,” Chappell said. “Plus they’re going to have to make some improvements to the building so that they can use it.”
Tankersley said they would likely accept the $800 lease.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Tankersley said. “It will give the city a tenant for the armory and we will have a place where we can hold our auctions.”
In other business, the council:
• considered reappointing Mike Gunter and Jimmy Moore to the Hartselle Utilities Board since the other applicants withdrew their names.
• introduced an ordinance to annex property on West Main Street owned by Carol McClellan Wiley and zone it B-1.
• discussed approving a $7,500 budget adjustment in the police department vehicle maintenance budget to cover the increased cost of police car repairs.
• discussed adding $30,000 to the chipper maintenance budget due to unexpected repairs.
• considered spending up to $3,000 to re-stripe Tabernacle, Nethery, Huckaby Bridge and Ray roads. Hall said the county is planning to re-stripe those roads and could cover the portions of the roads inside the city for an estimate of $2,940.
• considered rescinding a budget adjustment for a worker’s compensation bill. City Clerk Rita Lee said negotiations with the insurance company actually caused the city to get a $464 refund instead of an increase of $6,060.
