Cookeville City Council approved the land purchase of some 109 acres off of Highway 111 Thursday night.
City Manager James Mills said that the city will purchase the land for a total of some $3.27 million. He said that it would require a down payment of $10,000, and the purchase is set to close on or before November 1st, 2022.
Mills said that the land first came to their attention when they were searching for land suitable for an aquatics facility. He said that Putnam County has expressed purchasing part of the land in the future, but there is currently no agreement in place.
“This purchase would be strictly to the city,” Mills said. “The property has other potential uses such as public parks and other potential uses it could be for. Especially at this price of $30,000 an acre.”
Council Member Eric Walker said that end of the day it is a great piece of property, but the purchase doesn’t mean it will immediately be developed. He said that there a lot of options moving forward.
“With that being said, I do think, and I spoke with someone earlier tonight, I think that people in that area should be concerned with roads and that kind of thing, that there is not immediate development in that area coming,” Walker said. “That if future councils do develop this, certainly they’ll have to look at traffic concerns and things of that nature. So right now, we’re just looking to purchase this for raw land for the future growth of the city.”
Council Member Mark Miller and Mills thanked the seller, Trinity Assembly, for their help through the process. Miller said that having the option to ensure green space for this part of the city will be a huge benefit as it grows.
In other business, council also approved an agreement with Tennessee Tech to contribute $1 million to the $30 million Tucker Stadium upgrades. The council decided to do an annual payment of $200,000 over the next five years.
Council members agreed that with the economic and tourism benefits brought to the city by the university, the $1 million coming from the city’s hotel-motel tax fund will be put to good use.
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