Cookeville has a potential agreement to purchase land for new Fire Station Two on North Washington Avenue.
The total purchase price $650,000. City Manager James Mills said the two parcels combine to create a 1.2 acre plot, one block north of the existing station.
“We’ll also have our engineers confirm that the proposed station will fit on this property,” Mills said. “We think it will. It may require some setback modifications, but we believe it will fit.”
Mills said officials will also complete due diligence, including soil samples, on the two properties. The city would owe $5,000 earnest money. Mills said a city option would expire August 31.
Council members approved giving the city manager authorization to negotiate the agreement. Fire Chief Benton Young has been looking for land in the area of the existing fire station for months.
“Each of our stations is strategically located to provide the best coverage for the corporate limits,” Mills said. “Any relocation needs to be in close proximity to the existing stations to maintain or improve coverage.”
The proposed property is located at 1806 and 1860 North Washington Avenue, one block north of existing station. It is near 18th Street. Single family homes on the property would need to be removed.
Cookeville has started the process of replacing both fire departments two and three. Both are over 50 years old. Also at Thursday’s meeting, council approved a bid with W&O Construction to begin pre-construction work on both facilities. Council approved the contract for just over $719,000.
In other business, council approved a new lease agreement for properties at Church Avenue and South Walnut Avenue to build a parking lot for downtown businesses. The agreement with Tennessee Tech Foundation supplements an earlier agreement approved in April. About 50 spaces will be created.
A State Street property of some two acres rezoned for regional commercial, to allow for expansion of the Tier One facility being constructed on Jackson Street. Buffers would be provided for single family residential housing on State Street, which backs up to Jackson.
Council also approved the rezoning of land along South Maple Avenue, south of Interstate 40. The zoning will go from RS-10 to RS-7.5 to provide for smaller lots. It includes some 27 acres. Council Member Eric Walker said he made the decision based on increasing density in housing closer to the central core. He said the claim of affordable housing has not turned out to be the case in many of these projects, based on Cookeville standards.
The annexation and zoning for the new Putnam County Fairgrounds as well as property on North Avenue approved on first reading.
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