City reaches agreement to purchase Morristown College site

The Morristown City Council’s decision to file an eminent-domain lawsuit against the owners of the former Morristown College campus will produce the intended result – city government will soon gain control of the 50 acres, officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

In a 4-2 vote, councilmembers agreed to pay $900,000 for the property, which translates into $18,000 per acre. The appraised value of the land is $909,000, according to property records.

Councilmembers included $2 million in this year’s budget to acquire the land and remove the structures, which contain asbestos.

Councilmembers previously approved a $700,000 contract for demolition and asbestos remediation, which means the cost will come in $400,000 below budgeted funds.

“The net result here is the city will eliminate a longstanding eyesore, develop a multi-use park and we were able to obtain it at the tax-appraisal price,” Morristown Mayor Gary Chesney said this morning.

“The park is going to be something the community can be proud of,” the mayor added.

Chesney said the city’s attorney, Benjamin K. Lauderback, estimated it could take as much as two years to adjudicate the eminent-domain lawsuit in Hamblen County Circuit Court.

In the meantime, Chesney says, city government would have moved forward with the $700,000 demolition and asbestos remediation to address the public-safety concern.

“Our chance of ever recovering from the owner was very slim, and our attorney recommended going ahead,” the mayor said. “I think it’s a compliment to our financial crew at city hall that we were able to manage ourselves into this type of situation.”

The settlement must be approved in court for the sale to become final. Chesney says he anticipates that demolition could begin in early November.

Councilmembers also previously approved a design contract for the park, which will highlight contributions of Morristown’s African-American community.

“I think it’s going to be something where people can see the results fairly quickly,” Chesney said.

In addition to Chesney, councilmembers Dennis Alvis, Ken Smith and Tommy Pedigo voted to proceed with the purchase. Councilmember Kay Senter, a long-time advocate of acquiring the former college campus, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.

Councilmembers Bob Garrett and Chris Bivens voted against buying the property.

Garrett said this morning he should have opposed the initiative when councilmembers approved proceeding with the eminent domain lawsuit. Garrett says he believes Morristown residents would favor spending the $1.6 million on road paving.

Bivens has a related objection. He pointed out that city council recently raised property-tax rates by 9 cents to fund road paving. After voting for the tax increase, Bivens says, he couldn’t support spending that much money on a discretionary expenditure.

Chesney, Garrett and Bivens all say they don’t believe the difference of opinion on the campus purchase will compromise their ability to work together on other issues in the future.

-By Robert Moore, Tribune Staff Writer