By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Glasgow city leaders are considering two land transactions with Southern States, but in both cases the parcels are less than a third of an acre.
Mayor Henry Royse told the Glasgow Common Council Finance Committee at its regular meeting on Tuesday that shortly after he started his role in January, he was made aware of an issue that had been “on the table for a while but it’s never been worked out,” so he wanted to find a solution that would be satisfactory to all the parties.
He said that there is a piece of property alongside Fort Williams Way, which goes from Cross Street to Fort Williams and the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery, that is next to Southern States’ Glasgow headquarters facility, and the company wants to purchase it so they can expand that facility.
The mayor said he initially checked to make sure there would be no zoning issues and that there would be enough right-of-way left.
“At the same time, Southern States has a piece of property on the back of their property that they don’t want because it’s right smack dab in the middle of our cemetery,” Royse said.
He’s had both properties appraised by Andrew Parsley.
The section alongside Fort Williams Way that is near Cross Street that the company wants to purchase appraised at $9,600, and the “little triangle” that adjoins the cemetery was appraised at $2,400, the mayor said. Later, when asked, he said the part the company wants to purchase is 0.283 acre, and the one they don’t want is 0.069 acre.
He said the company and the city are splitting the cost of the appraisal and the work that is necessary to properly get the descriptions of the properties written up in deeds.
Councilman Terry Bunnell, who chairs the committee, said, “It appears to be a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
Royse said that Billy Beckham with Southern States is his point of contact, and he would need to get final approval from his board of directors.
The committee agreed unanimously for the deal to move forward for the city to sell the segment along Fort Williams Way to Southern States and the city would acquire the parcel at the cemetery. Royse said that, provided they can get the deeds prepared in time, the full council could vote on it at its meeting next week.
Comments