News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Overton County Commission voted Monday to name the new county services building after Millard V. Oakley.
County Executive Ben Danner said Oakley has helped the region for many years and continues to do so with his contributions to the new building.
“This would not be possible without him and First National [Bank] giving us $2 million, which will save us almost $3 million in payments and interest over the life of this building,” Danner said. “I know we’ve talked about it in the past, about ten years ago we tried… to come up with plans for a building. I’d like to thank Mr. Oakley and First National because if they hadn’t offered to give us this we wouldn’t have been able to start.”
Danner said the contributions from Oakley and First National Bank are something the county hasn’t seen much of in prior projects.
“Unlike other times when we build things, we’ve got a donation to help build this and we’ll build it big enough to where it will last for the future,” Danner said. “I know when we built on to the schools and we’ve done other things, we’ve kind of had to money crunch and we couldn’t build it the size we needed. Then ten years later, we need more room. I think this will help the county for the long-term and set up for any future growth.”
Danner said the new building will be a valuable asset to the county and the community for many years to come.
“I think this will be a building that the county, for another 100 years, will be able to use,” Danner said. “It’s handicap accessible, we’ve got the Joe L. Evins building across the road, and when we… have things in it we’ll have ample parking for the city. I think it’s a real exciting time. You’ll be the first county commission in over 100 years that’s built a new building.”
The county will also look forward to benefits with the new facility such as lower utility costs and easier access for visitors.
“We’ve tried to shut off parts of the building to try and keep some of the [air conditioning] units off and everything but it’s unreal some of the electric bills we get,” Danner said. “The utility costs, we’ve not even figured but it’ll be a big savings on this building because it’s going to be all LED, all energy-efficient, and everything. It’ll be a building that the county’s proud of and one the people of the county can actually find. When somebody comes in from this county that’s never been to the building or another county you can’t tell them where the building’s at because nobody knows.”
The total cost estimate for the new county services building will be just under $4.67 million, with Upland Design Group of Crossville spearheading the project.
Danner said prior financial decisions have helped prepare the county for the project so it wouldn’t effect the taxpayers.
“We’ve been really conservative with everything we’ve done since I’ve been in office and we’ve not done anything that would cause the taxpayers to raise taxes over doing payments or something,” Danner said. “That’s what we were working towards the whole time trying to get the payments to where we could do this.”
Danner said the new county services building will be the first time a county commission approves a new facility since 1899. County services moved into its current location on University Drive in 1979, but Danner said the move was never meant to be permanent.
Upland Design Group stated the project will likely begin in the spring and will take approximately 16 months to complete the building.
The commissioners voted to demolish the former Republican headquarters between West Broad and West Main Street to make room for the facility. Demolition is expected to begin after the early voting period has concluded to prevent traffic backups.
