News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Van Buren County Commission has approved the sale of the old BDS property to a local waste service.
Priority Waste originally bid for the Pine Grove Road property in February but asked the commission to table the purchase at that time. Mayor Greg Wilson said the company is now ready to take over the some 15 acres.
“My understanding is what they do want to do is put a transfer station there, and they want to pretty much immediately do that,” Wilson said. “They said there would be seven jobs immediately that come along with that.”
The $200,000 sale price for the property is set to be split between the county and the Van Buren County School System. Wilson said half of the money would be put in a county reserve fund. The other half would pay for the county’s dues to the school system after the Fall Creeks Fall Inn closure.
“We don’t have a debt to them,” Wilson said. “It’s just a part of their money that goes from that $200,000 that the state gives us because of Fall Creek Falls closing. (…) We would have to ask them for the Board of Education to also back up that letter that she (School Director Cheryl Cole) wrote. Voting that that is not a maintenance of effort and she did supply that letter and it does say that. We just need them to endorse that letter.”
Included in the purchase is the building on the property and one trash compactor. Wilson said if the transfer station happens, it will save the county money and time.
“It going to benefit if they do open this up, and I hope they do,” Wilson said. “Because, we can go five minutes from Spencer and take our trash off. Where as of right now, we are spending an hour and a half to two hours trip depending on how long they have to wait in line in Warren County. And, we go there it is five minutes. Look at the minutes we are going to save. We’re going to save diesel. We’re going to save a lot of man power.”
Wilson said the Pine Grove Convenience Center will close due to the property being sold. The other four locations will remain open. Commissioner Michael Woodlee was the lone no vote for the sale of the BDS property.
The property was originally purchased by the county in 2017 for an economic development project that did not happen.
