The town of Unicoi Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to purchase the former Buffalo Valley Golf Course maintenance building from Johnson City during their meeting Monday.
The former maintenance building, located at 190 Golf Course Drive in Unicoi, will be purchased by the town in its current condition at $210,000. Town officials plan to have the building repaired and use it as a substation for Unicoi County Emergency Medical Services and Unicoi Volunteer Fire Department.
“I think it will improve the response times on both regards and it’s something that the town has wanted for a long time,” said Mayor Kathy Bullen.
The motion to approve the purchase of the former maintenance building was made by Vice Mayor Roger Cooper and seconded by Alderman Judy Ray and was approved unanimously by the board.
The Johnson City Commission voted to sell the property to Unicoi during their March 24 meeting, and it will go before the commission again for a second reading on April 21.
Following approval by the Unicoi BMA, Unicoi will have 90 days to have an environmental study performed on the property.
Also during the meeting, the BMA voted to reserve the funds received by the town from the Baby Doe lawsuit to go toward the East Tennessee Regional Recovery Center.
The recovery center, which would be located at the former Northeast Correctional Center’s Carter County annex in Roan Mountain, would promote long-term drug rehabilitation.
“Jail isn’t working, 30 days at these facilities isn’t working and it’s destroying families,” said Bullen.
Unicoi received $105,000 from the Baby Doe settlement, and by reserverving that money, Unicoi will secure a seat on the board that will operate the recovery center.
During Monday’s meeting, Unicoi also approved a contract with Elizabeth Jones to serve as town attorney.
Jones replaces former town attorney Lois Shults-Davis, whose resignation took effect at the end of March.
The next Unicoi BMA meeting will take place May 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tourist Information Center.
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