Brent Lambert
Mayor Brent Lambert spoke to the East Ridge Industrial Development Board during its monthly meeting Monday night and told the board that he expects “Phase II” of road improvements at the Exit 1 development to begin sometime this year.
Lambert said that he and other city officials had recently met with representatives from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. TDOT has pledged $1 million toward the project which will slightly reroute Exit 1 Northbound on Interstate 75 to allow traffic to enter directly into the Jordan Crossing development where Bass Pro is currently under construction.
“(TDOT) is very much vested in this project,” Lambert said. “This directed project is not something they had to do, it is something they chose to do.”
Lambert told IDB members that funding for the project _ which will also increase the number of lanes on the Ringgold Road bridge across the interstate _ will come from the city ($500,000 in state street aid money), and Hamilton County, which has pledged and additional $500,000. Lambert also said that he expects the actual cost of the project to be between $3 and $4 million. He added that this is a “foundational project” where he would advocate the city borrowing money if it needed to.
“I’ve said this before … even if the development wasn’t happening, this infrastructure project is something the city needs,” Lambert said. “Any benefit it provides to the retail aspect is icing on the cake.”
Board member James Citty was assured by the mayor that “Phase II” had gone beyond the planning stages and that it is scheduled to happen. The mayor said that he anticipates work to begin before the end of this year with it being completed sometime in 2018.
Lambert also said that “Phase I” of road work, the elevating and widening of Camp Jordan Parkway, should be completed by April, prior to the anticipated opening of the Bass Pro Shops in June.
Board member Kelly Still asked if the money the city spends on the road projects would qualify for reimbursement by the state under the Border Region Act. She was assured by the mayor that it would and that the city anticipates its investment in both phases to be fully recouped.
Officials with Wolftever Development, who are building Jordan Crossing, previously told city officials that until the Camp Jordan Parkway improvements were in place they would not be able to finalize agreements with potential tenets to open businesses inside the development. Lambert told the board that he had met with Wolftever officials who assured him that an announcement would be made within the next 30 to 60 days about a new hotel that will be built across from Bass Pro where the America’s Best motel is now located.
Lambert’s statement about the new motel led board members to make inquiries about what efforts the city is making in conjunction with the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) to address sewer issues in East Ridge. The mayor explained that the city’s aging sewer system is plagued by stormwater seeping into lateral lines from the 8,000 homes in East Ridge. That additional water causes problems with the system.
The mayor said city officials have met with WWTA folks to find out how this issue will be addressed. The mayor said WWTA is conducting “smoke tests” on lateral lines to find out where pipes are compromised and fix them.
The mayor said a best case scenario is that East Ridge just needs residential lateral lines fixed in order for the WWTA to sign off on allowing new businesses to locate here and hook into the sewer system. He said a worst case scenario would be the discovery of “pockets of areas where there are major problems.”
Lambert said the big unknown is how much money it is going to cost to fix the problems.
Board member Bart Burns said that fixing the sewer was the obligation of the WWTA. He said if the price tag for addressing issues was in the neighborhood of $10 million, he would be opposed to East Ridge helping finance that expenditure. Burns said he could potentially support the city contributing between $300,000 and $500,000, saying it was a “project for the greater good.”
Ruth Braly, the IDB Chairwoman, said she understood any investment the city would make in improving the sewers inside the Border Region district, would be recouped from the state. Lambert agreed.
Burns, who is a retired tax attorney and certified public accountant, said “Let me stop you.”
Burns said it was his understanding that some costs submitted for reimbursement under the Board Region Act could be returned to the city in relatively short order, in a five-to-six-year period. He said other costs may be reimbursed over the next 26 years. Burns said a dollar paid back to the city in 26 years without interest is not that good of a deal.
“The time value of that dollar will be pennies,” he said.
Lambert said it was important to look at the overall impact of new businesses in East Ridge. Over the next 26 years, the city would be getting revenue from sales taxes and property taxes which could take away much of the financial pain.
“You’ve got to look at the overall impact,” Lambert said. “You cobble together all these things to get the real picture.
“My priority right now is getting ‘phase II’ of the road work finished,” he added. “That is at the top of my priority list.”
