The City of Smithville is moving to annex the site of a future residential development near the Smithville Airport. Approval of the annexation would be through several conditions, depending on actions by the County Commission and conditions over infrastructure.
The estimated 11.5 acre property is located between Parkway Drive and Shady Drive, next to the Airport Park. During the Smithville Board of Mayor and Aldermen regular meeting on September 13, the board adopted a resolution for a public hearing on the proposed annexation to be held on October 4, at 6:00 p.m. at city hall.
According to Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, a local developer intends to build a subdivision on the property. “This is the property that joins the Airport Park and is a potential development of about 40 homes by Larry Hasty,” said Mayor Miller. “It does come with some conditions. As long as the county turns over portions of Allen Street, Shady Drive, Second Street, and Parkway Drive.”
“Also, our planning commission recommended that our engineer either design or inspect the infrastructure once it is put in.”
“The next condition is that it has to be on gravity flow and not for a sewer pump system because if that were to happen every house on the site would need to have a pump and over time that would have to be turned over to the city and we do not need to get into the expense of pumps.”
“The last condition is that the property be zoned R-2 residential,” Miller said.
According to City Administrator Hunter Hendrixson a plan of services have been reviewed and recommended by the city planning commission. Property owners in the area will be notified about the proposal.
A public hearing will be scheduled in October by the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission, to decide whether to recommend removing the roads Allen Street, Shady Drive, Second Street, and Parkway Drive from the county road list and turning them over to Smithville. No existing county landowners would be affected by the proposed annexation, only the site to be developed and the four roads mentioned above.
In other city news, Smithville is applying for a grant for construction of new sidewalk and crosswalk improvements along Highway 70 and Highway 56. At Monday’s meeting, aldermen passed a resolution to authorize an application to the Tennessee Department of Transportation for a Multi-Modal Access Grant. The city applied for the same grant two years ago, but was not approved.
The program is a 95/5 percent matching grant for construction of up to $1 million. The city would receive $950,000 in grant funding with a $50,000 local match. If the grant is approved, it will be administered by the Upper Cumberland Development District.
The board also voted a pay raise for part time employees at the Smithville Golf Course’s Pro Shop, from $8 per hour to $10 per hour. “If you’ve got good people, you want to keep good people,” Mayor Miller said. “$8.00 an hour is a thing of the past. Our factories are having a hard time filling people at $15 an hour.”
The motion passed unanimously.
