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Living facility plan appears back on
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| By: THERESE APEL, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
August 19, 2009 |
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The developer who sought to place a much-discussed assisted living facility on the corner of Monticello Street and Whitworth Avenue may have found a new option, Mayor Les Bumgarner told the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen Tuesday night.
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Developer Gayle Evans had first pitched the idea of putting an assisted living facility downtown on the corner lot destroyed by a fire on May 24, 2007 to aldermen last year, only to meet with great resistance. Parking was an issue, as well as general chagrin among members of the board because they weren't sure if the spot was appropriate for what Evans pitched as a five-story residential facility.
Then Evans' health held up discussion for a while longer, and talks of the project seemed to have come to a standstill.
"Mr. Evans is working on a similar project with a better location and better parking," Bumgarner said. "It's downtown, and it looks like it might be a go."
Bumgarner said Evans is eyeing some property on Monticello Street across from the Inez building, a spot that should fit the logistics and needs of an assisted living facility even better than the burned-out Whitworth-Monticello corner.
"This really solves the parking problem and they're right across from the Inez restaurant," the mayor said. "All indications are that he's going to do this. He's definitely making steps."
Meanwhile, Bumgarner said the city still has no say in what will go at the site of the downtown fire.
"It's private property and they'll either have to do something with it or sell it to someone and they'll do something with it," he said. "The city really doesn't have any control over that."
In other business, aldermen discussed adopting the plan for insurance that they discussed at the budget work session last Thursday, but decided to recess the meeting so they could discuss it more at the next budget hearing, which will be held Thursday. Tuesday night's meeting will be reconvened then.
Aldermen decided last Thursday to continue paying 100 percent of the coverage for city employees, but to put a $450 per month cap on dependent coverage. The move would mean city employees would have to cover any amount over the $450 a month.
Insurance coverage for dependents of city employees currently runs $971.90 a month, plus around $50 for dental. Of the city's 158 employees, 38 carry dependent coverage at this point, aldermen said.
But Ward Five Alderman D.W. Maxwell said he had wanted quotes on a $25,000 life insurance policy for city employees figured into the numbers before they were voted on, and Ward Two Alderman Terry Bates was against voting on them Tuesday night because they were a budget item. Ward Three Alderman Mary Wilson said she hadn't understood the discussion to have been closed on the insurance at last Thursday night's meeting.
"I can't have open enrollment if we don't have insurance to offer them," City Clerk Mike Jinks said, explaining again that open enrollment begins Sept. 1, and numbers have to be available to put in a letter to send out to city employees.
City Public Works Director Steve Moreton also updated aldermen on some city projects that are currently in the works, as well as filling them in advancements with the National Flood Insurance Program.
Moreton also asked aldermen to go ahead and turn in any property that needs cleaning so his office can start the process of alerting owners.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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