CLARKESVILLE — Clarkesville City Manager Barbara Kesler is ecstatic that the city finally has been able to obtain what city officials long have identified as an eyesore property and that cleanup of the property has begun.
On Monday, city crews arrived en masse with heavy equipment to begin clearing the overgrown vegetation behind the former International Outerwear factory at the corner of Madison Street and West Water Street just off the west side of the downtown square.
The city purchased the 1.3-acre parcel and buildings, owned by agents of a defunct corporation from New York City, for $100,000.
Out-of-state owners are one aspect that created lengthy delays for the city in purchasing the property.
Kesler said purchase of the land was one of the first goals set out for her by then-Mayor Terry Greene soon after she went to work for the city.
The purchase happened after the city began condemnation proceedings on the property.
"We have to have somebody to serve, an actual person to serve, and since the corporation had been inactive since the '80s ... [City Attorney Janney Sanders] found out who the owners were of the corporation and found another corporation that they were involved with, and actually got the son of the gentleman who ran or owned this plant," Kesler said.
Asked if the city had the property valued before purchasing it, Kesler said an appraisal was done prior to the sale.
"We had to have it appraised for the condemnation," Kesler said. "It appraised at $200,000, then we also had estimates done for how much it was going to cost to demolish both of the buildings. We had several different estimates, but that was in the $70,000-$90,000 range."
The city already had a Phase 1 Environmental Survey conducted on the property, finding minimal issues.
Kesler said the city was able to close the purchase of the long-vacant building last week, noting cleanup of the property is a priority for city staff the early part of this week.
Although foliage will be removed and the grounds cleaned up this week, demolition of the building will have to wait at least a little while until funds are available.
"I suspect the funds will become available in the next 30 to 45 days," Kesler said.
The most recent round of discussion by city officials to obtain the property began in June 2015, but had been a dream of city officials for many years.
Kesler said long-term goal is to relocate the fire department to a new building on that property, with drive-through bays oriented toward Monroe Street so the trucks can leave the station and proceed out Reeves Street directly to Monroe Street for access to where they're needed.
"The short-term goal is to get it all demolished, get it graded, get some gravel down and use it for parking," Kesler said.
Despite the poor condition of the property, taxes on the parcel were current until this year.
Less than $2,000 in property taxes due Jan. 1, 2016, remained unpaid and were waived as a condition of the sale closing, Kesler said.
"Victory is ours!" an excited Kesler said. "It's great. I'm just real glad it finally happened, because it's difficult when you have landowners that are not only out of the city but out of the state — way up in New York, and they own lots of properties. That's what they do is buy properties and sit on them."
