Ongoing efforts by the City of Ardmore, TN to purchase a second tract of land along Main Street, adjacent to the tract of land purchased by the city in January, hit a second snag last week when the owner of the property rejected the city’s offer of $86,300 for the land in question.

News of the owner’s rejection of the city bid was delivered to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen by Vice Mayor Ken Crosson at last Thursday’s scheduled meeting.

“The owner rejected our offer of $86,300,” reported Crosson. “He said he would take $95,000 for the land and turn around and donate $5,000 to the library.”

Crosson went on to report that the owner of the property, Ranier Vonledersteger, had also objected to the city’s use of Butler Realty in the transaction. Crosson added that Vonledersteger would prefer not to use a realtor.

“He said he would put up a for sale sign, so we don’t own it yet,” said Crosson. “But, we still have first right of refusal on any deal.”

After discussing the matter, the board decided to hold off on making any firm decision on the land purchase and declined, at this time, to make a counter-offer.

Last Thursday’s news was the second time the attempted land purchase, a controversial issue, met with a roadblock. At last month’s board meeting, a motion to purchase the land was defeated by a 3-3 tie vote, with much disagreement among board members as to the wisdom of purchasing the land, rumored to be earmarked for the construction of a new city hall.

Aldermen Tim McConnell, Laurene Schrimsher and Janice Reece voted against the land purchase, while Mayor Bobby Hastings and Aldermen Raymond Crabtree and Garon Hargrove voted in favor of the motion. Crosson was not at the meeting due to illness.

One week following the last board meeting, a special meeting was called to reconsider the land purchase. At that meeting, the board passed a motion to make an offer on the land. Crosson, present at the meeting, along with Hargrove, Hastings and Crabtree voted in favor of the motion. Again, McConnell, Schrimsher and Reece voted against the purchase.

As last Thursday’s discussion continued, Mayor Hastings expressed his opinion that, regardless of whether or not the city purchased the additional tract of land, enough property already existed to build anything the city wanted. Crabtree also expressed his desire to see a 30x80 storage shed erected on the property to house equipment, as well as offices for the Street Department.

After discussing the matter, the board reached no firm decision on the issue.

In another issue related to the property on Main Street already owned by the city, Alderwoman Reece stated that she wanted, as a matter of record, to have any usable dirt accumulated by the city to be stored for use on projects at John Barnes Park and other city needs.

Street Superintendent Terry Barkley stated that storing dirt was not feasible, as rain often soaked into it and made it virtually unusable. Barkley suggested that when dirt became available, that the Street Department move it to wherever it was needed.

Reece next made a motion that Barkley be the person to decide when and where the dirt would be moved. After a somewhat spirited discussion, the board voted unanimously in favor of Reece’s motion.

The controversy over the use of dirt evidently came about due to reports that Alderman Crabtree had used the dirt taken from recent work on the Main Street property to fill a hole on his own property.

Crabtree was quick to defend his actions.

“I don’t ever want anything put in that hole that can be used anywhere else,” remarked Crabtree. “All this makes me feel like people think I am trying to get something from the city and I am getting tired of it.”

Mayor Hastings also defended the removal of the dirt from the Main Street site to Crabtree’s property.

“What Doug Wales took out needed to be taken out,” said Hastings. “Yes, there was some top soil but it had concrete and roots in it. If we had taken it to Athens, we would have to have paid a lot for it. We passed a resolution a couple of years ago to do what we are doing. People are fussing about this and they really don’t have a clue.”

Crosson then added that he would like to see the community focus more on the positive accomplishments in Ardmore over the past 10 years.

“For the last 10 years that I have been on this council, we have more paved streets and more money in the bank than at any time,” said Crosson. “It has happened because of a lot of hard work. We need to stress the positive and work together to sell Ardmore.”

Hastings added that location has been one of the reasons for Ardmore’s success, but added that much of the growth can be attributed to the creation of a positive atmosphere about the city. Hastings also stated that, in spite of the rapid growth of the city, taxes have never been raised.

Hastings followed by going on an extended tirade against the media coverage of the city. According to Hastings, recent articles that have appeared in the local media have stressed negative issues such as possible water shortages, sewer problems and drugs.

“They mention all these things but they never mention that we don’t have a crime rate in Ardmore,” concluded Hastings. “It’s ridiculous.’

Crosson added that he was in negotiations with an out-of-town businessman about the sale of a property in Ardmore for the location of a possible new business. Crosson expressed concerns that negative press might cause the person in question to reconsider locating in Ardmore.

In other business, Alderwoman Laurene Schrimsher raised the issue of the pay schedule for members of the board. According to Schrimsher, aldermen are paid every six months. Schrimsher stated that she felt that the aldermen, like the mayor, should be paid on a monthly basis.

After some discussion on the matter, no action was taken. Alderman Hargrove stated that he could see no reason to pay the aldermen on a monthly basis, stating that getting paid every six months was a long tradition in Ardmore.

“I would rather we not get paid at all, rather than change how we have done it for the last 30 to 40 years,” said Hargrove.

Hastings added that he was also opposed to taking any pay, but went on to say that the members of the board worked very hard and didn’t get paid what they were worth.

In a final matter, the board read a proclamation formally declaring the week of May 7-13 “Miss Rosa Driver Week,” in honor of Rosa Driver, who will celebrate her 105th birthday this Saturday.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen is at 6:30 PM on Thursday, June 1. The meetings are held in the City Hall Annex.