Pikeville board looks at town hall
By Aaron Moore
Published in News on August 7, 2012 1:46 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Town officials voted Monday night to move forward with discussions on renovating the old town hall, although it's still uncertain how much the project could cost.
The town's government had to vacate the building on Railroad Street due to extensive water damage, and they have been operating out of a mobile home on West School Street for three years.
After working another summer in the hot mobile unit, town Administrator Kathie Fields said last month it was time to move out.
Although the board already hired an architect from AECOM, a design and construction company based out of Raleigh, to conduct a feasibility study and provide a draft of potential renovations to the old building, members went into closed session to discuss the purchase of land for a new location for a town hall building -- but in the end decided to review AECOM's estimates on fixing the old building.
Mrs. Fields said the next step is to see what AECOM would charge for the project and how much grant application fees to the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be.
Board members said they are moving forward knowing they can back out and entertain other options if the project seems too costly.
In other business Monday, the town board approved a variance to the Pikeville Fire Department so that firefighters can fire guns for their turkey shoots within town limits, as long as they let the town know 10 days in advance. The turkey shoots are usually held twice a year, one in the spring and one in the fall.
The board also voted to paint stripes on one of the police department's new Dodge Chargers, so that the department now has two striped Chargers and a striped Ford.
The board voted to replace a fire hydrant on the corner of Church Street at an estimated $5,500 and to re-pave Ann Drive and part of Yvonne Drive at an estimated $11,800.