By Scott Pearson

Staff Writer

The City of Lewisburg has been asked to contribute to the expansion of the Marshall County Office of Veterans Services.

Larry McKnight, a local veteran involved in efforts to improve services for vets in the county, asked the city to consider taking a role in the local Veterans Service office.

“We are trying to look at all areas where we have gaps,” McKnight said, “and trying to fill those gaps.”

Currently under county oversight, some local veterans have expressed dissatisfaction with the current part-time arrangement at the office.

The county budgets less than $40,000 per year currently for part-time office coverage and transportation to Veterans Administration facilities in Murfreesboro or Nashville.

They would like to see the office funded sufficiently to move to full-time status, to better serve the estimated 2,300 veterans in Marshall County.

Councilman Nicholas Tipper said that he had been contacted by a county commissioner describing the “inconsistency” in the office’s service.

City Administrator Randall Dunn said that the city had been in talks for the upcoming budget year to partner with the county to increase funding and service in the office.

A proposal would be forthcoming for the council to consider, he said.

“Everyone wants to get a much improved level of service for our veterans,” Dunn said.

Addressing another agenda item, the council heard a presentation from Retail Solutions, a Birmingham-based company that helps match cities, developers, and businesses for retail development.

Lewisburg has contracted with the company for the last three years to aid in the recruitment of new retail businesses to the city.

Cost over that period for the city has been $88,000, although $25,000 was originally funded through a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The company has aided in the recruitment of several recent additions to the city, including Hwy55, Sweet Cece’s, Dirt Cheap, Farmers Home Furniture, and Bojangles.

Based on national annual revenue numbers, they estimate roughly $4.5 million in sales from the businesses they have helped recruit to town.

Retail Solutions continues to pursue other opportunities to match retailers with existing sites and developers in Lewisburg.

The council will vote on an extension of their contract at Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting.

Councilmen will also consider approving an engineering contract with Goebbell Hays to begin work on renovations at Lewisburg’s main fire hall. The building suffers from plumbing problems and needs renovation as well to support female firefighters.

Councilmen were also asked to consider which road corridor would be next considered as part of the ongoing process to provide zoning and development guidelines for the city’s main thoroughfares.

The West Commerce Street/ Highway 373 or the Bypass South area, defined as Ellington Bypass from East Commerce Street to Cornersville Highway, are the next areas to be considered for enhanced planning.

Common Ground, the Nashville planning and zoning firm that has consulted for the city during the planning process, is also proposed to assist the city in developing guidelines for a Tax Increment Financing plan, or TIF, to spur local housing development. TIF plans refund property taxes generated from a new development to the developer for a certain number of years to offset the costs to install water and sewer lines, roads and sidewalks, and other public benefits.

The city has identified a need for more housing in the city aimed at potential professional residents and a TIF plan is seen as a way to spur development of higher end homes in the 2,000-square-feet size.

Lewisburg Director of Economic Development Greg Lowe presented two proposals from the meeting of the Lewisburg Industrial Development Board earlier in the day.

Christian Brands will seek enrollment in a Pilot program with the city for proposed expansions at their current facility in the I-65 Business Park. The payment in lieu of taxes arrangement is designed to offset some of the cost of business expansion by offering a break on property and personal property taxes for a set amount of time.

The proposed five year deal is fairly standard, offering no tax payments the first year and increasing by 20 percent each year for the rest of the term. The agreement would save Christian Brands roughly $173,000 to help defray costs on a $3 million expansion that is predicted to add 40 jobs to the facility.

Billy Coble offered an approximate 37-acre site in the Industrial Park to the city for $4,000 per acre. The land, located at Old Belfast Road and Industrial Drive, is available for industrial development, but any action on the city’s behalf met with a lukewarm reaction both at the IDB and the council work session.