KEVIN HALPERN, Courier Co-Editor
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 7:14 am

If a grant is received by the Town of Woodbury to help pay for relocating its fire hall, and the Woodbury Board of Mayor and Aldermen decide to follow through with the project, it was decided Tuesday night where it will be.

Following a motion by Alderman Faye Knox and a second by Alderman Charlie Harrell, the Board selected the Precision Auto Sports building on Alexander Dr. as the place.

The town has been pre-approved for a 50-50 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help pay for the cost of the project. However, before the grant could be submitted for the second phase of the application process, it was necessary to determine where to relocate the fire hall.

In addition to Knox and Harrell, Alderman Lois Larimer and Mayor Harold Patrick also voted in favor of the Precision Auto Sports building. Aldermen JoAnn Davis, Clayton Cason and Dotty Duggin voted against. Those three had previously voted to not move forward with the project at all.

Other locations under consideration were the Woodbury Auto Express building on Highway 53S and the former Jennings Motors building on North Tatum St.

Anthony Pelham, engineer with James C. Hailey & Company, told the Board that each location had its advantages and disadvantages. The main concerns he expressed about the Woodbury Auto Express building was its distance from downtown and the possibility it may one day have to be condemned if and when U.S. 70S is widened to four lanes through Woodbury.

Pelham’s concerns about the Jennings Motors building included the difficulty fire trucks would have from entering and leaving the building from West Water St., and the lack of an adequate North Tatum St. entrance.

The next step in the process is for an appraisal of the Precision building. Pelham must also submit with the application an estimate of what a new fire hall for Woodbury would cost if the town desired to build a new facility.

In other business Tuesday the Board:

• Adopted on first reading an ordinance, No. 442, which makes amendments to the existing codes pertaining to peddlers and solicitors desiring to do business in the Town of Woodbury. City Attorney Dale Peterson said the existing codes are outdated, citing as an example they prohibit vendors from operating on the Woodbury Town Square. Money paid by vendors during annual events such as Good Ole Days of Cannon County are crucial to the fundraising efforts of several local charitable organizations.

A public hearing will be held prior to the Board’s consideration of the ordinance on second reading at its January meeting.

• Approved the bid submitted by Madewell Construction, Inc. for continued rehabilitation of the town’s water system. The project will cost $461,367. The town will save $30,000 by purchasing water meters directly from United Utilities and not through Madewell. Another in a series of Community Development Block grants was received by the town to pay for the water system rehab work.