DORA — Mayor Randy Stephens spoke during Thursday’s Dora City Council meeting about a piece of property owned by the city that a local business owner is hoping to purchase.
Chris Wise, owner Wise Towing and Recovery as well as C&W Service Company, wants to purchase the land adjacent to land he already owns to expand his businesses.
“We are expanding and relocating our towing business and auto and truck repair shop,” Wise said. We are going to build a bigger building and try to get everything in one spot. It’s a small parcel of land on Horsecreek Boulevard in Dora’s commercial district in the back beside the old abandoned concrete plant.”
The property is located across from Water Wheel Lumber.
“If everything goes as planned, we hope to have the project finished by late 2024,@ Wise said. “We’ve already done major excavating and got 90 percent of the old concrete plant and waste finished. We ran into excavating problems last year, which pushed us to need this small piece of land the city owns beside us.”
Stephen’s said the city would have to declare the spot as surplus property with no foreseeable use for the city, which would allow for the sale.
Council members agreed to have the land surveyed first, at its cost, to get a description of the property. Wise said he will clear the back line of the property with a bulldozer and get an appraisal at his cost.
In other action from the meeting, the council:
• Agreed to a request from the Park and Recreation Department to purchase a $228 7-cubic-feet freezer for the concession stand to replace a broken one that cannot be repaired.
• Approved purchasing an ad for the Walker County Sports Hall of Fame program.
• Approved purchasing an electrical warming appliance, with a 35-pan capacity, for the Dora Civic Center for $1,631. Councilman Hezekiah Walker collected prices for various stoves and warmers for the council to review, with some being from Lowe’s and Home Depot, but the warmer picked was from an industrial company.
• Agreed to replace a damaged police patrol vehicle by using the police chief’s car.
The council agreed to keep the wrecked police vehicle. The insurance adjuster had offered $29,542 for the wrecked vehicle, but the council agreed to instead keep the car and take $24,229. While the wrecked vehicle is totaled, there are usable parts.
