Mark Payne, of Marion County, Tenn.KIMBALL, Tenn. - Construction of a technical school on the 150-acre Holland Farm property along U.S. Highway 41 has been an ongoing issue for more than three years in Marion County.
Once again, the project seems to be gaining steam for an actual ground-breaking.
On Thursday, the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved unanimously the preliminary drawings for the route of a new sewer line to the school's planned site.
Mayor David Jackson said the extension of 2,200 feet of sewer line will cost an estimated $458,400 and will run from Industrial Boulevard and under Interstate 24 to reach the property.
"This is just an estimated cost," he said. "We could come in lower. We could come in higher. You just don't ever know about these projects."
The existing line at Industrial Boulevard will have to be pressure-tested, officials said, since it hasn't been used yet and has been in the ground for many years.
"It should be fine, but anything could happen," Alderman Mark Payne said.
If there are problems with the existing line, the cost of the extension project could increase significantly, officials said.
Jackson said the results of those tests are an "unknown factor" in the cost of the project.
The route for the extension was chosen because it had the least amount of potential issues and costs, officials said.
Jackson said Kimball will have to "deal" with two property owners using the proposed route, and tying on to the city's main sewer line would more than double the cost of the extension because it would pass through many property owners' land.
"This is obviously the shortest route to go," Alderman Jerry Don Case said. "It would be nice if we could tie in [to the city's main line], but it's just too difficult. I think this is the only route we've got a choice with."
If the project is completed at the estimated cost, Jackson said, it will leave about $300,000 left over for "whatever they desire" on the construction of the school.
In the future, the sewer line could be extended to service nearby residential areas and "the surveying for that has already been done," he said.
"We're looking to try and break ground [on the extension to the school site] in the springtime," he said. "It's not something that's going to happen tomorrow or next week."