Marion County Mayor John Graham describes elements of the proposed new campus site for Chattanooga State Community College in Kimball in this file photo.KIMBALL, Tenn. – The plan for Marion County to build a career and technical school along U.S. Highway 41 is pushing slowly forward, but city officials now must find a way to finance their $750,000 commitment to the project.
Last week, the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously to request alternate proposals for loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office.
One loan proposal will include the funding only for the city’s $750,000, officials said, while the other will include the city’s commitment to the technical school plus additional money to construct a boat ramp on the Tennessee River at Kimball Park.
“This might be the time that we can borrow enough money to try and do that along with this,” Kimball Mayor David Jackson said.
Officials said the boat ramp would help recruit fishing tournaments to Kimball, and they note that several smaller tournaments have been extremely beneficial to local businesses.