Opposition to a new Hinkle Fire Station currently under development through a public-private partnership between Walker County and Ten Foot Properties LLC is heating up.
In addition to a petition signed by area residents and property owners, Hinkle property owner Jason Bednar has asked both Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Buzz Franklin to stop the project and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office to ask the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into issues he sees with project’s contract.
“Let me be clear, I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but would like the state and federal authorities to objectively see what’s going on,” Bednar said in regards to his requests. “I’m just a concerned public citizen who just got into looking at this and got sick at what I found.”
His concerns with the project at the intersection of Lula Lake Road and Highway 157 include the county completing site work and infrastructure improvements to a site that will incorporate both the new fire station and a commercial development being built by Robert and Elliott Davenport, known supporters of Walker County Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell. Additionally, with the county’s recent budget shortfall and tax anticipation notice, Bednar said he doesn’t understand how the county can afford to build anything at this point in time.
“This isn’t just a Hinkle resident issue, it’s a Walker County issue,” he said.
Heiskell said she has no problem with the GBI looking into the project.
“Two lawyers, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the U.S. Corp of Engineers, two private engineers hired by Ten Foot Properties LLC, two stormwater specialists, the planning office, the [county] planning commission and a professional landscape designer have been involved in this project,” she said. “If the GBI wants to get in on the action, I welcome them.”
Currently, the only cost to the county is the labor being provided by Walker County employees, whereas Ten Foot Properties LLC has already spent an estimated $300,000 on design, permits and material for the project, she said. At this point, no labor costs have been calculated for the project since payroll records for county employees do not indicate where the employee worked during the pay period, said Heiskell.
She has said funding for the construction of the fire station will likely come from the SPLOST referendum county residents will vote on in November. The project’s contract, which was obtained by Walker County Weekly, indicates that a deed to the property for the fire station will be transferred to the county once it has completed the agreed-upon site work and road construction for the project.
“This is a public-private partnership and Walker County wants to see this project accomplished whether there is a fire station there or not,” said Heiskell. “We want the increase in our tax base. We lost over $34 million in property values in the year 2012. We want a place to buy gasoline on the Walker County side of Lookout Mountain. We want reatail business in a location where Walker County people will not continue to make their retail purchases in Dade County, but will buy in Walker County to help us [with] retail sales tax that supports Walker County.”
She said the International Standards Organization has told the county it needs a new fire station since the current one is energy inefficient, has no day room, no water/oil separator for the trucks and isn’t in an ideal location to provide services.
“Even if people don’t realize it, their homeowners insurance would go down with proper coverage or up without it,” said Heiskell.