Taft Youth Development Center, shown here in December 2011, was closed permanently last summer and now is a property of the state Department of Correction.
Proposed water plantPikeville and the Tennessee Department of Correction are working on a deal for the city to operate the water treatment plant at the former Taft Youth Development Center property on the Cumberland Plateau.
“It does look very promising, but there’s nothing concrete,” Pikeville Mayor Phil Cagle said Monday. “It’s in the process of working out all the details and working out whether we’re going to work out a lease.”
The city, TDOC and the Southeast Tennessee Development District are studying the idea, Cagle said.
As the proposed operator, the city would have to upgrade the small plant to make sure it meets the same standards as Pikeville’s newly revamped water system in town, he said.
State officials project it will cost about $3 million to prepare the plant.