‘A’ Board purchases land

Albany city council members met in open session for about 20 minutes on Monday, Nov. 12, then closed the meeting for 45 minutes to go over city manager Billy Holson’s annual evaluation. 

No action was taken when the session was re-opened.

Several other items were approved during the evening.

“A” Board Purchase

The council passed a motion allowing the city’s “A” tax board to purchase 42.09 acres of land from the Clarke Estate developers. The property is frontage on Hwy. 6 and is priced at $4,000 per acre for a total of $168,360.

There are no immediate plans for the acreage, according to Holson.

“Opportunities don’t come along very often for a city to purchase property like this,” said Holson. “I think it’s a good deal and the city will be able to be involved in business development or something else at some point.”

James Waters made the motion to allow the purchase, with a second from Carolyn Waller and all in favor.

Post Office Lease

After a brief discussion, council members voted to approve a 10-year lease renewal for the lot that the U.S. Post Office sits on.

The property, which is located along the old railroad right-of-way that was donated for use by the Albany Volunteer Fire Department, was leased to the USPS in 2009 for $400 per month. That funding goes into the fire department’s budget, said Holson.

According to the original agreement, the lease will go up to $450 for the next 10 years, then the contract will be restructured.

The new lease, which was approved by the council, will go into effect in April, 2019.