Carter County Tomorrow obtains option on former aluminium plant

Carter County Tomorrow will obtain an option on the Matheson property on U.S. Highway 19E, where an aluminium extrusion plant once operated. It includes 22 acres on the building site and an adjoining 10 to 12 acres of undeveloped land.

The option guarantees an asking price of $4,069,000 for the building, which was built approximately 40 years ago and was owned and operated by several aluminium companies, including Jarl Extrusions, Alcan, Cressona, Alumax and Alcoa. Alcoa closed the plant in 2002. The building has been vacant since that time.

The building was included on a list of Carter County properties submitted to the state for professional property evaluation. Elizabethton Planning Director Jon Hartman told the board of Carter County Tomorrow that the Matheson property was considered to be the one viable site on the list. One of the property’s assets is that it is one of the few sites on flat ground. With that professional assessment, Carter County Tomorrow decided to take out the option with Matheson. The county will pay Matheson $4,000 for a three-year non-exclusive option.

Hartman said the option allows Matheson to continue efforts to sell the property without Carter County Tomorrow. Hartman said if Matheson was able to sell the property, it would have Carter County Tomorrow’s blessing because that would be bringing a new company to the county.

Hartman said the main purpose of the option is to allow Carter County Tomorrow and other marketers to advertise the property with a guaranteed purchase price. Hartman said in cases where the price has to be negotiated, the price is often inflated if a company’s interest in it is exposed.

The board was also briefed on last month’s decision by the Carter County Commission to return the county hotel and motel tax proceeds to the Tourism Council. Chamber of Commerce Director Tonya Stevens said Carter County Attorney Josh Hardin is working on a contract.

The County Commission has held the proceeds in reserve for the past several months while it considered other options. The Tourism Council was not able to hire a director of tourism because of the cutoff of funds.

As a result of the reinstatement, Stevens said advertisements about Carter County will once again be placed in travel and tourism publications.

In other matters, the board met in executive session with attorneys Sam LaPorte and Charlton DeVault Jr. to discuss the lawsuit filed against the organization by the Carter County Commission.