In a special called meeting Wednesday afternoon, with all members present except Scot Shanks, the Crossville City Council unanimously approved three consent-agenda items.

The first was regarding an additional $2,000 to cover bid overages for conversion of two existing tennis courts to pickle ball courts.

The second item addressed $8,521.50 for the purchase of 190 feet of 48-inch pipe to alleviate drainage issues along Tenth Street, on property belonging to Crossville Community Church.

The final item concerns a $40,000 change order request regarding Garrison Park excavation costs.

The council also took up two economic-development issues.

The first of those issues was the city’s potential donation of a 3.9-acre parcel to Hilltoppers, Inc. of Crossville, if/when their current property on Sweeney Drive is sold to a developer. A motion was made by J.H. Graham III and seconded by Mayor James Mayberry, to agree to donate the land “and any and all building permits, any technical advice where appropriate, and water and sewer taps connected to a certain building project.” The motion passed unanimously on roll-call vote.

The other topic of discussion was the prospective relocation of Rural King to the former Kmart building. City Manager Greg Wood laid out three potential scenarios for incentives for the company to locate here – including one that would see a five-year repayment plan of a $300,000 loan; a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) option that would necessarily include donation of the property to the Industrial Development Board and its handling of the transfer; and a third that would involve a PILOT in addition to a loan at 1.5 percent below the prime rate (prime is currently four percent).

According to the figures provided by the company, they intend to bring 65 jobs to the area, with an estimated payroll of $1.3 million.

Councilman Graham recommended a plan that would include a PILOT at 50 percent over fifteen years. The City would also need to get County approval for this.

Mayor Mayberry asked whether Lowe’s, Food City or Badcock Furniture had received similar incentives to locate to Crossville; the answer was no on all counts. He then said Rural King would be competing with at least twelve other existing local businesses, and none of those others got similar considerations. “I think our waiver of fees to get cranked up is all I can support,” he said.

Councilman Rob Harrison said he was uncomfortable with the idea of approving something without giving it due consideration. “I would like to unpack some of these things a little more,” he said.

After considerable discussion, the council decided to table the matter until a future meeting.