City Bond Board members were assured Tuesday that the $1 billion Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga is still underway.
Steve Leach, city public works administrator, said no footings have yet been poured at the site at the Enterprise South Industrial Park, but he said steps continue to be taken to transfer the site to Volkswagen.
Mr. Leach said, "That is a very good sign. We're still moving forward."
Ted Mills, bond board chairman, had asked, "Do you see any curtailment of the VW project?"
Bill Payne, city engineer, said, "I'm not aware of any curtailment. We certainly haven't seen it at all."
Mr. Mills said, "We sure hope they don't curtail it."
Toyota announced Monday that it would finish its new plant near Tupelo, Miss., then mothball it until economic conditions improve.
Mr. Payne said one Volkswagen employee has bought a house and moved his family here. He said VW employees "are in and out."
Mr. Leach said steps are being taken to set up a "trailer city" at the construction site. He said parking is also being readied for construction workers.
He said, "It continues to march on."
The bond board approved the purchase of electrical transformers for a substation at the VW plant. The low bid by WEG Transformers was $1,765,200.
There was also a change order adding $219,200 to a sewer contract, making the total $824,440.
The bond board also approved taking temporary ownership of the site of the Double Tree Hotel downtown, which will get a tax break after making a $20 million investment.