The City Council on Tuesday night deferred action until Aug. 14 on a Berke administration proposal for surplusing of three buildings near City Hall.
Councilman Darrin Ledford had a number of questions about the move, and he was absent from the meeting. Stacy Richardson, chief of staff to the mayor, said the answers were being prepared.
She said the questions were mainly about "process."
Councilman Erskine Oglesby said he wanted a delay "until we get more answers and details."
Helen Burns Sharp, who heads Accountability for Taxpayer Money (ATM), spoke to the City Council about the issue last Tuesday night. She also raised questions.
City Councilman Anthony Byrd last week asked if Ms. Sharp could be supplied answers to her questions by the time of the afternoon agenda session next Tuesday. City staffers said that would be done.
Ms.Sharp said Tuesday she had not gotten anything from the staff.
She said, "I look forward to hearing answers to the questions on how much it will cost the city, initially and long term, for staff in the City Hall Annex and Internal Audit building to be relocated and whether the city plans to have appraisals done on the three properties."
Ms. Sharp last week said, "Next week's City Council agenda includes resolutions that would declare three city buildings near City Hall as 'surplus' and transfer them to the Industrial Development Board.
"The properties under consideration are the "Internal Audit" building on Lindsay; property on E. 10th St. at Houston, and the City Hall Annex on E. 11th where the City Attorneys and 311 are located. The IT Department had been there but last year leased space in the Edney Building for $662,000 over a four-year period.
"These properties fall within the Innovation District. The new plan for the district challenges us to think outside the box and look differently at the 140 acres in the downtown and MLK neighborhoods. Mayor Berke, in his recent State of the City Address, announced that the City is offering up these buildings to help stimulate mixed use development.
"The Council's responsibility is to examine the concept, determine if it is in the best interests of the City, and, if so, be transparent with the public about how much this transformation is going to cost.
"If a member of the public happened to see the July 31 Council agenda and wanted to comment, tonight is the only opportunity. Here are my thoughts and questions.
"Property is typically considered "surplus" when it no longer serves the needs of the city and, therefore, the public. The Internal Audit building and the City Hall annex are currently being used. Where are these employees going? What impact will moving them have on the efforts over the years to create a city "campus" where city offices are close to one another?
"Have you seen a fiscal impact statement? The City currently owns the buildings where these offices are located. How much it will cost the city, initially and long-term, for them to be relocated?
"Why would these properties be transferred to the IDB? The King Street parking lot, which was declared surplus several years ago, was transferred to the CDRC rather than the IDB. What is the difference? A more fundamental question is why you need to involve another city entity at all. Council members are elected and therefore accountable. The good volunteers who serve on these boards are neither. Millions of dollars are at play here as these properties are sold.
"Will there be appraisals of the three properties? That did not happen on King Street until the public raised a ruckus. What would be the mechanism for the sales?
"ATM respectfully requests that Council table these resolutions until the Mayor's Office gives you more information on cost and process. To use a phrase Councilman Mitchell once used, 'they need more time in the oven.'
"The resolutions need to be expanded with a series of recitals ("whereases") and findings explaining what the city plans to do, why you want to do it, how you are going to do it and what it will likely cost taxpayers."
Outgoing City Attorney Wade Hinton said it has been decided to transfer the three buildings to the Chattanooga Downtown Redevelopment Corporation (CDRC) rather than the IDB.