By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Grayson Mayor Troy Combs opened conversations about the future of Grayson Tourism’s Blue Goose building when he stopped by the group’s final regular meeting of the year to inquire about a bill his office received for consulting. Combs said the city had not budgeted for the $10,000 amount in the bill, and so he had questions about whether the funds were in tourism’s budget and what exactly it covered.
Tourism commission chair Mindy Woods-Click explained to Combs that the bill was for consulting duties retained by Tourism and the Main Street program, which were reimbursable through a USDA grant. Ultimately, she explained, the USDA grant would cover the full cost of the consultant. However, the city would have to cover those expenses in full before the USDA would approve the reimbursement.
Among the moves suggested by the redevelopment consultant was a plan that would move the Grayson Gallery from its current location in the old fire department building to a shared space in the Blue Goose building. This move, Woods-Click explained, would put the gallery and its many events on Main Street and give Main Street businesses more visibility with visitors to those events.
It would also make the work on display at the gallery more accessible for viewing, and potentially for purchase, as the Blue Goose building will contain other local businesses and be open to the public on a more regular schedule. Woods-Click emphasized, however, that this is a part of the group’s long term plan, and not a move that will necessarily be made in the near future.
Tourism also heard an update on the renovation of the Blue Goose building. Woods-Click explained that the first set of bids they solicited included everything they could dream for in the space. With those numbers in hand, she said, tourism could now look at costs and prioritize what they need to do, what they would like to do, and what was within their budget to do.
She said repairs to the roof were one of the items that they determined needed to stay in any future bids. But expanding space on the second floor was one of the items they were not going to be able to proceed with at this time. She said the requirements to make the second floor stable and load bearing were currently cost-prohibitive. So was outside access to restrooms via the Gap micro-park space. Restrooms will still be available inside for patrons and visitors to the space, however.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the revised construction plan and bid it out again.
In the treasurer’s report, Don Combs noted that the hotels have fallen behind again in their tax payments. Sports park manager Grant Harper said this matches a pattern they’ve seen from the hotels in the past. He said as business slows down in the winter months the hotels have tended to stop paying their taxes, and instead use the tax money they are collecting to cover other business costs.
In his park report Harper noted that they’ve begun work on the parking lot and road improvements through the park, and that they will be closing the park to the public when they begin pouring concrete for the entryway and road, so they don’t have to try to work around automobiles.
The commission also heard an update from Shadow Skaggs on their contract with Backroads of Appalachia, including a plan for a new route starting and ending in Grayson that takes riders through both Grayson Lake and Carter Caves State Parks, as well as Greenbo Lake and a pair of covered bridges in Greenup County.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
