There could be more room for parking at the city pool now the Tallassee City Council voted to remove the scout hut that stands adjacent to the property. According to city officials, the building is not worth the cost of repair and the city would better benefit from its demolishment.
"It needs a ton of work," Mayor Johnny Hammock said. "It's full of termites."
Councilmember Jeremy Taunton agreed demolishment would the best option because of the excessive cost of repairing the termite damage alone.
"I think it's a good move," Taunton said. "To order what was eat up by termites, it was $500. To redo all of would probably be about $5,000."
Currently, the scout hut is unused for the most part.
Taunton said it’s being used for storage and isn’t wanted.
According to city attorney John Smith, the city can declare the structure surplus and demolish it.
"Can we burn it down and have it demoed?" Hammock asked Smith.
Smith went on to explain the city is not obligated to surplus the building and open a bid a process.
"I don't think you have to put it out to bid,” Smith said. “I don't think the city is required to sell it.”
According to Hammock, the building holds little to no value.
"In my personal opinion, I don't think it's worth any money," Hammock said.
Not only would the cost to repair the structure outweigh the value, if the city did sell the structure the buyer would have to pay additional monies to have it relocated.
"The city would surplus the building and not the land," Smith said. "So, if anyone bought the building, they would have to move it from the land."
The scout hut has been in Tallassee for years before it found it's home next to the city pool, it was located where McDonald's is today.
The request to surplus and demolish the scout hut passed the council unanimously.
"I make a motion we surplus it with the notion to get rid of it, tear it down," councilmember Bill Godwin said. "It's not worth the advertising cost to advertise it in the paper."