(A) Prior to the July 1985 announcement by General Motors Corporation that it would locate its Saturn automobile manufacturing plant adjacent to the city, its public facilities were adequate to serve its then population as well-as its projected growth for a period of at least 20 years as its population-had remained at or near 1,000 inhabitants for many years. (1980 population: 989; 1986 population: 1,094).
(B) The city had, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, made substantial investments in its infrastructure including the following capital improvements:
(1) The construction and installation of its first sanitary sewer system and the construction of the sewage treatment plant north of the Kedron Road, several miles outside its then present city limits;
(2) The expansion and improvement of its water system including the construction of present tank located adjacent to the City Hall, the enlargement of the size of certain water mains and the installation of a pump to fill the reservoir; and
(3) The repaving of all streets damaged by the water and sewer line construction which included almost every street within the city limits with the exception of U.S. Highway 31.
(C) It had also renegotiated its 1965 contract with the Columbia Board of Public Utilities which furnishes the city its entire water requirements by extending it for an additional 40 years from 1981.
(D) The size of the city had remained more or less constant since its initial incorporation in about the year 1838 and its population had actually decreased since that date. Subsequent to Saturn, the city (in most instances at the request of the property owners involved) undertook several major annexation programs as the result of which its pre-Saturn size of approximately 900 acres is now approximately 3,000 acres. Its 1990 population was 1,465, a 48% increase since the last U.S. Census of 1980.
(E) The residential and some limited commercial and industrial developments and those proposed or foreseen within the annexed areas have created demands for additions and expansions to the public facilities and infrastructure of the city including, but not limited to, an additional fire hall, additional water storage facilities, the improvement of certain roads, especially Buckner Road, Kedron Road and Beechcroft Road, the acquisition of additional police cars and firefighting equipment, fire hydrants and street lights in new subdivisions, and eventually the construction of its own facilities to acquire a public water supply for the city, either from underground sources or Duck River, and the construction and operation of a water treatment plant as well as the water lines required to connect the eventual source of water to the treatment plant.
(F) Before the Saturn announcement in 1985, the police force of the city consisted of a full-time City Marshal and one part-time police officer, which were served by one police car. Since Saturn, the police force has increased to eight including a Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain and five patrolers, all full-time. The city now often maintains five police cars. The only other employees pre-Saturn of the city were a part-time Recorder, an employee who operated the sewage treatment plant and another employee who supervised the public water system. The Recorder operated in a small room adjacent to the old fire hall on McLemore Avenue. Since Saturn, the city work force, besides the police, includes, in addition to the full-time Recorder, two full-time clerical employees at City Hall, a Building Inspector, three maintenance employees, a salaried Fire Chief, a sewage treatment plant supervisor and his or her assistant, a total of 18. The position of City Judge has also been created and filled.
(G) A new City Hall costing in excess of $1,000,000 has been erected and it is necessary that it be maintained. A new fire hall has been constructed on Beechcroft Road which was financed by a loan from the Farmers Home Administration.
(H) The following is a list of the proposed capital improvements along with their estimated costs required to serve the new developments almost all of which have developed or will develop in areas annexed to the corporate limits of the city since July of 1985:
Proposed Improvements and Estimated Costs 1994-1999 |
Proposed Improvements and Estimated Costs 1994-1999 | |
(1) Street improvements, outside pre-1985 city limits | |
(a) Kedron Road improvement | $500,000 |
(b) Buckner Road improvement | $100,000 |
(c) Buckner Lane improvement | $50,000 |
(d) Moore Lane improvement | $200,000 |
(e) Depot Street improvement | $100,00 |
$950,000 | |
(2) New water storage facilities | |
(a) Williamson County tank | $200,000 |
(b) Kedron Road tank | $200,000 |
$400,000 | |
(3) New fire hall | $100,000 |
(4) New fire equipment (pumper, tanker truck, rescue equipment vehicle, extraction equipment, gear for additional firefighters and the like) | $375,000 |
(5) Additional police cars | $50,000 |
(6) Additional public works equipment | $130,000 |
(7) Water supply and treatment plant | $2,000,000 |
(8) Upgrading sanitary sewer system | $200,000 |
TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS | $4,205,000 |
(I) As stated in the introductory paragraphs, prior to July 1985, the public facilities of the city were adequate for its purposes for the next 20 years. All of the foregoing facilities, constructed and proposed, and the additional personnel are required because of developments since the Saturn announcement almost all of which are in areas annexed to the city since that time. It is anticipated that the costs of the proposed facilities will be paid at least in part by the privilege tax on new construction to be imposed by an ordinance and any other impact fees that may be imposed. In order to construct some of the improvements it is anticipated that funds may be borrowed on the full faith and credit of the city and that the taxes herein levied and any impact fees imposed will be used as partial repayment of such indebtedness. A portion of these costs will, of necessity, be born by the inhabitants of the city located within its old corporate limits who will be required to help defray the cost of the facilities which would not have been required, except for the new developments cost of which are outside the old corporate limits. Where the revenue realized from the privilege taxes to be imposed and any other impact fees that might be imposed are inadequate to meet the payments on any future indebtedness, the deficiency will be paid by the general revenues of the city.
(J) The proposed improvements will be undertaken as the revenues of the city allow. The initial priority of the projects is in the order set forth above. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen may, at any time, by appropriate notion or resolution, change the priority of the projected capital improvements.
(2011 Code, § App. B)