Faulty Foundation at Dover City Hall could cost tens of thousands of $$$ to fix

By David R. Ross — LBLUS.com reporter ………

It was a shock, but not a big surprise to some longtime city residents that our mid-1990s era city hall has substantial foundation problems and the building is literally cracking up. Interim Dover City Administrator Charles Parks told city officials last night he needs to hire an engineer to come in and assess the extent of the damage, which could cost upwards of $150,000 or more to repair. The city council during last night’s meeting approved up to $4,000 for an engineer to drill “pilot holes” in the foundation to determine the extent and estimated cost of the damage. Parks said brick is cracking away from the outside of the building in several places and the building is literally pulling away from the ground. Longtime Dover residents remember the location where the current city hall now sits was once a deep hole and slope. Fill dirt was put in the hole and allegedly compacted to specifications prior to the city hall being built. Officials now say that process was obviously flawed. Some city officials say some windows will not open properly. “We need to act quickly so we won’t lose the building,” Parks said. City officials say on preliminary inspection the problems appear to be “pretty bad” and could be even worse than that. “We need to do our homework to see where we are,” Parks said. “We just can’t go in and level it up. It could be worse than we think.” Mayor Lesa Fitzhugh said the vacant lot beside city hall that is being considered to be sold may be needed to house a new building for the fire department, that is now in the basement of the flawed city hall. The sale of the vacant lot did not go forward last night as city officials got conflicting information on if they can sell it now or now. The city attorney got one version from Municipal Technical Advisor Service (MTAS) that said the proposed sale must first go through the Dover Planning Commission and Parks said another MTAS expert told him the city can go ahead and sell it. During the meeting another city official got a call from an expert from Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC) saying the city was OK to sell the lot. The city attorney advised against the sale until it all went through the planning commission for a recommendation. Two council members present at the meeting voted last month to sell the lot on an online bidding website and another council member and the mayor voted against the sale. A third city council member who also voted last month to sell the lot was not at last night’s meeting, so no vote was taken. The issue is slated to go before the Dover Planning Commission.

Interim Dover City Administrator Charles Parks told council members tonight he needs about four thousand dollars just to find out what kind of problems there are with the foundation at the Dover, TN City Hall of U.S. 79. When asked how bad the problems with city hall are and about how much it will cost to repair, Parks said, “AAARRGH! It might cost $150,000 or more.” Council members at tonight’s Dover City Council meeting approved up to $4,000 so Seth Rye Engineering of Erin TN can come in with a civil engineer and begin to determine the extent of the problem. — More to come. I just got home from the meeting and I have not yet had supper. — Stay tuned on this news and on the sale of the vacant lot beside Dover City Hall.