City sets sights on new cabins, old houses

Some nice new cabins may be going up soon along a scenic cove on the east side of Mozingo Lake, but in Maryville itself other structures are on their way to being demolished.

The Maryville City Council this week listened to a pair of staff reports dealing with construction of at least one new rental cabin at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park along with the proposed demolition of four derelict houses inside the city limits.

As for the cabin, the city is still having discussions with Northwest Technical School officials about the possibility of partnering with the NTS Building Trades program.

The program offers a hands-on course beginning each fall during which students construct a single-family residence. The completed house is sold in the spring with the money being used to purchase a new lot for the next project.

If the cabin proposal moves forward, the city would contract with the Building Trades program to complete the vacation lodge then deed a vacant city-owned lot over to NTS for a subsequent construction project.

Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland told the council Monday the proposal offers a number of advantages. For one thing, Maryville would save a significant amount of money on labor for building the cabin — or cabins — while at the same time infilling vacant lots with new homes that would produce property tax revenue.

In its current budget, the city has set aside $60,000 for cabin construction, which Heiland said could finance either one large structure or perhaps a couple of smaller ones.

The park currently has five rental cabins located on the northeast shore of the 1,000-acre lake. A new cluster of lodges is envisioned for the southwest shore just north of the handicap fishing dock and overlooking Mozingo Lake Golf Course.

On the demolition front, the council is urging staff to continue an effort begun last summer that included the removal of seven abandoned houses.

City Manager Greg McDanel said demolition bids are being sought for a condemned residence at 115 N. Water St. In addition, the Board of Code Appeals is conducting hearings on three other substandard structures at 505 E. Sixth, 110 S. Fillmore and 816 E. Edwards.

The board has officially affirmed the structures are unsafe, which means that owners have 60 days to bring the properties into compliance.

McDanel said 10 other houses around town have been tagged for possible condemnation, and that as many 40 derelict residences are being investigated as substandard.

The council, which made derelict housing one of its top priorities for the current fiscal year, has earmarked approximately $70,000 for the demolition initiative.

In other business during its regular meeting Monday, the council approved a change order for a contract with Smith Contracting Co. of Maryville, which has been hired to rebuild the city's water/sewer maintenance facility on North Main Street. The building was destroyed by high winds in August 2011.

The change is the result of a mix-up with regard to a radiant heating system that was to be installed in the building's concrete floor. The system was not included in the contractor's bid and will add significantly to the construction cost.

In order to keep the project somewhere close to its original budget, and to expedite construction, which must, for insurance reasons, be completed by August, the city elected to reduce the size of a concrete apron on three sides of the proposed facility.

That and other modifications, brings the price down to $319,326, or $4,426 more than the original contract amount of $314,900.