Published: June 08, 2009 08:39 am      

B’ville City Council discusses city property, wellness center

By Ivy Brashear / Staff Writer

The Barbourville City Council met on Thursday night to discuss issues pertaining to city property and a new wellness center proposed to be built by Union College, Barbourville mayor David Thompson said.

Jeff Speaks, a representative for Union College, gave a presentation with Commercial Bank President Steve Rhodes about the wellness center. They asked the City of Barbourville for an extension on a current contract that stated the first phase of the wellness center construction would be completed in two years.

Thompson said that the two were also asking the city to take out a $476,000 loan in order to complete the construction of the building. In exchange for taking out the loan, the city will be the first lien holder on the property and the wellness center, Thompson said.

The loan requested by Speaks and Rhodes will allow the construction to move forward immediately. The remainder of the funds needed to complete the project, approximately $11 million, has been obtained through grants, tax credits and other means, said Thompson.

Once the wellness center is completed, it will be operated and maintained solely by Union College and will be on the same level as similar facilities at the University of Kentucky, Thompson said.

“Everyone’s leery of the project because it’s hard to explain,” Thompson said.

The council voted to take out the loan and to move forward with the construction of the center.