By Katie Northcott, News Director
In a video posted to his campaign page on Facebook on Tuesday, April 21, Coffee County Mayor Dennis Hunt announced his intent to present a plan to the Coffee County Purchasing Commission to sell the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center.
“I personally do not believe that Coffee County taxpayers are receiving an excellent return on their investment [in the Conference Center] at this time,” Hunt said.
Hunt said the sale of the Conference Center building should follow the same process it took to sell the Arrowheads/Aerospace Museum.
Hunt said that he thought the county should hire a local realtor to sell the property through a bidding process. He was hopeful that a private company might purchase the building and that the property tax and sales tax revenue generated by the business would contribute to the county’s and City of Manchester’s coffers.
The city is a joint owner of the Conference Center with the county. Hunt said that if the city made the highest bid on the building, the city would pay 50% of its bid. Hunt did not say whether he had presented his plan to Manchester government officials.
“Coffee County government opted out of the operational cost a few years ago,” Hunt said. “I feel like it’s time for Coffee County Government to opt out of the ownership.”
Peterson Media Group reached out to Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs for comment. Hobbs responded with the following statement:
“The City of Manchester has not had any conversation with Mayor Hunt about selling the Event Center. The City does own 50% with the county owning the other 50%; the City has a lease to operate the center. That all I know.”
In the interest of balanced press coverage during early voting in the Coffee County Primary Election, Peterson Media Group reached out to Hunt’s opponent in the primary, Cheryl Swan, for comment. Swan responded with the following statement:
“The Manchester Coffee County Conference Center has been part of this community for more than two decades. It was built through a joint commitment by the city and the county. Local families have held weddings, and reunions there, as well as civic engagements, proms, etc.
“Any thoughtful conversation about its future deserves to start from the facts.
“What it does not deserve is what happened. The City of Manchester has an active operational lease, and the city and county have been co-parties to the underlying agreement. When I heard about the announcement, I reached out to Mayor Hobbs – he had just learned of it himself, and confirmed the city’s lease. That is the kind of coordination that has to happen first, not after.
“When major decisions about jointly owned public assets are floated on campaign pages rather than through established intergovernmental processes, the community ends up with more uncertainty, not less. That is not how Coffee County does its best work.
“A serious conversation about this facility is warranted – it deserves an independent valuation, stakeholder input, and real coordination with the city as a co-party to the agreement. It deserves a full county commission vote with proper public notice. It deserves a community conversation before an announcement, not instead of one.
“There may be models that serve us better – a third party operator, or a tri-government partnership or Welcome Center for Coffee County. Those options deserve real conversation first.
“With my prior government service to the City of Manchester, I know what real intergovernmental process looks like. Coffee County deserves a mayor who leads with it and desires to work together with our two city governments while keeping the taxpayers best interest now and in the future at the heart of all decisions.”
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