Groundbreaking for town’s new Food City set for April 5

food city logoBy MIKE WILLIAMS

The Patriot

Ground will be broken on Wednesday, April 5 for the new Food City store at the corner of East Main Street and Bob White Boulevard in the Town of Pulaski.

Town Manager Darlene Burcham announced during a meeting of Town Council on Tuesday that a groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. that day at the site – the former Lee Jeans plant.

She said that, in advance of that event, the owners of the building have agreed to allow the facility to be used as a fire training facility.

“Next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday they (firefighters) will be in that building conducting training exercises as well as all day on Saturday,” Burcham explained.

She said the training is being sponsored by the Pulaski Fire Department, but volunteer departments from throughout the region have been invited to participate.

“It’s a very unusual opportunity for them to have a building they can go in and break windows and tear down doors and do things that would be part of their firefighting activity in the event of a serious fire,” she continued.

  • Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Burcham told council Appalachian Power will soon begin an LED lighting project on Route 11 in the town, in which they will be replacing the old street lights bulbs with LED bulbs.
  • Council approved a resolution appointing Tim Hale as the town’s new building official. Hale has been working parttime, but will begin fulltime employment April 1. He has one year to acquire all the necessary certifications to fill the position, which is one of the few that council is charged in filling.
  • Council approved a special exception for the property at 2460 Lee Highway, the former medical offices next to LewisGale Hospital Pulaski.

The special exception excludes several uses for the property including hospitals, nursing homes, continuing care facilities, alcohol, substance abuse and drug treatment centers, sanitariums, hospices, facilities for the residence or care for the elderly, handicapped or chronically ill, residential facilities for nurses and physicians.

Shah Development, owners of the property, had requested approval of the special exception after plans for Mainspring Recovery Center to establish a residential treatment center for substance abuse disorders at the facility were withdrawn.