The Piedmont City Council’s more than a decade-long search to find a tenant for the old Piedmont Hospital building has finally come to an end.
Officials, on Tuesday, agreed to sell the former hospital to Dr. Davisson Edmond, owner of Family Health and Wellness Center in Oxford, for $30,000, breathing new life into the Calhoun Street facility that has sat vacant since closing in the 1990s.
The only stipulation is that Edmond invests at least $50,000 into the facility within one year. That shouldn’t be a problem, however, as Edmond has grand plans for the facility. He plans to spend $300,000 in renovations in order to open a primary and urgent care clinic within a year, with the possibility of adding pediatric clinic in the future.
Edmond will soon hire a nurse practitioner and an additional physician to help with the new clinic.
Officials said that the city has been in great need of more physicians, as many residents currently travel out of the city for regular treatment.
In other business, the council approved a telecommunications franchise agreement with Mobilitie to increase cell phone data coverage and bring in additional revenue for the city.
Per the terms of the agreement, Mobilitie, the nation’s largest privately-held telecommunications infrastructure company will pay the city a yearly access fee of $2,500 to install a 70-foot pole and $1,350 per year for two smaller poles. They city will also get $500 per year for each potential cell phone service provider that utilizes the poles.
The council also approved a telecommunications franchise agreement with Tower Cloud, Inc. to construct and maintain a fiber-optic transmission line within certain rights-of-way with the city limits.
According to the agreement the city will receive 5-percent of gross receipts, estimated at $1,000 quarterly. Officials said the fiber-optic line would also result in a new wireless internet connection for Piedmont City Schools.
The council also agreed to hire an additional police officer to handle property abatement issues.
Bills for payment were approved in the amount of $421,359.46.
The next regular Piedmont City Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20th, following the work session, which is set for 5:30pm.