Despite the poor economy, Mayor Curt Alexander said the project is still on track for next fiscal year and the $198,000 the TWRA is going to pay the city for the land is already set aside. He said the rest of the funding could be placed in the next state budget, reports TimesNews.
“I think this will be a great benefit for our community, it is one of the best uses we can have for that particular property,” Alexander said after he received assurances from state officials that work on the hatchery is finally going forward after four years of delay.
According to TimesNews, Alexander said he was confident that the project will receive funding despite the state’s budget problems. He said his confidence comes from the knowledge that both Gov. Phil Bredesen and House Speaker Kent Williams are avid fishermen who believe in the need for the project.
“I realized how important it was when the speaker attended the meeting and the governor sent his right-hand-man, I can’t remember his name unfortunately, to the meeting we had. The governor’s man said he was there because the governor wanted him to voice the governor’s strong stand on this,” Alexander said.
$15 Million Elizabethton Hatcahery Underway
US - Elizabethton officials received several bits of good news during a trip to Nashville, including news that the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency is still on track to build a $15 million fish hatchery in the city-owned Cherokee Industrial Park.
