GENTRY -- The city council on Monday passed an ordinance authorizing the purchase of the Centennial Bank building and property and authorizing the mayor to sign a short-term financing agreement for the purchase of the property.
The ordinance, which was passed with rules suspended on three readings and with an emergency clause attached, approved the purchase of the building and property for $550,000 plus closing costs. The ordinance also gave approval to a finance agreement with Centennial Bank to finance the purchase price at an interest rate not to exceed 2.5 percent and for a term not to exceed five years.
In addition to the building, the city will also receive many of the building's furnishings, including desks, chairs and cabinets.
The city purchased the property, which was appraised at $730,000, for the purpose of a new police station with the room and security needed by the Gentry Police Department. The city had discussed plans to eventually build a new police station but cost estimates were far greater than the cost to purchase the building which had been home to Centennial Bank and Liberty and Signature Banks before that.
The building, located at 628 E. Third Street, in Gentry, is situated on .95 acres and is just over 5,000 square feet, according to a 2013 appraisal by Cushman & Wakefield of Texas. The building was constructed in 1998 and has 26 parking spaces.
A minimum amount of work will be needed to provide the security needed for the police department -- a wall to separate the public entrance from the work area for officers and employees is being planned. The bank had offered the building to the city at $600,000 and the city counter offered with the price of $550,000 so that it could make all the needed modifications and still be under the original $600,000 price tag. The building already has most of the features needed by the department, including safes to store evidence and files, sufficient office space for officers and a space for investigation interviews.
Keith Smith, Gentry's police chief, expressed his gratitude and that of his officers and staff for the work of the mayor and city attorney, as well as the council's willingness to make the purchase for the department.
Currently, the police department shares a building with the Benton County Circuit Court West and on court days has to make parts of the police station open to the public. The current facility lacks in security, office and interview space and in space for evidence and records storage. On court days, police vehicles sometimes get blocked in or police vehicles have nowhere to park at the station.
The police department's move to the new facility will also make additional space for the courts and may provide more incentive to keep the courts in Gentry.
According to Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor, the closing date is this Friday.
General News on 10/07/2015