What Happens if the Ag Center Isn't Built?

We continue to have readers send us many questions concerning the "proposed" Agriculture Center in Lauderdale County. One question keeps popping up: What happens if the center is never built?

Good question, but we have no answers. As we understand it, the board owns the 45 million dollar property where the event center is scheduled to be constructed. If something goes wrong, the board would then need to dump the real estate and disband. If that sounds easy enough, it most likely isn't.

Just as Sheffield will be stuck with infrastructure loans if Inspiration Landing isn't built, the Ag Board will be stuck with a huge chunk of property sitting just outside Florence. For almost 60 years, the area has been told it's just a matter of time until Highway 72 between Florence and Athens is lined with continuous business facilities. The last time we looked, that corridor wasn't 30% full of any structures.

We have no expertise in this and certainly no inside knowledge, but if the board disbanded, we would assume the property would revert to the county. We also assume that our county commissioners are praying this never happens, or at least that the citizens of Lauderdale have short memories.

We've also been asked why a seven member board. Obviously all such bodies work best with an odd number of members in order to prevent tie votes. According to news reports, most votes have been pretty much unanimous, so this has never been a problem.

Ed Tease and Ronnie Lane? Are they innocent of affiliation is this miracle project...which could just as easily turn into a boondoggle? We have no idea on that issue either. We can offer out belief as to why all the board members are men. Males just seem to enjoy playing in manure more than females...