Mayor: TVA move shouldn't affect Veterans Park deal

FLORENCE -- Mayor Bobby Irons said he doesn't expect any additional challenges to come from developing Veterans Park in light of the Tennessee Valley Authority's moratorium on sales and lease changes to its land.

An expanded TVA board imposed the moratorium in late March. Earlier this month, new board chairman Bill Sansom declared that TVA land should be treated like national park land.

The city leases the property for Veterans Park from TVA under a recreation lease.

"We are going to have to go through TVA to get a change from recreation to commercial use," Irons said.

"I don't think probably it's any different impact than we've known all along."

The city, the Shoals Public Park Authority and the Retirement Systems of Alabama have already agreed that an attraction should go in Veterans Park.

Irons and RSA chief David Bronner are supportive of a Bass Pro Shops-anchored development.

Southeast Capital Investments, an Anniston-based development company, is acting as consultant for the city to determine if a retail development in Veterans Park is feasible.

A TVA committee is studying how the board should manage the utility's 293,000 acres around its reservoirs.

The TVA board is expected to receive a recommendation from the committee in the fall.

TVA spokesman Gil Francis said the public utility has yet to receive any request by Florence to change the designation of the lease from recreation to commercial.

He said that not only is the board reviewing its transfer of land, but also changes in leases.

A change in the city's lease use would fall under the board's current moratorium.

Irons said he's asked Southeast Capital for a status report. For now, he said the company is still working on its basic analysis.

Todd Twilley can be reached at 740-5728 or todd.twilley@timesdaily.com.