NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Multiple council members are working to have the $100 million jail relocation project pulled from Metro's Capital Improvement Budget for Tuesday night's meeting.
One council member is trying to make sure those working against the jail project don't "have their cake and eat it too."
Councilman Steve Glover has filed an amendment to the budget which would remove more than $53 million worth of projects from Southeast Nashville.
All of the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and jail operations have been proposed to relocate to existing jail property on Harding Place in Southeast Nashville.
The projects Glover has proposed eliminating include $6 million for a new Smith Springs Community Center, nearly $20 million for a new elementary school in the Cane Ridge area, $1 million for upgrades to the Una Recreation Park, and $26 million for a master plan for Metro Parks, greenways and open space implementation in the southeast part of the city.
Glover said $53 million is the approximate amount the city is going to lose out on if the downtown Criminal Justice Center facility is not vacated and sold. He said the property is valued around $24 million and the rest would come from property taxes the space would generate if it is sold.
"They’re going to say I’m taking away from their part of the county," Glover said. "I’m not. In my mind I clearly am not. I’m saying that if you don’t want the jail and it gets removed (from the budget) and we have to renovate that property downtown then you have to help us pay for the lost revenue. Simple as that."
Glover also introduced a $113 million budget amendment which would fund the renovation of the downtown CJC.
Council members vote on the amendments and the entire Capital Improvement Budget Tuesday night.
