The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) will soon see a slight reduction in its monthly rent if the change is approved during the Aug. 19 Warren County Commission meeting scheduled to be held in the courtroom at the Administrative Building located at 201 Locust Street.
UCHRA rents a suite of offices that are a little over 6,000 square feet, according to County Executive John Pelham. The county collects $6 per square foot from renters at the administrative building. In addition to UCHRA, the county leases space to Middle Tennessee Nursery Association and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Currently, UCHRA pays the county $24,690 annually in rent, or $2,057.50 per month. The proposal will reduce the rent to $22,734 per year or $1,894.50 per month.
Pelham said UCHRA director Kim Luton had come to him asking for a reduction in rent, if possible. Pelham said it would not be possible to reduce the rent. He and Luton did, however, come to an agreement when Pelham found out UCHRA had two offices they were not utilizing.
Pelham said, “We wanted to keep our rent where it is. We feel like $6 per square foot is a good rate. On top of that, the county also pays their utilities. But, we came up with the compromise that we could reduce their square footage because they had some offices they were not using. We need some storage for the courthouse. We can add shelving and utilize the offices on this property. We can bring things from the courthouse where they are having some storage problems. We need to empty some things out from up at the courthouse that are up high where those ladies are standing on ladders to reach. We need to bring them here to store and make it safer for the workers at the courthouse.”
“We can have our own locks on those doors and secure them here. We have looked at different solutions to the storage problem, including renting somewhere offsite. This will be two offices right here on the property we can utilize for storage. The two offices figure to be approximately 326 square feet. By using those, it helps UCHRA reduce rent on their square footage. We think we can get by with that for a little while. It will help everybody, it will help us and will help them.”
Reducing the square footage of office space rented by UCHRA will save the organization $1,956 per year or $163 per month.
Commissioners on the Building and Grounds Committee voting to approve the recommendation were Carl Bouldin, Clinton “Pee Wee” Hill, Michael Martin, Dwight O’Neal and Bessie Smithson.