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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

The Chilton County Commission leadership will be in talks with City of Clanton leadership about land, following a vote after a lengthy executive session on Jan. 26.

Possible land purchases are one of the topics state law permits executive sessions to be held for, meaning these discussions are not open to the public. Any votes regarding the discussion must be made in an open public meeting.

After the meeting reconvened, the Commission approved “a motion to authorize Jimmie Hardee as the vice chairman and Joseph Parnell as Chairman to work with our attorney in further negotiation with the City of Clanton to ascertain and finalize the purchase of property necessary to move forward with the Farm Center project.”

The motion passed 6 to 1. Parnell, Hardee and Commissioners Joe Headley, Darrell Bone, Randell Kelley and Matthew Mims voted in favor. Allen Williams voted against.

After the meeting, Williams said he wanted more information before making a decision.

“There is some real estate … that needs to be purchased to make the deal complete, and we are working with the City of Clanton to work that real estate purchase out,” Parnell said.

Because of the sensitive nature of negotiations, the parcels being considered were not named.

The Alabama Farm Center is in the environmental phase, and bids for removing timber from the site are scheduled to be opened on Jan. 28.

Parnell said a price for any potential land purchase would be a separate vote at a later meeting.

“That will either be at a special called meeting or at our next regular meeting, depending on the time schedule,” Parnell said.

The Commission also approved a motion for the county attorney to create a request for proposals “for a revolving line of credit to service attachable debt.” A fixed-rate option will also be researched.

The motion passed 6 to 1. Parnell, Hardee, Headley, Bone, Kelley and Mims voted in favor. Williams voted against.

Parnell expected three or four proposals to be presented at a later date for consideration for approval.