Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

The Elizabethton Regional Planning Commission’s approval Thursday night of a site plan and the replat of two properties has moved Isaiah 117 House LLC closer to constructing a national training center.

The Isaiah 117 House Resource Center is located at 1705 State Line Road and planners approved a replat that includes the lot next to it that enables the nonprofit organization to construct a 1,760-square-foot facility with 13 new parking spaces. A groundbreaking for the facility was held last fall and planners had been waiting for verification of a sewer easement. Marathon Realty Corp. of Virginia, the owner of Betsytowne Shopping Center, which is located behind the Isaiah 117 House property, granted the easement on Feb. 27.

Founded in 2018, Isaiah 117 House is an Elizabethton-based nonprofit organization that cares for children awaiting foster placement and has 50 locations spanning 12 states – Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Eastman Credit Union contributed $300,000 toward the cost of constructing the Eastman Credit Union Training Center, which is the first phase of a three-phase project. Preston Construction is leading the project, which is targeted for completion this summer.

Draft Transportation Plan

Commissioners also received a draft transportation plan that will be used to guide officials in improving the city’s transportation network. Such transportation plans are required by Tennessee law. According to the draft, the city adopted major thoroughfare plans in 1970 and 1987 but they are “very much out of date.”

The city is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (JCMTPO) which under federal law must update its plan every five years. The most recent JCMTPO update was in 2022 and the next update will be done in 2026. Elizabethton is a voting member of the JCMTPO.

The plan details five proposed road projects found in the JCMTPO 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP):

— The structural rehabilitation of the historic covered bridge, which is a Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant project. The cost is estimated at $996,780, of which the federal share is $797,424.

— Creating a bicycle/pedestrian multi-use path along Hattie Avenue that would connect the linear path at South Riverside Drive to the Tweetsie Trail at Cedar Avenue. The 10-foot-wide path would have a painted centerline that separates 5-foot lanes in each direction with a minimum 2-foot buffer between vehicular traffic. The cost is estimated at $360,000 and the federal share is $288,000. Surface Transportation Block Grant-Local (STBG-L) funds will be used to fund the project.

— Constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Overmountain Drive and the Walmart access road, replacing the existing three-way stop intersection. The project, which will be paid for with STBG-L funds, will need TDOT approval. The cost is estimated at $380,000.

— Extending Overmountain Drive from the current dead end so that it joins the hospital access road through the Ballad Health property. The project, which will be paid for with STBG-L funds, will need TDOT approval. The cost is estimated at $830,000.

— Installation of a Traffic Management Center in the Elizabethton Engineering Department and placing CCTV cameras at various intersections along the state Route 91/67 corridor. The estimated cost of the project, which will need TDOT approval, is $727,000 and will be paid for with STBG-L funds.

In other action, commissioners approved Richard Little as the planning commission’s representative to the Elizabethton Historic Zoning Commission. 

 

NW0310 Planners OK site plan

Photo by Buzz Trexler/Star Correspondent

The Isaiah 117 House Resource Center is located at 1705 State Line Road and planners approved a replat that includes the lot next to it that enables the nonprofit organization to construct a 1,760-square-foot facility with 13 new parking spaces.