Swan Ruffles More Feathers

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The Swan Theatre caused more friction this month at the Blue Ridge City Council workshop. During last Tuesday’s session, Parks Commissioner Michael Eaton introduced a new contract to the council.

“At this point,”

Eaton said,

“I’m not requiring or even asking for a vote on this yet. I’m just bringing this to everyone’s attention.”

Mayor Donna Whitener, however, criticized components of the contract.

Eaton described the contract as a sketch and said it was one that City Attorney David Syfan and Jerry Selby had

“come together on.”

Previously, Eaton had contacted Selby Products Inc. to get an estimate on services to repair the theatre’s screen. Selby is one of the few surviving businesses that build and services drive-in theatre screens, Eaton told FYN, adding that Selby submitted one of the lowest costs for work on Swan’s screen.

The theatre’s screen was damaged in a storm last spring. Shortly before the storm, the city discovered that it owned the structures on the property as well as the property and extended its insurance to cover the screen. Since then, Eaton has proactively moved to fix the screen, reasoning that the city should repair it since it legally owns it. However, many council members feel that the current lease between owner of the Swan Steve Setser and the city is not valid and that the contract needs to be updated.

The contract Eaton presented to the council members at Tuesday’s workshop was drafted by City Attorney David Syfan in collaboration with owner of Selby Products Inc. Jerry Selby for repair of the screen, which details the terms and conditions of the service. Eaton sees this contract as a sketch or a model of a possible contract, if the mayor and council should decide to agree to the repairs.

“David’s recommendation was for the insurance company to take the money and put it into the escrow account and then he would disperse the payments to Jerry Selby as the process went along,”

Eaton explained during the workshop. In response, Mayor Whitener criticized the recommendation.

“You’re adding extra expense to the city by doing that,”

she said, adding that the Swan should not be treated any different than other business contracted with the city.

“(Finance Director) Elisha is perfectly capable of writing checks,”

the mayor said and wanted to know if Eaton had a problem with the city’s finance department. Eaton told the mayor that he wanted to keep the Swan as a separate as possible to alleviate any confusion. But the mayor and council member Rhonda Thomas felt that the city needs to secure a valid lease before any repairs are done to the screen.

In October, Eaton presented a lease for the theatre to the council, which he worked on with Syfan and Setser. Shifting her previous views, at the workshop Thomas said she liked some things in Eaton’s contract, specifically that the lease ensured that the land and structures continues use as a drive-in theatre, preserving it for posterity. Thomas, though, reiterated Whitener’s position.

“If our insurance puts this $267,000 (cost of repairs) [in the city’s account],”

she said, “

I really feel like we need to have a contract in place that says he just can’t stop using it. I really fell like we need to take what Michael did, move forward with that and get that new contract with Steve Setser.”

Thomas clarified, though, that the contract should be based on fair market value.

Reacting, Whitener said she the lease should be in favor of the city, not the lessee.

“Let’s do what’s right,”

Whitener said,

“Let’s get a fair market value; let’s get a number…let’s get that settled, then let’s do whatever we gotta do about a screen and move forward.”

Although no official action was taken, no vote, no approval of contracts or resolutions, the council seemed to come to a consensus that a new lease was needed before addressing repairs to the screen. The idea, here, is that depending on the terms of a new contract, the city may not be responsible for repairs to the screen. In the end, though, neither the mayor nor council indicated any definite efforts to establish a lease in the near future.

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