Muscle Shoals City Council overrides mayor on land purchase

The saga continues when it comes to the Muscle Shoals City Council and the proposed multimillion dollar sportsplex.

During its April 20 meeting, the Council voted to purchase 57 acres of land near the Northwest Alabama Fairgrounds on Fairgrounds Road for $2.7 million from KRW Properties, LLC.

However, Mayor Billy Hudson attempted to veto the purchase, saying he had too many questions concerning the project that had yet to be answered.

In a citizens update published by “Shoals Insider” on April 27, Hudson said he does his “homework” before spending “other people’s,” meaning taxpayer, money.

“There are 57 acres of undeveloped row crop farmland that currently has crops of corn on it. This land does not have ingress and egress and is located next to railroad tracks. This farmland is landlocked,” Hudson said.

Hudson said there was no independent appraisal done on the land before negotiating the $2.7 million price tag, the land could cost over a million to get ready on top of the sportsplex costs, and the $47,000 per acre was paid for “shovel ready” land.

Hudson further stated the $47,000 per acre did not include the costs of all necessary improvements like public utilities, streets, curbs, lighting, water and sewer.

“Realtors and land developers have walked the property this past week and have assessed this farmland value between a low end of $20,000 per acre and high end of $32,000 per acre,” Hudson said.

“The proposed sportsplex was originally speculated to cost $65 million before Council President (Donnie) Linley pointed out no one had gotten a cost for the infrastructure. Today, that $65 million is in excess of $85 million plus the additional cost for infrastructure.”

To date, Hudson said $1.3 million has already been spent on the project prior to any work performed.

During its May 4 meeting, the Muscle Shoals City Council voted 4-1 to override Hudson’s veto.

Before the vote, the validity of the veto was questioned, but the override vote was carried out in case it was deemed necessary.

The only dissent was Place 1 Council member Chris Hall, who said like Hudson or not, he was the mayor and CEO of the city and needs to be involved in decisions like the land purchase.

“We have a chance to do our due diligence and unite the city,” Hall said.

Hudson said before the vote he was not against the sportsplex but was opposed to “spending money we don’t have.”

“I think before you start negotiating land deals you need to have a starting point, and we do not have one,” he said.

When the sportsplex was initially announced in May of 2024, then Mayor Mike Lockhart said the cost of the project would not impact the city’s budget.

He said the city will take out a bond to cover the cost, with money generated from tax revenue to be used for repayment.

However, that was before the purported cost of the project went up by as much as $30 million.

Given the Council’s veto override, the City can move forward with work on the sportsplex project.

The plan for the sportsplex — announced in 2024 — is for it to house two quadplexes of youth baseball/softball fields, 16 pickleball courts, 10 tennis courts, a walking track around a pond, 10 youth soccer/football/lacrosse fields, six full-size soccer/football/lacrosse fields, a 1,000 capacity amphitheater and an indoor event center housing six full-size basketball courts that can be divided into 12 volleyball courts.

Hudson gave another citizens update to the “Shoals Insider” on May 10.

“The recent April 20th city council surprise announcement after an executive session to buy 57 acres of farmland for $2.7 million dollars has caused a lot of concern,” he said.

Hudson said Place 2 Council member Gina Clark told other news outlets the city had done appraisals of two separate properties that adjoin the land that was purchased by the City, and that is why the Council felt an appraisal of the land that was purchased was unnecessary.

In an effort to clarify what he called “false narratives” on social media, Hudson said the following:

• There is no current budget for the sportsplex.
• There was no appraisal done on the purchased 57 acres of land.
• No bond(s) have been secured for the $90 million sportsplex.

“Yes, Clark, (Willis) Thompson, (Ken) Sockwell and Linley voted to override my veto that upheld their vote to purchase lots in a large plat of land behind the fairground and city ballfields not in use,” Hudson said.

“The lots approved to purchase from KRW, LLC, have streets, alleys and other owners around those that will have to be vacated, purchased or swapped before any work can be done. The farmland has an estimate of $1.5 million dollars of excavation work to be performed.”