Sumner County approves $60,000 purchase of Cottontown property for flood mitigation

Sumner County commissioners voted to buy a Cottontown parcel to advance a local flood‑mitigation plan and to fund cleanup of an adjacent property commonly called the Draper House.

The motion, offered during the legislative committee meeting in May 2025, authorized purchase of map and parcel 094035 for $60,000 and directed staff to include cleanup of the Draper House property as part of the same effort. County staff said $100,000 had been set aside in this year’s budget for demolition and acquisition work tied to the county’s Cottontown flood‑mitigation strategy.

Marshall Boyd, county staff who presented the item, told commissioners the county had discussed the purchase with the property owner and that the owner had expressed willingness to move forward at about $60,000. Boyd said the acquisition was an action item from the county’s Cotton Town floodplain mitigation strategy and that the purchase would include subsequent cleanup and demolition work.

The motion on the floor instructed legal staff to prepare a purchase agreement and directed the item to general operations for sign‑off before it proceeds to the county budget committee for final appropriation. The committee vote was taken in committee; the motion carried after a voice vote of “Aye.”

County leaders said the purchase and cleanup will be coordinated with the county’s capital projects and environmental cleanup contractors, and that legal and operations staff will prepare the sales contract and remediation scope for later approval in the general operations and budget processes.

The county clerk will include the purchase in the next gen‑ops agenda packet and then in the budget schedule for final funding approval.