Randy Brown

The possibility of a new YMCA in Catoosa County is "deader than a doornail" until the economy picks up, county commissioners say.

"For lack of a better term, we don't have the funding right now," said Commissioner Ken Marks.

Recent figures show county revenues are down about 25 percent from last year's totals.

Commissioners and YMCA officials stated their cases Wednesday after the commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to decline the Y's proposal to build a facility near the Colonnade on the Benton Place campus.

"For us it was kind of a change, a disappointing change," said Randy Brown, CEO of YMCA of Metro Chattanooga, which had been negotiating the deal for about six months.

Officials on both sides said the collapse hinged on a $300,000 to $400,000 county expense for grading and preparation work for the proposed complex.

Commissioners said they want a Y, but spending the money doesn't make good financial sense and residents who have felt the effects of the county's $1.2 million budget cuts would be rightfully angered.

County employees just ended four months of one-day-per-pay-period furloughs.

"I've never been tarred and feathered, and I don't want to start," said Commissioner Jim Cutler.

Under the proposed deal, the county would lease 7.5 acres beside the senior center at the Colonnade to the Y for a token amount and take ownership of the building once it was completed.

Mr. Brown said "developing their own property" is a feasible request of the county, considering the nonprofit would be spending about $2 million on the building.

Mr. Cutler challenged YMCA officials, saying that, if the organization would pay for the prep work, it is still welcome to the land.

"It's in the Y's court as far as I'm concerned," he said Wednesday. "How bad do they want to come and invest in Catoosa County?"

Mr. Brown said the YMCA faces limits on borrowing and that paying for the prep work would mean it could not build a profitable complex.

Commissioners said they hoped talks will start again in six to eight months if economic conditions improve, but Mr. Brown wasn't sure his organization would still be in a position to get a loan at that time.

"We can (meet), but to be honest, in six or eight months we're going to be dealing with other things we need to as an organization," he said.