Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Mayor Tony Picklesimer speaks to the audience in attendance at the Chelsea Business Alliance meeting Oct. 5.
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer shared that the city of Chelsea had an excellent FY2022 at the October meeting of the Chelsea Business Alliance.
“The state of our city is still very good,” Picklesimer said. “We are pleased to see the amount of growth we’re seeing.”
During his talk, Picklesimer discussed the housing market, commercial real estate, retail and business, education, and just how far the city has come since its inception.
He said while the housing market has slowed down some, indicators show that 2023 will remain very strong. Chelsea Park continues to grow and expand, and there should be homes in two new subdivisions during this fiscal year that just started in October. There will also be several new sectors beginning in other subdivisions. Picklesimer said he has been told by
a local realtor recently that there are simply not enough existing homes on the market for the demand.
“I feel like it’s a good place to be,” he said. “Chelsea has been one of the hottest areas of Shelby County for a number of years now. We take a lot of pride in that, but we also take and feel a lot of responsibility in that. We need to continue to grow our city and offer amenities that make people want to come.”
Commercial/Retail
The Chelsea Foothills Business Park is nearing completion and Picklesimer said the city owned development was created with a goal of bringing jobs to the city. The council also recently approved him to sign contract to sell the former Side Street Cafe/Bernie’s next to Station 31 Kitchen that will be transformed into an HDC Hunt Store and look similar to a hunting lodge.
Picklesimer said that at one point last year, there were five new businesses under construction in the city at one time. He mentioned the success of new businesses Las Mesas Cantina and Racetrac and added that construction should begin on the new LaQuinta Inn soon.
The mayor has signed a contract to have an ABC Distribution Center constructed behind Elite Off Road Performance on U.S. 280 East. Currently operating out of the ABC store in the Winn-Dixie shopping center, a two-acre parcel will be constructed on the city-owned property brining 14 jobs to the city, while leaving two acres available to be developed.
Another new business will be constructed behind Applebee’s. AIM Academy is building a location where they will offer a daycare and pre-K.
The Pihakis Group is spending $16 million at the former of Treetop Family Adventure on County Road 41 to create a five restaurant development.
Education
“Education and partnership with our schools will continue to be a focus for this administration,” Picklesimer said. “We will continue to focus this year on ways to partner with and help to improve the Shelby County Schools that serve our city.”
In the 2022-23 general fund budget, the Chelsea City Council approved $130,000 to be divided equally between the four Chelsea schools. Picklesimer said the one-cent sales tax continues to pay tremendous dividends at the schools.
The City of Chelsea is averaging $18 million per month in sales, an average of $180,000 per month. Picklesimer said they we have to share and to work with our schools and he looks forward to seeing what it will produce.
The Nick Grant program has been successful and over $1 million in grants for our schools have been awarded to teachers and administrators.
“This money was designated to improve the classroom experience, but it’s spilled over some and we’re able to do some other things.” Picklesimer said.
The most recent project was the $1.7 million turf and track project at Chelsea High School was a general fund project for the city, in partnership with the Shelby County Commission, the city of Westover, and the Shelby County Board of Education.
While the track project at the high school could not be completed prior to football season, but construction continued after the final Chelsea football home game of the season. Once completed, Chelsea High School will be able to host a track event for the first time ever.
After the July election in which the Chelsea residents voted overwhelmingly against a property tax to form a city school system, Picklesimer said the council has turned their attention back to trying to work with the Shelby County Board of Education to “partner in every way we can to help make much needed improvements to our facilities.”
Athletics
“Phase 2 is well underway at the Highway 11 Sports Complex,” Picklesimer said. It will have four new baseball fields plus a championship field that the high school will be using for their home games and it should be operational in spring season of baseball of 2023 with final completion in the summer.
Picklesimer said the Chelsea Park and Recreation Department is bursting at the seams. The council recently approved a $3.6 million project for the Chelsea Community Center that will feature a second full-size gymnasium, locker room and several racquetball courts and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
‘Proud of where we are’
Picklesimer said he is very proud of Chelsea- how it looks and feels and said the All About Family slogan remains just as important today as it was 26 years ago when city was formed.
“I look at cities around us most of them have more stuff than we do, but they also have been around for 100 years, we are still a baby when it comes to municipalities,” Picklesimer said. “For all the things we have to offer our citizens, all of the services that we have: our fire department is about 70 strong, we have three excellent Shelby County Deputies patrolling our city around the clock. We’re very thankful we can offer that.”
The council recently approved the FY23 budget that was over $12 million. Picklesimer said Chelsea has come a long way from 1996 with a population of just over 900 people, now there are over 16,000 residents and the city continues to grow.
“The future is very bring and I look forward to watching it grow,” Picklesimer said. “I have three more years to serve as your mayor and I thank you for the opportunity to do that.”
