Spending $90K to fight over yellow
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Either way, I think our city officials do a fine job of pushing McMinnville in the right direction, with the exception of the time they refused to rezone the old Aquatech and prevented what could have been hundreds of jobs from locating here.
But if you think silly stuff happens here ‘ and it does ‘ let me take you to the town of Voorhees, N.J., where a three-year legal battle has seemingly come to an end with no court action.
It all started in an upscale business district with several restrictions, much like downtown McMinnville. The owner of a Friendly’s restaurant there decided to spruce up his business with a fresh coat of paint described as ‘creamy yellow.’
However, as the restaurant owner found out after the job, his creamy yellow paint was a major infraction since it was off just a tad from the required ‘sandy’ color that all stores in that area are required to be painted.
Even though the color shades looked very similar, Voorhees officials weren’t going to let this matter rest. So town officials spent $20,000 to try to prove in court that creamy yellow wasn’t a close enough match. Meanwhile the restaurant owner spent a reported $70,000 to show judges the two shades were nearly identical.
The case eventually made its way to the court of appeals where judges were reportedly so stunned at the ridiculous nature of the town’s complaint they just shrugged their shoulders and moved to the next case.
From my perch, the only crime committed is that roughly $90,000 was wasted on nothing more than stubbornness. It probably wouldn’t have costed more than $1,000 to repaint the entire restaurant.
As for other oddities, I realize you’re anxious to get to the business news but I have to tell you this story that combines two of my worst nightmares into one. It comes from Augusta, Ga., where a car passenger would have likely been killed in a fiery crash (that’s nightmare No. 1). However, the tragedy was avoided thanks to the quick thinking of a plumbing company employee.
The employee, who had just come from cleaning a septic tank, watched the wreck unfold from his pumper truck. Firefighters were still several minutes away and likely would have never made it on time when our hero extinguished the flames with 1,500 gallons of raw sewage (that’s nightmare No. 2).
So it looks like there’s one person out there who needs to write a thank you card, and take one really looooooong bath.
Andy’s has new ownership
When Andy Kim bought the old Shoney’s building and moved from Atlanta to McMinnville to open a restaurant, there was much hoopla. And yes, most of that hoopla came from me.
Eight months later, Andy has decided life in McMinnville isn’t everything he dreamed about so he has sold his restaurant and returned to Atlanta. But he has left the place in the capable hands of Hee Kim, no relation, who is the new owner.
Hee’s vision is to take the all-you-can-eat buffet, do a few tweaks, and make it better. I wish him well in a McMinnville restaurant market where the competition is pretty fierce.
On a personal note, I’m a bit surprised with Andy’s early departure. When I go out and gather information for my Business Pulse reports, I always make a mental prediction about how long the new business will last. I realize this may seem a little weird.
Sometimes I’m amazingly accurate. I’ve guessed a business would make it for about two months and watched, sadly, as that prediction comes true. But in the case of Andy’s, I was wrong. I figured he would be in McMinnville for the long haul, mainly because of his family’s history of owning seven successful restaurants.
Andy worked hard at it, telling me he hadn’t taken a day off since the restaurant opened at the beginning of January. In the end, he said the local economy is not very robust, unlike other nearby areas like Murfreesboro. Perhaps Hee can come in and re-energize Andy’s Country Buffet, which is not changing its name.
Barry Rogers is closing his shop
After 35 years as a full-time mechanic, Barry Rogers says it’s time to quit. He’s closing his shop on South Chancery Street at the end of the month, which is just days away.
‘There are going to be a whole lot of people who need to find a new place to hang out,’ said Barry with a laugh. ‘Because after 35 years, I’m tired of it. I don’t care what you do. If you do it for 35 years, I don’t care how much you might love it, you’ve had enough. It takes a lot to keep this place going and to keep all the cars that come in here running.’
Barry has a long history in McMinnville, joining his dad, Ralph, in the early 1970s at his Gulf station on The Strip. When traffic increased, The Strip had to be widened and the Gulf station was leveled to make way for the road.
Barry and his dad then moved to South Chancery Street exactly across from his current location. Barry may be best known for his years downtown working at the Sam Shull station until it sold about a year ago.
‘I thought about ending it then, but I told myself I would work five more years and that’s when I moved out here,’ said Barry, who is a spry 57. ‘But I’m not going to make it that five years. I remember when my dad said to me, ‘I’m tired of working,’ and I know what he meant now.’
Barry said when he first began working on cars, he was the only mechanic in town who would touch an import. Even today, he says there aren’t many local people with the knowledge to work on a Mercedes or BMW.
‘I’ve worked on doctor’s cars and lawyer’s cars because those are the kind of people who drive a Mercedes,’ said Barry, who is known for his flowers as well as his handiwork. ‘I had one guy come in here and tell me I fixed his car, I fixed his son’s car, and I fixed his grandson’s car too.’
As for what the future holds for Barry, he’s closing his business but he’s not ready to say the ‘R’ word yet ‘ retirement. He’ll be staying in the auto repair business as an Auto Zone employee.
‘They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,’ said Barry.
What’s happening on Main Street
I think it’s a good idea to take a periodic look at Main Street and what’s happening with all the empty buildings there.
Are these buildings being repaired? Are they on the selling block? Are they priced too high?
I thought a good place to start is the old City Drug building since its corner spot makes it one of the most visible empty buildings on Main Street. It’s owned by Robert Dinwiddie of City Drug fame and it’s listed with Foster & Foster Realty for $185,000.
‘They just bought $40,000 to $50,000 worth of new serving equipment right before it changed over to Eckerd,’ said Tommy Foster when asked about the $185,000 price. ‘But they are negotiable. The Dinwiddie family would like to see another restaurant go in there if possible so they would be willing to work with somebody who wants to do that.’
Also of note is the Dinwiddie family owns the building next to City Drug, which is also empty. The last occupant there was Sandy’s Gifts on Main.
Ryan’s keeps giving away free food
I’ve mentioned Ryan’s Restaurant in this column a couple times over the past few months and I don’t want to overdo it. But if another restaurant is giving away thousands of free meals a week, I’ll mention them too.
Beginning this Monday, Ryan’s is starting its School of the Week program. This week’s school is Bobby Ray Elementary.
What that means for Bobby Ray students is all 570 of them will get two coupons entitling them to a free meal at Ryan’s with a paying adult. The coupons can be used any time during the week for one week only.
‘It’s a way for us to get involved in the community,’ said Ryan’s manager Ray Russell, who said a different Warren County school will be honored each week.
That’s all folks
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