Residents say Tullahoma land deal was shady

A series of closed-door meetings led to a deal transferring three-and-a-half acres next to the town’s cramped municipal building to a well-connected businessman, when the property should have been used for a new City Hall, the residents say.

The issue began with a Board of Mayor and Aldermen plan to sell the land alongside the municipal building to a private developer who would build a new City Hall and much-needed parking space, and possibly help renovate the cramped nearby police department.

The plan was laid out in January 2005 by then-Mayor Steve Cope.

But critics say the city’s bidding process favored Dan and Fran Marcum, a prominent local couple who employed Cope until 2004.

Cope said the board in no way constructed the request to favor the Marcums. He also said that everything was done correctly and by the advice of the city’s legal counsel.

Three people appointed by Cope met to hammer out the deal details of the scope of the project and how much it would cost.

But the public wasn’t invited, a practice the attorney general’s opinion says violated open-meeting laws. The board also bypassed its approval process by agreeing to the sale before the planning commission signed off.