April 27, 2012--PINEVILLE --Pineville Mayor Sherwin Rader signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wasioto Hotel and Resort, LLC to build a $14.3 million four star resort hotel within the city limits of Pineville.

"It's a historical moment, and I'm really excited about it," said Rader. "This has been a long time coming. I have been working on this project for over three years, and it's been a long process."

The hotel will consist of 102 rooms, a 350 seat conference center, 100 seat restaurant and many other amenities. It will also include a bar and a pool.

The building of the hotel will create 167 construction jobs consisting of local workers, and more than 80 permanent full and part-time positions.

"This is going to provide growth for our community," said Rader. The hotel will be constructed, acquired and operated by Wasioto.

This hotel can help bring people to the area to stay for longer periods of time. Rader explained that when people stay at the hotel, they will also be out in the community spending money.

The memorandum also involves the Kentucky's Department of Forestry. The project includes the financing, relocation and construction of a new forestry building. This was necessary and required for the completion of the project. The city is going to swap property in Turkey Creek for the property that the current forestry building is on.

After this is done, the city will own the property that the hotel will be built on and the state will own the property in Turkey Creek. Wasioto will then acquire the property for the hotel from the city.

The financing of this project will be provided by the issuance of approximately $13 million in taxable revenue bonds and the issuance, by the City of Pineville, of approximately $1.3 million in taxable general obligation bonds.

If approved by the Bell County Tourism Commission, the city will use the restaurant tax to pay off the bonds.

If the Tourism Commission signs off on the memorandum, then the process of selling the bonds will begin immediately. After they are sold, construction on the hotel will begin. It is projected that it will take 18-24 months for the hotel to be built.

The hotel will bring in an ad volerm tax, occupational tax, additional food tax, and a hotel tax that the city will benefit from.

There are only two factors that can prevent the hotel project from moving forward. The first is the signing off of the agreement with the Tourism Commission. If the city does not receive the full amount of the restaurant tax, the project will not be completed.

"I'm sure that the Tourism Commission will have a meeting shortly, and they will be willing to go along with this project," said Rader. By law, Tourism is in charge of the restaurant tax.

The second is the selling of the revenue bonds. If the bonds do not sell, then the project will be dead.

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(c)2012 the Middlesboro Daily News (Middlesboro, Ky.)

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