Tellico Village residents who braved the stormy weather to attend a town hall about the Tanasi clubhouse restoration were welcomed with a self-directed joke from Chet Pillsbury, the Property Owners Association’s CEO.

Pillsbury told the audience he was asked to promote the Community Fest, which takes place at the Tellico Village Wellness Center from 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 27.

“One of the feature items that they will have there is the dunk tank, and I will be in the dunk tank,” Pillsbury said on Sept. 26. “It should be entertainment at its best … and it is all for charity — and probably getting rid of a lot of frustration.”


Pillsbury then made another plea for residents to treat each other respectfully. It’s a request he and Bob Brunetti, the POA board of directors president, have made over the last few months, he said.

“We’ve asked people to please be kind to each other and reduce some of the consternation — I’m trying to find polite words — between folks within the community over political points of view and that sort of thing,” he said. “And, unfortunately, some of these behaviors have escalated to become criminal behavior, and so we again ask that you all reconsider that.

“Think of your neighbors and be aware of that.”

Pillsbury suggested that a more positive way to express your views is at the polls.

“Get out there and vote for whoever your candidate is, but most importantly vote for all your local candidates — again, whoever they are,” he said. “That’s the one area where your vote actually physically counts and I would hope and recommend that you all do that, for all our sakes and for our community. It is a good thing.”

TANASI

Two years after the Tanasi Golf Course Clubhouse caught fire and burnt down, the search for a contractor is drawing close.

Nine contractors were initially contacted, four submitted responses and three actually submitted bids for consideration, all of which exceeded the initial budget. Taylor the Builder came in at $12.4 million, RTC Construction at $11.8 million and Merit Construction at $16.7 million.

RTC became the favorite because of its better pricing and locality, Pillsbury said. After doing some value engineering to reduce costs without sacrificing quality, RTC lowered their price by $1.8 million. Their current bid “not to exceed” is $9.9 million, which covers the building, site plan and parking.

There is also an expected $1.5 million in other expenses — such as the golf green, landscaping, design, kitchen equipment and permits. This brings the total costs to $11.48 million, which is $200,000 over the budget that comes from the $4.28 million Tanasi insurance funds and $7 million in reserve funding.

The difference will be made up through the sale of the temporary pro shop, and planners can consider more value engineering and seek private funding through the Timeless Tellico Foundation.

Once plans are updated, approvals for finances, design and permitting will be needed from the board, the Architectural Control Committee and Loudon County, respectively. If all goes as planned, construction could start in March 2025.

“The estimated time to build this building — the estimation we’ve been given — is 14 months, so I am guessing sometime in the first quarter of 2026 we will be opening the restaurant,” Pillsbury said. “Now, please don’t hold me to that. Please don’t come in on March and say, ‘Chet, you said we were going to be open.’

“This is the builder’s guess of what he wants to build.”

Pillsbury thanked the 22-person Tanasi Restoration Committee for attending several meetings — sometimes as many as three a week — to get the plans finalized.

“We’ve been up and down and all around in cost and pricing and style and everything else … and I think we’ve come up with the very best we can give you for the cost that we’ve been given to do it under,” he said.

After taking a few questions, Pillsbury wrapped up the town hall.

“I sincerely appreciate you coming out and getting wet to listen to me babble on,” he said. “This is something that I’ve wanted to see the community have back that was taken away from them in a very rude and inappropriate way.

“Burning down is the worst way ever to lose an amenity in a community, so I’m very happy that we’re on the verge of getting it back.”

Update: Tellico Village leaders have officially contracted RTC General Contractors to rebuild the Tanasi Clubhouse.