Manchester City Had No Formal Notification Process for Sale of Surplus Conference Center Items

Peterson Media Group has confirmed through records requests that the City of Manchester did not use any formal processes to notify local businesses about the July sale of surplus items from the Manchester Coffee County Conference Center.

The surplus sale was held on Friday, July 11, 2025. The sale was allegedly for businesses in the restaurant, catering, and event industries. However, there was no formal notification process of those businesses or public postings inviting those businesses through official city channels. Thunder Radio News has spoken to some restaurant operators who did receive notification the week of the sale and some restaurant operators who were not notified at all.

Thunder Radio News only learned of the sale by visiting the conference center on Thursday, July 9th. It was at that time that organizers of the sale told Thunder Radio News that a sale was happening July 10 for restaurants and other business owners. At that time Thunder Radio published a news story to inform the public of the unannounced sale.

The only mention of any surplus sale was on Mayor Joey Hobbs’ Facebook page, which announced a Saturday, July 12 surplus sale to the general public. There is no record of the sale being discussed in public meetings or announced through official city platforms.

City Finance Director Anthony Burrows, who also serves as the city’s records custodian, acknowledged to Thunder Radio News that no written documentation exists showing which businesses were contacted about the Friday, July 11 sale or how they were contacted.

In response to questions from Thunder Radio, Burrows stated that city administration “informally called businesses in the area that are known to work in catering, used furniture, event planning, etc.” to spread word of the sale. Burrows added that these calls were made a “couple of weeks prior,” with the expectation that “word of mouth” would reach interested parties.

“There is no list of businesses that were contacted,” Burrows wrote. “The City Administration informally called businesses in the area that are known to work in catering, used furniture, event planning, etc…that might have in interest in the sale items. The calls were made a couple weeks prior to the sale to allow for interested parties to prepare and to allow for word of mouth of the event to spread though the community. The sale was held for two days and the proceeds of nearly $17k were deposited into the PBA bank account under one deposit ticket, which is what was sent to you. There is no other further information or documentation to provide”.

The City of Manchester officially took over operations from the Public Building Authority on July 1, 2025, nine business days prior to the unannounced sale.

Proceeds and Documentation

Proceeds from the two-day sale totaled nearly $17,000, deposited into the Public Building Authority bank account under a single deposit slip. It is unclear how much money was collected on each day. The deposit slip shows that nearly $10,000 of the proceeds were from cash payments. (see the slip below)

Burrows stated there are no other records to provide: no call list, no dates of contact, and no further breakdown of the proceeds beyond the one deposit ticket. The ticket was dated July 14, 2025.

Manchester records custodians provided this deposit slip regarding the sale of surplus items at the conference center.

According to Mayor Hobbs, the proceeds from the Saturday sale were to pay past due expenses and invoices of the conference center.

Thunder Radio News filed this records request on July 14. Burrows acknowledged receipt on July 16, but the records were not provided until August 14, following multiple follow-ups from Thunder Radio News.

The Tennessee Public Records Act requires custodians to respond within seven business days, either by providing the records, issuing a written denial with explanation, or giving a written timeline for when the records will be available (Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503).