Bradley County Commissioners were told the same message time and again by their constituents Monday night: Progress is fine, but we don’t want annexation. As a result, the commission asked County Planner Corey Divel to request a third public hearing on Cleveland’s proposed annexation. A second public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce.

The conversation began when Mr. Divel informed the commission of developments concerning the city’s urban growth boundary. According to Mr. Divel, many county residents began applying for rural designations when they learned how expansive the city’s original plans for annexation were. However, Mr. Divel explained, the county’s planning commission reduced the proposal by four-fifths and plans to present the reduced plan to the coordinating committee.

Once the coordinating committee chooses an urban growth plan, it will be voted on by both the Cleveland City Council and the Bradley County Commission. If the two governing bodies cannot agree on a plan, it will go to Nashville for remediation. But Mr. Divel hoped it wouldn’t come to that and thought the reduced proposal should work well.

“I haven’t actually spoken to anybody in this (reduced) area who are opposed to it. This is a pretty good compromise that supports economic development, respects the balance between rural area and urban life,” Mr. Divel said. “Some people want no change at all, but that’s not always possible.”

Despite Mr. Divel’s hopes, a number of residents did not approve of annexation. At least not before being given ample time to research any potential issues that would arise with the annexation. Long-time residents, farmers, parents and others stood up to explain their annexation qualms with the commission. One that was repeated time and again concerned Brymer Creek, which ran through the proposed annexation.

According to one individual, the creek is protected by state law. “Any development in this area is going to impact Brymer Creek,” the resident said. “And there are a lot of lawsuits that may result even if the state does approve it.” Another resident stated that 12 million gallons of water get choked through a small area from Spring Creek to Brymer Creek when flooding occurs. He said this could cause substantial problems if there is any development in the area.

Another resident explained that she didn’t want her road to get stuck with a lot of Interstate runoff traffic, which could happen with the city’s original plan. Another stood up and exclaimed, “The future of my community is being decided by no one who lives in my community!”

After approximately 45 minutes of discussion, Commissioner Howard Thompson spoke some of the final words on the topic.

“I don’t think we need to give the city nothing,” Commissioner Thompson said. “Let’s just turn them down altogether. We don’t have to sit here and argue with them. I ain’t voting to give them nothing.”

During the meeting, there was also a presentation about changes made regarding medical care at the Bradley County Justice Center. Thanks to changes, such as officer training, an electronic pharmacy, quality assurance programs and providing basic radiology services on-site at the justice center, the county has enjoyed substantial savings during the last year. Representatives asked that the county consider a multi-year contract to ensure quality care with necessary medical technology in the future.

daniel@danielkbrantley.com