Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger stood before the public Thursday evening to answer questions and concerns about the county’s $16 million farm purchase.
Curious and concerned community members packed themselves into the bleachers of Sale High School in hopes for answers about a big change coming their way related to McDonald Farm. County Mayor Coppinger encouraged tough questions and the community delivered.
A realtor with Remax Renaissance, Nickie Schwartezkopf, said she came to Thursday’s meeting because it's important to her not only because she lives there but also for her real estate ventures.
“It’s going to be a big deal,” she said. “They are going to have factories, industry, and how are they going to supply workers? That’s a lot of housing and we don’t have a lot of housing here in Sale Creek.”
Ms. Schwartezkopf did not ask any questions but said she felt they just “skimmed over” what they were planning to do with the farm. She said she did not get the answers she hoped to find.
County Mayor Coppinger said taxpayers own the property. He said many jobs and opportunities will be coming - if done right. He said eventually it will hopefully turn into one of the most talked about industrial sites in Tennessee. He said officials plan to work with the community on where the “green areas” need to be.
“Everybody thinks that overnight there's going to be all this development, all concrete and manufacturing blowing pollution and that's not what’s going to happen,” said County Mayor Coppinger. “We are talking about a decade out before we partner with the state of Tennessee to do some of the important things that need to be done there.”
There were questions asked about parking and future events. There seemed to be an even stronger concern for agriculture, sewage, infrastructure and the types of companies the county is considering.
President of the Saddle Pals Riding Club Adam Presley asked to add a 4H booth to the April 16 Easter Egg Hunt event at the farm. He also asked if building a small covered arena at the farm for showing sheep, cattle, goat and other animals was possible.
“We don’t have anything like that in Hamilton County,” said Mr. Presley. “We want to keep that farm part of it alive.”
County Mayor Coppinger said it was a possibility. Another person asked what parts specifically will be saved for agriculture. County Mayor Coppinger said keeping green space is important and someone is already leasing the 400-acre corn field for a corn maze.
Another community member asked when they planned on laying the sewer and water. County Mayor Coppinger said the site is already mostly level. He went on to say there has to be a highway off ramp there. He also addressed sewer and infrastructure issues in the county.
A community member asked, “Could you address the average pay for jobs that might be coming in? Because when my family and I moved here we knew this was coming. It's the last open land in our county and we want our county to continue to grow. This is an opportunity for families to have economic ability and to be in a better place than in the past.”
County Mayor Coppinger said the businesses that have been interested so far are ones that are from outside of Tennessee that have just heard about it through local papers - and they are ready to come now. He said people can expect wages of a minimum of $60,000 to $70,000 a year adjusting for inflation.
The conversation continued when a different community member asked how the county recruits these businesses because he is concerned if future businesses will have the community's interest in mind. Mayor Coppinger responded by saying:
“We have had 71 new companies come here over the last decade. And these companies have invested over $4.6 billion into our community and created 20,000 jobs. So nobody gets a free ride. Voltswagen pays school tax. And no one has ever objected to that.”
There was concern for rural areas and if they would be affected by infrastructure. County Mayor Coppinger replied with - “wherever growth is at is where infrastructure will go.”