The Roy McDonald Farm was purchase by the Hamilton County taxpayers for $16,000,000. Out of 2,100 acres, 700 were flat enough for industry. That amounts to $23,000 per usable acre.
The Old McDonald Farm was sold to the County Commission as a future “Volkswagen” or “Amazon” industrial site, bringing jobs and increased tax dollars for schools.
It has turned into a literal “sinkhole”. The Hamilton County Commission has spent an additional $100,000 tax dollars to hire a consultant. The consultant’s job is to tell the Commission how much more taxpayer money it will take to fix the sinkhole. And then blame the consultant when they want more money.
Ironic. It’s a literal “money pit”. And the Hamilton County taxpayers are the ones tossing money into the sinkhole.
Enter my Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. Dressed sharply as a REI fashionista, Mr. Wamp held his signature town hall and put the brakes on this taxpayer “boondoggle”.
I applaud his leadership. I look forward to more of the same in the future.
C. Mark Warren
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I agree with the opinion expressed by Mr. C. Mark Warren earlier this week when he described the purchase of the McDonald farm's 2100 acres as "a money pit and the Hamilton County taxpayers are the ones tossing money into the sinkhole."
The Hamilton County Commission spent $16,000,000 for the 2,100 acres in 2021 (going on three years ago) and has spent an extraordinary amount of money on consultants who are supposed to tell the commission what to do with the property. According to information I saw on the local news tonight, money in the amount approaching $1,000,000 has been spent in one way or the other on this property.
So, what is the benefit to Hamilton County taxpayers so far?
I understand that it takes time to re-purpose/redesign/enact changes on a large piece of property, but I also suspect that taxpayers are going to be tossing a lot more than $1,000,000 into the sinkhole with very, very little to show in return for our "investment." It would not surprise me if the assessments on our own personal properties will increase a lot to help fund this "sinkhole fund."
Tim McDonald