Charles Wood
Chamber of Commerce President Charles Wood said the Chamber is still high on McDonald Farm as an industrial site.
He told members of the County Commission, "McDonald Farm is part of our strategic plan. We view it as a critical component of bringing industry to Hamilton County and, frankly, for Southeast Tennessee."
Mr. Wood also said he is now seeing "a simmering anti-growth dynamic in Hamilton County."
He said it is "mostly at Ooltewah, Apison and Collegedale, but it is clearly simmering."
Mr. Wood spoke after a consultant told the county last week that the county-owned, 2,100-acre farm had limited value for industry, but it could work well for agritourism.
The Chamber leader and longtime economic development specialist said, "We have lost a significant amount of manufacturing zoned property over the past decade. We have less and less land for future projects."
He said, "We're out of space for industry. We view the farm as an opportunity for it."
Mr. Wood said manufacturing is a critical economic component since roughly one third of residents have a high school diploma or less.
He said longtime industrial specialist Russell Moorehead, who was intricately involved in Enterprise South and who is now with Croy Engineering, said the farm is a favorable industrial site.
Mr. Wood said an estimate of $300 million to get sections of the farm ready for industry was probably correct. However, he said that could be done in phases. He said at Enterprise South, the state and federal government provided much of the funding for site preparation.
On transportation at the site, he said the farm "basically sits on an interstate."
The Chamber official said having industry at McDonald Farm would be a long-term project and be dependent on "the political will" of commissioners.
He acknowledged that many residents in the vicinity of the farm "don't want anything done to it."
Mr. Wood, noting "an anti-growth sentiment" here, said the county "in reality is not growing that fast. We only grew eight percent from 2010 to 2020."
To move forward with industry at McDonald Farm, steps would be getting the site zoned and reaching agreement with Dayton Utilities to bring sewer to the site, he said. Mr. Wood estimated the sewer line design and engineernig cost at $2 million to $3 million.
He said a local industry that needs to expand contacted the Chamber about the farm. He said after reading of the consultant's report, the firm asked, "Should we even bother?" with a site visit.
Commissioner Lee Helton said there is sentiment for "trying to protect some of these resources that we can't get back once we start dozing."
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, of Soddy Daisy, said, "People up there prefer that nothing be done."
On railroad access for industry, he said it would be necessary to put up a number of side tracks and to construct a long bridge from Highway 27 over the railroad and a creek. He said, "You can't just throw boxes on the train."
Chairman Jeff Eversole said, "To me it's important that we keep green spaces and as many farms as possible."
Commissioner David Sharpe said, "I firmly believe we can do all these things (industry and agritourism) on this piece of property. There is room for good paying, family wage jobs there."
Nathan Janeway, county development director, said, "Charles and I have a lot of agreement on this issue. It may not present that way."
He said, "There is opportunity to do industry out there. We just want to see if there are other options."
Mr. Janeway said, "I don't think we're moving slow at all." He said a water grant was quickly obtained and the line should be installed in the spring. He said the county plans to apply for infrastructure help "as soon as the state's grant cycle allows." However, he said he does not believe "that the state is keyed in on industrial development" at this time.
He said county officials are waiting on a followup report from the consultant on what would be the return on investment for agritourism at the farm.
He stated, "We're not opposed to industrial development. We just want to make sure that the land is used for its highest potential."
Mr. Janeway said an earlier study of McDonald Farm had some of the same concerns about lack of an interstate, high infrastructure costs and lack of ready workforce.
He said agritourism "is part of the largest growth sector currently in the U.S. I do think it has potential."
Mr. Janeway said he had encouraged consultant Randall Gross to consult the Chamber during the study, but the consultant maintained he wanted "to stay unbiased."
Mr. Janeway said he had not been advised by the Chamber about the potential local industrial prospect.
Click here to listen to the presentation.