Site Selection Committee Meeting — June 2, 2026

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Video recording (YouTube)  —  Meeting began 4:00 p.m., City of Lebanon Administration Building (overflow capacity exceeded; attendees directed to lobby monitor)

Attendance

Chair Jeff Baines presided. Committee members present: Jody Vance, Tom Clemmons, Steve Jones (engineer, non-voting), Phil Morehead, Joey Carmack, Camille Burdine, Caleb Thorne, Dave Dixon, Randy Lane. Minutes from May 27 were reviewed and approved.

Matrix Update — “Force Main Proximity” Replaces “Service Efficiency”

The committee discussed the fifth scoring criterion from the May 27 matrix, “Service Efficiency.” Jody Vance and Steve Jones agreed the term was ambiguous; Vance proposed renaming it to something reflecting distance from the existing force mains. The committee agreed the new label should capture Force Main Proximity — specifically, the cost and engineering implications of connecting a candidate site to the existing effluent lines. Force main connection distance directly drives capital cost at approximately $4,000 per foot of offset (two pipes, ~$1,000/ft each). Revised force main distances — updated from the May 27 figures to reflect more accurate site layouts — were included in packets distributed at the meeting.

The committee reaffirmed that the current matrix is a preliminary shortlisting tool. A more detailed second-round matrix with additional criteria (endangered species, geotechnical, detailed cost estimates) would be developed once the list is narrowed.

New Sites Added (16–20)

Committee members and members of the public had requested additional sites be added. Steve Jones presented four new sites at this meeting. A fifth (Corps of Engineers property) was also reviewed.

• Site 16 — Adjacent to existing treatment plant (Cracker Barrel corporate campus area): Approximately 73 acres on Hartmann Drive. Good location: three-phase power, gas, water; adjacent to existing plant; inside city limits; interstate access. Significant flood plain and floodway present, but engineer noted adequate room outside those areas for construction. Appraised tax value approximately $29 million. The existing Cracker Barrel headquarters buildings would need to be demolished. A committee member noted this site was added “because it's on the list” from a prior request; another noted the land acquisition cost alone would be the most expensive of any site considered. (Timestamp: 1:09:13)
• Site 17 — 200 Carver Lane (City of Lebanon water/sewer utility offices): An existing city-owned property currently housing the utilities department’s offices and warehouse. Only 38.56 acres — below the 60-acre minimum. Significant residential and commercial development surrounds the site. Approximately 20,000 linear feet of force main connection required (~$20 million in pipe alone). Utility offices would have to be relocated. (Timestamp: 1:10:54)
• Site 18 — Trice Road (county): 82 acres, but approximately 56% in flood plain/floodway, and the usable land is effectively split into two sections (~45 and ~37 acres) separated by terrain and a creek. Requires approximately 9,000 linear feet of force main (~$9 million). Access road is approximately one lane wide; significant roadway improvements would be required. (Timestamp: 1:12:49)
• Site 19 — Coles Ferry Pike (adjacent to Sites 3, 4, and 6): 43 acres; approximately 71.4% in flood plain or floodway. Believed owned by the same property owner as Site 4. Significant fill would be required to raise the site above flood elevation, and the floodway presence limits where that fill can be placed. Force main cost similar to Site 6 (~$8 million). Coles Ferry Pike runs through the upper portion. (Timestamp: 1:14:17)
• Site 20 — Corps of Engineers property (Barton’s Creek area): Raised by numerous community members and studied in the 1970s. The engineer confirmed contact with the Corps of Engineers. Key findings:
  • The Corps does not sell property; leasing is possible but requires an offset for any flood plain impact.
  • Currently managed by TWRA as a wildlife preserve — that use would be lost.
  • Adjacent to Sites 1 and 2; shares their access constraints (single-phase power, no gas, roadway improvements needed).
  • Groundwater influence from the lake and river limits excavation to approximately 4–5 feet; treatment structures would therefore need to be 15–20 feet tall above ground, immediately adjacent to neighboring properties.
  • Federal permitting and lease timeline is unknown; the Corps gave no indication they could satisfy the requirements for this type of facility.
  • Force main connection cost: approximately $500,000 (site is close to the effluent line).
  (Timestamp: 1:15:22)

Engineer Updates on Original 15 Sites

Steve Jones walked through updates and refinements for all 15 original sites using new site layout packets. Key points included revised force main distance estimates (measured from closest property corner to required connection point rather than raw distance), estimated construction footprints, and qualitative comments on each site’s suitability. The committee was advised that the additional force main figures had been corrected and clarified in writing. The engineer noted that for cross-street sites (e.g., Sites 9 and 10), the measurement methodology had previously understated distances, which were now revised.

Process and Timeline

The chair expressed the goal of eliminating at least half the sites by the following meeting to give residents of eliminated-site areas certainty. Jeff Baines stated: “My hope is by our next meeting, we can begin to do this vetting process where we can eliminate at least half the sites surely.” (Timestamp: ~22:47)

Committee members were encouraged to review the updated matrix and site packets and to have their initial scoring ready for discussion at the next session.

Public Comment Highlights

• Jerry McFarland, Wilson County Commissioner, District 5 — Read from an 1891 article about “Possum Town,” the historic community along Barton’s Creek, Coles Ferry Pike, and the Cumberland River. Identified ten site combinations inside Lebanon that he believed deserved examination. “This is a Lebanon mission. It’s a Lebanon problem. It’s not a county problem.” Expressed that county residents felt insulted that the plant list was heavily weighted toward the county. He had a medical event that kept him from the May 27 meeting. (Timestamp: 1:18:26)
• Todd Roark, representing Tich Chaikumnerd and residents of Sites 1–7 — Presented updated property value data: per the Journal of Real Estate Research (2010), adjacent-property values decline ~14%, equivalent to a $300,000 loss on a $2 million home. Noted approximately 200 petition signatures had been collected. Also raised septage truck traffic as a service efficiency issue: “I have more questions than answers here, but these are the septage trucks” — cut off by the three-minute timer before completing the point. Filed Revision B of the Public Record Statement along with formal requests for disclosure. (Timestamp: 1:21:10)
• Jason Gartner, Coles Ferry Pike — Asked whether the county would bear the road damage costs from construction and long-term septage truck traffic. Also raised the concern that city-owned properties tend to accumulate additional uses over time (fire training, police facilities, etc.) and that neighbors cannot control what else ends up next to a wastewater plant once the city owns the land. (Timestamp: 1:24:50)
• Sam Hatcher (representing family at 6390 Coles Ferry Pike) — Six-generation century farm, currently planted in soybeans; three family members have built homes on the property, three more plan to. Farm is split by the Urban Growth Boundary; a TVA easement also runs through it. Strongly opposed to site selection affecting the farm. (Timestamp: 1:26:05)
• Toby Wood Payne, Wilson County — Owns 60 acres in Tennessee’s greenbelt preservation program with six miles of forest trails and a nationally registered monarch waystation. “We purposely don’t develop that property. We could make a lot of money by developing our property.” Argued the absence of development does not mean land is without value or that neighbors won’t be affected. (Timestamp: 1:28:33)
• Anthony Murphy, Mann Road — A 20-year veteran of mergers and acquisitions and business process management for Fortune 100 companies. Raised three issues:
  1. Methodological: the process is “wrong” to select three finalist sites and then go back through evaluations. “You need to look at the process from the other way and work it from the top down instead of picking.”
  2. Road width: challenged the engineer’s characterization of Mann Road as having two-foot shoulders; noted that running the road himself over seven and a half miles, the full road does not match that description.
  3. Legal: noted there is legal precedence in Ohio, California, and Texas for property owners to receive compensation for up to 75% of property value loss caused by nearby infrastructure. “It’s hard to do, but it’s out there.”
  Ended: “I’m surprised that every site you’re looking at is where I live and nothing where the growth is for the city.” (Timestamp: 1:36:34)

Additional speakers voiced opposition to county/rural siting and support for city-adjacent alternatives, particularly the Rockwood property (Site 13/13A area). The meeting was held with the committee at the front of a standing-room crowd; overflow attendees watched from the lobby on a projector.

Next Steps

• Committee members to individually score all sites using the matrix and return sealed scoring sheets.
• The accounting department would tabulate scores anonymously.
• Next meeting to present tabulated results and begin formal site eliminations, targeting reduction from ~20 sites to approximately 8–10.
• Next meeting: June 15, 2026, 4:00 p.m.