Addressing the TDOT facility in Rocky Top
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said Tuesday that she has agreed to “help facilitate a meeting” between the Tennessee Department of Transportation and government officials from Rocky Top and Anderson County over TDOT’s plans for a new storage and maintenance facility just off Interstate 75, Exit 128.
Both the Rocky Top City Council and the Anderson County Commission in January passed resolutions opposing TDOT’s location of the nearly $2.6 million facility along Cobb Hollow Road – but nearly two years after the state announced its plans for the 8.86-acre site.
The state bought the property in September 2021 with plans to build the facility, and there had been no hints of opposition until after a new mayor, Kerry Templin, took office in Rocky Top in December.
Templin first brought his opposition to the project to the County Commission’s Operations Committee in mid-January, and then to the full commission on Jan. 16, where a resolution Templin submitted to the county passed on a narrow 8-6 vote.
On Jan. 19, Templin brought up the resolution in the regular Rocky Top City Council meeting, where it passed by a 4-1 vote.
The state announced plans for the project nearly two years ago, and it had been personally endorsed by Frank.
It would bring at least 12 jobs and an investment of nearly $2.6 million, TDOT has told Frank.
According to the TDOT plan forwarded to Frank in April 2021, the state proposes to build several structures on the property, including a 40-by-80-foot maintenance building for $694,400; a 30-by-110-foot construction building for $561,000; a 40-by-300-foot equipment shed for $456,000; a 40-by-120-foot salt bin for $312,000; and a wash bay for $300,000.
The state paid $210,000 for the land, and expects to spend $50,000 for site preparation and installation of utilities.
Templin said he opposed the project based on assertions that the land is prime future retail development space for the city.
Frank said Monday that she had “reached out” to TDOT restating her support for the project, and letting the state know thar she had “not affixed” her signature to the County Commission’s resolution.
TDOT officials responded to her communication later Monday, Frank said.
“They indicated they are happy to meet with both the city and county to discuss concerns, and also discuss the project and any project improvements for community context,” Frank said Tuesday morning.
A check of the site on Friday (Jan. 27) showed that clearing of the property seems to have already begun for the facility.
TDOT spokesman Mark Nagi in Knoxville said in an email to The Courier News Tuesday morning that it would take “24-30 months to construct.”
“We already owned the land,” Nagi said. “This facility will house offices and a salt bin. All of maintenance activity for Anderson County will be centered there. This will allow us to have quick responses in case of emergencies.”
Templin said the tract – which sits behind a closed convenience store at Norris Freeway and Cobb Hollow Road – is “prime retail space” for future growth of Rocky Top, and should be preserved for that purpose.
“The City of Rocky Top has limited areas available for retail opportunities, and the properties surrounding the two interstate exits currently generate over 70 percent of the city’s tax base,” the city’s resolution says. “The proposed TDOT facility is located only one parcel away from Norris Freeway (U.S. Hwy. 441) and is of vital importance to improving the city’s much-needed future revenue structure.”
Frank said the idea of opposing the project “came up verbally” during a county Operations Committee meeting, and “we got the resolution on Saturday, Jan. 14. I wrote to the commissioners that I couldn’t sign [the resolution] because I supported this [TDOT project].”
‘I still think it’s a worthy project,” Frank said Monday.
“I did reach out to TDOT this morning. I just said that I wanted to make them aware that the new [Rocky Top] council asked that it not be located at that site.”
She also told TDOT about the County Commission’s resolution.
The Rocky Top resolution also says that “the proposed property is of prime importance to the future tax base” for the city. Just the state’s purchase of the property from a private party has taken it off the city and county’s property tax base, Templin said. Government entities do not pay property taxes.
Instead of the Cobb Hollow site, the resolution suggests that TDOT move the facility to the former I-75 weigh station/rest area just north of Rocky Top.
“TDOT owns a much better location for this facility at the abandoned rest area just a few miles north of the proposed Cobb Hollow Road facility,” the resolution states. “The idea of converting the abandoned rest area to TDOT storage facilities has been utilized successfully across the interstate highway system within Tennessee.”
The resolution concludes, “We respectfully oppose the relocation and construction of the proposed TDOT facility on Cobb Hollow Road, and we kindly request TDOT to reconsider its current plans, and determine if other suitable locations are nearby that would not significantly curtail retail investors and adversely affect future retail growth in the critically important area surrounding Exit 128.”
Councilman Zack Green said he did not believe it would be a good idea to “pick a fight” with TDOT over the issue, noting that the city would benefit from having the storage facility nearby.
“It’s going to provide a service to Rocky Top and Briceville,” Green said during the council meeting. “There has never been anything on that property. A lot of the parcels around that property are residential.
“I just don’t see how it’s going to negatively impact the area,” Green said.