Wlaf1450TOP PHOTO: J.C. Miller (left) and Jordan Rockwell listen at Monday’s planning commission meeting.
By Charlotte Underwood
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The Campbell County Planning Commission met Monday evening to discuss several minor lot subdivisions and one major subdivision proposal.
First approved was a minor lot subdivision at Deer Run Point for Deborah Kitching and Tony Engle.
Next approved was a minor lot subdivision for Bryan Paulie and Hannah Daugherty on Flat Hollow Road. According to County Planner Jordan Rockwell, everything was in order, and he recommended approval.
Also approved was a re-subdivision for David and Melinda Hoskins on Little Buck Lane and a minor lot subdivision on Shawnee Drive for Deborah Samples.
Planning commission members met with the environmental engineer representing Vince Siron to briefly discuss a concept plan for a major subdivision, Big Creek.
Storage buildings, trailer parking and a road would be built on a class one type landfill, according to the proposal.
County Planner Jordan Rockwell said the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation (TDEC) would have to look at it and “sign off on it.” According to Rockwell, the integrity of the cap on the landfill is the biggest question.
“TDEC might make you do some kind of remediation to develop it,” Rockwell said.
Planning commission members heard from Environmental Engineer Matt Bruck with Civil and Environmental Consultants (CEC).
He said he did a phase one assessment and a phase two assessment to get a “feel for the landfill footprint” and that he has a “pretty good feel for where that land fill resides.”
He said he also collected water from pipes in the landfill and found an oil range detection from many years ago, but it was “not in any concentration that is alarming and was less than what is in tap water.”
Planning commission member Rusty Orick asked attorney Reid Troutman his thoughts and if the county would be in any way on the hook for remediation of the property if it was developed and there were problems.
According to Troutman, the old leases on the land stem back to 1972 and were good through 1982, but it has not been used as a landfill for some time.
“TDEC needs to take it from here. We need to see what TDEC has to say if it’s developable,” Troutman said.
According to the the engineer with CEC, TDEC’s main concern is “cap integrity and any possibility of water leaching, as well as methane production.”
“But as old as this landfill is, I don’t think methane is a concern,” Bruck said.
The Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation will send folks from Nashville to look at and evaluate whether the property is developable, according to Rockwell.
Developers pointed out to the planning commission that if approved, the subdivision lots will not be on the landfill part of the property. The foundation would be next to the landfill, not on it, however storage units and a road would be on the landfill. Developers said, if anything, it would “improve the integrity of the cap.”
Rockwell said the county would need official communication from the state on it before moving forward with any approval of its own.
According to Rockwell some subdivision proposals on former landfill areas get denied because of the integrity of the landfill cap.
“We will just have to wait and see what TDEC’s evaluation shows,” Rockwell said.
Rockwell also announced that two public hearings will be held next month at 6 pm before the regular Dec. 6 scheduled meeting. The hearings are for the planned urban developments (PUD) and private sewer system regulation amendments discussed at the October planning commission meeting. These included a subdivision regulation amendment regarding minimum lot size for private sewer systems, as well as an amendment regarding PUDs. The PUD lot size regulation amendment would allow smaller lots to be subdivided.
The public is invited to the public hearing Mon., Dec. 6 at 6 pm at the Campbell County courthouse. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 11/02/2021-6AM)