Goodbranch rezoning, tax anticipation note on Metro Council agenda

The area highlighted in blue represents a little over 43 acres belong to the Bluegrass Cooperage and Jack Daniel’s Distillery. They are requesting rezoning from agricultural to industrial to accommodate expansion plans, according to the agenda for tonight’s meeting. (Graphic Provided)

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — Tonight will be the final meeting for five Metro Council members who chose not to run for re-election: the second district’s Wayne Hawkins (8 years) and Meghan Bailey (4 years), the third district’s Gordon Millsaps (12 years) and Keith Moses (four years), as well as the fifth district’s Denning Harder (8 years). Harder also served a Metro Council chair person.

It will also be the final meeting for outgoing County Court Clerk Nancy Hatfield, who served in office 24years before deciding to retire in 2022. She’s attended over 300 Metro Council meetings during her six terms in office.

New business on the agenda for tonight’s meeting includes a request to rezone land located off Goodbranch Road from A-1 (agricultural) to I-1 (industrial) and a resolution to issue a tax anticipation note in the amount of $350,000 for the current fiscal year.

Distillery rezoning for expansion

In new business, Jack Daniel’s Distillery requests the rezoning on 43.3 acres on the back side of the distillery campus from agricultural to industrial in anticipation of expanding their production line. The property sits off Goodbranch Road and is surrounded on three sides by other Jack Daniel’s property. The land immediately north belonging to James Dye.

The new rezoning before the Council on Monday would change one 43 acre parcel from agricultural to industrial zoning. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the change at their most recent meeting and submitted it to the Metro Council for approval.

This is a separate issue from the distillery by-products processing facility special land use exception before the Council.

Other agenda items

In other new business, the Council will vote on a resolution authorizing Metro to borrow $350,000 to meet appropriation for the current fiscal year. Metro borrows a similar amount each fall in anticipation of property tax revenues. Property tax bills go out in October and aren’t due until February 2023. Tax anticipation notes do not exceed 60 percent of the total funds appropriated for fiscal 2022-23 and are subject to approval by the Tennessee Comptroller office. Borrowed dollars will go into the General Fund. All tax anticipation notes are required to be paid in full by the end of the fiscal year.

The Council will also consider both Tamera York and Marge Gammill for notary bond and approve Lorraine Carter, Lori Frame, and Kellie Sandefur to the Historical Zoning Board.

They will also hear the third reading of an ordinance to allow a special land exception for a proposed anaerobic digester.

Tonight’s meeting will take place on Monday, August 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lynchburg Legion Building located just off Highway 129. The Metro Budget Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. prior to the regular meeting. There will also be two public hearings before the regular meeting – both to address “housekeeping” corrections to the Metro Moore Codes Book – one concerning standards for indoor and outdoor ranges and another more ground mounted solar. •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently-owned, community newspaper located in Lynchburg, Tennessee the home of The Jack Daniel Distillery. We focus on public service, non-partisan, rural journalism. We cover the Metro Moore County government, local tourism, Moore County schools, high school sports, Motlow State Community College, as well as whiskey industry news and regional and state stories that affect our readers.}