LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — The City of Lebanon will lose out on hundreds of thousands of federal dollars for the construction of its new wastewater treatment facility, officials said.
The locality had a September deadline to use the funding — which, according to a member of the Lebanon City Council, exceeded $300,000 — or lose it. That deadline appeared to be one of the main reasons Mayor Rick Bell was in a hurry to find a new property.
The current site on Hartmann Drive is aging and nearing capacity, but community members have spent months pushing back against the potential plant locations being chosen by a committee.
“No one is going to want to buy our house in the future if it’s next to a sewer plant,” Jennifer Hewston told News 2.
For months, News 2 has been closely following the selection process for Lebanon’s next wastewater treatment facility site.
The city put together the Lebanon Wastewater Treatment Plant Site Selection Committee, which members narrowed down a list of more than 20 potential locations to three.
“I believe the committee has listened to the people, and they worked hard,” Bell said at a meeting.
However, during such public gatherings, community members showed up in full force to express their concerns over the possible properties.
“Our whole lives, 40 years, I worked in healthcare to provide for the home that I would like to send down to my children! Do you think they want to live in a poop plant?” a constituent explained during August’s city council meeting.
One option was on Carver Lane, which would sit in the backyard of a neighborhood.
“Everybody is protective of their community and trying to push it in someone else’s,” Angie Outzen told News 2.
SEE ALSO | 3 potential Lebanon wastewater plant sites approved by committee, sent to mayor
Meanwhile, the Lebanon City Council is preparing to meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1, but one item not on the agenda is choosing next wastewater site.
This news comes after the mayor claimed it would take three months to survey and study the three potential locations for the facility.
Bell confirmed to News 2 on Tuesday that the September deadline for federal funding will have passed by the time construction begins on the process. Regardless, there is still pressure for a new wastewater treatment plant in Lebanon.
“We’re at a point where patching it up no longer works,” Bell stated.
“I am sorry that you all are continuing to have to come up here and express your feelings. We are hearing you. We have listened. We’re going to continue to do so,” Ward 3 Councilor Camille Burdine said at a meeting.
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Burdine sent News 2 the following statement:
The Committee’s job was to examine any sites along the effluent lines, as well as any sites brought forward by the community. We did exactly that. We reviewed 22 sites and narrowed them down to three.
I have personally toured all three properties. Each one has room for expansion, and each has both positives and negatives. Two sites stand out to me.
The three finalists were selected using a matrix with multiple criteria, including community and social impact. As I consider the final decision, I plan to focus on the cost of the property, the overall cost to taxpayers and ratepayers who will ultimately pay for the wastewater treatment plant, and the community impact surrounding each site.
The next step is in the Mayor’s hands regarding when a work session will be scheduled. I hope we will have a couple of work sessions one to discuss the type of plant and one to discuss the financial impact. I personally do not believe it should take this long, but that scheduling decision is not in my hands.
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