The County Commission voted to move forward on implementing the County Powers Act at their last regular meeting on Monday, December 23, voting to have County Attorney Hilton Conger send a letter with an application to three businesses who are looking to start projects in the county.
The County Commission adopted the County Powers Act, along with a set of regulations that set restrictions on where certain businesses can be located within the county. Under the regulations, “No quarry, rock crusher or gravel pit, cryptocurrency mine, landfill, adult entertainment, or methadone clinic may be located within 5,000 feet of a residence, school, licensed daycare facility, park, recreation center, church, retail, commercial, professional, or industrial establishment. Measurements shall be taken from the nearest recorded property line of the business to the nearest property line or boundary of the foregoing.”
While one proposed quarry in the Liberty area, Jones Brothers Alexandria Quarry,” has yet to break ground, two other entities, a proposed SRM quarry on Snow Hill, and a McMinnville Energy Crypto data mine facility just outside of Smithville, have moved forward with construction or processes, though some local residents claim illegally or without the proper applications or permits. Questions have arisen considering whether those entities should be “grandfathered in” from the Powers Act regulations.
At the meeting, local resident Michael Antoniak, who neighbors the proposed SRM quarry, questioned why the county had not acted on the proposed quarry and the data mine. He also questioned whether County Attorney Hilton Conger might have a conflict of interest with both businesses.
“On November 13, 2024 Doug Walter and I met with Hilton Conger in his role as county attorney. We presented evidence, Mr. Walter uncovered, to show why the SRM quarry should be subject to the county powers act as adopted and effective October 28, 2024. To our surprise during the course of that meeting the county attorney volunteered to us this his wife represented the sellers in the private sale of the land to the quarry as a real estate advisor.”
“He also shared details of how the landowner was approached by an SRM representative, initially refused to sell the property, but agreed when the offer reached one million dollars. I only know what the county attorney told us. I don’t know who wife is. But if this is true, and can be verified, it suggests enough potential for the appearance of a conflict of interest to warrant recusal on advising whether or not to enforce the county powers act against the SRM quarry,” said Antoniak.
“Last week the county attorney issued this statement to the local media, ‘As for SRM and McMinnville Energy it is a consensus of a majority of the commission that they would be grandfathered.’ At last week’s workshop I pointed out to the mayor and commissioners that the Tennessee Code requires that all votes must be public.”
“The [Sunshine] law references any discussion regarding what action to take If there was no vote, I have to wonder how you reached that consensus of a majority, and by what authority that statement was issued,” said Antoniak.
During the commission meeting, Conger denied having a conflict of interest regarding SRM. “I can assure the public and this commission that my wife was not involved in the sale of the property to SRM. As I understand what happened and it doesn’t come from my wife, Mr. Hollingshead on his own visited with the owners of the property, asked them what they would accept for it, they told him how much they would accept for it, they shook on it, and that was the end of it as far as they were concerned. Mr. Hollingshead has his own title company and his own bank of lawyers. I was not involved in the sale of it, nor was my wife involved in the sale of it.”
“After the sale was complete, after SRM owned the property outright, the owners Mr. McCoy and his partner did contact my wife and asked her to help them find another place to purchase, but it had nothing to do with the sale of the property where the quarry is to SRM or Mike Hollingshead. The records are public,” said Conger.
Conger did not mention how he felt the commission had a “consensus” on whether the data mine or SRM quarry were grandfathered in regulations from the Powers Act.
“I know we sent the application for Jones Brothers to complete, but it seems to me that it would be a good idea to send this application to the other businesses even if they would be grandfathered in. I think that is important for us to keep a record of that,” said Commissioner Pafford.
“There is a place on the application that states do you wish to be grandfathered in and If they answer that it’s up to us to decide if they can be grandfathered in,” added Commissioner Green.
The County Commission then voted eight to two to have Attorney Conger send all three companies a letter with an application. Through the application the companies may explain why they feel they should be grandfathered. It would then be up to the county whether or not to grant the request.
Commissioners voting to send the applications were Tom Chandler, Sabrina Farler, Myron Rhody, Tony Luna, Tony Culwell, Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, and Beth Pafford. Commissioners Greg Matthews and Jeff Barnes voted no. Commissioners Andy Pack, Mathias Anderson, and Daniel Cripps were absent, while Susannah Cripps submitted her resignation the week prior to the meeting.
