Proposed Landfill Near Cornersville
What are the thoughts of readers about the possible creation of a huge landfill in Marshall County near the banks of Richland Creek? How will this impact the Creek and those whose drinking water is drawn from it? Today a special meeting of citizens met in Cornersville, prior to the Marshall County Commissioners meeting this evening, to discuss this issue. I wasn't able to attend these meetings so would be very interested reading your reports. Allen Barrett
posted by Allen Barrett | 10:31 PM
46 Comments:
wab..
Where was the outrage from you when the people living on Christian Road and in the Wales community were being intruded upon by rock quarries?
I', sorry if you got the rock quarries. Did it effect the drinking water?
Nope. Only the domestic tranquility and property values. But that's insignificant, right?
Oh but Zoning was gonna take care of the Rock Quarry. Remember? Now let's talk about the landfill. It's bad enough that Pulaski's take-in location is below the Denbo Scrap metal where all the old rusty cars with their leaking batteries are going into the Richland Creek. Now we're gonna have to put up with heavy metals from another location in Richland Creek upstream from us. We really need another water source like springs to supply our drinking water. No wonder Giles Co. has so many diseases.
I haven't seen any outrage from Mr. Barrett. He was only asking for everyones opinions. Why do you always make it seen as if he is making a issue about everything?
anonymous..
I'm sorry to have to beg your pardon, but the rock quarries came to Giles County before we had a land use management plan in place. And, as far as the outrage from wab about the rock quarries, he was totally against land use management, but he never said the first thing in defense of those property owners who were being victimized by the quarries. I simply asked a question about why he wasn't bothered by the loss of property values those people suffered.
Giles Countians need to unite on this issue or else the City of Pulaski will be drinking the sludge from Richland Creek. This has been discussed and decided in the back rooms of Marshall County Government out of the publics view. Conflict of Interest,violations of the Sunshine Law, and possible ethics violations come to mind. One only has to read the headline in the Marshall County Tribune to know what I am talking about. A county Commissioner, Sam Smith, owns land Waste Management is looking at buying along Richland Creek. He stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars on this transaction that the Marshall County Commission will have to approve. Yes he has resigned, but how long has he known about this? County Commissioners such as Sam Smith are elected to conduct the public's business not THEIR business. This is a violation of the public trust, it is why the state legislature passed ethics legislation and yes it does apply to county governments. The Marshall County Ethics Committee needs to be forced to take action.
Ole Hickory
To Anonymous of 26 March 9:39 entry.
You are only part right in your statement. Yes I was and am still very much opposed to county wide zoning. I do not and have never believed that the government should have the power to tell you what to do with your own property. The land owner should not have to get permission to build an addition, a barn or a shed, etc on their own property.
Now the part you are wrong about is the rock quarries. I was very much against them and spoke out strongly against them being placed where they are and tried to get involved with stopping them but there was a great lack of interest on the part of those most closely affected. There were nuisance laws that could have been used, letters of petition that could have been written to the state and county officials, acts of protest that could have been held at the site, roads that should have been closed to heavy trucks and several other things that could have been done if county officials had been more involved but were not primarily due to a lack of interest from the people most directly affected. The thing is until the people of this county get tired of the way things have been they will always be that way. There has been much improvement over the past few years with new commissioners and others willing to be more receptive to public input but there is still a long way to go. So I now ask you, what did you do to stop the rock quarries? According to an earlier post by an anonymous there was irritation in my simply posting this thread.
Allen Barrett
I do not want a landfill beside my drinking water supply but that is not all of the problem. As was stated before look where we take our water in now. Think about all the chemicals going into the creek now from farming and industrial runoff but we have to eat an make a living. Not only the creek suffers but springs an wells also as far as the landfill goes we are going to have to find a solution we cant continue to bury all of our trash. We need to incinerate it an create energy we can use i know incinerators are a touchy subject no one wants that in their back either but there must be a way to filter the exhaust to minimize the smoke an smell. I live close to the sewage treatment plant most of the time i never know its there but sometimes i guess they have a bad day an its not very pleasnt its a nessary evil so i deal with it. Landfills are something we are going to have to live with until we come up with a better idea period .
wab..
In response to your question about what I did to stop the rock quarries, I did everything within my limited power to support efforts to stop them. I attended several meetings and helped with petitions, and etc. And, while this didn't directly affect me, I was opposed to the idea of intrusive businesses moving in on private property owners who have invested their life's work into their homes and farms. I know for a fact that property values and salability of these people's properties were adversely affected. And, you know what, there was nothing these folks could do to stop the quarries. Oh, they (including me) tried, but it became apparent that the quarry people had done their homework on Giles County. Why do you think they decided to come here to begin with? There was nothing on the books to stop them. I can still recall the arrogant smirks on their faces.
While I totally agree with you that government should NOT be telling people what to do with their own property, I think it goes without saying that there ought to be laws to protect law-abiding citizens. Would you agree with that?
I honestly think the anti-zoners were hung up on the idea of government telling them what to do with their own property. Having said that, I never understood why the commission got off into vague interpretations and restrictions when they drafted the land use management plan. That was the Achilles heel in the matter. All the victims of the quarries wanted was some kind of protection, and they didn't get it, thanks to a commission that should have given them that protection years and years ago. Had they done something then, there wouldn't be all this controversy today.
To Anonymous of the 27 March 10:29 post.I appreciate your response and the fact that you obviously worked hard to stop the quarries. I know you surely experienced much frustration in your efforts. I still believe that had the County Executive and the County Commission at the time made a very strong effort to stop the quarries they would not be here today. There are nuisance laws that could have been used and the county could have posted a five mile an hour speed limit on the road even posted a weight limit for the road. For me it was clear the county officials were not interested in fighting the quarries or supporting, realistically, the citizens who were trying to stop it.
I agree with you that had the zoning laws been more original with special attention to the people of this county and their needs it would have possibly been more acceptable. The way it was presented then repackaged with an abundance of untruths made it very suspect at least. Allen Barrett
wab..
I supported those quarry victims as much as was humanly possible, and the frustration was overwhelming. That was particularly true with regard to the apathy of several commissioners. I even recall hearing a DOT spokesman tell a group of private property owners that there was most likely nothing they could do to stop the quarries but that the county needed to get some ordinance on the books to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
The thing that really bothers me is the fact that the county had an opportunity to pass such an ordinance years ago, but the commission was largely against it. That's where the blame really lies. And I agree that there were several commissioners who seemed to be just as apathetic to passage of the Land Use Management Act.
I believe the Act would have been widely accepted had the commission not drafted it in such vague and obscure terms with various and sundry restrictions that would not be readily understood by the lay citizen. In looking back, I wonder if that was not done intentionally. All the people really wanted was a simply-worded ordinance that would prevent outside businesses from locating here without regard to the people who would be negatively affected. Somehow, I had the idea that government was about protecting people, and now I wonder. I also wonder what those apathetic commissioners would have said had the quarry located near their homes. Would they have called that progress or intrusion?
As for nuisance laws, that area was explored but to no avail. The citizen groups even secured legal counsel, but that proved fruitless as well.
As far as the Giles County Land Use Management Act goes I agree with what one man said about it several years back. He tated "The Act is so wide open you could drive a truck through it." He was right. You cannot zone a rock quarry or a landfill out but what you can do is have a specific zone in which they can locate. That could be in a 1 acre lot in the mines, but you've got to allow for them somewhere. Well were Giles County made it's mistake is zoning every single piece of property in Giles County as Agricultural. Now where does that leave us if someone want to locate a landfill here. It leaves us with a lawsuit that the County cannot win. In other words, we cannot zone these companies out.It's against the law. "So wide open a semi-truck could run through it." One good thing the Commissioners did is to pass the Jackson Law with REGULATES landfills. I wonder if Marshall County has this Jackson Law?
What is the Jackson Law?
The Jackson Law is a general law that was made available by the Tenn. State Legislature to all counties in Tennessee who wished to adopt it (this is optional) by a 2/3 vote. The law provides that no new construction will be started for a privately owned landfill that accepts waste other than is generated by the owner unless such proposed construction receives the approval of the county's legislative body (The County Commission). This statute from TN Code Annotated 68-211-701.
Hope this answers your question.
Thanks a lot.
Dont you think it's rather hypocritical of Giles County to be doing all this whining about Marshall County actions while we allow a HUGE dairy farm operation to be built next to the same water source? Richland Creek is a water source that has also been polluted during its trip thru Giles County by the fertiliser-runoff and unrestricted cow-poop from farms PLUS the heavy metals from the wonderful scrapmetal operation!
WHY are folks so stupid as to sit and watch what is becoming the rarest 'commodity ' in the World -fresh clean drinking water -be polluted by vested interests for short term gain?. In the next century , after the oil has run out , water will be THE dominant item in World politics for sure
Giles County is becoming the next Love Canal before our very eyes due to lack of control (and fortitude ! ) by the County Wimps . WOOPS they're called 'Commissioners ' . DONT go looking for that lot to do anything that will benefit your children or grandchildren !
Dirt Digga
I don't reckon I'll ever know why city people want to move to the country then complain about country smells, country people, country activities, and country work.
Cows were here a long time and they been pooping in the creek since day one. I reckon the water people are cleaning the water and if they ain't then I don't think a few more piles of poop will matter.
I don't know about "piles of poop" but I do know that zoning is very beneficial. Just ask the citizens of Brentwood where it is heavily zoned. The result? Higher home values, better schools and higher per capita income simply because people will pay a premium to live in a nice area where there are no landfills and rock quarries. Yes you have to have both, but let's be smart about where they're located. If we'd had some stronger zoning laws we wouldn't be greeted by the booby bars as soon as we exit I-65 on exit 22. Where was "government zoning" when they came to roost?
And so it goes...
The boobies were there a long time before the zoning was ever an issue. If you like Brentwood and their zoning so well there are plenty houses empty there. If you go better have a higher paying job that the $12.50 paid here.
Why don't Mr. Barrett do something instead of just talking? I know you have to bring something out but man all he does is talk.
And just what would you have Mr. Barrett do? He already has done more for tghis county in the past few years than most anyone else. You can't expect him to do everything specially the things everyone of us should be a doing.
I have to agree with Anoymous who asked what would you have Mr. Barrett do. I know he's done a lot here and given others encouragement to do for theirselves but I heard he's spending a lot of time in Murfreesboro where his kids live. I don't know if he's gonna move there or not but I wouldn't blame him if he did the way he's been treated by some folks here.
I am not aware of anything positive that Mr. Barrett has done for the community. He has pointed out a lot of faults. It is easy to sit on the sidelines and pick everything apart. The real callenge is to lead positive change. I have not seen that out of WAB.
your problem anonymous is where your head stays you can't see much more than darkness. If you would have been half as involved as you'd like people to think you would know that Mr. Barrett has been right on the forefront of almost everything that has changed for the good in the past few years. He was one of the leaders in stopping the largest property tax increase in county history, remember the horn honkers. He has fought to keep taxes low, spending accountable and no wheel tax. It was because of him and Mr. Winkles that anyone can now address the school board. He has played a big part in the county commission becoming more open. He has exposed a number of very inportant attempts to cover-up wrong and bad behavior by county and city officials.
His was the only voice heard against the 140% increase in water and sewer. He's the one who uncovered the fact it was a 140% increase not a 23% increase as had been reported by Speer/Harrison.
There is not another single individual that has done more to uncover deceit and crookedness in this county that Mr. Barrett
I guess that just shows how little you know, and what is really being done. It is easy sit back and take credit for things.....and/or change your story. Hillary Clinton does that all of the time. I want to know really what WAB has done that has affected POSITIVE change? Speaking at school board meetings.....to me that is grandstanding. He should be calling his commissioners, school board members and aldermen in advance in trying to lead change. But NO! He prefers to point out inequities, get loud and be seen at these meetings.....all the while getting NOTHING ACCOMPLISHED!
That is the way it is!
Well, if wab chooses to move to Murfreesboro, I for one wouldn't stand in his way. There's no sense in living where you are so unhappy and so much smarter than the other residents.
Sorry to disappoint those daydreamers who envision me moving to Murfreesboro. I have had to spend considerable time there but it involves illnesses with my mother and uncle. This has also required much time while at home. There may be a time in the distant future when we move but nothing foreseen in the near future and it will never be because we are unhappy here. Happiness is a mood conditional to circumstances. I choose to be joyful regardless of the circumstances but not totally satisfied as that leads to complacency which is all to prevalent in some people, anonymous being one example.
I appreciate the poster who tried to express somethings I have been helped improve, but trying to say anything positive about me or any of the positive changes that have been brought about by anyone outside the power structure simply falls on closed minds.
Anonymous states "Speaking at school board meetings.....to me that is grandstanding. He should be calling his commissioners, school board members and aldermen in advance in trying to lead change. But NO! He prefers to point out inequities, get loud and be seen at these meetings"
If it was only me doing the speaking at the board meetings I would tend to agree with anonymous but the facts are very different in that a large number of people, regular citizens and teachers and other school employees, have taken advantage of the opportunity to speak at board meetings, expose problems they were experiencing and force an otherwise inactive board into action. Clearly anonymous would prefer that things be as they were, no input, no knowledge of things taking place, only silence and secrecy on a grand scale. Anonymous suggestion that I call commissioners, aldermen and board members is totally laughable.
If you ask most they would tell you that I am in almost constant contact with them. I'm very glad to report that many are willing to talk and have been proven trustworthy but there are still some who will tell you one thing in private and the opposite in public. Those who act in such a way must be put in a position to publically state their positions. If anonymous would attend some meetings instead of sitting back whining about things he knows nothing of he would see the total stupidity of his statement, "He prefers to point out inequities, get loud and be seen at these meetings". If I had my druthers I'd druther stay home and hope someone else would monitor the activities of our elected and appointed leaders but then I would be just like anonymous, blissfully ignorant of truth and fantasizing about reality.Allen Barrett
Mr. Barrett,
I don't know whether you are fishing for information, or if you are jumping to conclusions, but your statements about me and about what should happen at board meetings are inaccurate. The elected officials should be your representatives. You should be able to trust them to do that in which they were elected. If you can't, then you should campaign against them getting re-elected. If you want better qualified persons to run, then you should stop persecuting them publicly every chance that is available, because this persecution minimizes the chance of quality representatives from running. I could say more.
How would you propose a school director be elected when they are appointed and for the most part aren't even appointed by the local school board.
When officials show themselves to be untrustworthy are you suggesting we just take whatever they do and wait for the next election.
Do you remember how Lamar Alexander became governor a number of weeks prior to his official term?
Would you suggest the sheriff of Franklin be allowed to continue in office drugged out of his gourd and carrying a gun around arresting people while he's high as a kite?
Are you suggesting that some in public office are not given special privileges such as rides home when caught driving drunk?
I'm not fishing for anything from you, if I wanted something I would just come right out and ask. You have your opinion and I have mind and that's not a problem except when you start trying to speak for me, define me and project your thoughts as mine without any real knowledge of me. My view is that I deal in reality while you are content to play in fantasy land. I seek to change those few things that are wrong so everyone benefits while you think "well things aren't as bad as they could be". Well things aren't as bad as they could be but they are a long way from as good as they can be.
I only want those in responsible positions to stand up and take responsibility for their actions in an open honest way. I have to make responsible decisions and live with the consequences for how I spend my money and I imagine so do you, I believe others who are spending my money, and making decisions that affect me should simply have to do the same thing. I believe that from some of your post you and I are not so different except that I seek to act while you take a more passive approach. Allen Barrett
wab..
I believe the above post (7:55) pretty much sums up what I have tried so laboriously to get you to see. We have to trust in those elected to serve us and not go running around trying to hurt or embarrass them for doing what they, in their opinions, is best for Giles County. I disagree with some of them from time to time, but I don't seek to humiliate or belittle them simply because I do.
And it is absolutely true that there are many who would seek these offices were it not for a small group of complainers who go negative on those they dislike or did not "approve" for elected office.
I thought this part of the blog was about the Land fill in Marshall County. I just got on to see if there was an update while I was away. But what do I find...
Jackson's relatives or friends griping about Barrett.
Well Dumbo looks like you failed to answer one single question asked by WAB. I would sure like to hear what your answers are to those questions it might even change my mind about your being Dumbo. By the way Dumbo is another example of how you fail to see anything other than your point of view. Dumbo isn't about you being dumb it's about a cartoon elephant with huge ears that reminds me you have ears but can't hear and live in a fantasy like WAB said.
As for this being off the subject you're wrong. The subject is about the landfill and Dumbo is still talking trash so what's off the subject?
Mr. Barrett, I know this if off subject, but are you going to attend the Board of Education Meeting tomorrow (Thursday)? Jackson is laying the grounds to "adjust" the BOE Budget, saying that parts and fuel continue to "challenge" the department. If you are going to attend, mention the part where BOE Employees drive BOE vehicles home daily to and from work. How much fuel does this cost the county? They could save if the didn't allow that kind of thing to go on. One BOE employee lives close to me, when it was the cold part of the year, I would witness a BOE Truck in his driveway, running, warming up so that it would be warm when He got ready to leave. My point is, a lot of fuel is wasted when it does not have to be. Why should the county pay for fuel that is used transporting BOE Employees to and from work, and Lord Knows where else? Just a thought.
to the name-caller..
Uh....what was the question wab asked me? I feel that I have sufficiently addressed any questions he might have.
Where do you get off calling people names just because they don't agree with you? How about your answering that question for me?
to the name-caller..
Uh....what was the question wab asked me? I feel that I have sufficiently addressed any questions he might have.
Where do you get off calling people names just because they don't agree with you? How about your answering that question for me?
Hey Dumbo, here are the questions that WAB asked that you refused to address choosing instead to post the same old stale whine of support those in charge because they're in charge. I would just like to see you give some answers to these questions and keep within the limits of your own guidelines for dealing with those in charge.
"How would you propose a school director be elected when they are appointed and for the most part aren't even appointed by the local school board.
When officials show themselves to be untrustworthy are you suggesting we just take whatever they do and wait for the next election.
Do you remember how Lamar Alexander became governor a number of weeks prior to his official term?
Would you suggest the sheriff of Franklin be allowed to continue in office drugged out of his gourd and carrying a gun around arresting people while he's high as a kite?
Are you suggesting that some in public office are not given special privileges such as rides home when caught driving drunk?"
I'll be anxiously awaiting your response, but I won't hold my breathe.
Hey name-caller..
I don't think those questions were addressed to me, but, nevertheless, I'll try to answer them.
1. The manner in which a school director is appointed makes no difference to me, one way or the other. However, I can see a scenario wherein people could make uninformed or biased choices and thereby elect someone who is not the best person for the job. In other words, a popularity contest largely determined by uninformed and/or biased voters. Now wouldn't that be a recipe for disaster?
2. What I have always suggested, and I'll say it one more time is this: If there is evidence of wrongdoing, turn it over to the proper authorities. What is so confounded hard to understand about that? And, I might add, that IS the proper way of handling grievances of that nature. Right?
3. Sorry, but I have no recollection (typical clinton cliche) of how Mr. Alexander got into office.
4. Of course not! How asinine of you to even suggest that. By the way, he was not allowed to continue in office after his drug abuse became known to others. That being the case, what's your point?
4. Special privileges when caught driving drunk? Ridiculous. You and I know quite well that the law should be applied equally to all citizens. And, to be quite honest, I have no earthly idea who or what you are referring to. But you and I also know that sometimes people of privilege do get the breaks, and it's certainly not right. I remember well when I was drafted into the army and sent off to war that some of the lawyers and doctors' sons NEVER had to go! I'll always resent that, but what should I do about that? Would you suggest that I get on a public blog and start saying all manner of vile things about these people and their families? I don't think so. I was raised better than that!
I hope these responses have sufficiently addressed your concerns. I doubt that they will, but here's hoping!
I'm impressed that you answered the questions, keep this up and I may have to change my opinion of you.
It's interesting that you continually proclaim the importance of voting officials in and out of office but then you suggest voters might be too stupid to vote responsibly for a school director.
One thing I heard WAB say that impressed me about voting for a director when this very question was raised, I wonder now if that may have been you, he said something to the effect that in a free society people have the right to vote as stupidly as they choose.
The people have a right to vote on those who represent them and spend their money would you not agree?
Why can't you understand the difference in being untrustworthy and wrong doing? Even you admit that some of privilege are treated differently and that certainly is the case in Giles County as some in public office
are not prosecuted for even wrong doing. Have you been here such a short time that you don't know it took citizens hiring a private attorney to prosecute and remove a former mayor with a long record of wrongdoing?
The sheriff in Franklin was paid up to the day he resigned and was in his office almost everyday "after" he was charged.
The current system calls for the Director of Schools to be appointed by the Board of Education. If you don't like the way the board of education is operating, then campaign to get new board members. Obviously, most of those in charge thing that the current director is doing a good job. I don't know that I agree, and I know he as made some mistakes, but the majority of those that direct him think he is perfoming well.
Who vandalized the baseball field at Richland? Was it GCHS students? Gangs? Anyone know?
GCHS STUDENTS
name-caller..
In all honesty, what you may think of me doesn't make that much difference. I don't base my "relevance" on others' opinions.
I have never said that stuoid people should not vote. However, I recall that someone mentioned that Neil Bortz had thrown the idea out for discussion on his radio talk show.
Yes, I (and others) have mentioned that there is a proper way of handling those who break the law. That, I would remind you, is the legal system. Turn over your evidence.
Look, I fully understand the difference between trust and wrongdoings. As I have said, we elect those to office because we trust them or believe in what they say. However, when they violate that trust, they lose our vote the next time. If they are guilty of illegal activities while in office, those who have the evidence should present it to the proper authorities and butt out. Frankly, I don't see why you can't understand that!
Look, I don't think the end would justify the means. I would never go along with something illegal in order to have some sort of favorable outcome. Ok?
I want Denbo's/ TVR to go AWAY.
Why would anyone want to get rid of Denbos when they contribute so many of the needed minerals to our drinking water?
A big thanks to the Marshall County people for stopping the landfill.
A big thanks to all the Giles county people that took the time to help stop the landfill.
We really need to look at the other places that have run off in Richland Creek. Some of these places may have been there before we started using drinking water from Richland Creek, but they can be moved.
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