Bearcat Properties issues statement on landfill
Bearcat Properties Inc., the Oneida company that owns nearly 400 acres of property at Bear Creek that is in the process of being purchased by landfill developers for a planned landfill and trash transfer station, issued a statement on Friday.
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Beginning of statement
Bearcat Press Release
June 13, 2025Bearcat Properties would like to clarify that Knox Horner is not employed by nor a representative of Bearcat Properties as social media, public forums and news articles suggest.
Also, regarding the media post suggesting Bearcat Properties obtained property by unethical or confidential means: The foreclosed property consisting of a house and 384.7 acres was publicly advertised by a local real estate agent for sale that was advertised by signage for weeks on Highway 27 at the property entrance. The landfill permit was not a part of the sale, and Bearcat properties does not own a landfill permit. The additional 15-acre residential property on Racetrack Road was purchased 19 months later in 2021 from another foreclosure from a lending institution in Knoxville. Bearcat Properties is not an entity owned by Roberta II or Roberta Phase III.
End of statement
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As opposition to a proposed Class I landfill at Bear Creek has solidified, it has been claimed on social media that Knox Horner — the Chattanooga-area landfill developer who is the face of the landfill effort — is a sort of front man for Bearcat. However, while Horner has said he represents a group of investors, it is not clear who those investors are. He and companies he is associated with are in the process of purchasing properties owned by both Roberta Landfill Phase III Inc. and Bearcat Properties Inc.
Bearcat purchased the bulk of the nearly 400 acres of property it owns at Bear Creek in February 2020, after the previous owner — Roberta Phase II Inc. — was foreclosed on by lenders. Bearcat’s press release included photos, shown above, of real estate signs that were placed on U.S. Highway 27 in Oneida at the time advertising the property for sale. The property included 24 acres of land that were permitted as a landfill in July 2010 by the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation. However, the permit did not transfer. As previously reported by the Independent Herald, Bearcat filed a challenge against TDEC seeking to force the transfer of the permit from Roberta Phase II Inc., but TDEC denied that petition.
The Independent Herald on Thursday reported details of a purchase sale agreement showing that a Georgia-based real estate firm associated with Horner is purchasing the Bear Creek property from Bearcat. That PSA was signed in October 2023.
The property is being purchased by Atlanta-based Adair Realty, in care of Ackerman & Co., another Georgia-based real estate firm. The transfer station is being sought by Trans-Rail Waste Services LLC, of Chattanooga. Public records show that communication with TDEC regarding the existing landfill permit and an application for a transfer station off Poplar Lane has been made by engineer George Hyfantis, Adair Realty President Kris Miller, and Horner. The facility manager for the proposed transfer station is Horner, while the project manager is listed as Ackerman & Co. Project Manager Jim Eyre.