Construction updates: Major projects move forward
Plus: Landfill bill delayed in House of Representatives, TBI investigates death of Stanley Creek man, and BSF searches for sign thief
Good Thursday evening! This is The Weekender, a final look at this week’s news from the Independent Herald. The Daybreaker (Monday) and The Weekender (Thursday evening) are our two news-first newsletters. We publish several other newsletters throughout the week, as well as our regular E-Edition on Thursday and our Varsity E-Edition on Sunday (during sports season). If you’d like to adjust your subscription to include (or exclude) any of these newsletters, do so here. If you haven’t subscribed, please consider doing so!
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Buckeye Home Medical Equipment. Serving Scott County and several other communities in the Upper Cumberland region, Buckeye is a full-line DME providing home health equipment to its patients.
Major projects move forward in Scott County
From excavation to finishing touches, there is plenty of progress being made on major projects in Scott County this week, mostly in the Oneida area. If you live in one of the areas where a project is planned, you’ve likely seen heavy equipment moving into your neighborhood over the past seven days. Here’s the latest on each project:
The Coopertown Dollar General
Some of the heavy equipment has been sitting in the vacant lot at the intersection of Coopertown Road and Smith Road in West Oneida for more than a week, and this week, excavation work officially got underway at the site of the upcoming Dollar General.
Dollar General, the Goodlettesville, Tenn.-based chain of discount stores, originally intended to build a new store on property located further east, just inside the Oneida city limits. However, the town’s board of mayor and aldermen declined to rezone the property for commercial development following an outcry from neighborhood residents. That prompted DG to move about a mile west, to just outside the city limits, where property zoning is not in effect. There, the corporation purchased a tract of land from Oneida developer David Brewster.
The new DG will be the fifth in Scott County, joining existing stores in Oneida, Huntsville, Robbins, and Winfield.
The Oneida Long John Silver’s
Hooray for hush puppies! Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers recently announced that Long John Silver’s was going to locate a store at Oneida Plaza, following the inking of a deal between the fast-food chain — which specializes in seafood — and property owner Mendy Bohm. Bohm, a real estate developer, purchased the shopping center from Chattanooga realty company Fletcher Bright.
This week, temporary fencing went up, and crews began excavation work at the site of the new restaurant, which will be located next door to McDonald’s in what is typically referred to as the “bottom of the Walmart parking lot” — although the Walmart property is separate from the rest of Oneida Plaza. The targeting opening date for the new store is August.
This will be the second time Long John Silver’s has located in Scott County. It was previously located in the Scott County Food Court on the south end of Oneida.
And it’s just one of two fast food restaurants currently in the works for Oneida. Zaxby’s Operating Company — parent company of the Zaxby’s chain of fast-food chicken restaurants — has purchased property just north of the Oneida Municipal Services Building and has completed significant excavation work and site preparation there.
There’s also a non-fast-food restaurant coming to Oneida Plaza. Polos Italian Restaurant installed signage on its storefront, located just up the sidewalk from El Rey, earlier this month. The restaurant hopes to open in May.
Casey’s nears opening
Casey’s, the convenience store giant and combination fast-food pizza joint, installed signage this week as it moves closer and closer to opening a new store in Oneida. Workers were completing landscaping outside the store on Thursday.
Casey’s purchased the former 4WD Performance property, where Marcum’s Parts was once located, across the street from the former First National Bank building in downtown Oneida. The chain of convenience centers was also considering a second location in Huntsville, but that deal reportedly fell through because of deed restrictions on the property.
TCAT nears completion
Workers on Thursday were finishing the glass installation, installing fencing, and completing landscaping work at the new building on TCAT Oneida/Huntsville’s Oneida campus. The building is scheduled to be completed in early April, and the hope is for it to be occupied over the summer.
The “front building,” located at the intersection of Burchfield Avenue and Eli Lane, is the second new building to go up on the Oneida campus. The first, located on the back side of the campus, is already occupied and houses the college’s Diesel-Powered Equipment Technology, Power Line Construction and Maintenance, and Truck Driving programs. This second building will host Industrial Maintenance - Mechatronics, Building Construction Technology, and a brand-new Aviation Maintenance program. Other programs that will continue to operate in the existing buildings at Oneida include Nursing Aide, Pharmacy Technology, Earthmoving Equipment Operator, and Criminal Justice: Correctional Officer.
High Point bridge update
If you’ve traveled south on U.S. Highway 27 from Oneida to Huntsville, you’ve doubtlessly noticed that a new piece of equipment as been moved into place at the site of the closed railroad overpass on Niggs Creek Road. While this doesn’t signal that work is about to begin on the condemned bridge, that project is creeping closer.
“We’re really close,” Scott County Road Superintendent Kelvin King said Thursday, adding that the county is waiting for one final email signaling a go-ahead with the project. The fact that the bridge crosses the Norfolk-Southern Railroad has added a layer of complication to the approval process, which has resulted in fairly significant delays since the TN Dept. of Transportation condemned the bridge in Spring 2024. The last hold-up is not for construction of the new bridge; that has already been approved. Rather, it is for demolition of the existing bridge.
Meanwhile, the same Cookeville-based construction firm that moved the crane into place at High Point this week is completing its work on the O&W Road bridge over Pine Creek, near the intersection with Toomey Road just outside the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. King said the decking on the new bridge is expected to be poured Monday. It then must cure for 28 days before it can be opened to traffic. That would place the opening of the new bridge near the end of April, barring any further delays for weather or other reasons. King said that once the bridge is ready for vehicular traffic, his crews will have to complete some maintenance along the rest of the road to the Big South Fork River before it can be opened to the public — removing downed trees and other issues that have resulted from the road being closed for more than 18 months.
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Landfill bill delayed in House of Representatives
NASHVILLE | State Rep. Kelly Keisling’s H.B. 2202, legislation intended to stop the development of the Roberta Phase II landfill in Oneida, continues to sit in a House committee after action was delayed this week.
The House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on the bill Tuesday with a contingent of Scott Countians in the gallery, but did not take action after committee chairman Chris Todd said that there was not enough time for a vote.
Todd, who a week earlier accused Scott Countians of operating with a “mob mentality” and attempting to run interference for the existing Volunteer Regional Landfill, moved the bill down nine spots on the 17-item agenda. Following a lengthy period of testimony and question-and-answer, Todd declared that time had expired and that H.B. 2202 and other bills that awaited the committee on its calendar would be delayed by one week.
The Senate version of the legislation, carried by Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, breezed through the upper chamber, passing unanimously. However, the House version has proven contentious. It narrowly passed a subcommittee of the Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee last week by a 5-4 vote. It was during testimony in the subcommittee that Todd, R-Jackson, made remarks that angered many Scott Countians and led state Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, to argue for an apology on behalf of local residents.
The legislation aims to stop the Roberta Phase II project by classifying the Big South Fork River as a Class II Pastoral River under Tennessee’s 1960s-era Scenic Rivers Act, and adding additional restrictions that prevent a landfill anywhere in a county where two rivers merge to form a Pastoral River, pass through a national river and recreation area, and then enter a neighboring state — clearly designed specifically for Scott County. Todd and a fellow legislator, Rusty Grills, R-Newbern, have argued that such legislation would doom the state to a lawsuit that it cannot win.
Meanwhile, the fate of the landfill remains in the hands of the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation, which has been called upon to testify at each of the two House hearings. TDEC is considering recertification of the Roberta Phase II permit that was originally issued in 2010, as well as an application for a rail transfer station.
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TBI investigates death of Stanley Creek man
HUNTSVILLE | The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing the shooting death of a 24-year-old man who died after being shot inside is home on Stanley Creek Road east of here on Monday.
Xavier Burum, 24, was identified by TBI as the victim of the shooting. He was reportedly discovered inside is home by Scott County Sheriff’s Office deputies Monday morning. He was transported to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Sheriff Brian Keeton said Monday afternoon that the case had been handed off to the TBI. The TBI said it had been requested to conduct an independent investigation by the 8th Judicial District Attorney General’s office.
No suspect has been named in the incident.
Patton Funeral Home has charge of funeral arrangements for Burum, which remain incomplete. Burum was a former football player at Oak Ridge High School.
☀️ Weather: Rain showers tomorrow afternoon as a cold front moves through the region, dropping temperatures from around 70° into the 50s, then to near freezing tomorrow night. We’ll only get into the mid 50s on Saturday, but we’ll be in the mid 60s by Sunday with plenty of sunshine both days. Check out our daily Eye to the Sky updates on our Facebook page— published each morning at 7 a.m. on the dot.
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📅 Community Calendar
• Saturday: Fourth Saturday night worship services will be held at Straight Fork Baptist Church (7 p.m.), and Antioch Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.). For more information, see our Church Directory at indherald.com. For more information, see our Church Directory at indherald.com.
• Sunday: Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program designed to help with addiction, co-dependency and domestic abuse, will be hosted by Fire & Purpose Ministries from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 27192 Scott Highway in Winfield. There will be food, fellowship, praise and worship. Childcare is provided.
National Park Service hunts sign thief
BANDY CREEK | The National Park Service is seeking information on the person responsible for removing the arrowhead NPS logo from the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area sign at the east entrance on Leatherwood Road outside Oneida sometime over the weekend.
The NPS said Thursday that the theft occurred sometime on March 21 or March 22.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the NPS at (423) 223-4330, or leave a confidential message on the Resource Protection Tip Line at (423) 569-7301.
Scenic Sale!
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