Officials discuss plans for new industrial park

City and county officials, as well as a few candidates for local office, gathered Thursday at Middle Tennessee Education Center to hear a report from Virgil Johnson, who will chair the committee to search for the best site for a new industrial park.

County Mayor Eugene Ray announced that the meeting would be the first of a series of meetings held on the fourth Thursday of each month at 4:30 p.m. at MTEC, saying the meetings will bring together city and county officials for discussion. This week's meeting was actually held on the third Thursday of the month.

"This is all about keeping good relationships," said Ray.

Johnson, a former county commissioner and former Jostens plant manager, said that a seven-member committee, including himself, will be formally appointed next week by the Industrial Development Board. The committee will also include Barry Cooper, Phillip Edwards, Billy Fox, Ivan Jones, Scott Cocanougher and Dan Buckner. Johnson said the committee will begin educating itself on issues surrounding placement of industrial parks and will ask Tennessee Valley Authority for help and input.

In response to a question, Johnson said the committee's main job will be to identify the best place to a site; it will be up to city and county governments to figure out how to pay for an industrial park. Johnson said the committee may investigate what types of grants are available.

Most discussion of an industrial park site so far has assumed that it might be near the bypass now under construction around the northeast quadrant of Shelbyville. But Johnson said the committee will look at all possibilities.

City council member Lee Roy Cunningham said he is sometimes asked by constituents about vacant industrial buildings which already exist in Shelbyville, but he said the problem is that most industries don't want to move into an old building.

In other discussion, county commission member J.D. "Bo" Wilson said the city and county need to explore ways to consolidate offices and services. Wilson said he is not advocating metro government, just the consolidation of some individual services where it makes sense to do so. He mentioned building inspection and codes enforcement as an example, saying the county's zoning department has had less to do lately due to the economy.

Wilson's cousin, Ed Dodson, was recently hired to head the city's codes department.

Following the meeting, those who had not been present earlier in the day for the MTEC open house and ribbon-cutting were given the opportunity to tour the facility.