A member of Shelbyville City Council sharply disagrees with some fellow members’ decision to cut the city’s annual contribution to the Shelbyville-Bedford County Partnership from $210,000 to $100,000.

Council members William Christie, Gary Haile and Marilyn Ewing voted in favor of the cut, moments after voting against a proposed $210,000 contribution. Two members, Rick Overcast and Stephanie Isaacs, supported the larger contribution.

A third vote of support for the $210,000 would have been cast by Henry Feldhaus III, who was absent while returning from a trip to Hawaii.

“It’s very frustrating when this happens after all the efforts we’ve done,” Feldhaus told the T-G on Thursday.

“It is obvious they took this opportunity to strike a blow toward future developments while I was absent from the meeting,” Feldhaus, a strong supporter of industrial development in Shelbyville, said Wednesday in comments on the Times-Gazette website.

“Why did three council members (William Christie, Marilyn Ewing, and Gary Haile) vote to cut the economic development budget for Shelbyville to the lowest level in over 30 years?” Feldhaus said. “Especially, after the recent announcements for the largest manufacturer to locate in Shelbyville in more than 40 years! This same manufacturer average job will be $57,000 per year, which is much higher than our current average of $42,000. With over $200 million in recent economic investments and millions of dollars in grants worked to improve our infrastructure, you would think our current economic development team should be congratulated, not demonized.”

A 3-3 vote with Feldhaus present would have resulted in a tie-breaking vote by Mayor Wallace Cartwright.

“Their excuse is ‘They don’t tell us what’s going on,’” Feldhaus said Thursday of those that voted against the contribution. “Shane Hooper has wanted to meet one-on-one with each of them and they don’t respond to phone calls, emails or texts. They tend to believe the negatives on Facebook rather than what’s actually happening.”

The Shelbyville-Bedford County Partnership is the jointly-funded venture that replaced the industrial/retail recruitment arm of Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.

Overcast praised Partnership director Shane Hooper’s work before the vote.

Feldhaus also praised Hooper’s work on economic development over the past 18 months and said a focus on attracting retail will be paid off with announcements of new businesses soon.

He was critical of what he referred to as the “yellow signs” in Shelbyville. Those signs, funded by local businessman James Farrar and placed on several of his properties, attack what Farrar says are tax increases supported by some council members.

Christie sees things differently from Feldhaus.

“The council set aside $210,000 and waited to see what the county commission would do. The city and county agreed to each give $100,000 for three years,” Christie said Wednesday.

“I read a letter from (County Mayor) Chad Graham that the county was going to give $100,000. I think it is only right to ask the city taxpayers pay the same as the county.

“I know when Mr. Hooper was hired that most of the counties around us were paying their economic developer in the $90,000s. The city and county pay Mr. Hooper over $140,000 in salary. $200,000 is a substantial sum to ask the citizens to pay.”

Christie said the council deserves partial credit for landing the recently-announced Duksan Electera battery manufacturing facility as well as land for Tennessee College of Applied Techhology’s (TCAT) new Shelbyville campus, both in the new city-county industrial park, and the new Middle Tennessee State University aerospace campus to be built at Shelbyville Municipal Airport.

“This council has stepped up the last year to land Duksan Electera, to secure the land for it and the new TCAT land and the MTSU land. The council acted on good faith information that we received from Mr. Hooper and Councilman Feldhaus. We have to work together and do what is best for the people,” Christie said.

Karen Thrasher, who is opposing Christie in Ward 4 in next month’s city election, said she strongly supports business growth in Shelbyville.

“The work of Economic Development is resulting in good things, such as Tennessee Downs, MTSU Aeronautics School, new TCAT campus and Duksan, all resulting in jobs. These past weeks I’ve spoken with many citizens in Ward 4 and across the city. I hear strong support for continuing these efforts.”

Ewing feels the $100,000 is sufficient.

“I certainly stand firm on my vote to fund the Shelbyville/Bedford Partnership at $100,000 rather than the ask of $210,000,” Ewing said.

“While the council agreed to match the county in previous discussions, that was part of my decision. I also do not see a need for increased funding at this point. I do not feel the amount of $200,000 funding between the governmental agencies should halt or detour any industry or any economic growth the city should endure. It’s sufficient funding and simply careful spending of the taxpayers’ money.

“My thoughts are a thriving community to include the bells, whistles and amenities to include more upscale dining, more retail and things we could all benefit from, but this does not exclude great paying jobs in the community that will meet whatever skill level our community has to offer. I will continue to stand on staying well inside our budget with our citizens first while supplying our departments with their needs to keep us safe and make sure the community is taken care of.  

“Perhaps saving $100,000 toward the partnership, the community would acquire physical and tangible wants we can immediately see to better live, work and play here in this community.

Haile had not replied to a request for comment by press time.