TREZEVANT, Tenn. (March 10) — Questions about who sits on what board, what those boards are actually empowered to do, and what the future of a piece of town-owned property should look like consumed the better part of Tuesday night’s regular meeting of Trezevant’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, with city attorney Charles Trotter holding court on nearly all of it.
The conversation kept circling back to two issues: the town’s dormant Industrial Development Board (IDB) and the Hillsman property on Broad Street, which an outside investor has been trying to develop as a grocery or discount store.
Resident Complaint About Water Operator.
At the start of the meeting, resident Samantha Cash addressed the board about an incident involving water operator Erik Grimes, who she said screamed profanities at her from across the street when her dog barked at him from her own yard.
“My dog never crossed the street, never left the yard,” Cash said. “I just think that if we have somebody working in the town, they should present themselves in a respectful, professional manner. This scared my child.”
She added that she believed Grimes should be reprimanded.
Grimes, who was present, offered his apology immediately.
“She’s absolutely right. I’m sorry. I lost my cool. Even my wife told me I shouldn’t have done it,” he said. “That was a really big dog, and I can’t tell you how many dogs have threatened me. It won’t happen again.”
Barger called it “a very good complaint” and said Grimes had done the right thing by owning up to it publicly.
Cash said she appreciated the acknowledgment but told the board her real concern was her six-year-old daughter, who was in the backyard when the shouting started.
“An apology doesn’t help her much,” she said.
The room went silent for a moment, and was finally broken by Mayor Bobby Blaylock.
He asked Trotter to address the board concerning the town’s Planning Commission and IDB.
Planning Commission.
The attorney explained that Philip Colwell’s desire to develop a retail store on the vacant Hillsman property would have to start with the town’s Planning Commission, regardless of there being an Industrial Development Board or not.
He brought up the public meeting planned for Thursday night, originally intended to gauge interest in reconstituting the IDB, and suggested it could serve double duty as an opportunity to also take stock of the Planning Commission.
“We’ve got five people on the planning commission right now,” Trotter said. “I thought this might be a good time to solicit some public input — anybody who wants to be on the planning commission.”
The urgency, he explained, is procedural. Before Colwell, or anyone, can pursue a commercial use for the Hillsman property, the zoning must change from residential to business.
Under Tennessee law, that process has to start with the Planning Commission, not the full board of aldermen. A public hearing must be noticed at least 21 days in advance, a court reporter must be present to create a formal record, and the board would want professional planning testimony before voting.
He recommended engaging a municipal planner to provide expert testimony on the highest and best use of the property.
Trotter also raised the possibility of combining the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals into a single body. The same five, seven, or nine people could serve on both, handling rezoning questions and appeals without the town having to recruit two separate pools of volunteers.
“They deal with the same issues,” he said. “You wouldn’t be looking for separate people.”
Rezoning Fight Taking Shape.
The Hillsman property was at the center of another heated debate.
Barger argued that Colwell is in no position to request a rezoning on property he doesn’t own. Trotter disagreed. Barger pushed back again.
“He has no standing,” Barger said. “No more than he would if he wanted to change the zoning of my property.”
“I think if anybody comes to Trezevant and they want to do something with a business or anything else, they have as much right as anybody to go to the appropriate city board and say, I have a proposal,” Trotter replied. “People do that all the time. They go to planning commissions. That’s all this is.”
Trotter then read from the town’s own ordinance.
A rezoning can be initiated by the Planning Commission, the Board of Aldermen, “or by application of one or more owners of property within the area proposed to be changed”.
Trotter argued that the language was broad enough to include a prospective buyer.
Barger didn’t budge in his stance.
At one point Trotter explained the IDB’s role. He said that, as a public corporation, it holds no special authority to block a rezoning. It’s subject to the same zoning laws as any private landowner.
“The Industrial Development Board does not have a vested interest in anything,” Trotter said. “You may have title to it, but your title is subject to whatever the proper authority says. That’s called separation of powers.”
Trotter urged Barger to let the process work.
“If it ought to stay residential, it stays residential,” he said. “If there’s a better use, then let the planning commission decide. Otherwise, nothing would ever change.”
“No matter what, the IDB board is handcuffed,” said Alderman Dan Dieringer. “They have to go by the zoning laws.”
“It doesn’t matter what the IDB board wanted to do,” he added. “It has to start at the Planning Commission.”
Industrial Development Board Issues.
The more immediate problem with the IDB, Trotter told the board, is that its annual report to the state comptroller is due by the end of the month, and there is currently no one in a position to submit it.
Barger had served as the board’s point of contact, but he cannot file it himself. Someone needs to be in place first.
According to Trotter, nobody has been keeping reliable track of who has actually been serving on the board, or when their terms expire. IDB members serve staggered two, four, and six-year terms.
In practice, Barger said, the board had handled it the simple way.
“We’ve never had the situation where people were jumping out of their seats to be on this board,” he said. “Basically, if everybody was agreeable, we just rolled them over.”
Trotter said that informal approach needs to end.
“I have a hard time keeping up with who keeps up with that,” he said. “After a while your term expires, and you’re going to have to either re-up or put somebody else in their place. The city recorder needs to know it. The CMFO needs to know it.”
For those wondering why the town needs the IDB at all, Barger explained that a city government cannot operate as a business or profit from real estate.
The IDB is incorporated under Tennessee law as a separate entity, and can do what the town cannot. It can buy, sell, lease, and negotiate deals on property intended to attract commerce.
It was formed, Barger said, precisely because the town needed a mechanism to do something useful with vacant properties like the old clinic building, and now the Hillsman property.
“If nothing else, they could just sell the property,” Barger said. “But they could use it to develop for whatever.”
In an effort to help identify interested persons to join the board, Barger said that Tennessee law now allows IDB members to live outside city limits.
He added that he is concerned whether there will be enough people interested in joining.
“Maybe somebody that was connected with Trezevant in the past may be interested in helping,” Barger said.
Thursday night’s public meeting, set for 6 p.m., is the town’s attempt to find those people.
Resident Raises Water Concerns.
Before the board moved on, resident Terry Schall interrupted with a different angle, urging the board to pursue grant money for the water system.
Schall said she had been researching available funding and found what she described as a program through the state’s Department of Environment and Conservation targeting rural communities with fewer than 10,000 people on their water system.
“They’ve got $1.35 billion sitting out in grants to give to people,” she said. “If you can write the grant letter — build a new treatment plant.”
In 2021, Tennessee dedicated $1.35 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to water infrastructure through TDEC, and the state awarded grants to all 95 counties and 267 cities. The non-competitive application window, however, closed at the end of 2024.
The water quality, she said, is a real problem.
“Mine’s brown,” she said. “It needs to be done.”
Barger confirmed the town would likely qualify and agreed the need is there.
“We definitely need some money for the water,” he said. “Even if we have to put up a portion of it.”
Barger added that the IDB has money in its bank account, and said it would be worthwhile to pursue using it in that manner.
Trotter noted that the IDB, once reconstituted, could be positioned to pursue exactly that kind of grant. He suggested that is another argument for getting the board filled and functional sooner rather than later.
The public meeting to find members for the IDB is Thursday, March 11 at 6 p.m.
Trezevant’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m.
