Residents urge committee to keep plant off rural Lebanon parcels, warn of property‑value and eminent‑domain consequences

Public comment at the Lebanon site‑selection meeting ran more than an hour as homeowners and a county official urged the committee to avoid rural parcels along Kohl’s Ferry Pike, Berea Church Road, Man Road and other corridors.

Jerry McFarland, a Wilson County commissioner, told the committee the area of Possumtown has long historical ties and said residents want the city to consider sites inside the industrial footprint and to treat their concerns seriously. "These sites are in Lebanon. This is a Lebanon mission. It's a Lebanon problem," McFarland said.

Multiple commenters said they had gathered petition signatures and cited studies they said show nearby wastewater plants depress adjacent home values. One speaker summarized academic findings and told the committee she calculated about a 14% loss for immediately adjacent properties. "If you have a $2 million home, that could be a $300,000 loss," she said.

Speakers also raised legal and procedural questions. Toby Wood Payne, representing county residents, said Tennessee law places limits on eminent‑domain authority and warned property owners would mount legal challenges if condemnation were pursued. In response, a committee official reiterated that the committee's role is only to recommend technically viable sites and that acquisition and any use of eminent domain would be decisions for the City Council and city staff later in the process.

Health, traffic and environmental concerns were recurring themes. One speaker noted household respiratory vulnerability and said she did not want a treatment plant adjacent to a residence; others asked who would pay for roadway damage from construction vehicles or for declines in property values.

Speakers asked why city‑owned industrial parcels and modern small‑footprint technologies (such as membrane bioreactors) were not receiving more attention. "There are membrane bioreactor plants in Nashville and Denver that require only 15 to 25 acres," a resident said, asking the committee to consider alternative technologies and sites.

The committee accepted written petitions into the public record and asked staff to make the evaluation packet and scoring materials available. Committee members said they would continue technical screening but repeated that acquisition and siting decisions remain subject to later council action.