Residents press commissioners on alleged favoritism, transparency in property sales and funding

Two speakers during the public comment period raised strong concerns about transparency and fairness in recent county property sales and development funding.

Ed Taylor Jr., president of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization, used his time to invite commissioners to a July 4 event honoring Revolutionary War soldiers and to thank the county for prior support for cemetery preservation.

A later commenter who runs a local tire shop and identified his business as Smitty's Tire accused county staff of denying him funding and favoring other developers. The commenter said he spent about $90,000 improving property and paid legal fees while his project to add a fuel stop stalled. "You're not telling the truth. Period," the commenter said in response to staff remarks. He said other projects received county assistance and questioned why his proposals were not supported.

Jeff Barclay, a county staff member, responded that the county had worked with the commenter, granted multiple extensions and tried to help secure tenants and financing so the bank would approve a loan; Barclay said the public nature of county options and real‑estate processes limits confidentiality and that time and tenant requirements ultimately affected the outcome.

Kit Pepper, identifying name and address, pressed the board on a list of 12 transactions that the board planned to ratify, alleging the transactions were not handled publicly and citing a building sale to Dave Weimer with employment‑contingent price reductions. Pepper urged the commissioners to release closed‑session minutes related to those transactions so the public can see deliberations. Staff and commissioners said some funding for the Kings Bend site‑preparation includes a $1,000,000 state commerce reimbursement and $800,000 from the George Edwards fund, and that additional approvals will be handled at a future meeting.

What remains unresolved: The public allegations about favoritism and the specific terms of prior property deals cited by commenters were not substantiated during the meeting; commissioners did not open closed‑session minutes during this session. The board acknowledged the public concerns and said certain approvals and funding recognitions will come at future meetings.