from The Lebanon Democrat::Dec. 3, 2008
City asks state to fund Bible Park road
By: J.R. LIND

December 3, 2008 – The City of Lebanon will be asking the state to help fund a road to the proposed Bible Park.

The Lebanon City Council OK'd an ordinance Tuesday allowing city officials to submit an application for a state industrial access road grant, a Tennessee Department of Transportation program in which the state provides money to construct infrastructure for jobs-generating projects. But the approval did not come without a fight.

Councilor Kevin Huddleston asked if the road cost, for example, $5 million and the SIA was granted for $1 million, would the city be on the hook for the remaining $4 million.

Public Works Commissioner Jeff Baines answered "Yes," but then Mayor Don Fox, in his last meeting with Lebanon's gavel, stepped in.

"No. At that point I'd call [BPUSA developer Ron] Wyatt and say you are going to have to build that road," Fox said.

"And what if he says no?" Councilor Alex Buhler asked.

"Then there won't be a park," Fox answered.

Buhler referenced a statement during early discussions about the Bible Park where representatives of the project said they did not intend to fund any outside infrastructure. Fox said he made the city's position clear.

"When I sat down with the CEO of BPU, I said we will not spend any city money on that road. [County Attorney] Mike Jennings said there wouldn't be any county money," Fox said.

Baines said with similar SIA grants in the past, such as those issued for Kenwal Steel and Leviton, the developer ponied up for any difference between the grant and the final cost.

Huddleston made a motion to defer until city engineers could provide a preliminary cost estimate.

"You may be killing this with a deferral," Fox said. "We've done this 1,000 times. This is because it's B-I-B-L-E."

Councilor William Farmer offered an amendment saying that if the grant was given, the city was not committed to spending any money. With the change, the motion to defer was withdrawn and the resolution passed.

"I think what we are saying is we don't have the money if they don't," Councilor Kathy Warmath said.

In other business, the council gave final approval to a change of the city's sign ordinance requiring lighted message center signs to dim and go "static" during certain hours. An amendment offered by Councilor Joe Hayes, which would have allowed churches and schools to display a scrolling one-line message between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., failed for lack of a second, and the original resolution passed unanimously.