Some tornado debris to be burned at industrial park

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - An area of the Cleveland/Bradley County Industrial Park in south Cleveland will be used to burn much of the vegetative debris from the April tornadoes.

On Tuesday, Doug Berry, vice president for industrial development with the Chamber of Commerce, told the Industrial Development Board that cleanup crews needed an area where a burn screen could be constructed.

Bradley Mayor D. Gary Davis said 150 truckloads of tree and brush debris were unloaded Saturday and Sunday.

"We cautioned them to be sensitive to the fact there is a food processing company at the other end of the park," Berry said.

Ashes likely will be taken to the landfill later and the type of debris documented for future industrial development needs.

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The tornadoes brought little damage to the Whirlpool site on Benton Pike at Michigan Avenue Road, Berry said.

But Whirlpool's project team, including out-of-town consultants, is donating its work today to community cleanup efforts.

Meanwhile the county continues to show properties to potential industries, Berry said, including one that, if it chose Bradley County, could bring up to 400 jobs.

And there was another international plastics company that brought an unusual request to town. The company eventually rejected Bradley County because none of the sites met its feng shui requirements: the property was not the right size or shape to orient the building as required.

Feng shui is a Chinese system of aesthetics thought to help improve one's life by achieving a certain positive balance of natural energies, including the proper arrangement of furniture or buildings.

The storms also may have damaged, at least temporarily, prospects for a new industrial park off APD 40. Both the city and county committed funds to buying the land but now face more budget constraints.

Davis said the county is looking at major school construction or renovation needs left by the storms.

No one knows yet, he said, how those needs will be met financially.

City Manager Janice Casteel said she will present options to the City Council on Monday but there are no guarantees.

The meeting began with an announcement by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., of an Economic Excellence Award initiative beginning next fall.

Fleischmann told the Industrial Board he probably will hand out several awards per year. But he is leaving the nominations and requirements up to local businesses and communities "instead of Washington bureaucrats," he said.

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