A faith-based nonprofit focused on combating sex trafficking and veterans’ issues such as homelessness is eyeing the McDonald Farm as the potential site for a roughly 100-acre complex it wants to place in Hamilton County.
“I will humbly propose that the McDonald Farm is intriguing to us, and that’s something we would like to explore the potential of,” Jeff Shaw, national expansion officer for Frontline Response, told county commissioners during a presentation Wednesday. “Again, we’re looking for about 100 acres, and we’ll also need to look with the county at a place where we can get the necessary infrastructure and utilities to the campus.”
However, county leaders indicated it could be premature to consider the McDonald Farm as an option for that project. There are also hurdles planners would have to consider if they placed that type of facility there. Hamilton County purchased the 2,170 acre parcel for $16 million in December 2021 under former Mayor Jim Coppinger, and officials are in the process of preparing much of that land for industry.
The presentation Wednesday was the first time county commissioners received an overview of the group’s plans. In a phone call, Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, said he doesn’t yet know enough about the project to make a definitive statement, but the site seems awful far away from the services veterans would need. Access to medical facilities, for example, would need to be a consideration.