IF YOU GOWhat: Public hearing on new Life Care nursing homeWhen: 6:30 p.m. TuesdayWhere: Dayton Municipal Building, 399 First Ave., Dayton, Tenn
By Kimberly McMillian
Correspondent
DAYTON, Tenn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will address environmental concerns related to a proposed new nursing home at a public hearing Tuesday.
Life Care Centers of America Inc. plans to build an 89-bed nursing home on 14.5 acres along Manufacturers Road. Some residents have expressed concerns over the need to relocate a creek tributary, which they worry might cause flooding. Others are concerned because the site is near a wetland and railroad tracks.
At a public hearing last month, Life Care attorney Dan Elrod said the project depends on state permission.
“Life Care won’t build unless it’s been approved by TDEC,” he said.
A Life Care representative said in a telephone interview that the company looked at “numerous site locations,” and TDEC had suggested that relocating the tributary north would “hydrate the wetland area” but not increase the flow of water.
Life Care declined to furnish records concerning the geotechnical reports.
Steve Dillard owns the property that Life Care has chosen.
In an e-mail, Mr. Dillard said that “all state and federal requirements are being met and satisfied by Life Care” in the construction and development of the new nursing home.
A separate hearing scheduled last week before the Health Services and Development Agency in Nashville was postponed after a lawsuit was filed against Life Care in Rhea County. The suit seeks damages for the family of a nursing home resident who was sexually assaulted at the facility in May.
HSDA official Melanie Hill said in a telephone interview that she had received an e-mail from Cindy Cross, senior director of legal services for Life Care. She said the e-mail stated the postponement would “enable the applicant, and all other interested parties, to have the benefit of knowing whether or not our proposed site plan is acceptable” to the Army Corps and TDEC.
HSDA will review the application for a certificate of need on Aug. 25 in Nashville.
Life Care declined to comment whether it would build elsewhere if this site was rejected.
Kimberly McMillian is based in Rhea County. Contact her at kdj424@bellsouth.net.
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