SOUTH PITTSBURG — Residents in Marion County’s Jumpoff community are upset after the County Commission decided not to block a sand mine operation from being established there on 150 acres of farmland.
Commissioners have the right, granted by the legislature, to invoke special powers to to regulate certain land uses identified as nuisances, using what’s called a County Powers Act.
The act was rejected during the commission’s October meeting in a 9-4 vote, and some residents feel left behind.
“I guess money won this challenge, but we fought the best we could against it,” Jumpoff resident Ron Bailey said in an email after the meeting. “We can only hope there is something environmental that will stop it or a conservation effort purchase of the land.”