With officials eyeing the possibility of preserving the area for recreation, Hamilton County will spend nearly $101,500 to hire a consultant to review a sinkhole at a dam on McDonald Farm.
The County Commission unanimously voted Wednesday morning to enter into an agreement with Geosyntec Consultants for $101,483, which will evaluate the structure and offer recommendations to county officials on appropriate next steps. Because it owns the property, the county is required to take action to address any structural issues with the dam, which was constructed years ago by the McDonald family and now retains a small pond.
Officials have estimated building a new berm downstream could cost about $1 million. Eliminating the pond entirely could cost somewhere from $500,000 to $1 million. The dam is low-hazard, meaning a breach wouldn’t cause catastrophic issues downstream beyond ecological damage.
“This first step, we have to do it either way whether we keep it or not,” Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Director Matt Folz told commissioners Wednesday. “We have to find out what our options are and what the cost of that is.”
The item kicked off a discussion about the intended use for the land, which Folz said would have tremendous value if it was preserved as a lake feature. Folz said there’s already fish in the pond and docks around it.
Hamilton County purchased the entire 2,170-acre McDonald Farm property in December 2021 for $16 million with hopes to set it aside for industry with additional options for recreation. Commissioners had some reservations last week about the cost of hiring Geosyntec Consultants.
In an interview, Mayor Weston Wamp said the county wants to have as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision about the pond.
Hamilton County / A drone photo shows a sinkhole opening near a dam on McDonald Farm.“The last thing we want to do is to be penny-wise and pound-foolish about this extraordinary asset to the county,” Wamp said. “The state has all but told us we’re going to have to bring an engineer like this in to evaluate our options. We think there’s potentially merit in saving the pond.”
Wamp told commissioners his office intends to update them in the coming weeks about the overarching plans for McDonald Farm. Over the long-term, developing the infrastructure for economic development could cost about $200 million, Wamp said, which will require outside help. The county is going through the process of ensuring the industrial land is eligible for financial assistance from the state.
Of the 2,170 acres available, 600 are in Rhea County, meaning it’s not a priority for Hamilton County, Wamp said. About 100 acres are prime industrial land plus another few hundred acres that are realistically usable for economic development.
Overall, approximately 600 acres could be available for economic development, Wamp estimated, with a remaining 1,000 acres preserved for green space or recreation options.
“You’re not going to cover that 600 acres of industrial development anytime soon,” Wamp said. “Just to put a sizeable industrial tenant on-site is going to require upwards of a couple hundred million dollars of infrastructure. It’s a long process. We’re in the middle of it.”
The 50 acres around the farm’s homestead is prime property for a park, Wamp said, and although the pond wasn’t originally designated for that purpose, it also wasn’t identified for industrial development, which would be cost-prohibitive.
“We have a responsibility morally to preserve the historical buildings and the history of the site,” he told commissioners. “At the same time, because there’s an active stream that runs through this pond, there has been an open question about whether it would be included in future recreational activities there.”
General Services Director Christy Cooper, who also worked with former Mayor Jim Coppinger, told commissioners it has always been the county’s intent save some of McDonald Farm for green space. There are pieces of the property unusable for development.
“I understand the need for some park space,” Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, said during the meeting. “However, at what expense? We’re not making any more land for economic activity in Hamilton County, and that’s something that we need to absolutely consider when we’re making decisions about land space. Particularly land space that was purchased with the idea of future economic development.”
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.