Nearly two years after buying the McDonald Farm north of Sale Creek for future industrial and business growth, Hamilton County commissioners will consider a grant request next week to begin to develop the farm with water service and an upgraded road entrance to facilitate both commercial and recreational development of the 2,170-acre property.
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said Wednesday he hopes the farm, which the county purchased in December 2021 for $16 million, will soon be included as a certified site for industrial development by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Tennessee has 47 certified industrial sites across the state, but Hamilton County doesn’t have any industrial parks on the state’s list of major site-ready locations for industrial development.
On Friday, the state will begin considering the next round of grants for industrial park development. Hamilton County is seeking $5 million of state money to help fund $7.5 million of utility and road upgrades. County commissioners will decide next week whether to match the state grant, if approved, with $2.5 million of county funds to build a water loop to provide water service across the farm and to upgrade Coulterville Road entering the Sale Creek property.
“This grant is a really important step,” Wamp said in an interview following the County Commission’s agenda session Wednesday. “This comes at the same time we are applying and expecting McDonald Farm to become a certified site, hopefully very soon.”
But industrial development of the farm may be five or more years away after the property is developed with sewer, water and road connections to attract new industry and potentially office parks and new recreational facilities, Wamp said.