Truth be told, no site in East Tennessee in proximity to a residential community is going to be fully acceptable as a replacement for the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute.
There’s too much fear of patients, traffic and noise, whether real or imagined.
So it’s not surprising that the long knives are out already after Wednesday’s announcement of a purchased site for the replacement hospital, which needs to be moved off Moccasin Bend to fully realize utilization of the Moccasin Bend national archaeological district
The 50-acre site, between Chattanooga’s Lookout Valley community and the Georgia state line, drew immediate scorn from Chattanooga City Council member Chip Henderson of Lookout Valley and Hamilton County Commissioner Montrell Besley, D-Alton Park, who represent the area.
“I have serious concerns about this being located in the area that it is,” Henderson said prior to the press conference announcing the site. “This whole process was put together under a cloak of secrecy. I was not engaged, the community was not engaged. That’s not how democracy works. I have serious concerns about the impact that this will have on our community.”