Marion board wary of TDOT salt house

JASPER, Tenn. — Some Marion County leaders are less than happy about the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s plan to build a salt storage facility in the county.

The salt house would be built in the median of Interstate 24 at exit 158, on the empty lot across from Tennessee-Alabama Fireworks. It would be identical to an existing facility in Monteagle.

County Mayor David Jackson told county commissioners this month he met with TDOT officials about the plan recently and was asked to find out if the board had any “strong objections” to it.

“They don’t have to have our permission to do it,” he said. “They own the property. They can come in and do it.”

He said that several years ago, TDOT spent more than $60,000 on site preparation for a salt house elsewhere in the state, but local government leaders opposed the project and “got it knocked in the head.”

Jackson said TDOT met with him as “a courtesy call” to avoid that happening in Marion.

TDOT officials told him having a salt house at exit 158 will reduce reloading times for trucks spreading salt along the interstate in the winter.

“If it’s something [the board] has a problem with, then we need to talk to them and resolve it,” Jackson said.

The construction plan includes planting trees around the building, and for Commission Chairman Gene Hargis, that’s a “concern.”

He said he’s worried those trees grow high enough to obstruct the views of nearby businesses and their advertisements.

“I can see that being a problem,” Hargis said.

Commissioner Matt Blansett said putting a salt house on the site would be “just sad.”

“You come across the river into Marion County, and you’ve got the prettiest views of the mountains,” he said. “Then you’re going to have a salt house stuck in the middle of the interstate.”

TDOT looked at the closed rest area on eastbound I-24 as a possible site but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would be too close to the Tennessee River.

The median area at exit 158 is the only other property TDOT owns that would suffice.

“Really and truly, they don’t have to ask us,” Commissioner Tommy Thompson said. “It’s a safety issue, too, with ice and stuff on the interstate. That’s got to be considered, too. I say let them do it.”

Commissioner Don Adkins said TDOT could offer the county an “olive branch” by reopening the eastbound rest area, which would help with tourism.

“I hate the fact that we’re going to have this eyesore [entering] to Marion County,” he said. “We’re losing tourists that are going through there now, leaving Marion County.”

Jackson said he believes the eastbound rest area can be considered permanently closed.

“That’s a shame,” Adkins said.