TRACY HARRIS
Staff Writer
Cornersville had a Public Hearing to discuss the plan of services and annexation of six (6) acres north of The Tennessean Travel Stop on Nov. 7, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. No one in the audience spoke about it, so the public hearing closed immediately.
The regular meeting of Board Mayor and Aldermen opened after the public hearing with the Pledge of Allegiance. Doris Arthur led the Invocation. Financials and the minutes from October were both approved unanimously. All Aldermen were present at the November meeting.
Next on the agenda was Citizens Comments. Once again, Town Hall was full of residents eager to discuss the cell tower and zoning.
Since the beginning of this discussion, not one resident has spoken in favor of zoning the way the town wants to do it. Nor has anyone come forward in favor of the cell tower going where it is planned.
Amanda Harmon spoke first. She reminded the audience and elected officials that in previous meetings she spoke out against the tower being so close to the school. She said, “Ya’ll are supposed to be advocates for the town citizens and for the kids in the schools…Could we not table the discussion and maybe look at putting the tower elsewhere?” Amanda worked as a patient advocate for 15 years and wants the town to consider the potential dangers.
Brent Hieronymi told the town he appreciated their efforts and hated speaking in what could be seen as adversarial. He presented a petition with 94 signatures to the aldermen and said, “At the very least we want to table this rezoning of the 31A corridor…The fact that we’ve got a large section of town that’s not zoned at all, or we zoned it picking pieces, that’s by definition spot zoning- which is not allowed. If we are attempting to be able to enforce zoning, we can’t do it arbitrarily.”
Another opponent, Mike Logelin, handed each Alderman a thick packet of information before he spoke. He read from a statement that he prepared before the meeting: “In over 40 years of dental practice, I discovered that my decisions must be driven by thorough and credible research rather than the pinings of industry salespersons, television advertising, or mere opinions from those who are not properly educated on the issue. My decisions and actions were not only morally culpable but legally culpable. I have conducted a search for credible, peer-reviewed, published research by scientists… studying the health effects of EMF (ElectroMagnetic Fields.) I have consolidated and referenced these in a 33-page document. These are annotated and referenced and many have direct links to the publication. I give you this document so you may read for yourself what the worldwide research in multiple countries including the United States have concluded, and in some cases the actions their countries have taken. These studies cannot be refuted or rebutted but they can be and are often ignored by those with an agenda other than truth and the health and well-being of their citizenry. The residents of Cornersville and especially the 456 children who are at risk deserve your attention to the science and unbiased truth.”
Cam Harmon spoke next. Cam said, “Spot zoning is spot zoning no matter how you cut it. And another thing, I don’t go to church and live like I should but how can you stand here and pray when you’re going to bring that right here to all them kids… sometime, go down there and watch all them kids play. And then you’re going to vote for it?”
Doris Arthur interrupted Cam while he was speaking and said, “Don’t point at me, Cam.”
Cam replied, “You was the one that told me that you, y’all, that y’all worked hard on this. I didn’t see no record of where y’all worked hard.”
Arthur interrupted again, “You weren’t here. You just weren’t here.”
Cam said that he came and got a copy of the minutes from every one of the meetings that they had.
Arthur said, “Evidently you must not have. You weren’t here.”
Cam asked how the meeting notes were recorded because there were very little notes about a cell tower and zoning.
Admin Beth Vick said that minutes were not recorded “word for word.”
He asked Mayor Luna how many voters reside in Cornersville and said if the item could be tabled, he would be glad to take the petition “door to door and get at least 300 or 400 signatures” before the December meeting.
“We are talking about people’s kids and grandkids here. You could be a one-eyed judge and see this,” Cam said.
The residents of Cornersville seem to agree on two things– no to commercial blanket zoning and no to a cell tower near the school.
That has been the case at Planning Commission meetings, on social media, from emails we received, gatherings held in Cornersville, and at public hearings.
On the first reading of the Highway 31A Corridor, two Aldermen voted yes— Arthur and Johnson. Kerber was absent. McClintock voted no and said she will do what the residents of Cornersville wanted her to do, (in October) and asked that that homes be zoned as R-1 Residential and businesses be zoned as C-2 Commercial.
McClintock made a motion “to change all properties that written as being zoned as C-1 to be zoned as R-1” in Ordinance 24-331, in November.
This was the second reading for the ordinance to zone the Hwy 31A corridor. No one seconded McClintock’s amendment to the motion.
Mayor John Luna said, “The motion dies for lack of a second.”
After 45 seconds of silence, Mayor Luna said something inaudible to Taylor Brandon, City Recorder. Brandon then replied, “Whenever you have a motion and a lack of a second, then that motion dies. You would need another motion.”
While Brandon was speaking, Kerber and Arthur could be seen whispering to each other and looking at their meeting packet.
Kerber (who was not at the first reading of Ordinance 24-331) said, “Move to accept 24-331.” Arthur seconded.
Doris Arthur voted yes to zone Hwy 31A corridor commercial (C-1 and C-2.)
Janice Kerber voted yes to zone Hwy 31A corridor commercial (C-1 and C-2.)
Mary Johnson voted yes to zone Hwy 31A corridor commercial (C-1 and C-2.)
Sherry McClintock voted no to zoning Hwy 31A corridor commercial (C-1 and C-2.)
Ordinance 24-331 Zoning Hwy 31A Corridor passed by a vote of 3-1.
Ordinance 24-327 to amend building codes relating to one, two, and townhouse dwelling passed its second reading 4-0.
If the town wants to change locations for meetings due to a large crowd, they must have an ordinance in place to do so. Ordinance 24-334 Designation Alternate Venues for Board of Mayor and Aldermen Meetings passed unanimously.
The first reading of Ordinance 24-335 to adopt Planning Commission fees passed by a vote of 4-0.
Six acres north of The Tennessean Travel Stop will be annexed for Greg Sachs (Capital There were several nominations for Citizen of the Year (in order of nomination): Wanda Tucker, Clayton Henson, Marilu Clift, and Lorenzo Rios. Lorenzo Rios received the most votes and is your 2024 Cornersville Citizen of the Year.
Kerber addressed the audience after the agenda was finished: “We get our paperwork at the beginning of the week, so we have enough time throughout the week to read ours. I heard somebody make a comment about ‘you read that very fast’…It is our job to thoroughly read what is handed to us [before the meeting].”
McClintock added: I would like to see on next month’s agenda, not voting type information, but I’d like to know something about the setbacks that other communities and counties have set up for things like cell towers in particular. I know some counties have them. I don’t know about municipalities.”
Logelin spoke from the crowd and said, “There’s research that deals with that issue in that packet that I gave you. There’s research about all that stuff. If you take the time and do some reading, you’ll find out some of this stuff.”
The meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.
