(The following story by Robert Wilson appeared on the News Sentinel website on May 27, 2009.)
DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Trying to quell growing discontent among residents, Jefferson County Mayor Alan Palmieri told a gathering of about 100 people today during a press conference that the possibility an intermodal rail facility will locate in the county is still in the earliest stages and is not a sure thing.
Jefferson County residents in recent weeks have been uneasy about reports of an intermodal rail operation because the proposal has not been made public although its existence was known. Norfolk Southern Railway has announced its interest in building a railroad yard where truck trailers and containers can be transferred between trains and trucks.
The Interstate 81 corridor between Knoxville and the Tri-Cities is considered by Norfolk Southern to be ideal because of the access to a main rail line and interstates 40, 75 and 81.
Today’s event, Palmieri said, was to publicly address the issue and quiet fears.
The mayor said any proposal to place the facility, which would cover hundreds of acres, in Jefferson County remains too early in the planning process for any information to be made public.
“To speak of this as a done deal in no way reflects the true standing of this project,” Palmieri said.
According to a recently published numbers by the University of Tennessee, the Norfolk Southern Intermodal Facility has a price tag of $50.4 million. An adjacent business and logistics park, according to the study, would cost $82.5 million.
The intermodal facility could create up to 150 Jefferson County jobs by 2025, the study said. Off-site development and infrastructure costs would total just over $23 million.