Local residents may comment at a public hearing on April 26 about Eagleville’s proposed annexation of 35 acres on south Highway 41-A that has been the site of a dirt hauling and selling operation for several years.

The public hearing will take place at the regular city council meeting which begins at 7 p.m.

The property, which lies on the north side of Kelley Creek, is owned by Daniel and Sharon Coffey.

Rutherford County has had some permit issues with Coffey’s hauling dirt off the property for at least the last three years.

It appears, however, that any county issues that are not covered under the state’s requirements could go away if Eagleville annexes the site.

If his property is annexed, Coffey’s operation would then fall under the jurisdiction of the city of Eagleville because Eagleville is an incorporated city within the county.

"Once Mr. Coffey is in the Eagleville city limits then he will have to abide by whatever city codes that Eagleville has set," Jason Dees, a member of the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation’s (TDEC) water pollution control division field office staff, confirmed last week.

County Engineer Del Corbitt said he was told by the state about six months ago that the county would still be responsible for storm water related issues, but Corbitt confirmed Friday that the state now says the county will not be responsible if the property is annexed.

One of the sticking points for the county over the past three years has been Coffey’s lack of a resource extraction permit.

"The way the county operates is if you move dirt off your property for whatever reason -- you could be giving it to your uncle or church or whatever – you are supposed to come in and get an extraction permit," Corbitt said.

Coffey had applied for a conditional use permit for resource extraction in September 2004 and was granted the permit by the Rutherford County Board of Zoning Appeals in October 2004.

According to his application, he planned to dig a pond for a future catfish farm. He estimated about six to eight dump truck loads a day would be hauled off from a 10.13-acre parcel of his land.

His permit was never finalized, however, because Coffey would not agree to post a surety bond to insure reclamation of the land nor a road bond, according to county planning officials. The permit also required a fence around the excavation site.

On Nov. 3, 2005, the county issued a stop work order. That matter appears to still be unresolved and has been clouded by agricultural exemption issues.

The state got involved in January 2006 when someone filed a complaint with TDEC about Coffey’s soil mining operation.

A water pollution control staff member investigated the complaint and found no violations or impacts to the water quality of Kelley Creek, according to Dana Coleman, TDEC’s communications director.

But the agency did tell the Coffeys that they are required to have a state permit because the affected site is larger than one acre in size, Coleman said.

Coffey applied for the required permit, and the state granted it in March 2006. The permit, which applies to about 4.5 acres, authorizes storm water discharges from the excavation activities.

Also, the state is requiring additional pollution prevention requirements because Kelley Creek was already on Tennessee’s list of impaired streams due to siltation.

The state will also address what the site will look like after the dirt removal is over as it relates to final site stabilizations and whether there were any stream alterations, Ann Morbitt of TDEC’s water pollution control division, said.

The state does not require any kind of bond, though, according to Dees, but it can assess fines up to $10,000 a day for permit noncompliance.

If the city of Eagleville annexes the Coffey property, the action will have no impact on the state’s requirements, which remain the same whether the property is annexed or not, Coleman said.

It is not clear what the city’s requirement for the Coffey’s site will be if it annexes the property.

The city has no storm water management control ordinance yet but Mayor Nolan Barham said that matter is now in the hands of the city planner.

Barham, who is also a member of the Eagleville Planning Commission, said he is unsure about what permits or rules and regulations the city might require and whether a bond will be required to make sure Coffey fixes the land after he is through digging. Also, he said he was unsure about how the property would be zoned.

"Right now we are waiting to get some answers from the county and the state and that’s all up in the air," he said.

Barham said the city has been working on the annexation for over a year now and it has been his understanding that the state and county would still have jurisdiction over the property concerning the environmental issues whether it is in the city limits or not.

The city has already had two of three readings on the annexation ordinance and could have the third and final reading April 20 after the public hearing.

But Barham said he wanted to find out some answers from the county and state before proceeding on the third reading.

"I would never put the city of Eagleville knowingly in any kind of jeopardy for anything," he said. "If we don’t have answers we can just have the public hearing."

Barham said the city is considering annexing the Coffey property because Coffey asked to be annexed.

Coffey said in an interview Saturday that he does not come under the county’s land disturbance permit requirement because his operation is agriculturally exempt.

"That would make it like anytime they cut sod they would have to have a land disturbance permit and pay a fee and anytime you plowed your field you would have to have a permit," he said.

He said he falls under an agricultural exemption because his 35 acres is a farm with goats, horses and chickens and that he cuts hay.

As for the resource extraction permit, Coffey said the county "never said a word when it went to their schools."

"As long as the county was needing the dirt everything was OK," he said.

Coffey said the only way he will be able to build the lake on his place is by selling the dirt.

"I’m not getting rich off it and if I can sell enough of it to keep the equipment up and to keep the digging up then I can have a lake," he said. "I don’t have millions of dollars to blow on fees and stuff."

Coffey said he wants to be annexed so he can be a part of the city.

"I don’t have any plans of subdividing or anything like that, I just want to be part of the city," he said. "I now feel like an outsider looking in."

Coffey said his long-term plan is to have the catfish pond, Christmas trees and a pumpkin patch for children to visit.