Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 12-9-25

WKOM/WKRM Radio

Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for December 9, 2025

All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.

We start with local news…

Boat Ramp to Close (Press Release)

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) boat ramp and access area at Iron Bridge Road on the Duck River in Columbia will be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 10 and will reopen on Dec. 11. The closure is in response to a request by the Franklin Police Department, who will have divers in the immediate area on that day.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is responsible for protecting, managing, and conserving fish and wildlife species for the benefit of Tennesseans and visitors. The Agency also maintains public safety through law enforcement and safety education on waterways.

County Imposes Partial Development Moratorium (MSM)

The Maury County Commission overwhelmingly passed a 10-month building moratorium in its zoning area in an effort to buy time to draft a Comprehensive Land-Use Plan.

The 16-4 vote by the Commission earned praise from many public commenters, but local developers and some commissioners criticized it, while others pointed out that far more development is happening in city limits than in the county.

The scope of the moratorium is limited. It restricts only “major subdivisions” which have five or more lots, any of which are less than five acres. It also pauses construction only, allowing developers to apply and work through the permitting process in the meantime. The moratorium only applies to properties in Maury County zoning, not the municipal or annexed territories where almost all of the building is happening. Finally, the moratorium is set to expire on Oct. 1, 2026.

Commissioners explained that they wanted to use the time to draft the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan for Maury County.

“It may not even be feasible to get it done in nine months,” said Commissioner Scott Sumners; the county would need all the time it can get to finish the plan.

“We need to be very careful and judicious,” said Commissioner Aaron Miller. “I’ve said many times, we can only build the county once.”

Some commissioners objected to the current lack of consensus over land use, to the possible liability that they would incur, and to putting developers’ livelihoods on hold.

“This moratorium, in my mind, will only penalize the local builders and… real estate agents,” said Commissioner Jerry Strahan, who predicted that the moratorium would further drive developers into the arms of the cities. “If I were a developer, I wouldn’t even look to the county for the next year.”

“We haven’t told these local builders [whether] we [are] going to settle on a one-acre… three-acre… or five-acre minimum,” complained Commissioner Kevin Markham. “We haven’t finished our work yet… [so] they’re stuck for the period of time from now to Oct. 1.”

Kristi Ransom, the attorney for county Building and Zoning, opined that the moratorium should hold up in court because it limits its scope and timeframe and provides reasons for the measures it does take.

“It’s not going to put the local home-builders out of business… If they want to build individual houses here and there, no problem, go ahead,” replied Commissioner Kenny Morrow, and a few other commissioners spoke out in agreement with him.

“We’re bound by what the state has already done,” said Commissioner Chad Brothers, who found on the city of Columbia website that 10,442 housing units — 5,815 single-family, 2,012 townhouses and 2,444 multi-family — are now either in the permitting pipeline or under construction on properties zoned to Columbia. Hundreds more are in process in Spring Hill, according to an online map provided by that city’s Development Services department. The combined 153 subdivision units built on county turf in the last three years, most of them finished by now, are a drop in the bucket compared to approved, ongoing municipal developments.

Since under state law counties have no say in annexations, Brothers and Mayor Sheila Butt asked people to stop blaming the county, and to stop rhetorically pitting the county against the cities; noting that friendly municipal relations could help prevent further overdevelopment.

“I just don’t want us to go away saying ‘The city’s the bad guy’… [because] a person has to ask to [have their property] annexed,” Butt said. “The cities are part of Maury County.”

The public commenters were mostly favorable to the moratorium. Teresa Sparks, who runs the activist group “Stop the Sprawl Y’all,” pointed out that population growth has happened far ahead of schedule: the 2009 Comprehensive Plan predicted 102,000 residents by 2030, but the actual population of the county is now estimated at 116,000.

Several others were animated by finished or prospective developments that they believe would cause more and more dangerous traffic than they wanted in their neighborhoods. Sabina Barnett complained that two farms near her house had been sold and developed into 20 new households, making Double Branch Road “completely impassable” and “a rutted dirt road which turns to mud when it rains.”

Others supported the moratorium as a common cause with their fights against municipal developments, like the Waters Edge at Taylor Landing apartment complex and the John Maher Builders neighborhood on Trotwood Avenue.

Local developers, however, raised objections which the commissioners had to take very seriously. Randall Shaw, the owner of Shaw Enterprises, passed out a sheet with the numbers and types of residential building permits issued in the last three years. According to his data, of the 627 permits issued since January 2023, 474 of them were given to individual homeowners or the general contractors working for them; only 153 total, 19-27 percent of the permits each year, were given to houses built by developers.

“We’ve already legislated out the big-box boys, if that’s what you were trying to do… when you took out the half-acre requirements on an alternative septic system,” Shaw said, arguing that the moratorium would put only small-time local developers out of business.

“People that come in here aren’t interested in buying five acres… [but] I am interested in continuing to develop acre lots,” he continued.

Only about three commissioners raised their hands when he asked how many of them lived on five acres or more, which he said was indicative of the general demand for the minimum lot sizes proposed in the rural county.

“Your permits are not the problem,” he added. “The cit[ies are] the problem, not the county. We don’t need a moratorium.”

“You’re gonna create a ring of growth outwards,” said David Townsend, a local real-estate agent. “All [the moratorium] will do is stop the local builders from doing what they do best.”

Sam Gray, owner-operator of Gray Enterprises, asked the commission to amend the resolution by deferring the building moratorium for 30 days, to give more time to developers like him to finish their projects. He argued that residential developers aren’t the problem, claiming that building permits are already down this year, and that the cities have only annexed one residential property from Maury County zoning in the last three years.

“Once we lose these local builders, they won’t come back,” he warned.

City Receives Grant (Press Release)

The City of Columbia is proud to announce that the Columbia Police Department has been awarded $1,300,000 through the State of Tennessee’s Violent Crime Intervention Fund (VCIF), administered by the Department of Finance & Administration’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP).

“The VCIF program provides critical resources for communities across Tennessee to enhance public safety,” said Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Haywood. “This funding will allow us to expand investigative capabilities and equip our officers with advanced technology and modernized tools to respond more effectively to criminal offenses.”

The State of Tennessee allocated $75 million in the 2025–26 budget to support VCIF grants for law enforcement agencies statewide, including local police departments and drug task forces, to strengthen efforts to prevent and reduce violent crime. VCIF grants fund evidence-based programs, technology, infrastructure, and other initiatives designed to enhance strategies addressing violent crime. In Columbia, the $1.3 million award will be used to upgrade surveillance systems, enhance forensic capabilities, and provide state-of-the-art protective equipment for officers, improving investigative capacity and ensuring personnel can operate even more safely and efficiently in the field.

This $1.3 million award follows closely after the City’s recent $758,681 Community Development Block Grant for drainage improvements, a pair of significant investments that City Manager Tony Massey said “make it feel a little like Christmas came early for Columbia.” Together, these grant successes reflect the City’s continued commitment to aggressively pursuing external funding opportunities that strengthen services, support community needs, and help ease the financial burden on local taxpayers.

City May See 149% Increase in Water Bill (MSM)

The Columbia City Council and a packed council room last week heard that CPWS water rates could increase by 149 percent over the next five years if the area were to experience no growth.

That information came during the city council’s study session last week, where CPWS CEO Jonathan Hardin explained the findings of the utility’s finished rate study.

To pay for updated and new water infrastructure, the utility set impact fees for new water mains and building permits and budgeted out 20 percent compounded annual increases over the next five years, which end up totaling 149 percent over current rates. These measures would pay down debts on projects that (at last estimate) include $82 million in updates to Columbia’s aging municipal pipe network, a new $280 million pipeline from Williamsport, and a $180 million facility that will treat an additional 12 million daily gallons of water (MGD).

Hardin added an important caveat to the rate increase, which mostly hadn’t entered the public discussion. The study, he said, wasn’t allowed to factor in any hypothetical growth or impact fees, even though expected population and industrial growth is what makes the new infrastructure necessary. In other words, the 149 percent increase would only fall on the current rate-payers if they gained no new neighbors or factories.

Though they couldn’t factor it into the study, CPWS officials are bullish on making up part of the difference with growth and grants. For one thing, businesses are chomping at the bit to move to the area: Hardin estimated that $10 billion in economic growth had been turned away from Maury County in the last several years, specifically for lack of water supply. The new impact fees they’d pay would further offset the cost, making “growth pay for growth” at least in part.

“As we realize growth, we will realize impact fees and consumption that will allow us to pay these [down],” Hardin promised.

“Note that the proposed ordinance would *allow* the rate increases, but not *require* them,” pointed out James Dallas, a prominent member of the county Democratic Party, in a Facebook post on the subject.

CPWS also plans to apply for lots of government aid. The state will make plenty of grant money available in 2026, which Hardin said they would prefer to distribute instead of giving it back to the federal government. The utility is also lobbying federal agencies for grants and elected representatives for appropriations, since it was the environmental advice of federal agencies — the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Tennessee Valley Authority — that prompted CPWS to place the intake in Williamsport.

No free money has yet been given to the projects, however. CPWS is now in talks to take out about $270 million in State Revolving Fund loans, and $135 million in 30-year federal WIFIA loans which have extremely generous terms; grants or appropriations would be used to pay down their debts to these.

Based on this, CPWS expects lower rate increases in years 3-5 of the schedule, though they can’t yet estimate how much. They would have to bring each increase before the city council for justification and approval each year.

Hardin also pointed out that if CPWS could offset the projected rate increases with growth fees, bringing them down to $8.96 per 1,000 gallons in 2030, that would still be far from the highest in the region — according to rate study findings shared with Main Street Maury, seven other utilities charge more than that even now. (CPWS’s current residential water rate of $3.75 per 1,000 gallons is one of the very lowest in middle Tennessee, 25th among 28 surveyed utility districts.) By 2030 the neighboring utilities might well raise their rates to fund growth-driven capital projects, Hardin said, which would make CPWS’s future rates even more competitive.

Controversy

A commotion arose around the rate increase as soon as the city published the meeting agenda. The rate study results were first presented to city councilors in individual private meetings in November, and when the rate increase was finally made public, several county commissioners and dozens of people registered their displeasure on social media.

Some of those commissioners, representing both areas of the city of Columbia and the unincorporated areas served by Maury County Water Services, gave public comment at the study session.

“For families living paycheck to paycheck, for seniors on fixed incomes, for parents raising children… water must remain dependable and affordable,” said Commission Chairman Danny Grooms, who represents the southwestern county’s District 10. “Development cannot move faster than the resources that support it.”

“I’ve heard a lot in the past six hours that I have not before… [but] the problem is transparency,” said Eric Previti, the District 2 county commissioner for south Columbia. “Everyone thinks [the rate increase has been proposed] because of the growth… and it is one of the reasons, but I’m [also] hearing issues about infrastructure… If this is why it’s got to happen, then you need to be more transparent with the public.”

As a consistent advocate for impact fees, Previti insisted, as did other commissioners and public commenters, that developers be made to take on the costs of the new infrastructure that serves their projects.

“The folks that are already here, that… have been here a long time, are carrying an unfair, uneven burden of various expenses,” said public commenter Chris Gramling, expressing support for impact fees.

Jason Gilliam, who sits on the board of Maury County Water Systems, pointed out that this increase would necessitate serious price hikes to their rural customers, over which they have no vote or influence. MCWS currently provides water at $9.47-9.82 per 1,000 gallons for normal residential users, but Gilliam said the rate increase would raise the CPWS’s wholesale rate from $3.75 per 1,000 gallons to approximately MCWS’s current charge.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what we’re talking about here is taxation without representation,” he said.

Gilliam also considered the pipeline and new intake to be wildly unaffordable. He compared it to MCWS’s own pipeline project, which would bring 3 million gallons per day of treated water about six miles south from the H.B.&T.S. Utility District, at a cost of $14 million ($7 million of it provided by grants) in less than a year; for another $51 million they could have gotten a total of 7 MGD.

“We could potentially have more than half the water that CPWS will provide from their intake, at one-tenth of the cost [of their whole project],” Gilliam said.

Though other speakers complained that CPWS has almost exclusive control on county water supply, Gilliam made it clear that MCWS wouldn’t wait for their permission to find other water sources or partners.

City Councilman Charlie Huffman, a career employee of CPWS, calculated that the lifetime interest on the project would come out to about $200 million; the first year’s payment alone would be $20 million.

“Our great-grandkids will have to pay for that,” he said.

Huffman said he had never seen rates drop in his 41 years with the utility, and declared that people in Maury County just can’t pay the new rates.

“There needs to be something else done,” he stressed.

“The funds will be on a ‘much longer than typical’ bond [of 30 years]. The proposed intake is stated [to be] a 20-30 year solution,” said County Commissioner Mike Kuzawinski in a Facebook post after the meeting. “So the debt outlasts the solution, per the presentation. How can this make any sense?”

Cindy Ryle, the owner of a 73-unit apartment complex filled with mostly retirees, said she had always paid the tenants’ water and sewer herself, but that monthly CPWS water charges for their facility are up about $2,000 over this time last year, forcing them to raise rent about $30 per unit on people living on social security or pensions. The proposed rate increase would drive many of their fixed-income tenants into government housing.

Hardin said he appreciated the “accountability” and dialogue offered by the meeting, and the chance it gave him to publicly explain the hard work behind and urgency of the project.

“I’m pleased… to discuss the culmination of more than a decade of effort,” he said. “We deserve to stand up here and speak to the public about what we’re doing and why.”

He argued that whatever other long-term regional solutions get pursued, CPWS’s new intake and treatment facilities are necessary expenses. The current intake sits behind a 100-year-old dam which requires vigilant maintenance, and which Hurricane Helene has shown to be vulnerable to previously impossible natural disasters.

The Williamsport intake is also in a more drought-resistant spot, and would provide more resilient water supply in an event like the severe drought of 2007-08 or the record-setting nationwide one of 1988-90. Most crucially, it would fulfill CPWS and Spring Hill’s outstanding water obligations to ongoing economic development: the “will-serve letters” they’ve already issued would exhaust the utilities’ old permits in a few years, when developers finish their current projects alone. CPWS Vice President Matt Wheeler estimated that the intake could give the county 15-30 years, depending on the rate of growth, to pick the next long-term solution.

“Like anyone, I do not enjoy discussing rate actions,” Hardin said. “But we’re talking about a shovel-ready solution that will allow us to take care of our friends and neighbors for decades to come.”

The mayor and vice-mayor agreed.

“Some of y’all would love to hear that we don’t grow any more, we shut the doors. That’s not going to happen,” Vice-Mayor Randy McBroom said. “It sounds like we have to do something. We only have a million gallons [of unused daily water capacity].”

“What is the cost of doing nothing… and what would the result be if we stayed where we are now and faced the potential of a water shortage?” Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder asked. “It’s the cost of not having adequate drinking water for our children and grandchildren.”

County Commissioner Gabe Howard urged people to turn out to the city voting session to make their voices heard on the rate-increase resolution.

“We have one shot to get this right,” he warned. “If we charge ahead without planning, we will regret it — financially and environmentally — for generations.”

And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…

Mrs. Rosa Hie Perko, 83, passed away Sunday, December 7 at her residence with her family by her side. A funeral mass will be conducted Wednesday, December 10 at 11:00 AM at St. Catherine Catholic Church. Burial will follow at Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends from 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM at St. Catherine Catholic Church.

Mrs. Janet Marie (White) Rogers, age 93, passed away peacefully November 28, 2025 at

Birmingham, Alabama. Funeral services will be conducted December 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM, at Columbia First United Methodist Church. Interment will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends at the church for 2 hours prior to the service. Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Karen M. Picard, a dedicated healthcare professional passed away peacefully on December 2, 2025, in Nashville, TN at the age of 80.

A memorial will be held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home in Columbia, TN.

Mrs. Clara Durand Ledbetter, 89, passed away on Thursday, November 27, 2025 at NHC Maury Regional Transitional Care Center surrounded by her loving family. A memorial service will be held on Monday, December 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Visitation will precede the service, beginning at 10:00 AM.

Welcome back to Southern Middle Tennessee Today on WKOM, 101.7 and WKRM 103.7. Your hometown source for news and information. I’m your host, Tom Price.

Now, news from around the state…

Voucher Program May Expand (Tennessean)

Tennessee lawmakers will consider potentially doubling the number of taxpayer-funded private school Education Freedom Scholarships — to as many as 40,000 — as House Speaker Cameron Sexton says the state should meet families’ demand.

Sexton also says lawmakers will consider removing the income cap for the state's older, three-county Education Savings Accounts program, which was designed to empower low-income families who otherwise could not afford private education.

Tennessee’s statewide Education Freedom Scholarship program this year provided 20,000 taxpayer-funded grants of $7,295 to students to attend private schools.

Half the scholarships were distributed to families without regard to income, while the other half are reserved for families with incomes of $173,000 or less for a family of four. Students are required to take one standard test, but test results are not reported to the state.

The state received more than 42,000 applications for private school scholarships last year, more than half of which were submitted within hours of the application opening. The 2025-26 application opens on Dec. 9.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is bringing his live comedy show to the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin.

The amphitheater shared on social media, “An Evening with Jerry Seinfeld at FirstBank Amphitheater on Friday, May 8th! Tickets on sale THIS Friday, December 12th @ 10AM!”

On Seinfeld’s website, it stated, Jerry Seinfeld is back on the road for his comedy tour! Jerry Seinfeld, the legendary comic well famous for his hit series Seinfeld as well as his famous observational humor is preparing to bring his brand new material to theaters across the nation.\

Get tickets at www.firstbankamphitheatre.com.