Davidson County commissioners voted 5-2 last night to make the former Duracell plant the preferred site for a new county jail.
The county's jail committee recommended pursuing the acquisition of the Duracell plant for the new jail.
Commissioners Billy Joe Kepley and Cathy Dunn voted against the site, citing environmental concerns.
"This is a no-win situation," Dunn said. "No matter what we do, 15 to 20 years down the road, something is going to happen."
The plant, on U.S. 64 east of Lexington, has been a source of controversy for years because of contamination on the site. In 1981, state environmental regulators discovered that mercury had been contaminating the land around the plant since the 1960s and had leaked into nearby Abbotts Creek, a tributary of High Rock Lake. The state banned the eating of fish from the lake for 10 years.
Duracell reached an agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to deal with the contamination in 2003, and the EPA continues to monitor the site.
County officials are considering use of an 82,500-square-foot building on the property for the new jail. That building, known as Plant No. 3, was where batteries were packaged and distributed.
The building is now is owned by Tower Investments Inc., a California real-estate-investment group.
Kepley said last night that former Duracell employees had told him that mercury was dumped near Plant No. 3.
He also criticized a study done by WPC Engineering, which reviewed environmental reports from 1999 to 2007 about the Duracell site. Kepley said that the study reads like a report from a real-estate developer who wants to market the site.
He said he prefers expanding the current jail, on West Center Street.
Commissioner Fred McClure, the chairman of the board of commissioners, wondered aloud why Kepley had not brought up his concerns when the jail was discussed Thursday at the commissioners' monthly informational meeting.
Commissioner Max Walser said that the downtown site has too many problems but said he is willing to take a closer look at the Duracell site.
"I'm not going to put a jail on a site that's contaminated," he said.
In other business, County Manager Robert Hyatt presented the 2009-10 budget. Under the proposed $119 million budget, the property-tax rate would remain at 54 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation. A property owner with a $100,000 home would pay $540 in county taxes.
Lexington residents also won't see their taxes go up under the proposed budget recommended by City Manager John Gray. The tax rate would stay at 56 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation.
Commissioners set a public hearing on the budget for 7 p.m. May 26 at the county administration building.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement