First Utility District outlines Everett Road 4,000,000‑gallon tank project; residents raise traffic and road‑damage concerns

First Utility District described a plan to build a new 4,000,000‑gallon drinking water tank and an expanded booster pump station near the existing Everett Road tank, outside Farragut town limits but accessed mainly from Broussard (Brochard/Burchard) Boulevard, and told the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission the project is scheduled to begin in June or July 2025 and must be complete by September 2026 per the TDEC grant.

The project “will have 20, 30 concrete trucks a day” on the busiest days, Seth Fisher with First Utility District said, and the intense concrete‑delivery period will last “a couple months out of the whole, 15, 16 months of the whole contract.” The district told commissioners it has a washout and stone construction entrance planned so trucks leave the site with cleaned tires and that the trucks are street legal and spread out during the day, arriving roughly every 30 minutes.

At public comment, resident Mike Rothman told the commission he expects “20 to 30 trucks going up Burchard Boulevard” and asked how long the heavy traffic will last, whether residents will be able to get in and out of drives during peak activity, whether the contractor will daily or weekly clean debris, and whether money will be set aside for road repairs. Fisher replied the district will repair roads it damages to the town’s standard and that the district does not maintain a separate set‑aside for road repairs; the district’s annual budget is large ($40,000,000 a year was cited) but it does not maintain a project‑specific repair escrow. Fisher also said First Utility District has met with the Fox Run homeowners association and with immediately adjacent residents and added an extended pre‑construction video to document existing conditions along the access route.

Commissioners were told the new tank and booster station lie in unincorporated Knox County; First Utility District and a partner (identified in the packet as LCUB) received a TDEC grant to serve growing areas of West Knox County. Fisher said the district has an allowance in the contract to repave the HOA access driveway and that, for other repairs, the town has the final say on whether damage occurred and what repairs are required. The district said most of the site is already cleared; the land had been logged prior to district purchase in 2020 and only a few trees remain to be removed.

This agenda item was informational; no formal town action was taken. Commissioners heard resident concerns about traffic, potential road damage, and debris and directed staff to rely on the district’s coordination with residents and the district’s contract provisions. The transcript shows First Utility District representatives and staff committed to pre‑construction documentation, on‑site washouts, and coordination with the HOA.