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Franklin County approves applications for state and TVA site-prep grants and revised IDB pilot agreement for East Moon property
Summary
The commission unanimously approved applications for a Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development site-development grant (project cost $1.5M, local match $225,000) and authorized applying for a TVA InvestPrep grant. Separately the commission approved a revised pilot agreement for the Franklin County Industrial Board.
Franklin County commissioners on Feb. 18 approved applications to seek state and federal assistance to prepare the East Moon property for industrial development and approved a revised pilot agreement for the county’s Industrial Development Board.
The commission voted unanimously to authorize the county mayor to submit an application for a Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (TNECD) site-development grant to fund intersection and access improvements and utility extensions serving the East Moon property. The resolution (2f-0225) lists a project cost of $1,500,000 and requires a 15% local contribution ($225,000) to be provided from the county general fund.
Separately, the commission authorized submission of a Tennessee Valley Authority InvestPrep grant application for FY 2024–2025 and empowered the mayor to accept the grant if awarded (Resolution 2e-0225). The county’s pre-application materials note InvestPrep grants can cover due-diligence items—surveys, environmental and other assessments—up to a stated maximum award level used in the pre-application materials for this project.
Commissioners also voted to approve a revised pilot agreement for the Franklin County Industrial Board, which staff said is intended to improve the county’s capacity to market the East Moon property. The Industrial Development Board materials that accompanied the meeting outline a county Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) framework to incentivize larger private investments and note thresholds for capital investment and job creation tied to tiered abatements.
All votes on the grant authorizations and the pilot agreement were unanimous. The TNECD resolution was moved by Commissioner J. Shetters and seconded by Commissioner C. Wiseman; the TVA InvestPrep authorization was moved by J. Hand and seconded by C. Wiseman. The pilot agreement approval motion was made by B. McMillan and seconded by J. Hand.
Next steps: county staff will prepare formal grant applications, submit proposals to TNECD and TVA, and the Industrial Development Board will proceed with implementation tasks and any future PILOT agreements consistent with county policy.
