Opinion by The Gallatin Newspaper editor, Marjorie Lloyd

Opinion / Letters to the Editor

Thursday's meeting Thursday, July 14, 2011 By Marjorie Lloyd  Thursday, July 14, at 6 p.m., the residents of Castalian Springs are presenting their objection to request the Board of Zoning Appeals by Hoover Inc., out of Rutherford County, to receive a “conditional use permit.” Hoover has filled out an application for the permit that lists two cement plants, two asphalt plants and a rock-crushing facility on site, as well as a quarry on almost 400 acres of land in their community. Residential properties border the land that Hoover recently purchased in a blind sale. In addition to the quality of life issues so eloquently presented at the open hearing, hosted by Hoover, two weeks ago, significant concerns about the ruination of historic sites and current and future archeological studies should also be taken into account. Castalian Springs is the site of much of Sumner County’s early settlers’ history with Cragfont, the mansion built on the frontier of the West by General James Winchester; Wynnewood, the largest historic wooden structure in Tennessee that served as a stagecoach inn for westward travelers, and the Bate house, home to a governor and the birthplace of one of the south’s most fascinating women, Eugenia Patience Bate, Countess Bertinatti, renowned for her beauty and her intelligence, who charmed Abraham Lincoln and a general named Ulysses S. Grant into helping her protect her Mississippi plantation during and after the Civil War. Bledsoe’s Fort Park and Bledsoe Creek State Park are two popular destinations for people who appreciate the value of preserving history and the land itself for future generations to enjoy. All the people of Sumner County have a stake in the decision to be made Thursday. Come and offer your support.

Published in The Gallatin Newspaper  7-14-2011 by  Marjorie Lloyd, editor.