Commission Votes Monday on Crosswaters Reserve, Here Is What Maury County Needs to Know

A rezoning request for the old Monsanto campus would bring 1,313 homes, a golf course, and a 400-room hotel, and serious unresolved questions about the safety of the land at the center of it all.

COLUMBIA, On Monday evening, June 15, the Maury County Commission will convene at the 1904 courthouse on the square and take up one of the most consequential land use decisions in recent memory. The item on the agenda is a rezoning request. What it actually represents, depending on who you ask, is either the county's best shot at economic revival or the most reckless gamble anyone has proposed with the Duck River since Monsanto itself left town. The Muletown Journal is publishing this report before the vote so that residents understand what is at stake, who is saying what, and what questions have not yet been answered.

Crosswaters Reserve LLC, represented by the engineering firm Barge Design Solutions, is seeking to rezone approximately 1,339 acres at 2200 New Highway 7 in Santa Fe, on the former Monsanto Chemical Company campus. The site sits five miles northwest of downtown Columbia, between the Duck River and Williamsport Highway. The proposed development would include 1,313 residential units, 975 single-family homes, 188 townhomes, and 150 multi-family units, along with 150,000 square feet of commercial space, a 36-hole golf course with a 25,000-square-foot clubhouse, and a 400-room hotel. The centerpiece of the entire project would be Tailings Pond 15, a 325-acre body of water known locally for decades as Monsanto Lake, rebranded in the development plans as a recreational reservoir. The developer estimates a 20-year economic impact of $5.1 billion, the creation of 1,500 jobs paying a combined $932 million in wages, and tens of millions in development fees and tax revenue for Maury County.

To understand what is being proposed, you have to understand what was here before. The Monsanto Chemical Company operated on this site for decades, mining phosphorus, manufacturing fertilizer, and for a period producing chemical warfare agents for the federal government. Generations of Maury County families lived close enough to the plant to smell it on certain days. When it closed, it left behind a federally designated Superfund site. The properties remain subject to land use restrictions to this day. This is not the first time someone has tried to develop this land. In 2022, a Louisiana-based company called Trinity Business Group proposed a large-scale waste processing plant, tire shredding facility, and incinerator on the same property. Maury County residents packed the courthouse in unified opposition, and the commission voted 21 to 0 to adopt the Jackson Law, giving local government authority to block such facilities. Trinity sued, and that litigation remains pending. The same engineering firm behind Crosswaters Reserve previously sought to put a landfill on the same property. That was rejected too. Crosswaters is the third major attempt to develop the old Monsanto site in recent years.

The central question surrounding this project is the safety of Tailings Pond 15. The developer calls it a recreational reservoir and a potential drinking water source for the development. The opposition calls it a repository for industrial waste whose contents have never been fully investigated. At the May planning commission meeting, attorney Reed Martz told commissioners that the only thing in Pond 15 is washed dirt, and Barge engineer Chelsea Williams agreed, saying no slag went to Pond 15. Critics of the project dispute those characterizations and argue that without independent testing, those assurances are not sufficient to stake a neighborhood on. The Duck River, which runs through this part of Maury County and ranks among the most biodiverse waterways in North America, lies adjacent to this property. Whatever is in that pond matters far beyond the development's fence line.

Commissioners will hear from the public and the developer Monday night before casting their votes. Residents who want to weigh in should plan to attend. The courthouse on the square has been the place where Maury County has made its biggest decisions for more than a century, and Monday night will be no different. The Muletown Journal will publish a full follow-up report on the outcome of the vote. Whatever the commission decides, this community deserves a transparent record of how it got there.

Maury County Posts Highest Unemployment Rate in Tennessee, The Cause Is Clear, the Problem Is Deeper

New state data shows a 6.1% rate for April, driven by the Ultium Cells layoffs, but the county's structural dependence on a single employer is the story behind the headline.

COLUMBIA, New data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development shows Maury County recorded the highest unemployment rate in the state in April 2026, coming in at 6.1%, up a full percentage point from March. Eighty-nine of Tennessee's 95 counties reported rates below 5% for the month. Lewis County came in second at 5.8%, and Perry County, which historically holds the top spot, fell to third at 5.3%. The headline spread fast across local Facebook groups, and by afternoon both the sitting county mayor and a candidate for her seat had weighed in publicly.

The immediate cause is not a mystery. In January 2026, the Ultium Cells plant on Donald F. Ephlin Parkway in Spring Hill, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, paused battery cell production and laid off 710 workers. The shutdown was part of a broader GM retrenchment triggered in large part by the elimination of the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicle purchases, which expired in the fall of 2025. When that incentive disappeared, EV demand softened and production schedules collapsed across multiple facilities. Spring Hill's story, however, did not follow Ohio's. In March 2026, GM and LG announced a $70 million retooling of the Spring Hill plant to produce lithium-iron phosphate batteries for stationary energy storage systems, and recalled all 700 laid-off workers to begin the new production line in the second quarter of 2026. The April unemployment number is a snapshot of the transition period between those two chapters.

But temporary does not mean unimportant. A 2022 Oxford Economics report found that GM's operations in Maury County supported more than 21,000 jobs and contributed a $3.3 billion GDP impact across Tennessee. That is a staggering figure for a county of roughly 118,000 people. When a single company's retooling schedule can move a countywide unemployment rate by a full percentage point in a single month, that is not a weather event. It is a structural condition. Maury County appeared at or near the top of Tennessee's unemployment rankings in December 2025 as well, and has done so repeatedly in recent years. The pattern predates this particular retooling and will outlast it unless something changes.

County Mayor Sheila Butt pointed to a renegotiated agreement with GM in 2023 that she says holds the company to greater accountability for non-performance and brings more revenue to the county. She also cited a broader effort over the past three years to diversify the economic base and attract higher-paying employers, noting that median household income has risen as a result. Gabe Howard, who is running for county mayor, argued that the county's response to the report was reactive and called for a forward-looking economic strategy that reduces dependence on any single employer. Both positions reflect something real. The April rate is temporary. The underlying vulnerability is not. The annual unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2025 was 3.6%, close to Maury County's historical norm. That context matters. So does the question of whether the county's economic future can be built on a broader foundation than it has been.

Columbia Farm Supply Fire on Bear Creek Pike a Total Loss, Five Departments Respond, No Injuries

Firefighters made the right call going defensive as heavy fire conditions consumed the building overnight on May 29.

COLUMBIA, A fire broke out at the Columbia Farm Supply building at 170 Bear Creek Pike shortly after 12:40 a.m. on Friday, May 29, gutting the structure before dawn. Columbia Fire and Rescue arrived to find heavy fire conditions throughout the building and made a swift decision that likely prevented injuries: they would fight it from the outside. No civilians or firefighters were hurt.

Five departments responded to the scene, including Columbia Fire and Rescue, Maury County Fire, Spring Hill Fire, Mt. Pleasant Fire, and Maury Regional EMS, along with the Maury County Sheriff's Office and Columbia Power and Water Systems. Crews worked through the night and remained on scene into the day Friday to address hotspots. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Columbia Fire Marshal's Office.

When the incident commander declared a defensive operation, it was not a retreat. It was a decision. In a defensive posture, firefighters work entirely from the exterior, attacking the fire with hose lines from outside the structure and protecting neighboring buildings. Nobody goes in. That call belongs to the incident commander, and it is one of the heaviest in emergency services. Fires that ignite in the middle of the night carry particular danger because they can burn undetected for a long time before the first 911 call comes in. A commercial building fully involved on arrival may have been burning for an hour or more before units rolled up. The crews at Bear Creek Pike read that situation correctly.

The response came just days after Maury County Fire's Battalion 3, a class of 12 new recruits, completed more than 400 hours of training and earned their certifications. For the owners of Columbia Farm Supply, the work ahead is daunting. A building, an inventory, and a business that has served this community is gone in a night. We ask readers to pray for them as they assess the damage and determine what comes next, and to offer whatever support a neighbor can give. This county has never had a shortage of that kind of stubborn, generous resilience.

65 New EMTs and AEMTs Pinned at Columbia State, Headed Straight Into Our Community

The Spring 2026 EMS Pinning Ceremony honored graduates from across Middle Tennessee, including five from Maury County itself.

COLUMBIA, Columbia State Community College recently recognized 42 emergency medical technicians and 23 advanced emergency medical technicians during the Spring 2026 EMS Pinning Ceremony, held in the Cherry Theater on the Hampshire Pike campus. The ceremony marks the completion of one of the most demanding short-term programs in health sciences, one that turns civilians into certified first responders in as little as 15 weeks.

The numbers from this class are worth pausing on. Traditional Spring 2026 EMT completers at the Columbia Campus achieved an 86% first-attempt pass rate on the national registry. Completers on the Williamson Campus achieved a perfect 100%. Students in the integrated certificate program recorded a 100% first-attempt pass rate on the EMT national registry and a 91% pass rate on the AEMT portion for those who have tested to date. Five Maury County graduates were named among the advanced EMT completers: Jeremy Farmer, Avery Fitzgerald, Joshua Byers, Miguel Ponce, and Talaia Goodman.

Greg Johnson, Columbia State EMS program director and assistant professor, expressed pride in the graduating class and noted that these new professionals will serve as a positive addition to the communities where they live and work. That is not a small thing in a county where Maury Regional Medical Center anchors the healthcare system and where rural stretches of the county rely on fast, capable pre-hospital response. Dr. Kae Fleming, Columbia State dean of the Health Sciences Division, noted that the EMS Academy is designed to convert bystanders into highly qualified first responders, and congratulated the new professionals on completing that transformation.

Columbia State has also been expanding access to EMS certification at the high school level. In the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters, 21 high school and homeschool seniors completed EMT certification through a dedicated section at the Williamson Campus, open to students from any school. The college has offered dual enrollment EMT courses at Creek Wood, East Hickman, and Fairview high schools over the past several years. These graduates are not abstractions. They are our neighbors, and some of them will be the ones responding when a call goes out in Maury County. That is a gift worth celebrating.

The Homestead Festival Brought 200-Plus Speakers, Vendors, and a Spirit This County Already Knows

The two-day celebration of land, family, and self-reliance drew crowds to a Middle Tennessee farm with Joel Salatin, Rory Feek, and Lee Greenwood headlining the bill.

COLUMBIA, On June 5 and 6, 2026, one of the country's most remarkable gatherings of homesteading culture took place approximately one hour south of Nashville, on a 100-acre working farm in Middle Tennessee. The Homestead Festival, now in its most expansive edition yet, brought together farmers, families, craftspeople, and believers for two days of practical education, live music, and the kind of community that reminds you what American life is supposed to feel like. For Maury County residents, it landed close to home in more ways than one.

The educator roster for 2026 was headlined by Joel Salatin, the Virginia farmer and author who has spent decades making the case that food produced with integrity tastes better and builds stronger communities. Temple Grandin, whose work in animal behavior has changed the way farmers think about livestock welfare, joined him on the program. On the entertainment side, Lee Greenwood, Shenandoah, Terri Clark, and The Cleverlys performed across two days, with live music scheduled every night and during both lunch hours. Rory Feek, the Grammy-winning country artist whose story of faith, family, and life on a Tennessee farm has moved millions, performed and spoke. The festival also featured more than 200 vendors, hands-on demonstrations in wood turning, leather crafting, and animal care, and a dedicated Lil' Homesteaders Area for children.

The timing could not be more fitting. In the years since empty grocery store shelves reminded Americans how fragile a supply chain can be, interest in homesteading has surged across the country. This festival exists at the intersection of that anxiety and its best possible answer: practical knowledge, genuine community, and a return to the self-reliance that built this region. The farm's founders describe their own journey the way many Maury County families might recognize, blessed with a home and a life, but longing for something more rooted, and finding that putting seeds in the ground changed not just their pantry but their family.

For Maury County, this festival is a natural mirror. The county's agricultural heritage runs as deep as the Duck River itself, and the farming families who have worked this land for generations have been practicing homesteading long before it had a hashtag. Whether you're a lifelong farmer, a young family in Spring Hill wondering how to teach your kids where food comes from, or simply someone who wants to spend a weekend outdoors with people who believe in growing something real, the Homestead Festival is the kind of event that reminds you these values are not going out of style. Information and tickets for future events are available at thehomesteadfestival.com.

Southern Ridge Farm: Where Faith, Family, and Honest Work Come to the Table

The Cannon family's multi-generational operation and The Ridge butcher shop are proving that Christian values and quality agriculture are not relics, they're a blueprint.

COLUMBIA, The smell hits you first when you walk into The Ridge butcher shop. That clean, cold scent of a properly run meat counter, mingling with the faint sweetness of hickory smoke. Behind the glass case, cuts of beef and pork are displayed with the kind of care that only comes from people who raised the animals themselves, who know every pasture and feed ration that went into what's now wrapped in butcher paper and ready for your Sunday table. This is the retail face of Southern Ridge Farm, a multi-generational operation where the Cannon family has been working the land and living out their faith in Maury County, proving that Christian values and quality agriculture aren't relics of the past. They are a blueprint for the future.

Southern Ridge Farm represents something increasingly rare in American agriculture: a family business where grandparents, parents, and children work side by side, each generation teaching the next not just how to raise livestock and tend the land, but why it matters. The farm operates on principles that predate industrial agriculture, rotational grazing, careful animal husbandry, and the belief that stewardship of God's creation means doing things right even when shortcuts are available. When the family opened The Ridge butcher shop, it was a natural extension of that mission: to provide Maury County families with meat they could trust, processed with transparency and sold by people who would answer any question about where it came from.

What sets Southern Ridge apart isn't just their pasture-raised beef and pork, though locals will tell you the difference in flavor is undeniable. It's the way they have woven themselves into the fabric of Columbia and the surrounding community, treating every transaction as an opportunity to love their neighbor in the most practical way possible, by providing wholesome food and honest service. The Ridge offers custom butchering, a variety of cuts that rival any specialty grocer in Nashville, and the kind of personal attention where staff remember your family's preferences and might share a recipe along with your order.

In a county where farming heritage runs deep but family farms grow scarcer each year, Southern Ridge Farm and The Ridge butcher shop stand as a testament to what happens when faith meets fertilizer, when work ethic is passed down like a family recipe. The Cannons aren't just selling meat. They're preserving a way of life, one where knowing your farmer isn't a luxury but a return to common sense, where the commandment to love your neighbor starts with feeding them well. For Maury County residents who want to know their food came from good soil, good people, and good intentions, Southern Ridge Farm is proof that the best things in life are still grown close to home.

Saturn Parkway Ramps at Kedron Road Closed for Concrete Repairs

TDOT scheduled weekend closures on one of Spring Hill's busiest corridors, with a continuous shutdown running through Sunday afternoon.

SPRING HILL, Drivers in Maury County navigating the west side of Spring Hill encountered closures this past weekend as the Tennessee Department of Transportation shut down ramps on one of the area's most heavily traveled corridors for concrete repair work. The eastbound and westbound off-ramps from State Route 396, known locally as Saturn Parkway, to Kedron Road closed beginning Thursday, June 4, according to TDOT. The first closure ran from 8 p.m. Thursday through 5 a.m. Friday. The ramps then closed again at 8 p.m. Friday for a continuous closure running through 5 p.m. Sunday, June 7.

Saturn Parkway is the primary spine connecting Spring Hill's explosive growth corridor to Interstate 65, and Kedron Road is one of its most-used interchanges. For the 60,000-plus residents of Spring Hill, many of whom commute north toward Williamson County or south toward Columbia, weekend closures on this stretch can create meaningful travel delays. TDOT provided suggested detour maps for both eastbound and westbound traffic, available on the TDOT SmartWay Map online, and drivers could call 511 for real-time travel information.

Maury County's infrastructure has been under sustained pressure for years, a direct consequence of Spring Hill's growth rate of more than 340% since 2000. Concrete repair work on Saturn Parkway, while disruptive in the short term, is the kind of maintenance investment that keeps heavily traveled roadways from deteriorating into far more costly problems. The timing fell during the Homestead Festival weekend, which drew visitors to the area and added to the traffic burden on the west side of Spring Hill.

Tennessee law requires drivers to slow down and move over when traveling through active work zones. Violating the state's Move Over Law can carry penalties of up to 30 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500. TDOT urges all motorists to allow extra travel time, reduce speed, and stay alert through any active work zone. Real-time updates are available at SmartWay.tn.gov or by dialing 511.

Muletown Weather and Community Deliver for Maury County Veterans

A local weather page is collecting and delivering food donations to the Maury County Veterans Office, with a follower named Debbie Johnson Deckert leading the charge.

COLUMBIA, The Muletown Weather Facebook page, known to thousands of Maury County residents as a reliable source for local forecasts and community updates, has quietly taken on a second mission: making sure the veterans of this county don't go hungry. The page recently announced the delivery of its first donation to the Maury County Veterans Office, a drop-off made possible by the generosity of the local community.

A follower named Debbie Johnson Deckert made a generous donation to kick off the effort. According to the page, Deckert comes from a military family and has a firsthand understanding of the sacrifices veterans and their families make. Her contribution prompted Muletown Weather to formalize the effort and establish a channel for ongoing donations, with arrangements in place to receive items and deliver them directly to the Veterans Office.

The need is real. Food insecurity among veterans is a challenge that does not always make headlines, but it affects families right here in Maury County. This county has a deep and proud military tradition, and the men and women who served deserve more than a thank-you on Veterans Day. They deserve practical support, year-round, from the neighbors they came home to. The Muletown Weather page has published a list of needed donation items for anyone who wants to contribute.

This is the kind of community effort that doesn't require a nonprofit charter or a fundraising gala. It requires one person with a generous heart, a neighbor willing to make a phone call, and a community that shows up. Maury County has never had a shortage of any of those. If you'd like to contribute, follow Muletown Weather on Facebook for the current donation list and drop-off instructions.