Commission Faces the River: What's Really at Stake in the Crosswaters Vote

The Maury County Commission took up the rezoning of the old Monsanto property Monday night, 1,339 acres, a Superfund legacy, and the Duck River hanging in the balance.

COLUMBIA, On Monday evening, June 15, the Maury County Commission convened at the Tom Primm Meeting Room at 6 Courthouse Square and faced what may be the most consequential land use decision this county has seen in a generation. The item on the agenda was a rezoning request. Depending on who you asked walking into that room, it was 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.

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, on land that most longtime Maury County residents know simply as the old Monsanto property. The proposed development would include 1,313 residential units: 975 single-family homes, 188 townhomes, and 150 multi-family units. Add 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 concept is Tailings Pond 15, a 325-acre body of water known locally for years as Monsanto Lake, rebranded in the development plans as a recreational reservoir. The developer estimates a 20-year economic impact of $5.1 billion and the creation of 1,500 jobs paying a combined $932 million in wages.

To understand what is being proposed, you have to understand what came 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. The plant closed in 1989. Generations of Maury County families grew up with the stories: dead fish floating downstream, livestock that would not drink from the Duck, a river so fouled it took decades to come back. When Monsanto left, it left behind a federally designated Superfund site. The properties remain subject to land use restrictions to this day. The same engineering firm now designing Crosswaters Reserve previously sought to put a landfill on the same property. Maury County rejected that. Crosswaters is the third major attempt to develop the old Monsanto site in recent years. Each time, the community showed up. Each time, the answer was no.

The legal and legislative battles over this land did not stop at the county line. In April 2026, the Tennessee General Assembly passed new legislation granting scenic river protections to most of the Duck and Buffalo Rivers. Every state legislator whose district touches the Duck River signed on as a co-sponsor. Rep. Scott Cepicky of Culleoka, who represents part of Maury County, was a driving force behind the effort, having spearheaded the original 2023 scenic river classification specifically to protect the Duck from development on the former Monsanto property. The Duck River is not merely a local landmark. It is considered the most biodiverse river in North America, providing drinking water to more than 250,000 people across Middle Tennessee. The state legislature recognized that in April. The county commission voted in June.

The central unanswered question hanging over the entire proposal is whether Tailings Pond 15 is safe enough to anchor a residential development. The pond is a product of the Monsanto operation, not a natural lake. Its water quality, the stability of its bed, and what lies beneath it are questions that community members, environmental observers, and opponents of the development have pressed consistently throughout this process. The Muletown Journal will publish a full follow-up report on what happened in the commission room Monday night. Whatever the outcome, Maury County residents deserve to know exactly who voted which way, what was said at the podium, and what comes next for the land along the river that has defined this county since long before Monsanto arrived.

Columbia Approves $84 Million Budget, No Tax Increase, Millions in Infrastructure

The city council passed its FY 2026-2027 spending plan with a 4% raise for all city employees and nearly $93 million in capital improvements on the horizon.

COLUMBIA, The Columbia City Council gave final approval Thursday, June 11, to the city's fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, a spending plan totaling $84,446,601 across all funds. The budget passed without a property tax increase, a point city leaders were quick to highlight in a community where residents expect both quality services and fiscal discipline.

The General Fund accounts for 61% of the total budget, with $51,444,978 allocated to Columbia's primary operating fund. That fund supports public works, parks, fire, police, and city administration. A $1.5 million revenue increase in the General Fund, driven by continued economic growth, gave budget writers room to include a 4% salary increase for all city personnel. Mayor Chaz Molder said the budget reflects the city's commitment to responsible planning and strategic infrastructure investment, and thanked city staff for the work that goes into the process each year.

The adopted budget also advances several major capital projects. Nearly $92.7 million is allocated for the city's FY 2027 through 2031 Capital Improvement Program. That five-year plan includes the city's annual contribution to a TDOT partnership project to widen Bear Creek, improvements at the Nashville Highway and Bear Creek Pike intersection, the Iron Bridge replacement project, a new wastewater treatment plant, pump station upgrades, and street resurfacing across the city. FY 2027 capital funding alone totals approximately $49.2 million, with the majority flowing into the Wastewater Fund. City Manager Tony Massey described the budget as a reflection of strong commitment to operational excellence. Assistant City Manager and CFO Thad Jablonski noted that maintaining current tax and fee rates while advancing infrastructure improvements keeps the city on solid financial footing for the growth ahead.

Columbia is not the same city it was a decade ago. As the county seat of one of Tennessee's fastest-growing regions, it faces real pressure on roads, utilities, and public safety capacity. A budget that holds the tax line while still funding the Iron Bridge replacement and a new wastewater plant is the kind of document that serves taxpayers well. Residents who want the full detail can view the FY 2026-2027 Budget in Brief at the city's website.

New Tactical Van, New Fire Engine: Columbia Invests in the People Who Answer the Call

Columbia Police received a ballistic-rated tactical vehicle funded by a state grant, while Columbia Fire and Rescue put a $925,000 pumper into service.

COLUMBIA, The City of Columbia has made two significant additions to its public safety fleet, equipping first responders with upgraded equipment to handle the demands of a growing community. The Columbia Police Department has taken delivery of a Ford Transit 350 HD 4x4 tactical van, and Columbia Fire and Rescue has placed into service a new KME Panther pumper fire engine.

The tactical van, purchased for $259,200 through Tennessee's Violent Crime Intervention Fund grant, seats up to 12 personnel and features A9-level ballistic protection. It will support SWAT Team deployments, narcotics operations, violent felony arrest and search warrant service, and other specialized law enforcement missions. Police Chief Jeremy Haywood said that as law enforcement continues to evolve, providing advanced protection for the men and women who protect Columbia's citizens is not optional. He expressed appreciation to the mayor, vice mayor, council members, and city manager for approving the vehicle. The van will also appear at community events, giving residents a chance to learn more about the department's specialized capabilities.

The new fire engine carries a price tag of $925,000 and is built for serious work. The KME Panther pumper is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 1,500-gallon-per-minute fire pump, and a Class A foam system. Fire Chief Chris Cummins said the apparatus is an investment in both the firefighters and the community they serve. As Columbia continues to grow, he said, reliable and modern equipment is not a luxury but a necessity for maintaining the level of service residents expect.

Columbia's growth is not slowing. More residents, more structures, and more road traffic mean more calls for service and more complex situations for both police and fire. These investments, funded in part by state grants and in part through the city's capital budget, are the kind of forward-looking decisions that keep a community safe. Mayor Chaz Molder said providing first responders with modern equipment is one of the most important investments a city can make. Few would argue with that.

43 Nurses Pinned at Columbia State, Ready to Serve Maury County and Beyond

The spring 2026 class completed 540 clinical hours each and represents a program posting a 94.8% NCLEX pass rate, well above the national average.

COLUMBIA, Columbia State Community College honored 43 nursing graduates in a pinning ceremony held in the Webster Athletic Center, capping four semesters of classroom instruction and 540 clinical hours for each student who crossed the floor. The pinning ceremony is one of the oldest traditions in nursing education, a moment when faculty formally welcome new graduates into the profession, not just as credentialed technicians but as caregivers entering a calling.

Dr. Loretta Bond, Columbia State nursing program director, said the pinning ceremony is a time-honored tradition that allows faculty to welcome graduates into the profession, and called the evening a memorable event for all who attended. Dr. Kae Fleming, dean of the Health Sciences Division, said nursing school is about more than mastery of facts and successful checkoffs, noting that these graduates are equipped with the ability to learn continuously, a skill she described as priceless for nurses, patients, and families alike. The numbers behind the program give those words real weight. Columbia State nursing graduates posted a 94.8% first-attempt pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination in 2025, compared to a national average of 87.5% for associate degree nursing graduates in the same year. In 2023, the program's in-field placement rate within six to 12 months of completion was 99%.

Maury County graduates in the spring 2026 class included Aletha Parton, Jayleah Burchell, Katherine McCraw, Alisha Jones, Kyla Polk, Kayle Hie, Jebediah Roberts, Arielle Mayes, Sarah Anye, McKinley Woodard, Timory Shaner, and Sariah Sanchez. These men and women will now sit for the NCLEX exam to earn licensure as registered nurses. They will go to work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, schools, and home health settings across Maury County and Middle Tennessee. Maury Regional Medical Center depends on a steady pipeline of trained nurses. So do the smaller clinics, the home health agencies, and the rural practices that keep care accessible in the hollows and communities well beyond the courthouse square.

Columbia State sits right there on Hampshire Pike, doing the unglamorous and essential work of building that healthcare pipeline one cohort at a time. It is easy to take for granted the quiet, steady labor of a community college that does not chase headlines. But when a neighbor winds up in a hospital bed or a family member needs care at home, those 43 nurses matter more than any headline ever could. Maury County is better because of them.

Needle and Grain Wins $20,000 National Grant to Expand Downtown Refillery

The South Main Street shop, owned by Bryson and Susan, earned a nationwide competitive grant to grow its zero-waste refill station.

COLUMBIA, A downtown Columbia business is drawing national attention. Needle and Grain, located on South Main Street in the heart of Columbia's historic downtown district, has been awarded a $20,000 grant from a national competition to expand its Refillery Station, a zero-waste shopping concept that allows customers to refill containers for household and personal care products rather than buying new plastic packaging each time.

Columbia Main Street announced the award this week, congratulating owners Bryson and Susan on the recognition. A competitive grant of this size, drawn from a nationwide pool of applicants, is a meaningful signal that what this small shop is doing resonates well beyond Maury County. The Refillery Station concept fits naturally into a downtown that has worked hard in recent years to cultivate independent, character-driven retail along the square and the Main Street corridor.

Needle and Grain is the kind of shop that anchor districts are built around: locally owned, personally invested, and offering something you cannot find in a strip mall off the interstate. The $20,000 award will allow Bryson and Susan to expand the refillery operation inside their existing storefront, broadening both the product offerings and the capacity of the station. For customers who have already made it part of their shopping routine, that is welcome news. For those who have not visited yet, now is a good time to make the trip downtown.

The Columbia courthouse square and the Main Street corridor have seen steady reinvestment over the past several years, with independent businesses like Needle and Grain doing the ground-level work of making downtown Columbia a place people want to be. A national grant landing on South Main Street is a reminder that the work is being noticed. Congratulations to Bryson and Susan.

The Jumpin' Jacks Are Playing Ball at Dave Hall Field, Come Watch

Columbia's first-year collegiate summer wood bat team opened with a win on June 4 and plays home games through July for five to twelve dollars a ticket.

COLUMBIA, There is a baseball team playing at Dave Hall Field this summer, and if you have not been out to see them yet, you are missing something worth your time. The Columbia Jumpin' Jacks are in their first season as a member of the Volunteer State League, a collegiate summer wood bat league that places college players in communities across Tennessee while they develop their game between seasons. The name is new. The field is not. Dave Hall Field has seen plenty of baseball over the years, and this summer it has a team again.

The Jacks opened on June 4 with a 7-6 win, the kind of close game that makes a summer evening worth remembering. Home games run through the end of July, with tickets priced from five to 12 dollars. You can bring a blanket, bring your family, and not spend much more than that. The Volunteer State League's CEO, Alec Allred, said the league looks for communities that value baseball, support local events, and take pride in their hometown identity. Columbia fit. It usually does.

Dave Hall Field sits on the Columbia State campus off Hampshire Pike, a piece of Maury County geography that has been producing working people and good citizens for decades. On a summer evening, with the light going golden over the outfield and college kids playing for the love of the game, it is about as good as a Tuesday or Thursday night gets in this town. These are young men far from home, playing on wood bats for no salary, in a community that has agreed to root for them. That is a deal worth honoring with a trip to the bleachers.

Summer baseball at this level is one of those American institutions that deserves protecting. The Jumpin' Jacks are brand new, which means every fan in the stands this first season is part of building something. Home games continue through July. Tickets and the full schedule are available at columbiajumpinjacks.com. Go out and cheer for somebody.

Highland Realm Farm Opens Its Gates for the 8th Annual Blueberry Festival

A 153-acre Hampshire Pike farm under permanent conservation easement invites Maury County families out for music, berry picking, and a summer afternoon done right.

HAMPSHIRE, This Saturday, Highland Realm Farm hosts its eighth annual Blueberry Festival, a summer tradition out on Hampshire Pike in the rolling country southwest of Columbia. The 153-acre farm has been in continuous agricultural use since the early 1800s, when it was owned by the McClanahan family. The current owner, Dr. Deanna Naddy, purchased it in 1974 and in 2011 placed it under a conservation easement with the Tennessee Land Trust, protecting it permanently from development.

That kind of stewardship is harder and harder to find as pressure on Middle Tennessee farmland grows year by year. The blueberries are pick-your-own through June and July, and the festival each summer is the farm's way of opening the gates and letting the community in. This year's event includes live music from 422 West, pick-your-own blueberries, a blueberry baking competition, a lemonade stand, food trucks, local vendors, horseback riding, creek wading, face painting, a kids' zone, and a giant inflatable water slide. Admission is five dollars.

The festival starts at 3 in the afternoon and runs into the evening. Bring shoes for the farm, towels for the creek, and a little room for something sweet. It is the kind of summer afternoon Maury County still does well, the kind that reminds you why people fight to keep this land the way it is. Hampshire Pike connects Columbia to a stretch of Middle Tennessee that has not yet been swallowed by subdivision signage, and farms like Highland Realm are a big reason why.

A conservation easement is not a small thing. It is a landowner making a permanent legal commitment to hold a piece of ground out of the development economy forever, for the sake of the community and the generations that come after. Dr. Naddy made that commitment in 2011. The Blueberry Festival is, in some ways, the annual celebration of that choice. Maury County families are invited to come celebrate it with her. Highland Realm Farm is located at 4443 Hampshire Pike, Hampshire, TN 38461. Saturday, June 20, 3 to 8 p.m., five dollars admission. Details at visitcolumbiatn.com.

Columbia State Sends 65 New EMS Professionals Into the Field

The Spring 2026 EMS pinning ceremony recognized 42 EMT and 23 AEMT graduates, including several Maury County completers, with pass rates reaching 100% on some campuses.

COLUMBIA, Columbia State Community College recognized 65 emergency medical services graduates during its Spring 2026 EMS Pinning ceremony in the Cherry Theater, honoring 42 emergency medical technicians and 23 advanced emergency medical technicians upon completion of their certificates. These are the men and women who will staff ambulances, respond to accidents on rural county roads, and make the difference in those first critical minutes before a patient reaches Maury Regional or any other hospital in the region.

Greg Johnson, Columbia State EMS program director and assistant professor, said the EMS Academy is excited to celebrate another incredible semester of success, and expressed encouragement at seeing new EMT and AEMT graduates enter the workforce as positive additions to the communities where they live and work. The numbers back him up. Traditional spring 2026 EMT completers at the Columbia Campus achieved an 86% first-attempt pass rate on the national registry. Completers at the Williamson Campus achieved a perfect 100%. Students in the integrated certificate program achieved 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.

Among the Maury County AEMT graduates pictured at the ceremony were Jeremy Farmer, Avery Fitzgerald, Joshua Byers, Miguel Ponce, and Talaia Goodman. The accelerated AEMT path is an academy-style program designed to train students to serve as vital members of a pre-hospital EMS team in a single semester, requiring 144 hours of clinical rotations to complete. In a notable expansion of access, Columbia State offered 21 high school and homeschool seniors the opportunity to complete EMT certification in May 2026 through dual enrollment, with a dedicated section at the Williamson Campus open to students from any school.

Dr. Kae Fleming, Columbia State dean of the Health Sciences Division, said the EMS Academy is designed to convert bystanders into highly qualified first responders in as little as 15 weeks. That is not a marketing line. It is a description of what happens when a well-run program meets motivated students. Maury County's roads, farms, and communities stretch across terrain that demands a strong EMS workforce. Columbia State, right there on Hampshire Pike, is supplying it. For more information about the EMS program, visit ColumbiaState.edu/EMS.