By Mary Nicholas Johnson

WE CARE. DO THEY? Zero Union County Commissioners attended the March 8 Friends of Sharps Chapel meeting. All were publicly invited at the last Commissioner’s meeting in February. Their “no show” sent a message that was received loud and clear – “We Don’t Care What You Think”.

In the medical and Dental profession of which I am a member the key word is PREVENTION!

Many times Government tries to correct a problem which it helped create by its INACTION!

I urge our local representatives to be PROACTIVE not REACTIVE to the problem of the "Chicken Farm" in Sharps Chapel. The runoff of untreated waste (6000-10000 pounds) per day from 36000-72000 hens will likely cause great damage to Norris Lake, including pollution causing fish to die, reduction of property values, thus reducing the tax revenue to Union County.

“Not every town wants a chicken plant.”
These are the words of many citizens in Humboldt, Tennessee, as they received a Tyson chicken farm that was rejected by Kansas and now the growing thought of citizens in the Sharps Chapel Community.

Mary Johnson addressed the Union County Commission at its September 27 meeting regarding the construction of a pharmaceutical chicken farm by Alpes Sanfer, Inc., in Sharps Chapel.
The company would place eight barns with 9,000 chickens in each barn on one of the oldest farms in Sharps Chapel, according to Johnson. Sanfer will be developing pathogen-free eggs to be used in making vaccines. The facility will employ approximately 30 people at an hourly rate of $13 to $17 but have made no promise to hire Union County residents, according to Johnson.