Council to vote on May Town studies funding

Metro Council will vote on a resolution at its April 7 meeting to accept a grant from the proposed May Town Center developers to fund key studies looking into the impact of the massive $4 billion project.

The $125,000 grant would be used to conduct a transportation study and an economic impact study. The analyses are deemed critical by opponents, including Metro Council members, who said last summer the project had more questions than answers.

Earlier this month, Metro Planning sent out notices to proceed to the consultants hired to conduct the study. Brentwood-based RPM Consultants will conduct the transportation study and University of Tennessee economist Dr. William Fox will conduct the economic impact study.

The notices, dated March 13, set deadlines of two months for the consultants to finish their reports. Among the questions to be answered by the studies are whether May Town Center would steal office tenants from downtown and whether road infrastructure could support the project.

“Those studies are going to be extremely important to answer some of the questions,” said District 1 Councilman Lonnell Matthews, whose district includes the Bells Bend property where May Town Center would go.

The Planning Commission already recommended approval of the resolution to accept the $125,000 grant from Bells Landing Partners LLC.