John Coffelt, Editor

Coffee County Chancery Court Judge William Lockhart granted the Old Stone Fort Bridge Preservation Group a temporary limited stay Nov. 6 on construction that could cause permanent damage to the Old Stone Fort State Archeological Park truss bridge.

The court set a truncated timeline for the hearing that will take place in mid-to-late December. Lockhart also set a $260,000 bond that the bridge group would need to provide to cover expenses related to further delays in construction. 

“I think it would be disingenuous for me not to say there would be economic damage (incurred by the state by a delay),” Lockhart said. “But I get the point that the whole issue would go away if the bridge is gone.”

Lockhart declined to reduce the bond due to the limited nature of the appeal and denied a change of venue request by the state.

He also ruled that the construction work on the bridge project could happen regardless of whether the bridge group could post the bond if that work does not affect the bridge.

Bridge Preservation Group President Matthew Wiser said the group will attempt to find the 10% of the cost of the bond.

“We plan to meet with the full board and then what I am going to propose is for us to raise the funds for the bond. We have to all agree but I think that’s the way we want to go if we can make it happen,” said Wiser.

“As a non-profit, we have to consult our resources and see if we can raise the funds and go from there.”

The Coffee County Commission recently gave the group $36,000 to cover previous legal fees and the current suit challenge for review.

The Bridge Group is challenging Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit (ARAP) arguing that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) violated the required procedure by failing to consider alternatives. 

Group Attorney Jason Holleman in his initial arguments moved away from the assertions previously stated that the project would pollute the Duck River.

This appeal follows a state administrative hearing that upheld the state’s issuing of the ARAP permit. The judge rejected the OSF Bridge Preservation Group’s proposal for bridge refurbishment as an unfeasible alternative.

The order said the proposal does not meet the project’s purpose because it is not possible to meet current TDOT design standards by refurbishing the bridge. Nor is it practical to expect a bridge that is over 100 years old to have a service life much further into the future, particularly given the weight of modern vehicular traffic compared to the weight of vehicles at the time the bridge was built.

The state’s attorney and TDEC officials declined to comment citing department policy and referred the Times to their official media spokesperson. Any official TDEC response will be added to this story. 

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.