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City considers plastic recycling
Returning street lights another topic to be discussed Tuesday
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McMinnville officials will discuss beginning a plastic recycling program, among other measures before Streets and Sanitation Committee members Tuesday night.
The collection effort here will be in conjunction with a recycling plant in Manchester operated in Vicam and managed by Viam Manufacturing. The company uses fiber technology by the Japanese company Oyama Chemical that produces PET stable carpet fiber from clear recycled PET bottles.
Officials have long discussed beginning a recycling program. However, the effort would have to be through the Sanitation Division of McMinnville Public Works, a self-funded garbage collection service that pays expenses through monthly user fees.
“A recycling program is something the city has considered for some time,” said Public Works director Bill Brock. “The program must pay for itself, which is usually a problem. The price paid for recyclable materials is usually not enough to cover expenses.”
Also on the committee’s agenda is an update on street light removal/ re-installation, an update on lighting for the Beersheba Street Bridge and naming the bridge for Jeremy Brown, a sign situation at Ernest Crouch Memorial Bridge, and discussing on-street parking throughout the city.
Officials are currently considering returning the street lights that were removed by the prior board. Several hundred street lights were eliminated as a cost-saving measure to reduce the amount paid in electricity costs and use some of that money for street paving.
Street Aid, a state-fund budget, is used to fund street paving, installation of street lights, upkeep of street lights, electricity, street signs, etc. In the 2008-09 budget, approximately $320,000 of a $400,000 budget went to pay electricity. The cost was reduced to $200,000 in the 2012-13 budget.
Officials began considering naming the bridge on Beersheba Street for Spc. Jeremy Brown back in 2011. Brown was killed in Afghanistan in May 2010. The process to name the bridge requires state approval, which the city is attempting to obtain.
The sign that designates Ernest Crouch Memorial Bridge as just that is missing.
“I was told that during construction of the new bridge the grandson of Ernest Crouch asked for the sign and he was given it,” said Brock. “No one is taking responsibility for giving the sign away, but I don’t believe they had the right to do it. Now, the state has to get a new sign.”
The bridge was replaced in 2012 by TDOT with contractor Highways Inc.
The Streets and Sanitation Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. on the third floor of city hall.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community