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City needs less of Needmore Road
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Lisa Hobbs
Updated: May 30, 2015, 5:54 PM
Published: May 30, 2015, 6:54 PM

McMinnville has formally abandoned a small portion of Needmore Road.
City officials unanimously voted on second read Tuesday night to abandon two sections of Needmore Road -- one in front of KFC and the other in front of Tim’s Motors.
Both property owners requested of the city’s Planning Commission in February that officials abandon the sections, which would allow them to be utilized by the businesses. The commission recommended approval of the measure to the full board.
City administrator Bill Brock says Tim’s Motors wants the portion of the street in front of its business for safety reasons.
“The big fear on the Tim’s Motors property is that he owns the land on both sides of the road. You could be out there looking to buy a car, or sell one, and all of a sudden someone would drive through there. You just don’t realize that you’re on a street. It serves no purpose for the city to have that as a street.”
Now that the sections have been abandoned, they will revert back to the original owners.
“It reverts to the successors in interest, the owner at the time the property was taken by the city,” said city attorney Tim Pirtle. “Abandonment is abandonment. The rightful owner will be determined by looking back through the change of title.”
Voting in favor were Mayor Jimmy Haley, Vice Mayor Ben Newman, and Aldermen Mike Neal, Jimmy Bonner, Ryle Chastain, Steve Harvey and Everett Brock.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

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