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Officials to discuss funding for Blue Building restorationb
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The wheels of government are turning a bit faster for the Blue Building. Its future renovation will be discussed Tuesday night by city officials in two committees and by the full board.
Meeting at 6 p.m. will be the Building and Grounds Committee with Aldermen Ben Newman, chairman, Ken Smith and Jimmy Bonner. On the agenda to be discussed is the RFP (request for proposal) for the Blue Building restoration project. An RFP outlines what work the city wants done and is used by companies in generating costs and submitting their bid packages.
Meeting at 6:30 p.m. will be the Finance Committee to discuss borrowing funds for the Blue Building’s renovation. On the committee are Smith, chairman, Newman and Alderman Mike Neal. Under consideration will be using capital outlay notes or bonds for financing the restoration project, which is not to exceed $2.8 million. The original proposal called for 12-year capital outlay notes. With interest estimated to be $747,406, the entire cost would be $3.54 million.
Smith says he prefers the use of notes in hopes of borrowing from a local bank so the interest paid will stay local.
“I prefer to use capital outlay notes,” said Smith. “It helps keeps the money here. We are borrowing from institutions. I would rather borrow from a bank inside the city of McMinnville, if at all possible.”
Bonds come from the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund, which works closely with officials from cities and counties to structure cost-effective and flexible borrowing options. Smith says those banks are outside Warren County and the interest paid will go there.
“They use a group of banks out of the Clarksville area,” said Smith. “I would rather borrow from a local bank. I prefer capital outlay notes whenever we can use them, unless the amount of interest rates that you will be paying is ridiculous. Bonds are necessary on big projects in excess of $5 million or more.”
The committee meetings came after the full board voted on first read Aug. 26 for an ordinance that called for the renovation the Blue Building to develop it into McMinnville Police Department. Rejected were ideas to construct a new police station on the property behind the Blue Building, and demolish the building and construct a new police station at the existing location.
At 7 p.m., the measure will be presented to the full board for its second and final read. It passed 5-2 on Aug. 26. Voting in favor of it were Mayor Jimmy Haley, Vice Mayor Ben Newman, and Aldermen Rick Barnes, Mike Neal and Ken Smith. Voting against it were Aldermen Jimmy Bonner and Billy Wood. An ordinance requires two passing reads.

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