News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Monterey officials making plans to help their citizens and prepare for the closure of the Perdue plant.
Mayor Alex Garcia said the news was a saddening surprise as the town has had a good relationship with the plant for many years. Garcia said losing the plant will have a huge impact on the town.
“There is a plan in place,” Garcia said. “The State Tennessee Workforce is going to go to Perdue. They plan on helping out all these folks. As a town, per se, that’s not much that we can do but we’re trying to get all these puzzle pieces fit together.”
Garcia said the biggest impact from losing the plant will be changes in the flow going into the town’s wastewater treatment facility. Garcia said the town set up a water and sewer committee meeting for Monday, January 27 and will plan an economic development meeting to determine how its budget will be impacted.
“The way the plant works is we account for their overflow,” Garcia said. “So we’ll have to, in turn, account for that overflow not being there.”
Garcia said he spent Thursday night and all day Friday texting, calling, and emailing different officials about the matter. Garcia said he has spoken with Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter and state officials from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
“We will get through it,” Garcia said. “We’re strong. There’s going to be a financial impact, there’s going to be impact to our families, to our schools. But we’re going to work through it, we’re going to work together, and we’re going to get past it.”
Garcia said he knew the plant had been having issues as it kept cutting the workforce but he thought the company would be able to figure out the issue.
