And Tennessee State University Would Pass Higher Insurance Costs on to Tennessee Taxpayers

Betsy Phillips pulls out the Army Corp of Engineer maps that I first referred you to in March to point out the opportunity TSU provides May Town Center developers to unload some floodplain land they never would have built on anyway:

Who wants to buy flood insurance if they don't have to?

Of course, if TSU is going to build there, they'll need flood insurance.

It doesn't matter how many community leaders and ministers they trot out to say how great it is, the truth of the matter is that this isn't just a gift from the generosity of the Mays' hearts. This is a gift that solves a lot of problems for the May Town Center folks, gives them enthusiastic advocates in North Nashville, and hands off some big headaches to TSU to deal with.

Not just headaches to TSU, but to Tennessee taxpayers who will have to bankroll flood insurance perpetually inflated by the risk of catastrophic failure of the Wolf Creek Dam upstream from Nashville. Engineers are now in a second phase of repairs to sections of the Kentucky dam that failed to respond to attempts at a first fix in 2007 when failure was imminent.

So, while Nashvillians wait and hope to see the latest round of dam repairs work, higher-risk flood insurance is sure to be an expense line in Tennessee's future if TSU builds agricultural research centers on Bells Bend floodplain. As Betsy points out, May Town won't be saddled with those expenses, and the presence of university institutions will increase its property values. Advocates of the May Town Center, especially those in the TSU administration, should be transparent about the substantial cost of insuring the proposed resource.