State Sen. Paul Rose, along with state Rep. Tom Leatherwood, this week rolled back earlier comments from Gov. Bill Lee about a possible pause on the $180 million Memphis Regional Megasite in Haywood County.

They say efforts to get the site “shovel-ready” are moving ahead with no slowdowns.

The pair appeared at H. Saga/Port Alliance headquarters in Arlington Feb. 20, just 17 miles from the Memphis Regional Megasite, to alleviate concerns of local community and business leaders.

Senator: Governor puts ‘pause’ on Memphis megasite

“I think we’re full steam ahead. What that means is planning is full steam ahead. They’re moving on the right-of-way acquisition permits. That has not stopped,” said Rose, who received a report Feb. 14 that the right-of-way process is in the final stages and could be a few months away from completion.

Earlier this month, Rose and other officials, including county mayors, found out from Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe that “not only is it not shovel-ready, but the governor’s put a pause on putting anything in the ground.”

Since then, the governor has met with an alarmed West Tennessee delegation to better explain his intentions.

Leatherwood was part of the delegation pressing the governor for clarity over the past few weeks.

“I think there were some misunderstandings or maybe enough questions weren’t asked to scratch below the surface of what was a shocking presentation by the commissioner,” Leatherwood said. “There might also have been some re-evaluations in the lag time since then. I think this was a blessing, getting people re-fired up.”

Sewer line easements holding up Memphis megasite work

He said the process for putting in the site’s sewer line is also moving forward “full steam ahead.”

“I believe (the governor) did give us the assurance that the money that’s already allocated, we will go forward with utilizing that money,” he said.

To date, about $90 million has been spent on the Megasite, including land acquisition, construction of a water tank, relocating Highway 222 and widening it to five lanes, fortifying the Exit 42 interchange with heavy industrial ramps and widening the bridge over Interstate 40.

The 4,100-acre Megasite sits off Interstate 40 at Exit 42 between Jackson and Memphis. The site contains more than 3,800 developable acres and is envisioned to be large enough for an automotive assembly plant, rail yard, large supplier park, test track, training facilities and a TCAT facility.

The site sits adjacent to the West Tennessee Solar Farm for access to renewable energy.

Mark Herbison is president and CEO of HTL Advantage (Haywood Tipton Lauderdale), which formed 12 years ago in response to the Megasite being developed. Memphis, Jackson and HTL have worked for years trying to sell the site to prospective tenants.

“One of the big hurdles we’ve had to face is not having a sewer system, but we’re very close to overcoming that now,” said Herbison, former senior vice president of economic development with the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t know of many other big megasites that don’t have sewer already.”

Construction of the Megasite sewer discharge system, with a 37-mile wastewater pipeline stretching to the Mississippi River, is expected to take 12 to 18 months and cost $30 million.

Planners have looked at many options for the Megasite sewage system over the years, according to Herbison, including pumping the sewage to the Brownsville sewage plant, pumping it to Covington or building a sewage plant onsite.

“Whether they do the sewer treatment plant at the site or they do it in Covington, what they are doing right now will not be negated. It will still be usable,” said Rose, who noted a new plan is in the works for the area surrounding the Megasite.

“I knew about a plan that was presented about two years ago that has been resurfaced. I don’t know that it’s ready to present yet,” he said. “The plan as it’s been was only going to benefit that site. But there is a plan, if it comes to fruition, that will benefit West Tennessee from where we’re standing all the way to Haywood County and beyond.”

West Tennessee is one of the only regions in the Southeast U.S. without an automotive assembly plant.

According to a recent economic impact report from the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Memphis, an automotive plant like the Toyota and Mazda plant that ultimately went to Huntsville, Alabama, could have meant roughly 4,500 assembly jobs for West Tennessee and an additional 14,400 indirect jobs. It would have meant nearly $10 billion in total output each year and more than $60 million in local taxes.

An estimated 1.6 million people live within a 60-minute drive of the Megasite.

“When Nucor Steel came to the area (in the mid-2000s), the company was paying an average of $75,000 per year, and there were 15,000 to 20,000 applicants for the jobs,” Herbison said. “So we do believe there’s a viable and ready workforce for (the Megasite).”

Of the funding remaining for the project, water lines would take another $18 million, electricity $13 million, rail $8 million and gas improvements $10 million.