LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — For months, the city of Lebanon has been searching for a site to build a new sewer plant.
A selection committee has now narrowed the possible locations to three final sites, which are being presented to city council for review.
For Colleen and Dalton Snyder, their home in the Carver Creek neighborhood in Lebanon seemed nearly perfect when they bought it last November.
"We're close enough to the city, but we're far enough that it still feels country," Dalton Snyder said.
"We have two small kids, and we go outside all the time," said Colleen Snyder.
However, the vacant lot that sits right behind their home could become something they never anticipated — a sewer plant.
"We never in a million years would have thought that where we purchased our home, there could be any sort of wastewater treatment plant behind our house," Snyder said.
A housing development was slated to go into the area next to their home, but that project didn’t come to fruition.
Colleen said had they known it could have been an industrial site, they would not have bought the house.
That lot is part of site number 13+, one of three sites under consideration to house Lebanon's new sewer plant.
Lebanon’s sewer site selection committee has ranked and score the final three sites in contention to house the city’s new sewer.
Site 22 on Maple Hill Road came in at number one, with a score of 61, Site 13+ near the Snyder’s house came in at number two with a score of 60, and Site 7+ came in third place with a score of 57.
A fourth final site was removed from consideration on August 4, 2026.
I spoke to Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell in April, when the search for a location just started.
He told me the city's old sewer was built in the 1960s and has been due for replacement for about 15 years.
He said building a new one is critical to the city's future.
"If we don't build it, the future of this city will be a failure," Bell said.
However, neighbors living near the proposed sites are making sure the city knows the impact the project could have on their communities.
"We expect to have a pretty decent presence at the city council meeting on Wednesday and all city council meetings going forward until this issue is resolved," said Chad Connelly, who lives near two different sewer sites in the Farmington Woods subdivision.
Across the street from Site 13+, Sarah Hight's family has lived in the area since before the subdivisions were built.
"This was a farm that was owned by my grandfather, and he was a World War II veteran," Hight said.
Her family's 85-acre property was previously under consideration to house the sewer plant, but they are not willing to sell.
Now, the plant could be built across the street from them.
"All of a sudden I'm going to have a sewer plant literally in my front yard," Hight said.
For the Snyders and others living near the proposed sites, much of their future now rests in someone else's hands.
"We hoped to buy this house and be in it for a very long time, but with the plans that are potentially coming here, it really feels like we're trapped if it were to go here," Dalton Snyder said.
Many neighbors who live near the proposed sites plan to attend this week's city council meeting on August 18, 2026.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
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