Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp met with developer Jimmy White in late September to discuss The Bend, White’s major redevelopment project that could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for schools and public housing.
By their own accounts, the mayors brought a similar goal but different perspectives to the private meeting. They both wanted to help White move past a swirl of negative attention whipped up by an independent city board’s decision to place a default notice on the project.
While Kelly said he wanted to place pressure on White to get major developments at The Bend under construction, Wamp said he expressed his opinion that the city board’s action was unjustified and harmful to the project.
Wamp said he called the meeting at his office in the Hamilton County Courthouse on Sept. 30, days before the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board gave White a 90-day extension on the default notice.
Wamp said several major Chattanooga developments, including private investment around Erlanger Park on the Southside, are behind the schedules previously announced by developers.