New laws that punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants seem to be doing what a border fence will never do.
At my place of employment, where we have legal contract workers from Mexico, we are seeing droves of people coming in looking for work. They are coming in groups of up to 10 and 12 people at a time, three or four times a day.
They have been let go from their former jobs because they cannot provide papers that are legit. We have never seen this many come to look for work, some as far away as Morristown. Of course we must tell them the same as everyone else. No legal papers, no job.
It is sad to see but I do agree this is a better and more humane way to discourage illegal immigration than a border fence across Indian lands and such.
These folks will leave Tennessee and seek work in other states where no such laws are in place, or return to their native country.
Still it is sad to see the desperation in their eyes, but we can do nothing but abide by the law.
It will be interesting to see how this affects businesses in the future when there is no cheap labor to make money off of.

As noted by Commissioner Walker below, the ordinance submitted to County Commission in 2004 has the following:

Section 9. General criteria, sub-section S:

S. Vegetative buffer. An undisturbed vegetative buffer of a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet (as measured from the top-of-bank) shall be maintained adjacent to all free-flowing state waters. For bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, etc., an undisturbed vegetative barrier of at least twenty-five (25) feet shall be maintained.

Do I recall correctly that the new ordinance will have only a 5 foot buffer (reduced from 60 in the initial draft)? If so, is the County going backwards in terms of water quality regulations?

I have ran across a resolution that was passed in 2004 that has some of the same verbage as the resolution that is to be considered on tomorrow night's commission agenda, review it if you have a opportunity and give some feed back.

Maryville Daily Times

More than 500 people packed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday evening for a public meeting on the proposed extension of the Pellissippi Parkway.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Supporters and opponents of the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension jammed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday night for a public hearing on one of the most contentious issues facing Blount County.

WBIR

A standing-room-only crowd of several hundred people flooded Heritage High School's auditorium Tuesday night for the latest details on a proposed Pellissippi Parkway expansion project.

Sounds like Southern Loop reared its ugly head again last night. Here's the proposed route, for any newcomers on the scene: (Link...)

If you did not get to ask your question or submit your comment last night, here is the person to contact at TDOT:

Michael W. Russell, P.E.
TDOT
7345 Region Lane
Knoxville, TN 37914

or

P.O. Box 58
Knoxville, TN 37901

Phone: 865.594.2334
Email: Mike.Russell@state.tn.us