Bulls Gap Dismisses longtime administrator Solomon

BULLS GAP — A controversial statement made by longtime Bulls Gap Town Administrator Mike Solomon — one in which he erroneously associated himself in his official capacity — cost him his job during Monday’s BMA meeting.

By a unanimous vote, the board chose to terminate Solomon’s contract immediately, and while he remained in the meeting to its conclusion, he placed his keys to the town facilities on the board’s desk before they adjourned, and gave Mayor Jim Riley some paperwork that he was no longer able to sign off on as soon as the meeting ended.

The board’s meeting-place in the Archie Campbell Museum was unusually full for the January meeting, as several concerned residents of the area attended to see what the board would choose to do in regards to Solomon, the town administrator since 2018.

The controversy involves the ongoing attempts by the ExoticRidge Crypto Company to set up operations just outside of Bulls Gap. Although the company has stated that it will use no public utilities and power its operations with generators using waste ethane from the NGL fractionalization plant next door, concerned citizens and elected officials in both Bulls Gap and Hawkins County cited similar situations in other areas where crypto operations and datacenters had a negative impact on the communities they were located in. The Hawkins County Commissioners passed a resolution in September barring such operations in the county.

ExoticRidge is contesting that decision. As part of the original application process, it had applied to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Air Pollution Control authorities for an air contaminant construction permit. It continued the process even after the County Commissioners’ decision, and a 30-day period for public comments opened on Sept. 23.

Solomon subsequently, on Dec. 1, asked TDEC Regional Director Jan Compton if he could “add my 2 cents, for all it is worth” relating to the application for the air contaminant construction permit for the generators proposed as part of the crypto mining operation. The permit was issued by TDEC on Jan. 7.

On Dec. 3, Solomon stated in a communication to the permit writer:

“I feel the permit should be issued, as based on current information, with Holston Electric’s generators, and Exoticridge’s (sic) generators operating on site, there will be no net emissions at this site. It seems to be that controlled combustion from an engine should be easier to adjust emissions, than it would be from the open combustion of the current flame. Electricity production, from the use of “cast off” fuel with no net increase of emissions, is a win-win for the efficient use of current and future supplies and resources.

Mike Solomon

City Adminstrator/CMFO

Town of Bulls Gap”

Although Solomon’s appears to be a minority position in the town and area, the main issue that the board and most of the citizens in attendance had was that Solomon signed the communication in his official capacity with the town, using the email address listed on MTAS, and not as a private citizen expressing a viewpoint. Solomon stated that he erred in not removing his professional credentials, but also said he had been asked for an opinion.

The communications between he and TDEC are a matter of public record and can be viewed on the agency’s online dataviewer, but did not become a point of controversy until local attorney Crystal Jessee posted them on social media on the evening of Jan. 11.

The fact that Solomon made the communication in an official capacity turned out to be the sticking point for the board. Solomon stated that he had done so in error and apologized for having done so, and also pointed out that his comments were not in support of ExoticRidge, but only that in his opinion, the proposed generators — a pair of 1,688kW engines that would run on the waste ethane — would have no negative environmental impact.

Riley said the communication itself “did not bother me a bit,” but that by associating himself in his capacity as town administrator, “in the eyes of the public, we support ExoticRidge. This is far from the truth.”

Alderwoman Leslie Tieke, who ended up being the second on a motion from Alderman Mike House to terminate Solomon’s contract, stated, as she has in the past, that she is 100 percent against crypto and data centers in the area and that such business brings nothing to the community, but reiterated what Riley had said earlier — that Solomon erred by signing with his title, and in so doing, created a perception that the Town of Bulls Gap supported ExoticRidge’s proposed crypto operation.

“I approciate Mike and everything he has done,” she said. “I accept his apology for his mistake, but it was a big one.”

Alderwoman Susan Williams stated “be careful what you put out and where you put it out.”

One person in the audience came to Solomon’s defense, while Jessee herself put in an appearance and distributed printouts of the full exchange between Solomon and the TDEC officials last month.

Eventually, Riley asked for a motion on whether or not to terminate Solomon’s contract, which had been signed on April 16, 2018 for a term of six years and then continued beyond April 2024 on an at-will basis. House made the motion, and for a moment it look like it might not get a second. However, Tieke seconded it after a pause of about 30 seconds, and then on a roll-call vote, all five members of the BMA voted for the motion.

By the terms of Solomon’s contract, four of the five had to vote to terminate.

He asked Riley if the termination was effective immediately, and when told that it was, he walked over to the board’s table and placed his keys there.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: https://www.therogersvillereview.com/covid19/article_8e625e45-b16e-4a51-a3d3-5d5d07019bb7.html