Residents of Hawkins County’s smallest town discovered earlier this month that the ExoticRidge Crypto Company of Lexington, Ky. planned to move into an industrial building and start a cryptocurrency mining operation. Will Daugherty of ExoticRidge was present at Monday’s meeting and reiterated a pledge that his operation would not use any local electricity or water and would not cause noise pollution, but this did not mollify many, if any, of the people in attendance.

Using authority granted to Hawkins County under the County Powers Act of the State of Tennessee–something the Commissioners have been reluctant to do in the past–an out-of-order resolution was drawn up banning crypto farms and datacenters and then passed by the board in a 10-2 vote.

The resolution stated that cryptocurrency and large-scale data center operations are incompatible with Hawkins County’s rural nature and the peaceful enjoyment of property by its residents, and that they offer no economic benefit that justifies the burden they place on the county and its residents.

A lengthy debate preceded the vote in which a handful of residents of the Bulls Gap area spoke. Two of them, Eric Goan and Crystal Jessee, spoke both during the public comments and in the deliberations over the resolution about 30 minutes later. They each offered strong arguments against the crypto operation. Jessee, a local attorney, told the board she would represent the county for free if ExoticRidge challenged the ban in court.

Another local citizen, Cody Pate, was more equivocal, stating that while he was no fan of crypto, it was a slippery slope for people to ask the commissioners to ban the operation. The consensus of most people in the county is that they favor the continuation of existing county policies allowing free use of land and no zoning regulations.

Commissioner Jason Roach also expressed misgivings that passing this resolution was not consistent with prior acts of the board and said he would not vote for it.

In the final vote, Roach and fellow Commissioner Chad Britton voted against the ban. Commissioners Syble Vaughan Trent and Danny Alvis were absent due to illnesses to family or to themselves, but the other 10 commissioners all voted for the resolution.