Bored to Tears

Metro fails to longhouse the Boring Company

From Megan Podsiedlik

The Mayor’s Office appears to be duking it out with The Boring Company over the fact that they honored a public records request and released all of the TBC responses to the 78 questions submitted by Metro. In a series of emails obtained by the Banner, Metro Associate Director of Law Lora Fox conveys the tensions between Metro officials and TBC.

“I am writing to express Metro’s considerable frustration with TBC marking the response document as confidential when it was sent to us and then apparently releasing it to the press without even letting us know,” wrote Fox to TBC legal counsel, Ashley Steinberg, on Monday. “We wanted to release the document on Friday, but were honoring the NDA and your designation as confidential, in order to allow you a short period in which to seek a protective order. …Please do not mark documents as confidential unless there are clear legal grounds for doing so. It is not consistent with the collaborative process that TBC says it is pursuing.” 

As Metro Legal thumbs its nose at TBC’s lack of collaboration over the public release of the documents, other email exchanges between TBC’s Vice President of Business Development James Fitzgerald and the mayor’s Director of Performance Management Clifton Peay hint that TBC has tried to invite Metro into productive discussions regarding the Music City Loop to no avail. 

“TBC would also like to reiterate our standing offer for an in-person, productive discussion with the appropriate offices from the City of Nashville,” Fitzgerald wrote to Peay on Monday, insinuating that the offer has been made on previous occasions.

💥 A Plot To Destroy The Grid Yesterday, Skyler Philippi of Columbia, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to planning an attack that he hoped would destroy Nashville’s energy infrastructure. According to yesterday’s Department of Justice press release, Philippi “acquired what he believed to be explosives, surveilled his target, and equipped a drone to attack an electrical substation.”

“Driven by a racially motivated extremist ideology, the defendant allegedly planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray after Philippi’s arrest last November. “The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage.”

Last summer, undercover FBI agents began tracking Philippi, who, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, is a violent white supremacist: “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable.”

Agents also reported that Philippi participated in a Nordic ritual to gear up for his plan, “which included reciting a Nordic prayer and discussing the Norse god Odin.”

🗺️ How To Weigh In On The Latest Blanket Zoning Bills There’s more than one way to weigh in on some of Metro Planning’s proposed zoning changes that would affect all of Davidson County.

Aside from chiming in during public comment at any Metro council or committee meeting, there will be public hearings for the bills that create two new zoning districts and establish the Voluntary Attainable Housing Incentive Program on October 9. The public hearings on the bills that simplify upzoning for two-family dwellings and relax restrictions on building detached accessory dwelling units were deferred until November 4. 

According to Councilmember Jason Spain’s district newsletter, the Metro Planning staff is holding regular office hours until September 23 if you’d like to ask any questions and share feedback on the proposals. Virtual and in-person small group meeting slots are available for sign-up. There is also an online survey where you can provide feedback through September 23.

DEVELOPMENT-ish

• Birmingham firm buys majority stake in Franklin's Harpeth Hotel (NBJ)
• Tenneco announces layoffs impacting 82 workers in Spring Hill (NBJ)
• Opening date set for downtown events space Elm (Post)
• Cracker Barrel to cease interior updates (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 AMERICANAFEST @ Multiple Venues, $125, Info

🎸 Garbage w/ Starcrawler @ The Pinnacle, 8p, $40+, Info

💀 Tennessee Dead @ Tennessee Brew Works, 6p, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik, Camelia Brennan, and Davis Hunt.