County Commission
02/13/2006
Vice Chairman Lynn Beeler
called this meeting of the County Commission to
order. District 1 Chairman Gary England was absent
on business. Brenda
Jessee requested a correction to the minutes of the
1/09/06 meeting to now read that the Beeler Lane
Water Project was contingent upon the approval of
the City of Maynardville and the minutes were
approved as corrected.
All budget amendment
recommendations made by the B+F Committee were
approved with Commissioner Cox voting no on one item
and passing on another. Although included on the
February agenda, the Revenue and Highway Department
reports and the Mayor’s reports are not due until
next month. The Trustee’s report was included in
commissioner’s packets.
County Attorney David Myers
stated that he, Mayor Lay and Sheriff Evans have had
one meeting with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon,
Inc (architects for the jail remodeling project)
since the last county commission meeting. BWSC will
have plans ready for the commissioners review on
2/27/06 at 7:00. This meeting is open to the general
public. The trial date for the civil action class
lawsuit in the US District Court in Knoxville is
6/20/06.
A resolution to urge the
General Assembly of the State of TN to provide
counties with funding aid for state-mandated
emergency management requirements came before the
commissioners for their signature. The resolution
asks the State of TN for at least $12,000 annually
to help provide “adequate staff and resources to
properly formulate and execute the emergency
management plans and programs for each county”.
Voting NO were Charlie Cox and Trever Warwick.
The National Education
Association’s Read Across America is an
annual reading motivation and awareness program that
calls for every child in every community to
celebrate reading on or around Dr. Seuss's birthday.
The commissioners unanimously approved to celebrate
Read Across America in Union County February
27-March 3, 2006.
The commissioners were asked
to approve a resolution to amend the regulations and
restrictions of the original Union County Emergency
Medical Service resolution. This original
resolution states that Union County EMS is an
exclusive provider, which may be in conflict
with Federal monopoly laws and would constitute a
“restraint of trade”. The new resolution provides a
way for the county to stringently regulate any other
ambulance service that may choose to set up business
in the county. All providers must meet Union County
criteria and all EMS calls will be handled through
Union County.
Commissioner Rodney Patterson
reported that the litter committee had a crowd at
their last meeting and that there was a spirited
exchange of ideas, both pro and con. The intent of
this committee is to formulate a litter law that
will benefit the county, will be passed and can be
enforced. The next Litter Committee meeting will be
held Tuesday February 28th at 7:00 and
the public is invited to attend.
Updates:
The Beeler Lane/SR 370 Water
Project is being surveyed now. It will then go to
the state for approval. The project will be done in
two phases and is expected to take 2 months to
complete.
On 12/12/05, the commissioners
voted unanimously to reject all bids received for
the construction of the new ambulance building.
They felt that the county could build this facility
without a general contractor and voted for Mayor Lay
to oversee the project. Mayor Lay met with the
Lewis Group Architects concerning the new ambulance
building and they will draw up a proposal to bid out
each subcontracting part of the construction
separately. The proposal will be redrawn and rebid.
Johnny Merritt was asked for
an update on completing the road in the Luttrell
Industrial Park that so that it will connect
Corryton-Luttrell Rd with Tazewell Pike. He replied
that he has not spoken with Clayton Helms recently,
but the snow and rainy weather we have had are
probably holding up the project.
New Business:
A position on the Parks and
Recreation board is vacant due to a resignation and
Mayor Lay nominated UT Agriculture Extension agent
James Griffin for that position. The vote was
unanimous.
Jim Houston stated that the
E911 Board had voted to borrow $73,000 at 4.5%
interest over 3 years to cover moving and purchasing
equipment for the new E911 Dispatch Center. While
there are grants to pay for some of this, most of
grants require that equipment be purchased first and
then the grants will reimburse. After the E911
Board approved acquiring this debt, the Comptroller
of the State of TN indicated that this loan must
first be approved by the full County Commission.
While E911 is responsible for repaying this loan,
the county would ultimately be held liable for the
debt if E911 should default. Charlie Cox asked how
E911 would pay this loan back and Mayor Lay
indicated that annual revenues for this department
are around $184,000. Mr. Houston stated that the
department has already spent $217,000 on equipment,
installing a tower, the computer mapping system and
facility relocation expenses. Securing a loan would
keep their undesignated fund balance up. Voting NO
on approving the E911 loan were Wayne Cole, Charlie
Cox, Brenda Jessee, Gene McBee, Johnny Merritt and
Rodney Patterson. Trever Warwick passed on voting.
The motion to approve the loan passed.
Several commissioners,
including Meltabarger, Warwick, Merritt and Ailor,
felt that the commission should be receiving
quarterly, if not monthly, financial data from the
E911 board and Mr. Houston agreed to provide that
data in their monthly packets. It was also felt
that financial issues, budget amendments and
transfers in the E911 budget should come before the
Budget and Finance committee and that committee will
decide whether or not to bring issues to the full
commission. Additionally, Mr. Houston mentioned
that the law states that there be two dispatchers on
duty at all times and that this will mean hiring
additional staff next year.
David Coppock represented the
Union County School Board and requested financial
assistance from the commission. He stated that the
schools have had significant unexpected expenses
lately and now Horace Maynard Middle School needs
repair on another one of the roofs. Commissioner
Meltabarger noted that there is a new leak at
Luttrell Elementary as well. Commissioner Ailor
felt that rather than deal with these issues one
school at a time, perhaps it would be better to look
at all of the schools and analyze their immediate
needs. Vice Chairman Lynn Beeler appointed a
commissioner from each district to form a committee
to investigate needs, make recommendations as to
what repairs are needed and what they will cost and
how they will be funded. Committee members are
Johnny Merritt, Pam Ailor, Charlie Cox, Trever
Warwick, Kenny Hill, Rodney Patterson and Joyce
Meltabarger.
Nothing further to discuss, the meeting was
adjourned. The next County Commission meeting will
be held Monday March 13 at 7:00.
