County Commission 12/12/05
This meeting of the County
Commission was called to order by Chairman Gary
England. All commissioners were present. Christi
D Monroe-Raby and Michael Joseph Ickes
were approved as notaries.
The Budget and Finance Committee’s only recommendation
was to change the funding for the school Resource
Officer from the County General Fund to the General
Purpose School Fund. The issue of repairing the part of
Broad Street that is in poor shape due to the emptying
of the dumpster there was tabled until the City of
Maynardville met. It was felt that this should be a
shared expense. Clayton Helms indicated it could be
repaired for $4200. Pam Ailor questioned the wisdom of
repairing it now as that road will be used by heavy
equipment during the construction of the Union County
Ambulance building and might be damaged further.
Mayor Larry Lay reported that
he was not able to negotiate a lower rate for prisoner
care at Claiborne County Hospital. The county must
continue to pay 50% of the bill. St. Mary’s continues
to be the preferred hospital with a 35% rate.
Bell South has offered the county a discount for phones.
This discount would be a substantial savings of about
$700 a month. Any contract over 12 months and/or $5000
has to be put out for bid and Bell South has agreed to
prepare a request for the county for that purpose.
Charlie Cox had requested a discussion of returning the
Sheriff’s vehicles to the lot after each shift but now
stated that, although he believed that the county should
“not be furnishing the deputies a way to and from home”,
Mr. Cox no longer wished to discuss this. He did feel
that the Sheriff should be getting all of his gas from
the County lot. County Attorney David Myers stated that
the Sheriff may purchase his gas anytime and anywhere he
wants to so long as he has a state contract on it. The
commissioners cannot bind him on where he purchases gas.
Faye Edmondson requested that a portion of Sexton Rd be
closed. This request was supported by the Highway
Department. Sexton Rd. connects Little Valley with
Butcher Hollow. The portion that Ms. Edmondson requested
be closed has turned into a dumping ground for dead
animals and trash as well as a party area and apparently
a bedroom. She had photos of the cow heads sitting on
fence posts, tires dumped, a half dozen deer stripped of
choice cuts and left by hunters, underwear hanging from
trees and bushes, dead chickens and all other manner of
trash. The road is in poor shape and is not patrolled
often. People are spotlighting deer, burning cars,
tried to burn a barn on the property and are found in
all manner of undress. Closing the road, however, will
make Sexton Rd a dead end road instead of a connecting
road. The commissioners voted to keep Sexton Rd open.
Ms. Edmondson asked if this meant that the Highway Dept
would improve the condition of the road and the
Sheriff’s Dept would patrol it more frequently and she
was assured that would happen.
The Sheriff requested the commissioners approve the
purchase of a 97 Blazer 4WD with 91,595 for $6,000.
Part of the purchase price would come from the insurance
funds paid to the department for the vehicle that was
totaled several months ago. While Commissioners Wayne
Cole, Gary England, Burney Hutchison and R.L. Jones felt
the Sheriff ought to be able to purchase that vehicle,
the rest of the commissioners felt the price was too
high for a vehicle with that much mileage and they
rejected the purchase.
Bids were in for the Union County Ambulance building and
the lowest bid submitted was still $192,000 over the
$326,000 grant received for that purpose. The
commissioners voted unanimously to reject all bids
received. They felt that the county could build this
facility without a general contractor. Clayton Helms
agreed to do all of the grade and asphalt work. Mayor
Lay would oversee the construction and each area of
construction would be bid out (i.e. electrical,
plumbing, trusses, etc). County Commission would have
to approve all individual bids over $5000. A block,
rather than the initially proposed metal, building would
be constructed. The motion to do so passed unanimously.
The
commissioners were asked to approve a resolution on the
state project for widening State Route 33 from the Knox
County line to State Route 144. Attorney Myers said
that the commissioners needed to keep several things in
mind. This resolution says that the county will agree
to close or otherwise modify other roads that this
expansion of SR 33 might impact. This expansion will
require property owned by the county to be transferred
to the state and there will be no reimbursement or
compensation for this property. And if, as a result of
this construction, the road comes up to within 5 ft of
an existing home the county will waive the setback line
laws for this home. The expansion of SR 33 from a
two-lane to a four-lane road will utilize significant
property now used by the Paulette Community Center. If
County Commission did not pass this resolution, then the
road simply will not be built. The resolution passed
unanimously.
Jail Lawsuit Update
County Commission 12/12/2005
At the December County Commission meeting, Attorney
David Myers stated that the county has entered into a
contract with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc (BWSC)
for the remodeling of the existing jail. The company
has measured the area and is in the process of
performing the code review, preliminary design and floor
plan. The plans will need to be approved by the Fire
Marshal. BWSC will have two proposals ready for
the commissioners at their next scheduled meeting
January 9th. There was a discussion of
having a workshop or called meeting earlier than that to
discuss this but it was felt that BWSC might not have
everything completed any earlier.
Attorney John Duffy (of the Knoxville firm Watson and
Hollow), representing Union County in the civil rights
Class Action lawsuit against both Union County and
Sheriff Willie Evans, was present. He announced that a
status conference with the plaintiff’s attorney John E.
Eldridge and Federal Judge Jarvis was scheduled for
December 15th. The court date for this
lawsuit is January 17th. Mr. Duffy stated
that he needed the commissioners to give him a plan of
action to present to the judge at this conference. It is
important that Judge Jarvis not think that the
commissioners are dragging their feet on this issue. If
he believes that to be the case, it is not unusual for
him to “drag the entire county commission into court”.
While there have been no concrete plans made for jail
renovation, the UT Extension Office will be moving to a
new building on John Deere Dr. to make room for the
expansion. In addition, the 911 center has been moved
out of the jail area into the old Health Dept building –
a move that required time, planning and grants.
Commissioner Ailor pointed out that the commissioners
are spending taxpayer’s money and they must do so
carefully and with deliberate thought. Mr. Duffy noted
that Union County has no wheel tax and a low $2 tax
rate. When asked if the judge could force the county
commission to raise taxes, Mr. Duffy replied that one
judge could not but that it is not uncommon for 3
Federal judges to rule that a county must do so. The
commissioners will not know what their options are until
they hear back from BWSC on January 9th.
Mr. Duffy stated that the main issues of this lawsuit
will be jail population and overcrowding; ventilation;
separation of female inmates from male inmates by sight
and sound; and fire safety. The courts will look at
inmate-on-inmate violence. The thugs must be able to be
separated from the vulnerable inmates. The judge will
want to know if the living quarters are so crowded as to
cause tempers to flair and he will look at the quality
of medical care. Population statistics of the Union
County jail over the past few months will be reviewed.
According to Attorney Duffy, jail populations increase
“in the neighborhood of 10-20% per year. What I have
seen in the past is a county spending the smallest sum
on a jail only to find that they are back in the same
situation 1, 2 or 3 years down the road. You need to
look at a minimum of a 5 year fix”, said Mr. Duffy.
Sheriff Willie Evans noted that adult arrests are up
55% and juvenile arrests are up 100%.
The minimum codes for a jail will not be met with this
renovation. “There is nothing that can be done to get
the original facility certified by TCI,” stated Mr.
Duffy. “If the facility is not going to meet TCI
standards because of its’ inherent design, why even be
concerned about trying to do that?” A commissioner
asked if he meant that the county would be spending
millions of dollars and yet not meet these standards and
Mr. Duffy replied that an old building cannot be in
compliance. The major issue with the renovated facility
will be the fire and safety regulations of the
building.
During a discussion of medical care at the Union County
jail, it was noted that there has been some difficulty
getting the nurse employed by Dr, Carroll Rose to make
appropriate visits to the inmates. An inmate must have
a physical performed within 14 days of being jailed and
calls and faxes to this nurse have not been returned.
Medical records were not available when the jail
inspector recently visited. Mr. Duffy suggested that
the county might want to look at HealthSouth. This
company provides inmate medical care in Campbell County
and this care includes a daily nurse and weekly
physician visits. Mayor Lay indicated that he would
discuss this issue directly with Dr. Rose.
Mayor Lay asked how many inmates have signed on to the
class action lawsuit and Mr. Duffy explained that in a
class action situation clients do not “sign on” but
rather are given an opportunity to “opt out” of the
suit. Mr. Duffy stated that he would advise Attorney
Eldridge and Federal Judge Jarvis that Union County is
working towards a solution to the jail problems and will
outline the steps that the commissioners have taken so
far.
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