[0:06] Thank you, Sheriff. Our invocation and
pledge is led by our district 4
[0:10] commissioners. Um, so at this time, I'd
like to ask uh, Bubba Gregory, if you'd
[0:15] lead us in our invocation,
[0:19] » for the day that you blessed us with
nice, beautiful day. I just pray that
[0:23] you be with us tonight. All the
decisions we make will be uh, for the
[0:27] betterment of all the citizens of this
county. I thank you for sending your son
[0:30] to die on the cross for us where we
could have eternal life. I just pray
[0:34] that you lead, guide, direct us in
everything we do and ask uh this prayer
[0:37] in your son's name. Amen.
[0:41] You join me in the pledge.
[1:12] Welcome to the August commission meeting
everybody.
[1:15] Um a s a quick reminder to please
silence your electronic devices um so we
[1:21] can all be respectful to each other at
this time. For anyone at home or anyone
[1:25] that's that's interested, the uh in the
order of transparency, all minutes, all
[1:31] uh videos, all transcripts and work
packets are available online at
[1:35] Tennessee at county Tennessee.gov.
[1:40] Uh madame clerk, could you please call
roll call?
[1:44] » Beverly Atwood.
Tommy Belchure, Linda Bruce, Shane
[1:50] Burton,
>> Alan Carman, Brian Crook,
[1:55] Will Dennis,
>> Jerry Ford,
[1:58] » Chris Gregory,
>> Jeff Gregory,
[2:02] Bubba Gregory, Landon Gully,
Judy Kerr, David Ner,
[2:09] » Leslie Overman, Mark Presley,
Amber Russell, Lonnie Taylor, David
[2:17] Thomas, Steve Whitaker,
>> 16 present, four absent.
[2:24] » Thank you.
[2:28] » You all have a copy of the uh the
minutes from the July uh meeting. Uh
[2:33] they were distributed in your packets.
Uh if there'll be no changes, I'll
[2:36] entertain a motion to approve.
>> Jerry and Chris.
[2:42] All in favor?
Any opposed? Thank you. Does anybody uh
[2:48] any of the commissioners have any
announcements this evening? Anybody have
[2:51] anything?
[2:54] All righty.
So, the budget the budget amendments uh
[2:58] that were added dur uh to the commission
agenda. You received that handout last
[3:03] week uh at the work session. Um they're
listed on the agendas that are available
[3:08] tonight for everybody. Uh at this at
this time, I'll entertain a motion to
[3:11] accepted set the agenda if there'll be
no changes.
[3:16] Leslie, do we have a second? And Jerry,
all in favor?
[3:22] Any opposed? Thank you.
So, at this time, I I'll let you know
[3:28] that uh the citizens respond to response
to agenda items. Uh if you're wishing to
[3:33] speak on any particular topic that's on
tonight's agenda, you can please sign in
[3:37] over here at the podium. You'll be
called to uh speak at the the
[3:41] appropriate time. Uh, also there's a
public comment uh time that we can have
[3:46] at the end of the meeting. Uh, if you'd
like to have it be re recognized at the
[3:50] end of the meeting, please sign in for
that as well.
[3:55] Do we have anybody, Sheriff?
Okay. Thank you.
[4:04] Just at this time, I'd like to ask our
mayor for his county mayor's report.
[4:08] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I have a
limited report tonight. We are at the
[4:12] point of engaging an engineer on the
property where the um jail is to be. Uh
[4:18] as soon as we get an estimate on that,
we can go forward with with the engineer
[4:22] working with Teima and FEMA to to begin
the process of filling that property in
[4:27] to prepare it for a building. Um, I'm
working on u my plans and goals for for
[4:33] the first 100 days that I'll be
presenting to the new commission uh at
[4:38] the their first work session in
September.
[4:41] I'm also working with the folks at
Embbridge and the Tennessee com uh state
[4:46] controller to uh expedite the process of
of having that uh the Embbridge project
[4:52] uh appraised so we can uh get the
property tax uh before next budget next
[4:58] year. That's one of my main goals and
main concerns at this point to expedite
[5:03] that process. That's all I have.
>> Thank you, sir. Does anybody have any
[5:08] questions for the mayor?
[5:12] All righty, moving on. Committee and
board reports. Uh, budget and finance
[5:16] met on the 17th. Chris, could you please
speak to that for us, sir?
[5:29] Yes. Uh, budget and finance met on
August 17th. uh reviewed trustee
[5:36] statements and financial summaries which
you know one month in wasn't wasn't a
[5:41] whole lot to the financial summaries. Um
uh approved or recommended for approval
[5:48] four of five budget amendments. Um, one
we took no action on. That was the one
[5:54] with the education funding because u the
committee wanted to see about getting a
[6:00] draft policies uh put in place ahead of
time before
[6:06] taking any action in that regard. Um, I
did send out last Monday evening the
[6:11] proposed draft policy to every
commissioner by email. Uh
[6:17] hopefully
hopefully the ones who will be back had
[6:22] time had the opportunity to to review
that. I'll make that of course available
[6:25] to the incoming ones once they have
their emails set up as well.
[6:30] And that was pretty much it.
>> Thank you. Does anybody have any
[6:33] questions for Chris?
>> All righty. Codes and zoning met on uh
[6:40] the 13th. David, can you please speak to
that for me, sir?
[6:45] Yes. Um, we use that, uh, since a couple
of our members won't be back on that
[6:51] committee, use that as a summary meeting
to put together all the information of
[6:56] what we had worked on so that the next
group coming in for codes and zoning
[7:01] will have at least a starting place of
where we left off. Um, the temporary use
[7:07] uh needs to be addressed in the zoning.
We had started that process u spent
[7:13] about three months on it. There's some
work already done there that needs to be
[7:17] finished um for whatever that that body
decides to do. Um what we did get out um
[7:24] kind of our last big harrah was as
promised last month, we did get the uh
[7:31] addition to the PUD for the requirement
of the traffic impact studies to be
[7:36] added on any prop any developments 30
and over 30 units and then anything
[7:43] below 30 units the discretion is given
to the codes enforcement officer um
[7:49] planning. I always forget what title we
actually put on Rosal's office because
[7:54] she holds about three or four different
hats now. Um, but that's before us
[7:59] tonight for the first vote.
Thank you. Does anybody have any
[8:03] questions for David?
[8:07] » Okay. Um, also on August 3rd, uh, Amber,
uh, Russell, if you could speak, law
[8:11] enforcement first responders.
[8:16] » Sure. with the first responders. We
didn't have a quorum, so it was
[8:18] discussion only and we went over the EMS
education policy and deemed that we
[8:22] didn't have enough information to really
do any any further action on it
[8:27] with the law enforcement.
Um, one big topic was that the sheriff
[8:32] never heard anything about the law
enforcement committee request to move
[8:36] the phone and commissary income into a
dedicated fund. I know it was spoke
[8:40] about before we went into um all of the
hearings and then um it kind of faded
[8:46] away so I didn't know if we needed to
bring it up again or if there had been a
[8:49] decision that I wasn't aware of.
They are now soliciting bids to replace
[8:54] the roof on the jail. They've got one
bid so far. They're receiving two more
[8:58] bids. Um the roof was patched 15 to 20
years ago and it's needing fixed up now.
[9:03] It will require a budget amendment when
bids come in. Um the recent rains have
[9:08] caused leaking into the cells and the
generator at the jail has not been
[9:12] replaced. Cumins out of Nashville has
not come out to wire and install new one
[9:16] despite multiple requests from the
sheriff. And that's all I have.
[9:21] » Thank you. Does anybody have any
questions for Amber?
[9:27] » Is there any other reports this evening?
All righty. Moving on to active
[9:32] business. Uh at this point we have this
for this month. We don't have any no
[9:37] resolutions, no appointments. So, we'll
move on to ordinances.
[9:43] So, public hearing. I open the floor for
the following two ordinances. Is there
[9:47] anyone here wishing to speak on either
of the two ordinances that we're getting
[9:50] ready to discuss? Uh, yes, sir. Okay.
So, it's going to be ordinance
[9:55] 351202613,
which is the reasonzoning TR-2 to TR-Pud
[10:01] Sulfur College. And uh uh would you like
to come up and speak on that at this
[10:05] time, sir?
[10:15] Hello everyone. I'm Steven Lancaster,
the uh design engineer for this one. And
[10:20] uh like he said, this is um the second
reading with this one.
[10:26] Uh so I guess let's just start off with
this. the traffic impact study contracts
[10:30] have been signed. Uh that's kind of the
thing that we've talked about that's
[10:34] needing been discussed. Um but I guess
that's the only new information that I
[10:39] can bring to you that the traffic impact
study is as soon as he can get to it,
[10:43] it's uh officially signed and in
contractual agreement. So if you'all
[10:47] have any questions with this or that
y'all kind of come up with, feel free to
[10:51] ask them and I can go over them with
you.
[10:55] » Thank you. Does anybody have any
questions for him?
[10:59] Okay, thank you sir. Uh Rosie, did you
have anything on this?
[11:05] Okay, thank you.
[11:10] Then next is ordinance 351 202613.
Sorry.
[11:16] Yes, sir. David,
>> I do have a question for Rosalie just
[11:20] for clarification purposes.
>> Sure. Rosie, if you could step up,
[11:23] please.
[11:27] If this were to to advance on back to
planning for the final approval, would
[11:33] that be held until uh planning has the
information on the traffic study or
[11:38] would that be on the next month's
meeting?
[11:43] » So, the final uh master plan that they
would have to bring back would have to
[11:48] have everything in fact um even all the
engineered drawings for
[11:54] all of that. So the impact study would
have to be completed before they could
[11:59] ever bring back the final plan to
planning.
[12:07] » David,
>> I just wanted everyone to hear that. Um,
[12:12] but that does will have to have all the
components in place before it goes to
[12:17] and approved by planning or not approved
by planning on its last reading. So,
[12:22] whatever this body does, there is still
one more check on that traffic
[12:26] situation.
And for the new commissioners who are
[12:30] sitting in the audience, this is going
to be something that they're going to
[12:33] need to to know about and to learn um as
far as the PUDS and how that all
[12:37] functions being different than a
traditional resoning.
[12:43] » Right. And if I may, Mr. chair. So the
time limit on submitting and bringing
[12:49] back the final master plan is one year.
After that then it resets.
[12:56] » Thank you for clarifying guys.
[13:00] So at this time I'll take a motion to
close the public hearing uh the first
[13:03] hearing on this one. Got a motion from
Chris and second from Amber.
[13:08] All in favor? Any opposed? Thank you.
That carries.
[13:14] All right. Next, we're going to move on
to ordinance 351202613,
[13:18] which is the reasonzoning of TR2
uh to TR PUD uh which is the Sulfur
[13:24] College and I believe that's the uh
annexation.
[13:30] That's what
[13:34] » both of those
[13:37] right.
>> Yes.
[13:47] So, it's the we're moving on the second,
>> correct?
[13:53] I had to get my notes straight, guys.
Sorry. Um,
[14:00] we are going to move at this point,
we're going to move to the second uh the
[14:04] second reading on this. Yes, Chris.
Motion to approve 2613 with the same
[14:12] conditional approval that that we gave
last month that being a uh with the
[14:17] impact study being completed first.
>> Copy. We have a second second from uh
[14:24] » Mark electronic vote.
>> Okay, this will be an electronic vote
[14:29] guys. So the please register on your
devices.
[15:11] Thank you everybody. The official
results are 15 yes, one one abstain and
[15:16] three absent. So this carries. Thank
you.
[15:20] And one no.
[15:29] Next we move on to ordinance 352 2022614
which is the annexation of urban
[15:35] services two urban services for the same
parcel. Um
[15:41] Miss Mayan do you have anything for
that?
[15:48] » Thank you Mr. Chair. Just wanted to
remind everybody that we did have will
[15:52] serve letters for all the utilities and
we have consulted public works that they
[15:57] will have trash pickup available for
that area.
[16:02] Thank you. Does anybody have any
questions for Rosie?
[16:08] All righty.
[16:17] Let's see here.
done a motion to close.
[16:24] All right.
So, at this point right now, we'll take
[16:28] a motion to uh Yeah, we got a motion for
Chris. We have a second from Bubba.
[16:32] Sorry. Okay. Huh? Oh, I thought you
raised your hand. It was you. Sorry.
[16:43] And Amber and Bevel, we got it. Thank
you all.
[16:51] Yep. Please register on your devices.
[17:18] Official results are 16 yes, one
abstain, and three absent. Thank you.
[17:23] Yes, David.
[17:28] » Just a polar parliamentary question. Did
we have um public hearings on both of
[17:34] those since they're second readings
[17:38] » for both? Thank you for the
clarification.
[17:54] Next, we're moving into the first
reading for ordinance 353 202615, which
[17:59] is the reasonzoning HC2 to HR3 to HCMU
PUD on Highway 25. This is the second
[18:07] PUD request. This property is across
from Blankenship. Uh, Commissioner
[18:10] Thomas, do you have anything for this
one?
[18:15] » It did come through planning with a
favorable. Um, the way the property is
[18:19] set up, uh, it's actually a less dense
proposal than the previous that was on
[18:24] this property when it was reszoned back
several years ago. So, it being less
[18:28] dense but still developed, planning
thought it was a good place for it and
[18:32] that it fit well.
>> So, it came favorable. Correct. Thank
[18:37] you. Miss Mayan, do you have anything?
[18:42] Okay,
[18:51] thank you. Please, she's going to
prepare the ballot so you can register
[18:55] on your devices, please.
[19:11] Results
[19:20] are 17 yes 0 no three absent. This
carries. Thank you very much.
[19:29] Next we move into ordinance 354
202616
[19:34] which is a zoning ordinance amendment
uh which is um
[19:40] 7.03. 030A PUD. The codes and zoning
committee has discussed amending the PUD
[19:46] directives in uh the recent recently
adopted code concerning traffic studies.
[19:52] And again, Commissioner Thomas, would
you please speak to this for us?
[19:58] » Yes, this is the ordinance that I spoke
of um of what we went through on our
[20:02] last codes and zoning meeting. Um, if
you'll notice, it does require the
[20:07] anything 30 or above dwelling units has
to get the impact study, which is the
[20:12] more strict, the more involved of the
two types of studies. Um, below that,
[20:18] anything below that can still have a
study done at the discretion of Miss
[20:24] Rosal's office. Um,
any study that has to be done will be at
[20:30] the expense of the applicant according
to this ordinance.
[20:36] Thank you. Does anybody have any
questions?
[20:40] We'll look for a motion.
A motion from we have a second from
[20:45] David.
All righty. You're going to prepare the
[20:49] ballots and register on your devices.
[21:26] So the results are 17 yes zero no three
absence. So this carries. Thank you very
[21:30] much.
[21:36] Moving on to budget amendments. Uh these
were added to the agenda. The budget
[21:41] amendments were uh presented that are
grants and carryovers. These were
[21:44] reviewed by budget and finance committee
on June 15th and during work session um
[21:50] one amendment uh which is 11802F
for EMS funding uh has not been
[21:56] recommended by the committee due to more
information that's needed to get the
[22:00] policy to adopted and for funding. Are
there any amendments that need to be
[22:04] reviewed tonight
that we're aware of? Anybody have
[22:09] anything else?
Uh, are there any questions from the the
[22:13] commission for Chris or anybody on
budget and finance regarding
[22:19] » All righty. So, with electronic vote,
I'm sorry, Chris, go ahead, sir.
[22:25] Uh, I was going to go ahead and review
these just for anyone who may be
[22:28] watching and and for the audience here,
just go these real quickly if that's
[22:31] okay.
Uh first budget amendment uh 11801G
[22:36] is a uh grant received from by EMS the
amount of $30,33
[22:42] and that's for purchase of a stair
chair.
[22:48] Uh second one 11803G
rural EMS grant and this is a federal
[22:54] grant received by the EMS $35,461
for the purchase of a new ambulance and
[23:02] lift. That's both those grants don't
have any local match.
[23:09] 14101. It's a special education grant.
$1,362.90
[23:15] that's received by the school system for
special education preschool. And last
[23:21] one 14102
$24,5625.
[23:27] That's carryover funds from the previous
year's budget.
[23:35] Thank you. Anybody have any questions
for Chris?
[23:40] » Yes.
>> We have a motion.
[23:43] » Motion to approve them all, but I want
to make it clear that 11802F
[23:47] is not on the agenda. So, we're not
voting on that one.
[23:50] » So, you're with
>> So,
[23:52] » take them all striking uh 11802.
>> Correct.
[23:56] » All right. Thank you.
I have a second, Beverly.
[24:02] All righty. We're going to get ready. is
going to prepare the balance and we will
[24:05] uh register on our devices. Please
[24:26] Results
[24:32] are 17 yes, zero no, three absent. So
this carries. Thank you very much.
[24:52] for consideration this month. Public
notary uh applications.
[24:57] The list is Rita Crowder, County Clerk.
Christina Ray, Farm Bureau, Emily
[25:03] Walker, Trartsville, Trousell County
Water and Sewer. Susan McDonald, TCAT.
[25:08] Um, Rashelle Devo, Jones Brothers, and
Marshall White, Oldtime Express.
[25:19] » Motion and second. All right. All in
favor?
[25:22] Any opposed?
Thank you. Motion carries.
[25:28] Other business, um,
our, uh, district attorney, uh, Lawson
[25:33] has an opinion letter, the County Hatch
Act. This time, I'd like to turn this
[25:37] over to our legal for this.
>> Okay. So,
[25:42] » question somebody.
>> All right. Does anybody have any
[25:44] questions for Brandon regarding the
email you got from the DA? Yes, Beverly.
[25:49] » Yeah.
[25:52] resolution or I mean I'm just kind of
confused with what we need to do moving
[26:00] forward. Not moving backward, moving
forward.
[26:06] I'm sorry
[26:10] in order to implement it. We don't have
any authority.
[26:16] » So just something that we necessarily
need to
[26:21] work on.
>> It's whatever the will of the commission
[26:24] is. They want to prevent that with a any
type of similar hatch act violations.
[26:31] They can do that for the next uh
election. So it's just whatever this
[26:35] body wants to do.
>> I would like I mean I know this is the
[26:38] out
moving out and moving in. So, I would
[26:43] like for us as a new body with the new
commissioners to evaluate the situation
[26:50] and look at what we want to do moving
forward.
[26:57] » Thank you. Does anybody else have any
questions regarding
[27:01] » Chris?
Not a question. Just want to say I agree
[27:06] 100% with Miss with Commissioner Atwood.
This is something that the new new
[27:10] commission should take up and probably
as as as soon as we can.
[27:16] » Thank you. Anybody else?
[27:21] » Okay.
Is there any other business that's uh
[27:25] coming forward tonight? Yes, David.
[27:30] » Yes. At last month's meeting, it was
asked u by several members to have Mr.
[27:35] Scrugs from the highway department come
before this body at this meeting and
[27:39] address some of the issues. Um I didn't
see a special spot on the agenda for
[27:44] that. I thought maybe it would fall
under under business. Um
[27:48] I do not see him here tonight. Um he was
asked u I have done a little digging
[27:54] myself to find out some of the issues
there. Um, one complaint that we were
[28:00] told why he couldn't do the walking
track was because he couldn't pave over
[28:04] gravel. He was a his machine was a
repaver. Well, Griffin Hollow Road was a
[28:09] gravel road that the county paved. So, I
I'd like to understand a little better
[28:14] of the difference there between a gravel
road that he paved and a walking track.
[28:20] also was told that he couldn't go 10
foot wide, which I happen to know now
[28:25] that the machine they have will actually
with the arms folded out will do 13 foot
[28:29] wide. So, there seems to be some gross
misinformation from his department and I
[28:36] was hoping to get some answers tonight.
Uh, I did notice that after last month's
[28:41] meeting, all of a sudden construction on
the widening of Thompson Lane that was
[28:46] been put off for the last two almost
three years now started and the
[28:50] equipment to cut those big trees was
automatically appeared and those trees
[28:54] are now been cut down and they are
moving forward on that project. I find
[28:58] that very interesting that it took that
long and something being said at this
[29:02] committee to finally get him to do his
job.
[29:09] Thank you,
>> Mr. Chairman.
[29:11] » Yes, ma'am.
>> If I might address that, Mr. Scrugs
[29:14] called me this afternoon and and wanted
me to offer his apologies to the court
[29:19] because he had an engagement in
Nashville tonight that he had to go to.
[29:23] He did explain that that because in in
having conversations with with Mr. CI
[29:31] who had offered to do the milling and I
don't fully understand milling but if if
[29:35] that were the case then he was certainly
willing to to try in his words the to do
[29:42] the 10 foot foot. So he's he is um uh
cooperating with us to to try to get
[29:48] that done but I think this is an issue
now that should go to parks and wreck
[29:52] for them to decide how to go forward.
>> Thank you very much. Yes, David.
[30:00] » I still think it's an absolute shame
that an elected official meant who is
[30:05] elected to run the road department of
Trrowdale County
[30:11] seems to be in a position where he's
going back and forth and oh, he can do
[30:14] it. Oh, he can't do it. While the county
is looking at spending twice, almost
[30:19] three times as much to have a private
entity come in and do the same project.
[30:23] In a time where we're looking at having
to raise property taxes, we already have
[30:28] a wheel tax up for referendum.
It would, you would think it would
[30:33] behoove an elected official to try to
save the county as much money as he can
[30:37] by doing a good job at a lower price
than a private organization. It just
[30:43] seems like it's more of an aggravation
dealing with our own county department
[30:47] than having to deal with a private
organization.
[30:50] And I would encourage this committee,
this
[30:54] commission going forward with the new
commissioners that you hold these
[30:59] elected officials responsible
beyond just the mayor as they were done
[31:04] in this last election round. He is an
elected official. He does have a
[31:09] responsibility to the taxpayers of
Trrowdale County for the job that he
[31:13] does or doesn't do and he should be held
accountable for it.
[31:18] » Thank you, sir. Chris,
[31:23] » to speak to the point of of having it go
back to parks and rec. I believe this
[31:27] this commission voted last month to go
ahead and proceed with with the with the
[31:33] bid in hand. So, don't know that we
really need to go back to to the
[31:36] committee, but um with regard to um like
I said, Mr. Shrugs was asked to be here
[31:43] and and was not uh should something like
this come up again. I guess I'll ask
[31:49] question Mr. Baylor. Do we have the
ability to compel
[31:54] we we've
addressed this issue before. You can
[32:00] sain of them, but they don't have to
honor it.
[32:05] And from everything research I've seen,
there's no penalty for
[32:11] defying that. I believe there's an
attorney general's opinion on it. Now,
[32:16] um I mean, this body can do what they
want to do in the way of censure or
[32:20] something of that nature, but he's
elected official.
[32:26] Thank you.
Anybody else?
[32:34] Yeah. Um, Beverly, please.
>> So,
[32:38] I have a question and I guess it's the
big elephant on the back. I don't know,
[32:43] but they're saying that will taxes go to
referendum.
[32:54] Is that a yes or a no? Or is it still in
our hands? or is
[33:02] this
up for a vote?
[33:12] Um, Mr. Paxton, understood. Mr. Paxton,
would you please come and address that
[33:16] if you would, sir?
[33:22] » And thank you.
>> Sure.
[33:25] » All right. So, the referendum is a yes
or no on the wheel tax. That's what they
[33:31] they're they're opposing the wheel tax.
So, that's what it will be. I have
[33:37] almost finished checking signatures and
it looks like they're going to have
[33:40] enough. So, I would expect it to be on
the November ballot.
[33:45] And then once once I have enough
signatures, I'll work with the state and
[33:51] we'll come up with exactly how it will
be on the ballot. and then I will give
[33:56] that to the commission so you can see
see what it's going to say.
[34:01] » Thank you very much for your
clarification, sir.
[34:05] Any other business?
[34:10] » Uh public comment. Um
Melissa, you've signed in to speak,
[34:15] please.
[34:22] » Good afternoon.
My name is Melissa Shala from district 2
[34:27] and
[34:30] I live less than a mile from Core Civic
from the prison.
[34:38] I
would like to know how the negotiations
[34:42] with course civic are going and have
they taken any of the recommendations
[34:48] from the pres prison advisory committee
[34:59] commissioners. I'll address that uh
response to you. the current condition
[35:05] of our negotiations with core civot. We
have engaged a firm Lewis Thompson
[35:11] uh Mr. Tom Russell who has assisted us
before and other lawsuits. They are
[35:18] working on the contract proposals that
we will be presenting to Core Civic.
[35:24] I believe last week uh they made some
requests for some other information and
[35:28] we've been providing them certain
information that they need with regard
[35:33] to our ongoing discussions with the
Department of Corrections in response to
[35:39] a correspondence that I mailed to
Commissioner Strada. I believe it was in
[35:46] June.
Uh, Miss Elizabeth Foy with her chief of
[35:50] staff of the the comm of of the TDOC
has reached back out to me to try to
[35:58] schedule a meeting in order to discuss
the ongoing environment and other issues
[36:04] that we've raised. So, we those meetings
are not set yet. Uh obviously it's at
[36:11] the end of the fiscal year for a lot of
us that there'll be more opportunities
[36:16] for us to have those ongoing
discussions. This is not something
[36:21] that's going to happen overnight.
It's not going to be something that's
[36:25] quick.
I'm sure there's going to be um more
[36:29] dialogue than probably
what we'll wish we would had, but
[36:34] nonetheless, it'll it'll at least
continue on, I would imagine, up to the
[36:38] point to where we're bringing ourselves
before the state of Tennessee next year
[36:44] or the next fiscal year. So, uh again,
core civic didn't happen overnight. Uh
[36:52] it's not going to be resolved overnight.
These issues with TDOC
[36:58] uh have been ongoing. Right now, there's
a shortage
[37:02] with prisons in the state of Tennessee
and uh it's a it's a
[37:10] statewide problem, not just Tra County
problem.
[37:15] » Thank you, counselor. Does anybody have
any questions? David.
[37:20] » Mr. Was the sheriff ever able to provide
you any numbers of expense of core civic
[37:26] on
>> all departments in Hartzel Trouser
[37:29] County have been very cooperative with
what we've asked them to do and they
[37:32] provided the information we needed in
order to assist in these negotiations.
[37:39] » Anybody else have any questions?
Melissa,
[37:45] » my second question is I was informed by
my um commissioner, Mr. Burton, that the
[37:54] TDOC contract can be provided to the
public, but they were not able to upload
[38:00] it to our website.
So, but that if anybody from the public
[38:06] wanted to see the TDOC contract that
they can request it from from the city
[38:12] and they will be given a copy of it. But
my question is would this notice if
[38:19] somebody doesn't listen to this meeting
today would that notice be posted on the
[38:24] website
that they can come and get the TDOC
[38:29] contract if they wish?
[38:36] counselor.
>> As far as I'm concerned, it's a public
[38:40] record and anybody that makes a public
records request should be able to
[38:45] acquire a copy of it.
[38:49] » Okay. I just wanted to make sure that
everybody knows that that's public
[38:53] record and they can look at it. My third
point here is that I sent an email to
[38:59] you to you all on July 26
and it has almost been a month and only
[39:08] Mr. Gregory replied to me in regards to
it
[39:13] but nobody has answered any of the
questions that I had there.
[39:18] So my question today is would I get will
I get my any answers via email phone?
[39:26] I'm coming here in person to try to get
some answers because I just hear
[39:32] silence.
[39:39] um
>> answers
[39:44] once we oursself have those and due to
the circumstance that we are still in
[39:50] negotiation and we ourself do not know
the physical answers to give you the
[39:56] proper documentation.
We cannot verbally or email or any of
[40:03] that sort give you the answers that I
feel that you are wanting or needing if
[40:11] that makes sense.
>> Yes, it does make sense. And I do I do
[40:15] » just because we are in the process of
negotiations and when you are dealing
[40:20] with and I'm speaking this from being on
the inside
[40:26] um not just from county government but
from the prison side I will put that out
[40:30] there that it is
a procedure and there's a lot of
[40:39] documentation and a lot of back and
forth that has to go through before it
[40:44] can be set in stone. So, I don't feel
that even me as a commissioner myself, I
[40:52] got your email and yes, I will be 100%
honest that I didn't reply to you
[40:58] because I don't have the answers that I
feel that you need at the at this given
[41:03] moment.
So, once I get those, I don't mind
[41:07] sharing those with you.
>> Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. Um,
[41:12] but there were some questions that were
not
[41:16] that were related to the TDOC contract
which you guys already gave thumbs up.
[41:22] So those I mean that's a done deal. So
those questions could have been answered
[41:29] because that's in the past. You guys
signed the contract with TDLC. So those
[41:34] questions are not pending. That is so
that's why I'm here again and again
[41:42] understand and from the TDOC contract
the TDOC contract and I know a lot of
[41:48] people don't want to hear this but the
TDOC contract is set forth pretty much
[41:58] I don't mean to say it's a cookie cutter
but it is somewhat a cookie cutter and
[42:03] it is
set the same way with a lot of counties,
[42:09] not just Trdale, other counties across
the state.
[42:15] So, your more negotiations are going to
be with horse civic,
[42:20] quote, not with TDOC.
And I know it's it's hard for a lot of
[42:27] people to understand this,
but
[42:32] I can speak this from being on the
inside and maybe I am overstepping my
[42:37] terms as a commissioner, but I'm just
going to be flatout honest with you
[42:41] because I've worked for Core Civic. I've
worked within TDOC. So I know
[42:48] being a quality assurance manager and
knowing the policies and the procedures
[42:52] of how things have to be worked, you
have more leeway and more negotiation
[43:01] with core civic than you do with the
state of Tennessee.
[43:07] I understand and my questions and and my
questions on that email were not you
[43:13] know to try to negotiate with TDOC that
was not able to be done that wasn't done
[43:19] so my questions were in regards to that
meeting that happened with when you guys
[43:24] approved TDOC you guys said said that it
was the law that we needed to sign that
[43:29] contract so my questions were not really
oh let's go back to TDOC my questions
[43:35] were questions of what happened, how you
guys decided on that and what law is it
[43:42] that made you uh sign that there was my
questions are there. I just would like
[43:48] to get some answers and
um so hopefully I hear from you guys. Uh
[44:02] » uh just to uh
to speak to a couple of the qu of the
[44:06] questions in in your email.
>> First one, you know, the the county
[44:11] attorney is doing our negotiating and of
course you mentioned that we had had
[44:14] engaged another firm as well. So that
that that answers that question. Uh you
[44:20] know what what authorities are we given?
Now this is a legal contract. our legal
[44:25] person is is handling those. You know,
it's it's a legal contract what we're
[44:30] negotiating. So, obviously, our attorney
is going to be, you know, we've given
[44:34] him
the authority to to to
[44:40] negotiate on our behalf in that regard.
Um, I said we haven't seen a core civic
[44:44] agreement, so we can't really speak to
any anything that may or may not be in
[44:47] that one. Um, I think the next last
question, what written commitments? Um,
[44:54] nothing's been provided to the county
commissioners. Now, at least I have not
[44:57] seen anything u whether the county
attorney or mayor have received
[45:00] anything. I I can't speak to that. You'd
have to ask them. But those are the
[45:04] answer pretty much the answers as we
have right now.
[45:07] » Let me reiterate my what I said earlier.
We have employed retained a firm to
[45:15] assist in these contractual negotiations
with Core Civic.
[45:20] We're not waiting on Core Civic to offer
us something. We're moving forward with
[45:24] them. Okay. On behalf of Hartsville
Trousster County to alleviate, as I
[45:32] think Miss Atwood said, some of the
cookie cutter provisions of the core
[45:37] civic contract. But also on top of that,
I want to say again, we are still
[45:42] talking with TDOC.
uh we're working on relationships with
[45:47] them in order to alleviate some of the
problems that we had June 2025.
[45:55] » Thank you. Thank you, Melissa.
[46:00] Anybody else public comment?
[46:06] Okay. At this time, I'd like to take a
moment to address our outgoing
[46:09] commissioners.
You guys are going to be sorely missed.
[46:13] your contributions have been
immeasurable. Um, each and every one of
[46:17] you guys have
have become actually very very close and
[46:22] dear to me. And um, those of you leaving
um, there's going to be a vacancy. We've
[46:28] got new folks coming in and I'm excited
to get them in here and and get their
[46:33] contributions, but um you guys all left
a mark and you'll be sorely missed and I
[46:40] just want to thank you
uh very much for the assistance you've
[46:44] given the county and for me personally.
I I take something from everybody I meet
[46:49] and I've you know I just have a debt of
gratitude to you all myself
[46:53] and um at this time
um Jerry and David um we have a couple
[47:02] of state resolutions for you gentlemen
because of the length of your tenure.
[47:09] This is David. Yeah.
[47:14] So
[47:18] this is news.
I can't tell.
[48:24] One more.
[48:51] for those that begin their next term on
September 1. Uh please make your way
[48:55] over behind Bubba Gregory if you will if
you're here those that are here. And um
[49:03] uh Miss Rita will uh will officiate your
oath.
[50:37] You need to come home.
[51:04] You ready?
>> If you don't mind, once before you
[51:08] leave, uh I need you to stick around and
sign this for me, please. So, if you'll
[51:13] raise your right hands
and when we start when after I say I
[51:18] state your name and then when I get to
your district, state your district.
[51:21] Okay? I
>> do solemnly swear
[51:27] » swear
>> that I will perform with fidelity
[51:31] » fidelity
>> the duties of the office
[51:33] » duties of the office
>> to which I have been elected
[51:37] » and which I'm about to assume
>> to
[51:41] » I do solemnly swear
>> do solemnly swear
[51:44] » to support the constitutions of
Tennessee
[51:49] » and the United states
and to faithfully perform
[51:54] » faithfully perform
>> the duties of the office
[51:57] » of the office
>> county commissioner
[52:01] » representing the
>> of Trasdo County, Tennessee.
[52:08] » Thank you very much.
[52:28] Everybody's
>> ready to go.
[52:44] I have nobody to leave us.
>> I sent um an email to everyone except
[52:50] for you, Mr. Whitaker, because I can
have a county email address for you. Um
[52:54] or a regular one, but I sent you an
email. I'd like to introduce you all
[52:58] through the paper questions. So, if you
can respond to them, um if you didn't
[53:04] get it, um it it should I only had one
or two come back and I put it in again.
[53:09] It went through. It says, um there's a
couple of questions. If you have a head
[53:13] shot you'd like to use, send that with
it. And then not this issue. I think the
[53:18] deadline I use by is September 1st. Um
then I can put in there and introduce
[53:22] everyone.
I appreciate
[53:27] » Hey, Lonnie.
Lonnie Lonnie.
[54:12] Jerry, can we get a motion to adjourn?
Motion by Jerry.
[54:19] Thank you, Steve.