[0:00] I call the September admin meeting
committee to order.
[0:03] Let the record show that all members are
present except for Commissioner
[0:08] present except for Commissioner
Kuzawinski,
[0:09] and Commissioner Connie Green is sitting
in for him.
[0:14] All right.
[0:15] We'll move on to the election of a
chairman,
[0:18] and I will now open the floor for
nominations for chairman.
[0:21] Kenny.
[0:26] Commissioner Moore.
[0:26] I need to nominate Mr. Kuzawinski. He
wanted to be nominated.
[0:30] He's not here. He's not here tonight.
[0:33] He asked me to nominate him for chair.
[0:35] Okay. So we have a nomination for
Commissioner Kuzawinski.
[0:40] Are there any other nominations?
[0:43] Seeing none, I'll accept a motion to cease
nominations and Approved by
[0:49] acclamation. I have it from Commissioner
Burford. I need a second.
[0:55] Seconded by Commissioner Barnes. Any
discussion?
[0:59] Seeing none, all those in favor please say
aye.
[1:03] Aye.
[1:04] All those opposed? So Commissioner
Kuzawinski is the new chairman of the
[1:09] Kuzawinski is the new chairman of the
admin
[1:09] committee. So we'll move on to the
election of the vice chairman.
[1:13] I will now open the floor for nominations
for vice chairman. Commissioner Green?
[1:19] I nominate Kenny Morrow, please.
[1:21] I have a nomination for Kenny Morrow. Are
there any other nominations?
[1:24] Mr. Barnes has his light up.
[1:29] You're nominating Commissioner Cohen?
Cohen.
[1:32] All right.
[1:34] So we have a nomination for Commissioner
Cohen. All right. Any other nominations?
[1:39] No.
[1:41] I'll accept a motion to cease nominations.
[1:44] We're gonna have to vote.
[1:47] We gotta cease nominations first.
[1:50] Oh, okay.
[1:51] So I need a motion to cease nominations.
[1:54] I got it from Commissioner Cohen, seconded
by Commissioner, uh, Green.
[1:57] No discussion. All those in favor, please
say aye.
[2:00] Aye.
[2:01] All right, we'll take them in the order in
which they were—
[2:05] which they were presented. So you'll be
voting on, uh, Commissioner Morrow.
[2:10] For vice chair, and we'll do that by—
[2:12] what you call it? Voice vote.
[2:16] We'll do that by roll call vote. All
right, Commissioner Green?
[2:24] Yes.
[2:27] Commissioner Burford?
[2:27] No.
[2:28] Commissioner Marr?
[2:30] We're voting for who now? You.
[2:35] Commissioner, uh, Barnes?
[2:38] No.
[2:39] Commissioner Cohen?
[2:41] No.
[2:42] All right, so that's 2 for,
[2:44] 3 against for Commissioner Marr.
[2:47] We'll move on to Commissioner Cohen.
Commissioner Green?
[2:50] No.
[2:51] Commissioner Burford?
[2:54] Yes.
[2:55] Commissioner Marr?
[2:56] No.
[2:56] Commissioner Barnes?
[2:58] Yes.
[2:59] Commissioner Cohen?
[3:00] Yes.
[3:01] All right, so that's 3-2. Commissioner
Coen is the new vice chair.
[3:06] Uh, the meeting is yours.
[3:09] Congratulations. All right, well, here we
go.
[3:13] Welcome aboard.
[3:16] Thank you.
[3:20] All right, thank you
[3:27] everyone. I need to—
[3:35] Motion.
[3:35] Motion to approve the agenda.
[3:39] Commissioner Morrow,
[3:41] Commissioner Barnes.
[3:44] Okay. Now you got to vote.
[3:46] Now we got to vote?
[3:48] Mm-hmm.
[3:49] Vote for the approval of the agenda. All
in favor?
[3:56] Approved. The minutes stand as presented.
[4:00] The minutes stand as presented.
[4:03] Thank you. No legislative report today.
[4:10] No legislative report today.
[4:13] Do we have public comment?
[4:15] Yes.
[4:17] Um, does she— let's see. She wants to
speak.
[4:21] She'll need to wait till the end of the
[4:25] meeting.
[4:25] Okay.
[4:28] She is no agenda item,
[4:31] so she can speak now if she
[4:35] wants to.
[4:37] If you want to speak now, you can, or at
the end of the agenda,
[4:41] whoever's signed up for it.
[4:43] Katie?
[4:45] You've got to read this.
[4:46] You've got to read that. Okay.
[4:48] All right. Let me read this real quick.
[4:51] Note, to provide public comment germane to
a specific agenda item,
[4:56] please complete and return the form— of
course we have that in person—
[5:01] prior to the scheduled meeting.
[5:03] Additionally, there are 2 defined public
comment periods where no sign-up is
[5:09] required. At the direction of the
chairperson,
[5:12] public comment is limited to A 30-minute
aggregate with 3 minutes per speaker
[5:18] aggregate with 3 minutes per speaker
across
[5:18] 3 sessions: the outset of the meeting,
[5:21] during specific or specific specified
agenda items,
[5:25] at the conclusion of county business.
[5:27] All comments shall be addressed to the
body rather than one member,
[5:32] and there will be no rebuttal thereafter.
[5:35] My name is Katie Martin and I'm in
District 10,
[5:39] and I wanted to take a moment to just
thank you for the updates to the county
[5:44] website. Um, one particular feature that I
thought was really cool is now that from
[5:50] your PC, if you go to the commissioner
tab, like the different committee tabs,
[5:55] it will list each commissioner on that
committee, which I find very helpful.
[6:00] And it also has a direct link their email,
and that previously was not the case.
[6:06] And so it was really clunky at first. So I
really appreciated that.
[6:10] I think it really helps, um, you know,
just like the reg—
[6:14] a regular person just wanting to know
what's going on, like, oh,
[6:19] here's the people I can contact for this
particular problem.
[6:23] Um, I also appreciate that, um,
[6:25] they updated the meeting times for the
Industrial Development Board.
[6:30] I believe I spoke about that a couple of
weeks ago, and I really appreciate it.
[6:35] And I'm hoping that by December they'll
have next year's schedule ready so it'll
[6:41] have next year's schedule ready so it'll
be
[6:41] available the whole year. Let's see, I'm—
I wrote some notes.
[6:45] One thing I would like to say, the mic—
people don't speak into the mic.
[6:50] And like a lot of people like to watch the
meetings,
[6:54] they can't always make them because of
work and family responsibilities.
[6:59] But if you don't, like, speak into the
mic, you cannot hear it at home.
[7:04] And it's all— it just is very like— I have
a loud voice naturally,
[7:08] so I could probably do that and they could
still hear me from home.
[7:13] But like, some of your employees are very—
who are very sweet and soft-spoken,
[7:18] if they don't drop the mic to them and
speak into it like this,
[7:23] you cannot hear them.
[7:24] And so you're just kind of watching the
videos and not getting any thing out of
[7:30] videos and not getting any thing out of
it.
[7:30] But that's all I really have.
[7:32] I'm excited to see, like,
[7:34] all the great things that this body is
going to accomplish in their 4 years.
[7:39] And I like the things that y'all have
already done, and I appreciate it.
[7:44] Thank you.
[7:57] So we're moving on to the notaries, new
applicants and renewal applicants.
[8:04] I'm going to read off the names. Patricia
Addict, William C.
[8:10] Barnes Jr., Hannah Berman, Roger Carrier,
Charles Cleveland, Stacy Croft—
[8:16] Craft, Jennifer Forte, Mary Holt, Brenda
Johnson, Kimberly R.
[8:22] Snavely, Summer Stevens, Raymond Turner,
Jackson Connor White,
[8:27] Leslie Barnes, Aspen Bue— is that Bue?
[8:31] Bue.
[8:32] Bue. James Campbell Jr., Yolanda Cothran,
Crystal Daniels,
[8:40] Colleen Eggerton, Kyla Eubanks, Jessica
Allen Gibson.
[8:47] Michelle Haggart, Sandy Hemphill, Angela
Rae Johnson,
[8:54] Timothy Daniel McSpadden, Don O'Brien,
Donna Osman,
[9:00] Bedford Smith, Steven Kyle Thomas, Laura
Tomlin,
[9:07] Raymond Ward. We need a motion to—
[9:11] You present those as a motion.
[9:13] I'm going to present these as a motion.
[9:15] You need a second.
[9:16] And I need a second. Kenny Morrow.
[9:22] And now we need to vote.
[9:26] All those in favor?
[9:29] Approved.
[9:44] Visitors Bureau, Erin Jaggers.
[9:47] Good evening. I'm Erin Jaggers.
[9:50] I'm the tourism director for Murray
County,
[9:54] and this is my assistant director, Renee.
[9:58] I just wanted to introduce myself, but
she's going to go over the report with
[10:01] she's going to go over the report with
you.
[10:01] So welcome, everybody new.
[10:05] So obviously y'all received our report.
[10:07] And I don't want to go over every single
item,
[10:10] but I do want to talk about a few things.
[10:12] We just finished the Murray County Fair,
which was amazing.
[10:15] We set up the Kids Zone and it was packed
this year, like even with the heat,
[10:20] which surprised me because we kind of
expected the numbers would be lower,
[10:24] but we were very crowded in the Kids Zone.
But the rest of the fair went great.
[10:28] We were— our numbers for the fair were 20%
down,
[10:31] But we do think that is because of the
heat.
[10:33] But thankfully, like they were talking
about earlier,
[10:36] with all the emergency management out
there, our fire people out there, I mean,
[10:41] we had a lot of people that did pass out
from the heat or got sick,
[10:45] but they were taken care of immediately.
So everything ran smoothly.
[10:49] I do hope y'all were able to come.
[10:51] If you weren't, y'all, our fair is getting
bigger and bigger.
[10:54] So I do hope in the future you come
support us because all the money we raise
[10:58] support us because all the money we raise
goes
[10:59] back to Murray County's nonprofits.
[11:01] So it's just another way to give back to
the community,
[11:04] and it's a lot of work for everybody.
[11:06] So if you can.
[11:07] But now we want you to also come and
support our next project we're working on
[11:12] support our next project we're working on
is we
[11:13] are partnering with Kiwanis to do the
Murray County Fall Fest and Chili
[11:17] Murray County Fall Fest and Chili
Cook-Off.
[11:18] So that is September 26th, and it's back
here in our county parking lot.
[11:22] So it is from 3 to 8. It's free if you
want to.
[11:25] I mean, you get tickets if you want to try
the different chilies,
[11:29] but everything else— there's music,
there's kids zone, there's vendors,
[11:33] there's food trucks. It's going to be fun.
[11:36] So we would love to see y'all come out and
support us on the 26th.
[11:40] And you know, we're also gearing up for
our annual Haunting in the District,
[11:45] which is always on Halloween. It is from 6
to 8 o'clock downtown Columbia.
[11:49] So we are getting— right now we're
accepting vendors and people, individuals,
[11:54] whoever that would like to participate.
You can just contact our office.
[11:58] And we will say it's free to participate,
except you have to bring a lot of candy.
[12:04] So we expect usually 2,000 to 3,000
people.
[12:06] So you're handing out a lot, but we, our
office,
[12:09] also helps you if you run out of candy.
We're not going to let you run out of
[12:14] We're not going to let you run out of
candy.
[12:14] You're going to be taken care of. So we
just love the support.
[12:18] We love that it's a free, safe place for
families to come and enjoy the evening.
[12:23] So we hope that y'all participate with us
in that also.
[12:26] And the last thing about that is next week
our office will be out of town.
[12:31] We are going to the Tennessee Governor's
Conference on Tourism.
[12:35] So, you know, we just got a lot going on.
[12:37] There's a lot of events coming up, so I
hope that y'all look at the calendar,
[12:42] and we also are constantly updating our
website, so experiencemurray.com.
[12:47] There's—
[12:48] every day I feel like we're adding
something new because it's fall,
[12:51] and y'all know how it is around here,
something's going on all the time.
[12:54] So does anybody have any questions for us?
I don't want to take up too much time.
[12:57] Commissioner Markham. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
[13:02] Uh, I want to just remind everybody,
[13:06] I finally did it this week.
[13:10] I went and bought a brick.
[13:11] Hey, uh, and since you want a brick at the
Murray County Courthouse,
[13:16] To represent your family or whatever you
want to, I guess within reason, represent.
[13:22] But they're for sale till November, is
that correct?
[13:26] Yes. And I want— we, we may have to extend
that, but yes,
[13:29] at the moment you can come to our office
and pick up an application.
[13:33] We have 2 size bricks.
[13:34] One's $100 and it's your normal size,
[13:36] and then one is $200 and it's a little bit
bigger if you want to add more.
[13:41] So we have boxes for you to fill out so
you know what, you know,
[13:44] I love Your loved ones or whatever you
want to put on there.
[13:48] We also can accept credit card in our
office for this particular thing.
[13:52] Normally we don't accept credit card,
[13:54] but we can take a credit card payment or
check.
[13:57] So please come by and get a brick and/or
email us and we'll email you the form.
[14:01] But we would love to sell as many bricks
as we possibly can,
[14:05] and it'll be there forever.
[14:06] I think those bricks are going to be on
the east, this side of the courthouse,
[14:10] correct?
[14:11] Correct.
[14:11] I believe that's right. Okay.
[14:12] Yeah, I believe that's correct.
[14:13] Thank you.
[14:13] We good?
[14:18] Uh, got a question.
[14:20] Sure.
[14:20] So for everybody out in the audience and
here, how much are the bricks?
[14:23] So for the smaller brick, like a normal
size brick, it's $100.
[14:27] If you want— it's like double that size
brick, I would say 2 of them,
[14:31] it is $200.
[14:32] Okay, thank you.
[14:33] Oh, you're welcome.
[14:35] Anybody else?
[14:36] No questions.
[14:37] No questions. That's it.
[14:39] All right, thank you.
[14:40] Here we go.
[14:43] So the report has been
[14:49] emailed.
[14:51] Uh, veteran service monthly report has
been emailed, and he's not here.
[14:57] So we're going to move on. Librarian or
library?
[15:01] That has been emailed also, the monthly
report, and she is not here.
[15:06] So, we're going to move on to Human
Resources, Dana Gibson.
[15:11] Good afternoon. You have before
[15:16] you my monthly report,
[15:20] and I'll be happy to answer any
[15:26] questions.
[15:29] No questions.
[15:31] No questions.
[15:32] Um, the first item I am requesting to
modify the retiree HRA plan by changing
[15:40] the qualifying criteria to age 60 or 30
years of service.
[15:46] We implemented this plan a few months ago
and We stated that the qualifying
[15:53] criteria was age 60 and be vested with
TCRS.
[15:58] However, we would like to change that to
age 60 or 30 years of service.
[16:05] It will match TCRS's eligibility,
[16:09] and I can tell you that since we've
implemented this, I've only had one taker.
[16:16] So we would like to change that to help
out some some employees that possibly
[16:24] are not quite 60 but do have the 30 years
of service,
[16:30] and that would allow them to retire with
the HRA retiree plan.
[16:36] May I ask for a motion?
[16:41] And we have this to be effective October
1st if you all approve it.
[16:47] Could I get a motion to approve?
Commissioner Burford?
[16:50] So moved to approve.
[16:51] Can I get a second?
[16:52] Second.
[16:58] Commissioner Morrow second that.
[17:01] We need a vote. Send that to full—
[17:04] any discussion on that?
[17:06] No.
[17:07] No discussion?
[17:09] Oh, wait a minute. Mr. Barnes. Mr. Barnes.
[17:16] Hi, Dana.
[17:16] Good afternoon.
[17:18] I just have a real quick question.
[17:20] When it was set at 60, you want to change
it to 60 or 30 years of service,
[17:26] and you said you had only one person that
was willing to take that.
[17:30] Under this retiree HRA plan, what would
the benefit be if they went at the 30
[17:36] the benefit be if they went at the 30
years,
[17:36] say they were 52 and they went at 30
years?
[17:39] What does that give them any more benefit
than after age 60?
[17:44] Actually, if an employee has 30 years of
service and let's say they're 58 and
[17:51] they decided to retire with TCRS,
[17:53] they would be eligible for TCRS with 30
years of service,
[17:59] but currently they would not be eligible
for this HRA plan,
[18:04] which the HRA is a health reimbursement
arrangement and it reimburses the
[18:10] retiree up to $8,100 a year for insurance.
[18:14] They pay for the insurance and then they
submit their receipt or canceled check
[18:21] and they're reimbursed up to $8,100 a
year.
[18:25] And most people can't retire unless they
have some type of insurance,
[18:31] health insurance.
[18:32] Thank you.
[18:38] Commissioner Buford.
[18:41] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a question.
[18:44] I don't know the details, but so just a
question.
[18:47] If someone retires, say, at 5 years of
service and they're 60,
[18:52] do they get a different retirement level
than those who have 30 years of
[18:58] service?
[18:58] The retirement is the same.
[19:01] However, The amount that they would draw
during retirement is based on
[19:07] their highest 5 years of service, their 5
consecutive years of pay,
[19:13] and their years of service. It's a formula
that TCRS uses.
[19:18] Okay.
[19:19] So, normally, someone with just 5 years of
service,
[19:22] or even just 10 years of service,
[19:24] is probably not going to draw the amount
of money that someone would with 25 or 30
[19:30] years of service.
[19:31] Okay. And just one other question.
[19:34] The plan document, and I don't have it in
front of me,
[19:37] so I can't remember the exact wording,
[19:40] but it said the payments are made on a pro
rata basis,
[19:44] but I didn't know what it was pro rata on.
[19:47] On the HRA?
[19:49] Yes.
[19:50] The payments are— it's $8,100, up to
$8,100 per year.
[19:55] So it's based on their— if they submit a
receipt to flexible benefits,
[20:02] they would reimburse them.
[20:04] So it's not going— if they retire
mid-year,
[20:08] it's not going to be the complete $8,100.
[20:12] So it's the $8,100 a year that's prorated.
[20:16] So if they retire at 5 years or 30,
they're still eligible for the $8,100?
[20:21] Yes, sir, as long as they As long as they
meet the criteria.
[20:27] But this criteria, they're vested after 5
years.
[20:32] So we don't want them to really retire
then.
[20:37] So we're asking that the eligibility be
age 60 or 30 years of
[20:43] service, which matches TCRS.
[20:46] Yes, yes, ma'am. Thank you very much.
[20:48] Okay. You're welcome.
[20:52] Commissioner Mullen.
[20:52] Thank you, Chair. Uh, Dana, good to see
you. Um, 2 questions for you.
[20:58] The, uh, modifying the retiree HRA plan,
[21:02] is that also known as the bridge plan
where it bridges the gap between the
[21:08] healthcare to Medicare age? Um, I believe
that was an old TCRS program.
[21:15] TCRS does have something that is We've
called that— this is something different.
[21:19] Okay, this is a different product then?
[21:21] Yes.
[21:21] Okay. And my second question is actually 2
parts.
[21:24] If this is modified, you made mention of
it would affect one person at this time.
[21:30] What's your projection for 6 months, 12
months?
[21:34] Because I look at the vacancies and I look
at the turnover.
[21:38] Are we going to see a spike in those
vacancies and that turnover rate?
[21:43] At that point?
[21:44] I don't think so.
[21:45] Okay.
[21:46] I expected more to— I expected about 8
people to take this when we implemented,
[21:52] and that has not been the case.
[21:55] So we revisited, and we would like for it
to be 60 or 30 years of service.
[22:01] We think that may appeal to some other
employees. And they may take that.
[22:07] I do think it will pay for itself because
most of those employees are going to be at
[22:14] the high end of the pay scale,
[22:16] and we'll replace them with employees on
the lower end of the pay scale.
[22:22] Sure.
[22:23] Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Chair.
[22:24] Commissioner Combs?
[22:28] Yes, I would just like to publicly thank
Ms. Dana for her help.
[22:33] When I retired from the State of
Tennessee, I TCRS,
[22:36] they were going to pull my retirement, and
that would be bad.
[22:41] But then they found out how much I was
going to make as a commissioner,
[22:46] and with Dana's help, we got that all
straightened out.
[22:50] And so I was able to retain my retirement.
[22:53] So thank you for all your help, and you do
a great job,
[22:56] and I just wanted to just thank you
publicly. Thank you.
[23:00] Thank you.
[23:01] Thank you, Chair.
[23:05] Commissioner Holt.
[23:06] Ms. Dana, the $8,100, does it stop at age
62 or age 65?
[23:12] Age 65.
[23:14] Thank you.
[23:16] Thank you, Chair.
[23:16] No more questions. We're going to take a
[23:21] vote to send this to budget. All in favor?
[23:26] Approved.
[23:28] Okay, uh,
[23:30] our next one.
[23:34] Next one.
[23:36] Thank you.
[23:38] Um, the next item is a request to,
[23:41] to approve the remote work policy and IP
address acknowledgment.
[23:46] I did have the county attorney review my
policy and he added some language to my
[23:53] policy. Thank you. And, uh, we would like
to present it to you.
[23:58] It was attached for approval.
[24:01] Motion.
[24:04] Motion to approve.
[24:06] Somebody.
[24:13] Motion to approve, anybody?
[24:16] You can make a motion.
[24:18] I'll make a motion to approve.
[24:21] You need a second.
[24:22] Commissioner Morrow seconded. Any
discussion?
[24:29] Yes.
[24:32] Commissioner Morrow.
[24:32] Commissioner Morrow.
[24:34] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dana, how
many people do we have working remotely?
[24:40] I'm not sure.
[24:44] Is this hybrid or full-time remote?
[24:48] This policy actually really discourages
[24:52] the remote work, only if it's necessary.
[24:57] Okay.
[24:58] So I'm not really sure how many people—
[25:01] that's something that the department head
approves,
[25:05] and since we do have that going on,
[25:08] we felt the county attorney attorney and I
felt that we did need a policy regarding
[25:15] that. There are occasions where it's— if
it's inclement weather,
[25:21] things of that nature, we do need to allow
that.
[25:25] Of course, we would—
[25:27] we want our finance payroll team to print
our checks in inclement weather.
[25:33] So there are cases that, you know, we do
need to allow.
[25:37] Well, yeah.
[25:39] But this policy just simply states that we
will allow it on a
[25:45] case-by-case basis, but it has to be the
benefit of the county and not
[25:52] the employee.
[25:53] Okay.
[25:54] It's not just because the employee is, you
know,
[25:56] wanting to go somewhere on vacation or
wanting to go visit somewhere and we're
[26:01] wanting to go visit somewhere and we're
going
[26:01] to allow them to work from home. There has
to be a necessity to Okay, that's fine.
[26:06] I mean, I know, I know the world operates
that way these days.
[26:09] It just, uh, I know it's sometimes subject
to abuse too.
[26:13] Yes, and that is one of the reasons that
we did put the policy to try to
[26:18] curb the abuse and to let the employees
know that, um, you know, they, um,
[26:24] they have to be authorized to work from
home.
[26:27] They can't just work from home.
[26:30] Well, that's fine. I know you're good
about policies and y'all are good about
[26:35] policing things, so I think it's fine. I
just want a little clarification on that.
[26:39] Thank you.
[26:40] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[26:41] As Dana mentioned, I worked closely with
her to make sure that the policy was
[26:46] something that would ensure,
[26:48] really ensure the integrity of Of what was
occurring really sort of on the timesheet
[26:52] side of things, to be honest.
[26:54] We wanted to make sure that, um, you know,
when people were clocking in,
[26:58] things were where they said they were.
[27:01] And we want to make sure that people are
doing the work when they say they're doing
[27:05] it. So, um, I think we were really
diligent in how we put this together.
[27:10] Um, you know, there are certain
accommodations— individuals who have
[27:13] accommodations— individuals who have
injuries,
[27:14] individuals who have disabilities—
[27:16] and it's a department-by-department sort
of decision, I think.
[27:20] But we broke it up into a designated home
office and sort of a primary work
[27:24] location. So if you're at your primary
work location, you know,
[27:28] you should be there when you say you're
going to be there,
[27:31] especially if you're an hourly employee.
[27:33] It's important that, you know, we have
those things in place.
[27:37] But there's also a carve-out for
reasonable accommodations,
[27:40] and there's also plenty of wiggle room if,
[27:43] if you're an individual who can still get
their work done from home.
[27:47] So I think it was intelligently thought
out. There was a lot of research into it.
[27:51] And, um, yeah, I appreciate Dana's help
and everything.
[27:55] Dana, what are some of the changes that
have occurred inside the policy?
[28:00] Uh, reading the 9-page document without
seeing the previous policy,
[28:05] it's hard for me to tell what those
changes are.
[28:08] I know you answered some of that, but can—
is there anything that—
[28:13] This is a brand new policy. We've not had
a remote work policy.
[28:17] Never had a brand new policy like this.
[28:19] Okay.
[28:20] And it was recommended that we have a
policy.
[28:23] Sure.
[28:24] And looking at this policy, when I look at
page 6,
[28:27] it talks about homework environment and
expenses and that the county is not
[28:31] responsible for personal expenses
associated with the employee's homework
[28:36] environment. Is there something in here
that I'm missing that talks about the
[28:40] technology that they would use— computer
systems, cameras,
[28:43] anything that could be used to
double-check whether or not they're at the
[28:48] double-check whether or not they're at the
computer
[28:48] working or anything like that? that the
county does provide?
[28:52] That's going to be more of an IT question.
[28:57] I'm not going to know.
[29:00] The department head should know if the
employee is logged
[29:08] in, if they VPN and are working in the
system.
[29:19] Does the policy also cover—
[29:20] I didn't see anywhere in here where there
would be some type of daily work log that
[29:25] would be required regardless of what job
you hold that would show the work that was
[29:29] completed from the work-at-home program or
policy that we have and allowing someone
[29:33] to do so.
[29:34] It just states that the department head or
the supervisor is responsible for that.
[29:45] I think that's all I have. Thank you.
[29:46] Doug, you got to say something.
[29:49] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[29:50] I just want to try to help further answer
a little bit more of your question,
[29:54] Commissioner Barnes.
[29:56] We do have some technology when it comes
to like our timesheet software,
[30:00] and Dana's aware of this, where it will
show geotags of where they clocked in.
[30:04] So if they didn't clock in at home, we
will know.
[30:07] If they're trying to work out of a
McDonald's or something like that,
[30:10] it'll be very clear. So we have geofencing
and things like that.
[30:14] Does that geofencing automatically clock
the employee out if they leave that fenced
[30:20] area?
[30:20] No, it does not.
[30:22] Is there a way to implement that?
[30:23] Yeah, we can do a lot of things with it.
[30:26] We can basically not allow this,
[30:28] and right now we have it turned on to
where if you're in the parking lot and you
[30:32] where if you're in the parking lot and you
try
[30:33] to clock in with your phone, it won't let
you.
[30:35] Okay.
[30:37] Now, those things in the software,
sometimes technology takes time to get
[30:41] sometimes technology takes time to get
that good,
[30:42] and it's not as exactly precise as you
would hope,
[30:45] but it's getting better every single day.
[30:47] The second thing is, is we— my team
specifically uses Microsoft Teams a lot.
[30:52] If you're at your computer and your hand's
on a mouse, you get a green checkmark.
[30:56] Now, could you buy a fake hand Put it on
the mouse and leave it there for a minute?
[31:01] Sure, you could do that.
[31:03] But as soon as somebody doesn't respond to
a message or something like that,
[31:07] or it's clear that that person's not
getting done, department head can step in.
[31:12] What I try to do for my employees
specifically,
[31:15] because we fall kind of under the
inclement weather situation,
[31:19] payroll's got to go out whether it snows
or not, and we have the ability Uh,
[31:23] to not put our employees at risk when the
roads are like that.
[31:27] And so there's a lot of communication and
it, and, uh, we, we do say, okay,
[31:31] you're going to, this is who's going to
work from home today and this is why,
[31:36] and these are the tasks that we're going
to do.
[31:39] So that's kind of something we've handled
internally.
[31:42] When you mentioned a log, that, that,
[31:44] that's something we have to hold our
accounties or our employees accountable
[31:49] accounties or our employees accountable
for.
[31:49] But no camera system exists to monitor
the— what the employee is actually doing.
[31:54] You could have them log into a Teams
meeting for the day and have a camera on
[31:58] meeting for the day and have a camera on
them
[31:58] the whole day.
[31:59] I'm not suggesting Big Brother go that
far, but yeah, but I was curious.
[32:04] We could do that if—
[32:06] yeah.
[32:06] Yeah.
[32:07] No, no, I think that's a little intrusive.
I was just curious.
[32:12] Yeah. Mr. Dobies.
[32:14] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[32:16] I think if— so I kind of sometimes like to
take my lawyer hat off and look at like 2
[32:21] things of this. So there's one phrase that
I think sums up what we're trying to
[32:26] avoid here, and that's time fraud. It's
that simple.
[32:29] There's policy in place, but, you know,
[32:31] the employees are competent and they're
adults, and a lot of them,
[32:35] if not all of them, are capable of doing a
lot of the work from home.
[32:39] It's important to have policies in place
so that things aren't abused.
[32:43] If you scroll down a little past the
policy,
[32:46] we have what we call the Murray County
Employee Time Clock Location and IP
[32:50] Employee Time Clock Location and IP
Address
[32:51] Acknowledgement. That's the meat and
potatoes of the IP tracking software to
[32:55] potatoes of the IP tracking software to
ensure
[32:56] that employees aren't stealing county
funds because they're abusing time fraud.
[33:01] That's the real crux of it.
[33:02] The other stuff in terms of home and work
environment is,
[33:06] It's crucial that we get that right from a
legal standpoint because of
[33:10] accommodations and individuals with
disabilities, that they can do their work.
[33:14] And if they can do their work from home
and the department head believes that
[33:19] and the department head believes that
that's
[33:19] well within their ability and power, then
that is authorized.
[33:23] But the crux of it, speaking plainly,
[33:25] is we don't want employees stealing time
by saying that they're working when
[33:30] by saying that they're working when
they're
[33:30] not.
[33:31] Commissioner Burford.
[33:36] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm just— my
comment, and then I have a question for
[33:42] comment, and then I have a question for
you.
[33:42] I'm, I'm of the opinion most employees are
basically honest.
[33:47] We just don't want to give them an
opportunity to, or make it too tempting to
[33:52] opportunity to, or make it too tempting to
cheat.
[33:53] But, uh, I, you know, but there needs to
be checks and balances and accountability,
[33:59] but I, I don't see our employees
deliberately trying to To cheat the county
[34:05] deliberately trying to To cheat the county
out of
[34:05] anything. My concern is data security.
[34:08] And are the employees working from home
using county equipment or their personal
[34:14] equipment, their computers?
[34:16] Most employees have a county laptop.
[34:20] Okay.
[34:21] The ones that work from home.
[34:23] So they wouldn't commingle personal and—
[34:25] They should not.
[34:26] And county, because You know,
[34:28] one of the easiest ways to get hacked is
open up your email and off you go.
[34:33] And if it's on our system, then, you know,
we're vulnerable for that.
[34:38] But I'm knowing our IT, they probably have
some safeguards in place for that.
[34:43] So that's my main concern, state of
security. Thank you.
[34:47] Commissioner Mullen.
[34:49] Thank you, Chair. My comment also echoes
Commissioner Burford's.
[34:55] About the use of personal equipment, and
are there barriers in place for VPNs,
[35:02] especially for those sensitive positions
where they may be dealing with payroll or
[35:09] other HR activities?
[35:11] They are using county equipment, and if
they VPN,
[35:17] it does go to our server.
[35:20] So RIT has their sights on that.
[35:23] Okay.
[35:24] Thank you.
[35:25] Chair? No more questions? All right.
[35:30] We're going to take a vote. All in favor?
Approved.
[35:34] We're going to send that to full
commission.
[35:40] Next one.
[35:44] Thank you. Building and Zoning Monthly
Report. Robert Caldero.
[35:48] It's emailed and he is not here today, so
we're going to move on to new business.
[35:54] Approval of the trustees bond. Oh, sorry,
Doug.
[35:58] Mr. Chairman, I would like to add an item
at the end of new business if you would
[36:03] oblige, um, and I'd take an assist from
you, uh, County Attorney,
[36:08] if you could help me out on this.
[36:10] I had a situation come up today, uh,
[36:12] and I have an opportunity to hire an
excellent candidate,
[36:16] but I need to hire them above the The
first quartile,
[36:20] and that's a policy decision that would
usually fall under the HR department's
[36:25] report. It would have been on this
committee,
[36:29] but this is something I came across an
hour and a half ago,
[36:33] and I'm trying not to wait a month to hire
somebody.
[36:36] If you would oblige to add that to the
agenda.
[36:39] If not, I can— we can forego it,
[36:42] and I can take it to either next month or
the Budget Committee,
[36:46] but it is a policy issue.
[36:48] Okay.
[36:49] Commissioner Saunders?
[36:49] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[36:51] Uh, if you want to do this,
[36:53] you have to suspend your rules and 2/3
majority vote to suspend your rules to
[36:57] add that to the agenda.
[37:10] I'll make a motion to suspend the rules
and add it to the agenda.
[37:15] Commissioner Burford.
[37:17] Who else?
[37:18] Commissioner Morrow.
[37:20] So we're going to add that to the agenda.
[37:26] Roll call vote. Commissioner Green?
[37:30] Yes.
[37:31] Commissioner Burford?
[37:33] Yes.
[37:33] Commissioner Morrow?
[37:35] Aye.
[37:36] Commissioner Barnes?
[37:37] Yes.
[37:38] I say yes.
[37:40] So now we've suspended the rules. Now you
need to add— vote to add it to the agenda.
[37:47] So we need to vote to add that to the
agenda. Motion to add it to the agenda.
[37:53] All in favor?
[37:54] You need a motion and a second. You need a
motion and a second.
[37:59] Commissioner Morrow? Thank you,
Commissioner Green. Any discussion?
[38:07] Commissioner Morrow?
[38:09] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Doug mentioned this
to me earlier, and I support it.
[38:14] It's the candidate that's been identified
as an internal promotion from what I
[38:20] gather, and I'm all about promoting
internally when we can.
[38:27] That's it. Now you need to let Doug speak.
Doug, they gotta vote.
[38:33] We gotta vote.
[38:33] They gotta vote that. They gotta vote on
the motion to add it. Yeah. Yeah.
[38:38] So we're voting on the motion to add it to
the agenda. All in those favor?
[38:42] That wouldn't—
[38:43] no, we did that.
[38:46] Yeah, we did that.
[38:47] Yeah.
[38:48] It's added to the agenda now.
[38:50] Doug's good.
[38:52] Yes. We didn't vote.
[38:56] So all in favor to add it to the
[39:02] agenda? Against? Approved.
[39:07] Motion passed.
[39:11] All right, Doug.
[39:11] Thank you. And I really appreciate y'all's
support and helping my office run
[39:17] efficiently. So as Commissioner Morrow
pointed out,
[39:21] I had an accounting operations manager
position that was approved by the
[39:26] position that was approved by the
commission
[39:27] last year, or in this budget process.
[39:29] I promoted internally,
[39:31] and that candidate that already worked for
me accepted that position.
[39:36] It opened up her position, which is the
senior accountant position.
[39:41] I had a person here local, highly
educated, has their master's degree,
[39:46] in the middle of sitting for the CPA exam,
[39:49] that works with our office closely from
the state perspective,
[39:54] that was really competitive in the
interview process,
[39:58] and the request was $3,800 above the first
quartile, if I'm doing that math right.
[40:04] So I wanted to make sure that I could fund
Um, getting this position on there.
[40:09] I have the budget already. It's already in
there.
[40:13] Um, so I'd just really like to move on
this candidate with their level of
[40:18] this candidate with their level of
education
[40:19] and expertise. They're also local to the
community.
[40:23] And, um, so happy to answer any, any
questions about this candidate,
[40:28] but meets all the minimum and preferred
requirements of the job,
[40:32] which is kind of hard for us to find. Joey
Allen.
[40:36] I appreciate your support to allow me to
hire this person still within the range
[40:42] that is for the position, but above the
first quartile.
[40:46] Right now, county policy says you can hire
someone at the minimum pay for that
[40:51] position up to the first quartile, but not
above it.
[40:55] And so that's why I'm here asking the
admin committee for permission.
[41:00] I have the funding through the my budget
to go ahead and cover that already.
[41:08] So—
[41:08] Thank you, Doug.
[41:09] I need a motion and a second. Commissioner
Morrow? Commissioner Green?
[41:15] For discussion? Any discussion?
[41:17] Yes. Commissioner Morrow?
[41:18] Commissioner Morrow?
[41:20] Just for those of you that are fairly new
to the commission,
[41:24] this is not an unusual proceeding.
[41:26] We do this where you have really qualified
candidates and And reiterating,
[41:30] I do think it's important that we hire
from and promote internally where we can.
[41:35] That supports employee morale, gives us
good people, familiarity.
[41:39] They're already established with us.
They're already in the community.
[41:43] And I think we benefit from doing that
wherever we can.
[41:46] I'm glad to know that there is a candidate
suitable to be promoted for this.
[41:50] Thank you.
[41:51] That's it.
[41:53] Any other questions?
[41:55] We're going to take a vote to send this to
[41:59] budget. All in favor?
[42:01] Aye.
[42:03] Opposed? Motion passed.
[42:07] Send it to budget. We're doing approval
[42:12] of trustee bonds and approval of all
[42:17] constable bonds.
[42:23] Separate.
[42:23] Trustee first. Randy Meese, his bond.
[42:28] I have a motion and a second.
[42:30] I need a motion and a second. Connie
Green? Commissioner Burford?
[42:34] Commissioner Green?
[42:35] Okay. No discussion.
[42:38] No discussion?
[42:39] No.
[42:41] We need a vote. All those in favor?
[42:44] Aye.
[42:46] All those opposed? Ayes
[42:50] have it. It's approved.
[42:55] It can go to consent.
[42:58] That goes to consent to—
[43:01] what, the budget?
[43:02] Budget.
[43:02] That goes to consent to the Budget
Committee. Constables.
[43:09] So then I'm going to read these names off.
[43:13] Erin Easton, Ronald Barnes, David Combs,
Ronald Shelton,
[43:19] Joey Potts, Steve Margram, John Tomlinson,
Timothy Clark,
[43:25] Nathan Popwell, Roger Maddox, Padraig
Ryan.
[43:30] I need approval.
[43:34] Can I get a motion to approve,
Commissioner?
[43:38] Commissioner Morrow, Commissioner Green,
[43:42] any discussion?
[43:44] No discussion.
[43:47] See, now we can vote.
[43:51] All those in favor? Sending it
[43:56] to consent.
[44:00] Commissioner Holt.
[44:03] Question, does the county pay for the
trustee's bond?
[44:08] No.
[44:08] No, thank you.
[44:09] Oh, does it?
[44:10] The bond for the trustee? Oh yes, for the
trustee, yes.
[44:15] Constable or trustee?
[44:16] Oh yes, trustee.
[44:19] For the trustee in Murray County, we
absolutely do pay for the bond,
[44:22] and it's because of the amount of money
their office handles.
[44:26] Yeah.
[44:26] Why don't we pay for the constable's bond?
[44:29] We don't.
[44:32] I think that Mark may have something on
that.
[44:37] No, that's a good question.
[44:38] To my understanding, it's just a state law
requirement as part of the office,
[44:42] but I can look more into it.
[44:43] I know some counties do pay for the
constables.
[44:45] Is that right? Okay. All right.
[44:47] So maybe it's a county-by-county thing. I
can look into that for you, sir.
[44:55] Uh, Commissioner Barnes has a question.
[44:57] Commissioner Barnes.
[44:58] Just to ask a question because I,
[45:00] I don't know the answer to this.
[45:03] What does a bond cost for a constable
right now?
[45:06] Uh, hang on, hold on.
[45:10] I want to say it's $100,
[45:13] but I'm not positive.
[45:18] Does anybody know?
[45:20] I think it's $100, but I'm not positive.
[45:22] What does the bond cost for somebody like
the trustee?
[45:27] Oh, it's— I'm not entirely sure. He'll
know.
[45:34] Trustees for— or sorry,
[45:35] bonds for most of our elected officials
are covered under our insurance policy,
[45:41] and even before that, it was as low as
$100 a bond back in the the day.
[45:46] Now it's just part of our plan,
[45:48] but the trustee is unique in which they
have a lot of money and things that they
[45:53] handle, so I believe we're paying $39,000
for their bond,
[45:57] which is actually not as bad as it has
been in the past.
[46:01] I've seen it as high as $74,000.
[46:03] That's a lot of money.
[46:05] Yeah, so it just depends on who bids on
it. It's a competitive bid process.
[46:09] We go with the lowest and best. Um, and
that's what it was this time.
[46:14] We had one bid on it.
[46:15] Not a whole lot of people were lining up
to, to do this one,
[46:18] but it was amenable and we got it done
before the statutory, uh, requirements.
[46:23] So thank you.
[46:24] Yes, sir.
[46:25] Does that cover the constables? No.
[46:30] Is there anybody for public comment?
[46:32] No.
[46:34] Nope.
[46:37] We're going to move on. We're going to
move that to next month.
[46:42] The appointment for 3 members to the
[46:49] Audit Committee, we're moving that to
[46:56] next month. There's going to be a
[47:02] public hearing, 6 o'clock,
[47:07] September 21st, on—
[47:10] For all those.
[47:12] For all these.
[47:14] We need to—
[47:16] we need to say all of them?
[47:17] Yeah, you need to read it.
[47:19] Okay. So, announcement, public hearing of
Plan Development District Map Amendment,
[47:26] Snow Creek Road, requesting approval of
Plan Development District map amendment
[47:33] Plan Development District map amendment
for
[47:34] Snow Creek Ranch Project.
[47:36] The request including rezone 2 parcels
from RG, Residential General District, to
[47:43] from RG, Residential General District, to
PD,
[47:43] Plan Development District,
[47:46] approximately 141.8 acres located at 5593
Snow Creek Road, Columbia,
[47:52] Tennessee 38401. That is county tax map
21, Parcel 052, approx—
[47:57] the approximately 103-acre— 103.49 acres
located on Snow Creek Road, Columbia,
[48:04] Tennessee. County Tax Map 21, Parcel 54.
[48:08] Proposed Snow Creek Road—
[48:10] Snow Creek Ranch PD would allow the
establishment of faith-based retreat
[48:17] establishment of faith-based retreat
center for
[48:17] associated recreational facilities and
overnight lodging.
[48:23] Second.
[48:25] Darryl and Beverly Mazaleen, applicants
and property owners,
[48:31] rezoning approximately 15 acres to
property located on 2626 Double Branch,
[48:37] property located on 2626 Double Branch,
Columbia,
[48:38] Tennessee, from RG, Residential General,
to the AP,
[48:42] Agricultural Preservation District.
[48:45] The property is further identified as a
county tax Yes. Map 067, Parcel 11.
[48:52] Theresa Sparks, Jonathan Sparks, Lauren
Sparks, Jonathan Sparks, applicant,
[48:59] property owners, rezoning approximately
17.4 acres of property located at 3090
[49:06] Sheepneck Road, East Sheepneck Road,
Collioca, Tennessee 38451,
[49:11] from RG Residential to AP Agricultural.
Agricultural Preservation District.
[49:18] The property is further identified as
County Tax Map 180, Parcel 21.
[49:24] East Sheepneck Valley, LLC, applicant
property owner,
[49:28] rezoning approximately 94.57 acres of
property located at 3083 East Sheepneck
[49:35] property located at 3083 East Sheepneck
Road,
[49:36] Collioca, Tennessee 385451,
[49:38] from RG Residential General District to AP
Agriculture Preservation District.
[49:45] The property is further identified as
County Map 180, Parcel 21.01.
[49:51] It's 2021 Sparks Community Property Trust,
applicant property owner,
[49:57] rezoning approximately 105.28 acres of
property located at 3192 East Sheepneck
[50:04] property located at 3192 East Sheepneck
Road,
[50:04] Collioca, Tennessee, 38451 from
Residential General District to AP,
[50:10] Agriculture Preservation District.
[50:13] The property is further identified as
county tax map— county tax map 182,
[50:19] parcel 004.02. Mike Foster, applicant and
property owner,
[50:24] rezoning approximately 47.64 acres of
property located at 2691 East Sheepneck
[50:31] property located at 2691 East Sheepneck
Road,
[50:32] Collioca, Tennessee, 38451, from
Residential General District to AP,
[50:38] Agriculture Preservation District.
[50:41] The property is furthermore identified as
County Tax Map 180, Parcel 008.
[50:47] Christopher Grambling, Appleclanton
property owner,
[50:51] rezoning approximately 37 acres of
property, portion located within Maury
[50:58] property, portion located within Maury
County,
[50:59] located at 101 East Sheepneck Road,
Collioca, Tennessee 38451.
[51:04] From Residential General to Agriculture
Preservation District.
[51:09] The property is further identified as
County Map— Tax Map 180, Parcel 02200.
[51:16] Asked if anyone has any announcements.
[51:20] Does anyone have any announcements they'd
like to make?
[51:24] Budget meeting at 4:30 Monday.
[51:31] Budget meeting, 4:30 Monday.
[51:33] Motion to adjourn.
[51:36] Motion to adjourn. Commissioner Barnes,
Commissioner Morrow.
[51:40] We're adjourned.
[51:41] We're adjourned.