Report provided by Co. Mayor Allen Foster.
The February 18
th meeting of the full County Commission was held with all Commissioners in attendance except Rebecca Stone and Colleen Mall. The meeting began with about 45 minutes of comments concerning the Second Amendment and Refugee resolutions described below. Before comments began, I reminded everyone that we were all neighbors and that the expectation for those speaking was to be respectful. We don’t always have to agree but in Cumberland County we can at least be cordial with our disagreements. I’m proud to say that there were no arguments or outbursts, and everyone respectfully discussed the issues.
Cumberland Co. Courthouse (file photo by Jim Young)
Last month, the resignation of Fourth District Board of Education Representative Josh Stone was announced along with the process to fill the empty seat. Since then, Anita Hale and Brian McDonald completed the paperwork to submit to fill the vacancy. There were no additional submissions at the meeting, so we moved on to hearing from the two candidates. The order of speaking was determined by random drawing with Mr. McDonald speaking first. Each candidate was allowed up to 10 minutes to address the Commission to discuss the appointment.
After the candidates spoke, Commissioners nominated individuals from the list of candidates. Nominations did not require a second. Only candidates nominated moved forward in voting. Commissioner Wilson nominated Hale, and Commissioner Patterson nominated McDonald. After nominations ceased, the vote was held and Anita Hale was appointed to the vacant seat. The vote was 12-4 with Commissioners York, Kyle Davis, Hyder, Threet, Seiber, Jack Davis, Lowe, Wilson, Sherrill, Baldwin, Cooper and Holbrook supporting Hale. Commissioners Norris, Gibson, Blalock, and Patterson voted for Mr. McDonald. I immediately administered the Oath of Office and all official documents were signed making the appointment official.
BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE
Clearance Sale HELD OVER!!
RESOLUTIONSThe following resolutions were presented to the Board of Commissioners for consideration (resolution sponsor in parenthesis):
RESOLUTION 02-2020-1 – Accepting offer(s) to purchase property owned by Cumberland County (Hyder). The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended approval of the following offers:
| Offeror(s) | Property | Price | Advertising Fee |
| Dana Warner | 709 Keato Dr. – Tansi | $455.00 | $45 |
| Michael Matthews | Dragon Canoe – Renegade | $279.80 | $45 |
| Michael Matthews | Dragon Canoe – Renegade | $283.50 | $45 |
| | | |
This will return the property to the tax rolls after being removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-2 – Declaring Cumberland County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County (Kyle Davis and John Patterson). The resolution stated that the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners hereby expresses its desire to both the United States Government and the State of Tennessee to REFUSE to enact legislation that unconstitutionally restricts the rights of the Citizens of Cumberland County to bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 26 of the Tennessee Constitution. It further states that the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners hereby declare Cumberland County to be a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County”, meaning that Cumberland County will act within its constitutional and other legal rights to protect the Second Amendment for its Citizens. The resolution passed 15-1 with Commissioner Holbrook voting against.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-3 – No consent to refugee resettlement in Cumberland County (Patterson). This resolution stated that Cumberland County is opting out of resettlement of refugees due to economic constraints. The resolution passed 15-1 with Commissioner Holbrook voting against.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-4 – Offering a tribute to Lynn C. Hayes and Jesse B. Hayes by naming a section of Highway 68 from entrance to exit of Grassy Cove in their memory (Wilson). SP4 Lynn C. Hayes was killed on May 17, 1967 under hostile conditions in Binh Duong, Vietnam. He is buried in the Grassy Cove Cemetery and is memorialized on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall on panel 20E, line 16. SP4 Jesse B. Hayes was killed on January 9, 1969 under hostile conditions in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam. He was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery and is memorialized on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall on pillar XXII, middle panel, panel 35W, line 60. Jesse was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. The Commission unanimously passed a resolution requesting the Tennessee Department of Transportation designate the section of Highway 68 from entrance to exit of Grassy Cove in their memory.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-5 – Approving and adopting new Open Records Policy (Stone). Revisions have been made to the Open Records Policy by the Public Records Commission of Cumberland County. The revised policy was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-6 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Damage Reimbursement $276.00 (Seiber). This money was received from individuals and moved back to the expense line. Approval was granted 16-0.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-7 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Food Pantry Donation 2 $1,000.00 (Lowe). This resolution unanimously accepted a donation from Kids Christmas, Inc. to assist with the food pantry program in the schools.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-8 – Budget Amendment, Central Cafeteria Fund, $2,500.00 (York). The schools received additional state funding from the 2020 Alternative Breakfast Grant for equipment, supplies, technology, and/or marketing assistance. The resolution was approved 16-0.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-9 – Budget Amendment, Central Cafeteria Fund, $4,041.00 (Hyder). Private funding was received from the Dairy Alliance/NFL Fuel UP to Play 60 Program to support the expansion of the school breakfast program. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-10 – Budget Amendment, Central Cafeteria Fund, $4,713.36 (Seiber). Private contributions were donated to pay outstanding student cafeteria charges. The resolution was approved 16-0.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-11 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration Grant $6,625.00 (Blalock). This resolution divided monies received from the center between SMHS and CCHS, the two high schools that were the original grant recipients. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-12 – Budget Amendment, Central Cafeteria Fund, $13,408.83 (Hyder). These funds came from the USDA to minimize charges incurred for storage and distribution of USDA foods from state contracted warehouses. The resolution was approved 16-0.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-13 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Middle School STEM Start-Up Grant $27,000.00 (Blalock). This money was received to strengthen the district’s middle school STEM program and was unanimously approved by the commission.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-14 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Trustee’s Office $3,560.00 (York). The Trustee requested additional funding to upgrade computer technology in her office with $2,482 coming from the Trustee’s Other Contracted Services line and the balance of $1,078 coming from unassigned fund balance. The resolution was approved 16-0.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-15 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Other Public Health & Welfare – Animal Shelter $7,125.00 (Seiber). This resolution, unanimously approved, accepted private donations to the Animal Shelter.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-16 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Sheriff – Jail, $20,806.00 (Blalock). This resolution approved moving funds to complete construction of a multi-purpose out building at the Justice Center campus in a 16-0 vote.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-17 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Community Development Block Grant, $468,865.00 (Lowe). This resolution accepted the CDBG grant for water line extension by South Cumberland Utility District in the southern part of the county and was unanimously approved. The money will flow through the county for the project.
RESOLUTION 02-2020-18 – Approving Contract with AMB-MARS Service Agreement. This resolution extended the contract with our EMS third party billing company by three years. New computer hardware and training are included as a part of the contract. The resolution was approved 16-0+.
FINANCIAL REPORTAs reported in the last Budget Committee meeting, local option sales tax collections came in at $827,204 which is $12,456 above estimated revenue. Overall, we are approximately $65,735 above the budgeted amount year to date. Hotel/Motel tax collections are approximately 53.7% of the $817,283 budget as revised down due to last year’s collection. So far $439,206 has been received. Property taxes stand at 62% of the budgeted amount. Prisoner boarding is at 43.9% of budget at $325,923 after six months of revenue has been collected. EMS collections for the month were $483,961. This puts year to date collections at $2,817,410 which is $484,079 above budget.
William Bowman
