County Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

We're going to give the girls a minute to see if we can get this electronic device logged in for Commissioner Miller. That was cutting it awful close. Thank you, Chastie. All right, we need to take the roll. Okay, we have 17 present. That would include myself and two absent, correct? So we definitely have a quorum. Sheriff Parton, would you please proclaim this meeting open for business?

Come to order. This commission's now open for business.

I would like to invite Brother Tom Murdock to the lectern to deliver tonight's invocation.

Let's pray together. Holy God, as always, we are grateful for this community that we live in. We know what a treasure it is. We know that we are blessed with such a great place, good people. And as always, we ask for your blessing on this meeting, on this gathering. May this night be filled with compassion, with wisdom, with humility as we work together to be good stewards of this community. Help us always to seek the best for all within Coffey County. And we ask for your blessing tonight. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Amen. I would like to ask our county clerk, Theresa McFadden, to lead this body in a pledge to the US flag.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Theresa. Okay, we now are ready to approve the agenda, and without objection, there, by unanimous consent, are the notaries and the routine audit committee report. We have a motion by Commissioner Stubblefield, seconded by Commissioner Watkins. Is there any discussion regarding the agenda? There being none, let's vote please. The agenda has been approved with 16 affirmative votes. Thank you for that. Now, we have the next item would be our public comments. Does anyone in the audience wish to speak to any agenda item or any Coffee County governmental item whatsoever? Now is your time. Does anybody in the audience wish to speak? public comment the floor is open there being none we will move on to the review and approval of the minutes from our june 23rd 2026 meeting i have a motion by commissioner hirschman Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. Is there any discussion, amendments, corrections to last meeting's minutes? There being none, let's vote please. The minutes have been approved with 16 affirmative votes. Thank you for that. Item number eight, resolution of memorials, sympathies, proclamations, and commendations. Proclamation resolution. 2026-17, celebrating the 250th anniversary of our great nation, we have prepared a resolution, and I will read it at this time. The Proclamation Resolution 2026-17, 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Whereas on July the 4th, 1776, the founding fathers adopted the Declaration of Independence, setting forth the timeless self-evident truth that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And whereas the year 2026 marks the semi-quintessential quincentennial, that's a hard one, 250th birthday of our great nation, providing an opportunity for all citizens to reflect on our shared history, our resilience, and the enduring principles of freedom and democracy. And whereas the proud citizens of Coffey County, Tennessee have continuously embodied these American values through their dedication, to community, agriculture, industry, and service, and whereas this milestone will mark a time for our citizens to affirm our commitment to liberty and democracy, honor the sacrifices made by countless individuals to protect these values, and ensure that future generations continue to enjoy the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, which is the backbone of this democratic republic, And whereas this occasion offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the nation's journey, celebrate its achievements, and envision its future, and whereas the United States embarks on the next chapter of its history, this milestone celebration will stand as a testament to the strength, resilience, and determination of its people to foster a vibrant and united future for the next generation. Now, therefore, I, Dennis A. Hunt, Mayor, and the legislative body of Coffey County, Tennessee, proudly join states, counties, and municipalities all across these United States to proclaim our enduring spirit and reaffirm our commitment to the freedoms and values enshrined in the Constitution and the standards of liberty provided by the Declaration of Independence. and witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and cause the seal of Coffey County to be affixed on this fourth day of July 2026. And then it is signed by me, the mayor of Coffey County, and all legislative body members that are present here tonight have signed this proclamation. So we have a motion by Commissioner Nettles and a second by Commissioner Duncan to adopt this proclamation celebrating our nation's 250th birthday. The floor is open for any comment or discussion regarding this. It's a big deal, guys. 250 years we've been in business here. So thank you for that. If there's no discussion, we will vote. This proclamation has been adopted unanimously by the attending legislative body members. 16 affirmative, thank you. Next item on the agenda is old business, there being none. New business resolution 2026-18 to amend certain provisions of zoning resolution 2006-39, our revised zoning resolution of Coffey County, Tennessee, regarding data center district designation and definitions. This one has been, I would like to preface this just a little bit. The motion to approve has been made by Commissioner Hirschman, has been seconded by Commissioner Smith. This amendment purpose, you guys need to know what the purpose of this one amendment is. It accomplishes four things for our county zoning. One, this acknowledges the existence of data centers, that they are gonna be a part of our country's fabric, if you will, forever. Number two, it identifies these as special exceptions. That's a term in our zoning resolution that signifies this particular land use is going to be allowed as a special exception with conditions. Number three, It defines what data centers are. So there is language that will be placed in the section of our zoning resolution that is titled definitions. It's a very comprehensive portion of our zoning resolutions that the planning commission, the VCA, and our codes enforcement officers have to look at regularly. The definitions are very important. So we have a very comprehensive definition of data centers and their accessory uses that will be in our definition. Number four, This one is important because our zoning resolution as written, as printed right now, there is a section, line six, under the A1 district that most individuals would construe that data centers would apply to those defined permitted uses in that A1 district. So this amendment that you're about to vote on absolutely excludes data centers from the A1 district. And that one is very, very important. Now that's all this is going to do because the planning commission is not done with the data center subject. As I said earlier, the special exceptions are always gonna be tied with conditions and our zoning resolution must contain conditions before conditions can be applied to a special exception or conditional use land use. So the Planning Commission has got a real good start on this, and our attorney, Mark Williams, has already provided much needed input on the language that we're going to use. Our professional planner, Amanda Reinhart, has been very helpful in this as well, and I've got every confidence in our Planning Commission that they will adopt a the conditions that will help place these where they need to be and will not have any negative impact whatsoever on our county if one actually does come here. So having said that, I would like for anybody, the floor is open, commissioners, for you to speak to this. Anybody wish to discuss it? Does anybody have any questions? Did I not cover it enough to know exactly what you're doing tonight? There being no discussion, we can go ahead and vote on this. Okay, this zoning resolution amendment. detailing data centers has been approved, 16 affirmative votes. Thank you for that. I know the public thank you as well. Now, the only, we're ready for the report of standing committees.

Okay, budget and finance, Commissioner Morris.

Yes, since we do not have any budget amendments from the school system or us for this month, we're gonna cancel our budget and finance meetings and the next one will be Thursday in August.

Okay, thank you. Capital outlay, Commissioner Hirschman.

Capital outlay. Well, we have our next meeting is August the 13th and we really still need to have that meeting. It's at four o'clock. We've opened up three, actually we've opened up four facilities, but three new ones. We have the library open back up in Manchester. Health Department has had their ribbon cutting this last Friday. Animal Shelter has been opened up. We had quite a good crowd at all of them. Also, the CTAS building was opened up on Friday for the ribbon cuttings. All those projects have been ongoing for almost a year. So it's a good load coming off of us. So I'm glad to see them all coming to an end.

That's it. Okay, thank you. Health, Welfare, and Recreation. Commissioner Hollingsworth.

Yes, our next meeting will be Thursday the 21st at 6 p.m.

Thank you. Law enforcement, and I think Commissioner D. Ford's absent, but Commissioner Miller? I'm sorry? Law enforcement committee?

We didn't have anything yet. I saw on the calendar that it was, I think, the 30th of this month. 1-6.

Okay, so nothing to report other than the next meeting is the 30th? The 30th at 4.30. At 4.30. Thank you. Legislative Committee? Commissioner Watkins? Nothing to report. Okay, thank you. Policies and Procedures? Commissioner Hirschman?

We don't have anything to report. We're not sure we're going to have our meeting on the 20th yet. I'm going to talk with Ms. Heather and find out if she has anything else to put on the agenda. If not, we probably will not have our meeting on the 20th.

Okay. Thank you. That concludes the standing committees.

that it thank you uh committee chairs for all the reports i've got uh i would like to expand on what commissioner herschman said we had consecutive ribbon cuttings three consecutive days of brand new structures the Coffee County Health Department on Thursday, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology facility on Friday, and then the Coffee County Animal Control Facility on Saturday. Three consecutive days, three state-of-the-art facilities for the safety, health, education, of our citizenry and our canine friends. So having said that, that's a big deal. I think it's unprecedented that we, Coffey County, has got three brand new public facilities constructed and open for business, and it was very impressive. One other thing I'd like to... share with you guys. I'm holding in my hand two letters from the City of Tullahoma Planning and Codes Department regarding properties very near our new health department, right next to, everybody knows the commercial facility of Cook Neon. There's a large corn field right this side of it. Tallahoma, the property owner has asked the city of Tallahoma to annex that. And that is one of the issues regarding our, and how growth is being handled in Coffey County. That is in the urban growth boundaries and any property owner in the urban growth boundaries of either municipality of Manchester or Tallahoma has that right to request annexation. There was a public hearing scheduled according to those letters for yesterday evening I was not, I didn't tune in. Does anybody, any of the Tullahoma commissioners know how that went? Don't know, okay. But it's interesting, just like everybody needs to know, there's a pathway, there's multiple pathways to these larger residential developments, and that is one of them, and this landowner has chosen to take that path. So we all wish him well. Now, there's one other thing we need to address. There are... If I've got my head count right, we have three county commissioners that chose not to run again. And that would be Commissioner Tina Reid, Commissioner Dwight Miller, and Commissioner Jimmy Hollingsworth. Would you three please walk right up here in front of the sheriff? We would like to get a photograph.

of you three sheriff parton can you think of anything else that you could add to this yes mr chairman um i got to tell a little story so you know i'm a storyteller so 50 years ago when our county and our state and our country was celebrating our 200th birthday as a country There was this cute little tinny bopper high school graduate that graduated high school out here that walked into the county clerk's office that time was the elected official was Mr. Charles Wales. And this little old cute little old girl walked into the office and she got a job with the county. 50 years ago could everybody hear me in the back 50 years ago and this cute little teenybopper from the let's say the Shady Grove area of the county little country girl Used to ride the back of the bus with some dairy farmers best I remember Went to work in the county clerk's office and she spent 18 years as a deputy clerk you know that was a career in itself for county government and that's a long time and for employees today, extremely. It's a long time. But in 1994, that little girl decided she was going to run for office because the great Charles Wells was retiring. And she got elected to be our county clerk 32 years ago. 32 years ago. Now I'm not the official County historian, but I have a little chart don't achieve on my wall in the office. It has all the elected officials up to about 82. Now 82 is my lifetime and I can kind of keep up with who held office during that time. And if my calculation serves me right, that little girl is the longest serving elected official in our County's history since 1836. And I think all of you know her as the great Teresa McFadden. And if you want to see what dedication and loyalty to your Coffey County citizens, the government, and for some of us kids that have been around aggravating her for 30-plus years, there's your number one example that we strive for. Teresa, we love you today, tomorrow, yesterday, and forever.

Thank you, Chairman. Can you please come up? Teresa, come up.

I think you better get all the commissioners around.

Y'all want to give a good speech. We want to single them out, don't you? They're good. Well, y'all gather around behind there.

We don't have to get out on the floor.

Some of us were showing something.

You can see the lady, you can see me.

All right. Mr. Petico, how are you doing, sir? I'm fine. How are you? I'm good.

All right.

Thank you guys, that was really, that's a big deal, a very big deal. Thank you, Sheriff, for the stories. It was very informative. Is there any more statements and announcements?

I'd like to tell those commissioners, your job is not done yet, Jimmy. I mean, but I've worked with Dwight Tina Reed for quite a while, and Jimmy Hollingsworth, and I do appreciate all of them's help. But your job is not finished yet. Finish out your time, and I look forward to seeing you at our next meetings. So that being said, thank you all for helping.

Yeah, everybody needs to realize for the folks at home watching that this is the last scheduled county legislative body meeting before the new county commissioners and countywide elective offices are sworn in. Our next regularly scheduled meeting is in October, and new officers take their positions September 1 in an election year. So is there anybody else who would like to comment? I would say those individuals, the three individuals that have elected not to be re-elected, they will still be on a committee. All three of them have committee assignments, and they will be doing a little more work between now and the end of August. So anybody else like to make a statement? Motion to adjourn. Motion by Commissioner Hirschman, seconded by somebody. That went pretty quick. Thank you, Commissioner Stubblefield. And the results. We are adjourned. Thank you, everyone.