County Commission - Regular Meeting

[Music] first on the first sure sure and we're into the new year so we can take some additional donations now because we're into our new fiscal year we were pretty much last year could be wrong smarter than I am I think it has to be it's got to be amended that's good cuz if it changes changes the whole thing more money take [Music] I got on the there [Music]

Joe Coleman is not here AJ Walker is not here you get that thing work all the all start yeah it started [Music] 2025 Mr clerk would you call the rooll if you'll sign in on your computer just mark yourself present Miss there we go 16 members present five absent 16 present five

absent would everyone please rise for the prayer led by Marcus Reed in a moment of silence and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance by Mr Sam Solomon before we pray I would request that we would have a moment of silence in honor of a great friend a boss and a servant to our County isan for Mar father Our God I come to you with a grateful heart for allowing me to live in such a great country in such a great County Lord we pray for our country as we have just went [Music] through a major change in leadership I pray for the bitterness that KS to rock our nation that we would remember those of us who are called by you to truly respect each other first and foremost because we are all created in your image Lord I Thank you for my opportunity to serve our government and to serve our citizens Lord help us to walk up right before you honoring you and trusting in you Lord I pray your blessing upon this body upon the citizens that are here I thank you that we take time to honor those who have given their life in defense of this country I thank you for the emergency response that we have in this County I thank you for the dedic ated employees that we have Lord most of all I thank you for my Salvation And for those who are called

by you Lord thank you again we worship you and we glorify you because that's what we should do because you created us and these things I pray in the name of your unique son Jesus Christ and I give him praise amen amen Al to the 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 like to thank everyone for coming out this evening it's little chilly out youth leadership do we have you here in the house stand up next on the agenda we have proclamations and courtesy resolutions you're up thank you Mr chairman it is once again my honor and privilege to be here tonight to recognize a local hero I want to say thank you to the commission for allowing us to memorialize these these Heroes um in front of you and our community and especially in front of their gold star family members private William Paul Hickman from pedmont was the great uncle of Dr Monty sharp and he was killed in eay Belgium in World War I if the family members would like to join me up here please and also Mr Jimmy Dale Patterson could you join me up front

Mr Mayor if you would read the proclamation please Hometown hero we're asked William P Paul Hickman one of five children born to Peter F and America burfield Hickman lived in pedmont Tennessee where his family ran the first telephone switchboard out of the pedmont General Store as a young man he traveled to New Market Tennessee and enlisted in the United States Army on June the 24th 1917 he was sent for train at Camp sever in Greenville South Carolina he was assigned to the Medical Corp and the 119th in Infantry Regiment 30th Infantry Division on May the 15th 1918 the 119th regiment assembled in the harbor of Halifax Nova Scotia in a convoy including three British transports they sell for England the following day on the morning of May the 27th 1918 after battling treacherous weather of the North Atlantic Crossing and the everth threatening attacks from the German submarines the Convoy safely reached the port of Liverpool England they were put in trains and they were bound to Dover by May 29th 1918 the regimen had crossed the English Channel and assembled in a camp in France City they were in Belgium and held strategic importance for both the Allied powers and the German near Belgium's western border with France there's 800 50,000 Allied and German casties during this battle or during this time private William P Paul Hickman in the battle torn sector he was in was risking his life tending to the wounded he was carrying a leader with a squadron of four men on August the 31st 1918 when he was struck by en en enemy shrapnel killing him instantly at the age of 21 whereas the family of William P Paul Hickman received letters from fellow soldiers and good friends Ralph

Kate and Clifton ladimer sharing the love and admiration shown by the entire Hospital Corps private William P Paul Hickman served his country well served his County well he was temporarily buried in a British Cemetery in Belgium his remains were later returned to his family and he was laid to rest in the pedmont cemetery in Jefferson County Tennessee his family engraved God bless our boy on his headstone now therefore I Mark pots by virtue of the authority vested me as mayor of Jefferson County and in conjunction with the Jefferson K commission express our sincere thanks and deepest sympathy and condolences to the family and friends of the late private William P Paul Hickman he will always be remembered for the sacrifices he made to jff County Tennessee and the United States of America thank you so much thank you may too bad you ain't got a chalkboard sir too bad you ain't got a chalk board to Dr most people don't most of these people don't even know what chalk board is next we have approval and Corrections of the agenda does anyone have anything I believe we need to suspend

the rule Mr Mayor thank you Mr chairman I've added resolution 2025 I believe it's it's 13 it's an application for a raise Grant we've applied before uh we didn't get it the last time don't mean we're not going to keep on trying I don't necessarily have to have a resolution for it but certainly helps to have a resolution from this body approved it a raise Grant is a transportation planning grant that would look the entire transportation system in the county would it would gathered the data that's what we need to do to determine what needs to be done to to improve traffic flow once you get that initial if we can get that first initial race Grant you can get money to do your projects and move on but you got to get by that first hurdle and this is the first step right here is to get this resolution thank you question or comment got a motion on the floor in a second you going to need a motion to suspended right is that what your motion I think that's what their motion's for sir we got anything on the discuss it's on the agenda way down at the bottom new business we will proceed to sus it's on sure cry I don't have anything on the motion in front of us I just have something I'd like to say in regard to the agend after we finish this vote all right we'll vote to spin rule proceed 16 years zro knows the rule has been suspended and this will be added to new

business Mr chairman while we're adding this uh we have a school number five and number six also be add School number five and school number six on budget on budget yes under budget under budget okay new business that will be B already on there thingk Mr chairman sure question for Mr Scarlet yes sir on the uh budget amendment number six that was only item one that made it out of committee thank you all right we shall proceed on appearance of citizens we got to approve the me minutes yeah I'll be brief I just like to remind everyone to ensure we're following our own rules of procedure there's a section in the rules Jefferson County rules of procedure that says each commissioner gets one opportunity with up to six minutes to address an agenda item no other commissioner may speak when another commissioner has the floor except ask questions um when the commissioner has the floor is finished they are required to notify the chairman when the chairman acknowledges it then he moves on to whoever has the floor next but it's one opportunity with 6 minutes and that's double the time we're giv citizens uh just one to remind everyone of

that thank you all right question or comment standard rule of procedure is a motion to approve the minutes oh wait Ace about agend okay we have to have a vote to approve the agenda as amended 160 the agenda has been set next we have minutes regularly quarterly session of jeris County Board of Commissioners Monday October the 21st in a special call session of the Jer County Board of Commissioners on Monday November the 18th 160 passed next we have appearance of citizens uh we've got quite a list so let's try to be as efficient as we can and try to get everybody in okay sure done pul you yep

okay took care of that when your name is called out please come to the podium you'll have three minutes let's be as brief as we can so we can get right along Mr Jim Fox all right justce a little bit all righty thank you um obviously the big thing on the agenda is the taxes and the several different taxes that that are going on uh one you know we're talking about a whe tax and you tried several times to pass the whe tax and now you going to try to pass two so and so you know why are we obsessed with leving ATT tax against every citizen of this County where they and I know says well it's air of tax I I can tell you somebody that's really cheering for this and that is every property tax owner that does not live in this County uh so in my neighborhood that's up to 70% of my neighbors that are cheering for a wheel tax because they don't live here so they're not going to pay that will tax anyway and the other thing to consider is they don't vote either uh a mineral mineral tax you know that's only going to affect the folks that are buying or using that product uh that doesn't mean that you're going to be every citizen of this County or even most of them will be affected by that tax uh there's been some comments about it affecting the zinc mines well it specifically says gravel Limestone and sand it does not it specifically exempts zinc uh then there were some comments about the mine in Smith County that mine

in Smith County has opened and closed several times regardless of whether or not it had a a severance tax attached to it and in fact it been in existence for several years before the uh last foreclosed the last time and in fact according to the chronicle it the owner says according to the Carthage Chronicle says in significantly winking market conditions and inflationary impacts on input costs and conditions and and uh uh the uh credit crisis is the result of their closing nowhere did it mention having any sort of sort of tax involved in and while they closed um uh some other thing that could be uh considered again as you well know hotel motel tax right now stands at 4% um most counties in in the state or or at seven um so and that would only affect people that come here and visit that would not affect nearly any Resident in this County um short-term rentals you I've talked about it at length again that will only affect the people who do not live in this County so essentially we would get non-residents paying our taxes for us and none of those vote and none of them really care what the tax levy is because because they're here on vacation to enjoy themselves and that is no different from what any other County around here is doing already uh as far as the sance tax goes you know it is uh to hit that manual tax again real quick is that 75% of the counties in this state already have a Minal tax and it ain't putting anybody out of business thank you next we have Amy Fox

he um Amy Fox um thank you for allowing me to speak um the will tax has been brought up numerous times over the past year it just doesn't understand why this seems to be the only option for funding um the mineral taxes the short-term rentals things have that have been presented that do not impact everybody in this County um I had a boss at one point in time that told me if you come to me with a problem come to me with a solution you know the problem is the budget shortfalls and the state of the current economy has probably every household in this County in a budget shortfall so is this the will tax really the solution that we're looking for thank you thank you next we have Bruce Kent I'm here to also talk about the wheel tax and I want to address this false narrative that I keep on hearing at these meetings that renters don't pay tax so let's do the wheel tax and get money out of them well anyone who believes that has never taken a basic economics class has probably never heard of Adam Smith triod down economics because if you raise the landlord's property tax he's going to pass it down to the renter and I just like I said Ronald Reagan in the 1980s looked at a Democrat controlled House of Representative and Senate and says you do not have a revenue problem you have a spending problem thank you thank you sir next we have Douglas sers the clock on next time

all right Douglas sers I'm from the fifth district I'm here to speak about what I believe is a revenue issue in this County you've heard that uh in front of you for you the body my citizens I'm going to talk to you in a minute the first minute I'll talk to the body that we've elected I emailed you my read ahead two days ago I proposed amendment for a $50 will tax you have two resolutions some of the citizens may not know um what you've done I think you've done a good job I'm going to tell you that I think you're here civil trying to communicate uh and do effective and efficient government and that's very important but you have a revenue issue in this County and I think it's important that you have diversity of Revenue if I look at your agenda you are trying to do that you have one member proposing a 25 one member proposing a 35 you have one member that's done research on a mineral uh tax looking at the roads you have another your whole delegation trying to tell our Tennessee State delegation to adjust the Tennessee law for the real estate taxes and you're also trying to adjust the commercial taxes on Airbnb so you were trying and I'll commend you on that and you're not just trying to get funding from just our property taxes and I commend you on doing that and I Mr chair if you don't mind I'll turn your back and I'm going to talk to the citizens here a little bit here's your issue they have a revenue problem they spent about month or two months trying to get the will tax they have character they have principles they cannot agree that's okay no decision is a decision if they do not make a decision on a passing a budget a decision will be made you live in Jefferson County it is a county in the state state budgets have to be balanced by not balancing this budget nationville is going to come here and talk to Mr chair and Mr chair is going to confirm that he does not have a balanced budget and that gentleman is

going to say point me to the tax assessor also I'll be back in 30 minutes I know your taxes just went up from say 1,000 to 2,000 after that 30 minutes your taxes are going to go up about $4500 they're going to come back to Mr chair and they say Mr chair I've solved your situation since we cannot balance your budget there'll be a special assessment going out in about two months and you will pay your $400 and we will have a balanced budget but I'm proposing is an amendment to a resolution one of the resolutions whichever one they choose this is what you're going to get if you don't do my Amendment you'll get a blank page what I'm telling them to do is do an allocation table what I'm telling them to do is I want transparency I do not want to give $50 to this body without more transparency they do state own State audits only on theity they do not look at waste an external audit is needed 55 years and I want accountability a referendum on this tax back to the people in 2028 uh so if you would like to use my Amendment wording with a parliamentary procedure uh you're welcome to do that and I hopefully it helps you sir you're out of time thank you next we have Kathleen Villers please come state your name your address please good evening Kathleen Villers 20202 Arrowhead Drive dandri speaking on behalf of myself and other citizens tonight I'd like to talk about budget taxes approvals budget the county has needs we need money for sheriff salary several open positions we need money to pave roads money is necessary not just

from One Source but from multiple sources to fund the county needs couldn't we just cut costs not easily I suggest operational reviews can provide insights into possible cost cutting this would be good guidance but operational reviews take time and cost money we have a budget Revenue shortfall this year of probably approaching about 2 million right now meaning not enough Revenue to cover and support the needed expenditures how about just increasing property tax that $2 million deficit if it wasn't an allocation would translate into about an added 8 cents or 6% increase in property taxes that would be on top of the 6.7% tax increase we had last year probably not something that you would all want to do and I agree I think you are all trying hard and we appreciate that but it is Crystal Clear we need other Revenue sources let me talk about a couple of those first the mineral Severance tax we need money to pave roads many other Counties have this tax about 18 counties in Eastern Tennessee Jeff county is one of the few counties that does not have this tax why not a mineral tax is going to be less than 15 cents a ton a small amount that won't cause a company to go out of business most businesses would pass this on to the buyer but to the county those pennies add up based on the average of Eastern Tennessee counties this would bring in about 400k a year I recommend approving the mineral Severance tax As One Source wheel tax many other Counties have a wheel tax it's time to address

our Cy's needs over wants look at the tax as a stop Gap Gap or a bridge until you can get Revenue coming in from other sources such as short-term rentals I recommend approving the wheel tax ideally with a sunset in 5 years each wheel tax would represent over a million in revenue and also finally there's another Revenue source that other counties use a short-term rental resolution is being worked on and will likely gain traction by later in 2025 but it might take a year or two to have revenues ramp up it's a good source with good Revenue potential several million in conclusion in the inum please vote for the wheel tax and the mineral Severance tax since important needs exist now or prepare to implement ouch another of uh increase of at least 6% in property taxes thank you thank you next we have Linda Smith and Steve you follow Linda mmith 3766 Island View Road severville but I live in Jefferson County as you all know okay couple issues budget the school request tonight relate was put in through the budget committee part of it you'll see part of it you won't see if the school has those funds that they can use on other buildings to do things for them why has nothing been done to Jeff County Elementary think about the last several years has there been requests for anything for Jeff County I don't believe

so I don't recall it so where are we holding accountability for those monies being spent how is it reconciled how is it reported back secondly um looking at some of the things related to the wheel tax I agree with what some of my previous people have other people have spoken about um and we need to look into other sources of revenue we are not a balanced budget we're if we keep going like this and looking for Band-Aids to fix the problem it will never go away people need to sit forward represent the people find out what they really want to do and then come and make those recommendations we need to look at other ways to get that information up here to the commission Additionally the budget committee needs mics when they have their meetings you cannot hear it out in the audience and there are a lot of very low speaking people that you just can't hear because they're over here talking like this and so it doesn't project to anywhere else in the building so please if there's a meeting going on have them mik um also why is there not better pre U preventative maintenance being done to these schools do they not have staff to do it do they not have funds to do it what is going on with their maintenance program the pictures I've seen are deplorable and with that being said if preventative maintenance was being done to that school it does does not show so what was being done for them and lastly what is the status of the ambulance for Chestnut Hill last week we had an individual in our just outside my neighborhood our subdivision and they called for an ambulance the guy was

having a stroke they called 911 our guys couldn't respond they were all over the different counties Chestnut Hill did respond with one person is my understanding it was 45 minutes before they could get an ambulance there I thought we had agreed to having an ambulance stationed at Chestnut Hill is that being done or isn't it being done because this man lost he got helicoptered out it was over an hour before they responded with the helicopter that is unacceptable if that was your family member what would you say and don't tell me I bought the property that's where I live this is a health and safety issue make things work we're getting really upset again at least I am and when I'm upset I'm hearing it from people around because I'm on the fire department I'm in our neighborhood I hold a community Page open for our whole area think about it don't cut our services Steve Steve mcsmith 3766 Island View Road District 8 parot Chapel Community I'm here to offer a compliment I was watching the evening news in one of our local networks uh vinity of a week or just over ago one evening and without a segue suddenly left a story went to about 66 uh seconds worth of crime stats for Jefferson County the sheriff Department Sheriff's Department I said oh let's see what they have to say the sheriff's department Sheriff wasn't named just the sheriff's department last year's 2024 completion

their stats compared to the year before 2023 burglaries down 45% 45% thefts down 18% aggravated assault down 18 19% robberies down 33% for for a department that struggles and struggles and comes in here and the sheriff appears before the budget committee and the sheriff appears before the commission and gets grilled and comes up with great responses honest responses and tries his hardest to fund his department and he can still do this he has people leaving the department because they don't get paid enough he struggled goals to find replacements because they can't make enough here he has to have a masochistic Gene in his body somewhere he has to have a thick skin they didn't give his name I want you to know Sheriff Jeff coffee is your sheriff and maybe they didn't give his name simply because they recognize the fact that that department is successful as it is because every single person underpaid person in that department who are trying to make up for missing links people that are leaving and not being replaced they're doing their jobs and they're doing them well and they're taking care of us they're a gift to Jefferson County so think about it when you're working with this budget we're starting way deep in a hole again try to to give the Sheriff's Department dep what the sheriff's department needs Sheriff Jeff coffee and thanks to every single person that works for him because they're all

doing the job and they deserve a round of applause thank you thank you sir next we have Mar stefanic and I do believe Miss K haker will be speaking for her okay this is from Marge Stefania I'm deeply proud of my local public school district our educators our students and administrators and believe that strong public schools are foundational for strong communities I also know our local schools are struggling to make ends meet on shoestring budgets at the same time out ofst State billionaires are yet again pouring millions of dollars into Tennessee to pass a universal private school Voucher Program which would funnel critical funding away from County budgets and into private schools Governor Lee's education Freedom scholarship act failed last year due to overwhelming opposition from parents Educators and administrators with over 70 local school boards passing resol resolutions against the bill this year we are calling on our city and county funding bodies to support our local school districts and to say no to Governor Le's voucher scam parents administrators and Educators know what is needed to improve our local schools we need reduction in high stakes testing more support staff for teachers smaller class sizes improved building infrastructure additional support for students with learning disabilities improved access to early childhood education for working families and more we cannot meet the needs of our district if all our tax dollars are being spent to subsidize subsidize voucher schemes that would primarily benefit the families who already send their children to private schools while devastating our Public Schools please consider working with your peers to pass a resolution and opposition to expanded private school

vouchers thank you next we have Jeff Sams okay I have Jeff's as well so Jeff um lives on Oak Grove Road he was fouryear active duty and over 17 years Federal uh Civil Service his parents both died within 2024 and he moved back to the family farm which is multigenerational and I'm just giving you that as an aside because I know the person he says hello my name is Jeff Sams and I'm a new resident of Dandridge I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a few words of praise for your new veteran service officer Miss Marissa Gilliam King I recently visited her office to seek help with a mountain of va paperwork Miss Gilliam King was a consumate professional extremely knowledge and organized to a te for the first time in all my years dealing with the VA I had a pleasant experience working with a vso Miss gilam King is a real asset to your community sincerely Jeff Sams thank you last but not least we have Mike Foley thank you Mr chairman uh good evening Commissioners uh Mike Foley 318 Oak Vista Drive and Dandridge there is a great opportunity in the resolutions before you tonight 20251 last year your support of eminent domain legislation resulted in additional protection for Tennessee property owners please continue that support by passing this resolution to enhance due process for property takings 2025-the of permitted uses in the A1 District continues to be a source of problems for the Planning Commission please pass this resolution to move uses

such as campgrounds travel trailer and RV parks to more appropriate zoning districts Revenue appears in many of these res resolutions and for good reason our County needs new sources of income success will depend on these new sources working together 202 20251 joining other counties to request the Tennessee General Assembly return half of the real estate transfer taxes collected here is a good place to start please please pass this resolution 20243 will a mineral Severance tax result in lost jobs it's an important question nar's Middle Tennessee mines in Smith County have been cited as an example although there have been closures they have been temporary and in response to depressed metal prices not the imposition of a tax over 70% of Tennessee's 95 counties collect this tax including Smith County please pass this resolution 2025 08 and 09 two wheel tax proposals at the same time is especially challenging for you here are some thoughts number one any new wheel tax should exclude citizens enrolled in the Tennesse property tax relief program as we do for some of our veterans number two if a new wheel tax is intended to provide short-term funding until other new taxes gain traction passage of the resolutions mentioned earlier becomes essential number three directly funding maintenance of effort expenses with a wheel tax that sunsets seems risky it would be better to use the tax to cover other expenses this could free up funds to be used for County employee raises number four the existing wheel tax is budgeted to collect 1.15 million this

year it's been collected for 25 years and there is no sunset set date the funds are exclusively for construction and renovation of the schools or for retirement of school bonds considering our current challenges balancing the budget a new wheel tax should be used for other purposes in closing the time has come to discuss our differences find common ground and take action meeting the challenges before us demands nothing less thank you for listening thank you sir next we'll move right along to the approval of notaries and bonds you have before you the names that were handed out everyone please vote 17 yes Z no passed next we have nominating committee Mr Randy bales is your microphone on Randy thank we had some um open positions coming up on the Industrial Development board and um Jeff Dew Steve hammer and Chris Meers uh were nominated to or were chosen by us to uh go ahead and fill

those positions and then the library board I'm not sure we do much with that but they were brought to us the names uh Joseph P Rose Mays and mat Cohen to fill those positions question a comment I'll hear and any proceed to vote third 17 Z passes next we'll move right along to reports of elected officials County mayor Mark po sir no other comment unless you need something from the special from the work is there a question or comment before we proceed Mr doctor uh mayor pots you might be able to answer these might not but I had I wrote three things down is anyone it's my understanding that there's been some excuse me it's my understanding there's been some recent changes to the so-called sheds on Jim Henry Road and that it was the county approved that it' be broken up into two lots is can you or is there anyone here that can give everyone here an update on what the current status of that property is I don't know I haven't been informed of that but I can check into it but I don't know what the status is unless somebody here on planning it or it didn't plan office it has not come before planning yeah so I don't know of any action that's been taken well if if you would wouldn't mind would be so kind if you could check on that and send the Commissioners an email I know I can distribute to the to the people who I know who are concerned yeah I'll check

out tomorrow and try to get an email out on on the Miss mcsmith point on the ambulance I know used to we had a normally had seven ambulances on K right this new one should have been at there's a protocol that where ambulances when as ambulances go into service other ambulances start getting pulled towards the center of the county I'm sure you're well familiar with that so for for you in the audience if if the county gets down so there's one only ambulance only one ambulance available it'll I believe be sitting at the co-op across from my high school because that's center of the county he's a not long M so I would hope with the addition of this ambulance that protocol got adjusted such that an ambulance can stay at station 4 longer I'm not no longer intricately involved in the EMS movement anymore I know what the protocol is I do know on a regular basis every day I see a request for people to work go out um short staff so that puts them down ambulance I don't know whether they get them I see it's almost a daily thing I can almost set my clock by need somebody work me at 12 somebody do this what happened in that particular inst I I don't know the details another thing that's affecting an is Brad's not here I was going to hand that off to him well that all I wanted to ask you would you ask him to come to our April meeting I will and he was here at the work session so or work yeah and share the old Protocol New protocol and address some of these things so let let me tell you real quick one thing that's that's that's creating longer times on ambulances in the ER when they take a patient in they're having to stay there anywhere from 1 two to 3 hours with the patient tied up on our stretcher because they can't offload on the ER so I saw a

thing today on a local hospital says they're on critical divert don't bring them here so that means it's a problem that's sping knowledge it's a problem an EMS comes around you go in and and I really feel for people cuz I I spend a lot time at EMS I'd hate to have to think I had to sit on one of them stretchers for two hours waiting at up or Fort Sanders at a local hospital that you couldn't be off loting so the hospital sign knowledge problem which makes a backlog for the truck that needs to get back to chest in the hill or the trucks that moved can't get there what happened in this incident we'll ask Mr Phillips to come back well my last one and again Mr Phillips can address this but in a separate call there the one miss mcsmith was talking about we had a patient chest Hill First Responders had a patient at Foothills English Mountain steep area there just no way you're going to get an ambulance there and we were prepared if necessary to bring that patient out in a four-wheel drive vehicle and get that patient to the ambulance now at the end of the day the patient refused treatment refused to be transported so we go back in service and lo and behold the ambulance slides off the road going back to the station and we pull it out so I just wanted to ask Brad I know we've heard a lot about spending revenue and money but u i just like for him talk about does he need four-wheel drive aanes if he does how much would he need and what's the cost and the other thing is I know Paris Chapel fire called the road department and asked for some help cuz just getting turning off in and out on Paris chaper Road is tough and with emergency vehicles fire trucks I tell you from my experience they used to have four-wheel drive am they didn't work out really well they stopped about as well as two wheel drive uh so all the EMA supervisors have

four-wheel drive vehicles that they can potentially get in get the patient in that vehicle is easier to get it out they've all got wenches on them used to do some of that on dialysis patients when it's solid ice just use our vehicle but there's times and they have other means like most of the fir Parks have some type of ATV to help with and and that's fine I just want to give him an opportunity to address that thank you you're wel I just have a clarification question for the mayor Terry so do we have eight ambulances in service now or is it still seven I don't know I I I don't think it's a matter of equipment it's a matter of personel nine nine anes just matter how many of them are s at a hospital trying to offload their patient for hours anyone else question or comment before we proceed to vote 17 Zer passed next on the agenda is Chairman's comments all I have for you is don't forget your statement of Interest eics yep do not forget has to be filed by the end of the month next we have circuit Sessions Court Kevin Poe

Memorial you have any questions is there a question or comment before we proceed to vote and how much long or short form I'm here at your pleasure last year August uh the responsibility for the law library fund was transferred to me discussion with Miss Elder we reviewed the fund and found that since 2010 to 2014 20 people had accessed that at a cost of $130,000 to the county we um stopped that wasteful spending within 30 minutes of the review and I recommended that one less than one year's funding of that at a cost of $10,000 be used for a memorial at the Justice Center for Public Safety um you asked me to cicit what the cost would be and it my answer is at or below $10,000 is there a question or comment is that is that exactly what we're voting on I haven't read the resolution there's no resolution there is none okay you're good yeah I didn't make a motion I came here I made a presentation you have to look back at what happened or how how it got here from the is that accurate

you 101 it would have to be fund balance okay come out of general fund 101 fund balance up to you said 10,000 at or below $10,000 okay and then I guess I would ask in your motion what you want me to do after this cuz we kind of talked about it like as far as action do you want me to solicit a PO from the finance department and like go forward or what what is this vote going to do I want you just listed a this will secure your funding yeah fing to go forward with it is that all you need fantastic thank you Ronnie con Kevin has there been any contact with the fop because they've been uh soliciting donations for probably a year longer now for the same purpose I think longer and it's been Shane hando who is the president has had probably 10 meetings with me um my commissioner Coleman reference the fop um internally they have solicited funds for the Fraternal Order of Police and a memorial for police officers and that's a fantastic organization and it uh has a has a broad approach to law enforcement um my presentation and through by and through the fop um I don't know how the fop moves or what they do if they approach the County Commission and you know secure property or what mine is specifically for the public safety that is not covered by the fop and that Memorial so in the planning with Shane hu who last time I spoke is is he the president of the okay so um in conjunction with the fop and not speaking on their

behalf our Memorial allows for expansion for what whoever fop member comes before this body and requests to do whatever on County property so through me and him whatever we do today allows for whatever the fop does in expansion of that same site and I do you have to ask Shane about well I guess another thing is the fop has better than $10,000 to go toward that Memorial so you know I think it's something that uh we need to work together on and maybe use those funds to uh do the whole project I I mean might might get Shane here and ask him ask him that question I don't know I'm I'm speaking on behalf of Public Safety and securing a site for those not covered by the fop app and then again if I'm sure Shane would be able to report to you the meetings that we've and discussions that we've had but but yes uh if if the question is do we use the fop's funds to fund this Memorial absolutely I mean Mr Greg well it sounds like we have two good two good programs and we can make I mean if we go make a bigger Memorial to honor both groups of people there's nothing wrong with that it sounds like it pretty much going to be covered with what I proposed and with what you said they're equal funding it sounds like about 10,000 a piece which is not bad for having the memorial for turn over police and first respond well I can say the grants already already been purchased by the fop and it's sitting in the uh impound lot at Sher Department yeah he I I looked at it there is a piece of granite it's fantastic it's beautiful there's several judges names that are not on it

um yeah there's some there's some uh Personnel from the 911 um office that are that are not on that piece of granite so I I just want to and make sure that the people that sacrific their life for this County are memorialized then whatever teamwork we need to work with I'm I'm all in you ready SC all right we have a motion on floor's been seconded thank you sir 170 it passes next we have Highway Department Joe Patterson of v on roads hang on just a second here so we can catch up is there a question or comment Joe do you have anything to add we shall proceed to vote oh we got a motion who made the motion got a motion by Austin Brooks and second by Rob Levens passes 170 and we got a second one for the removal attorning of haris

Fae okay we've got another vote in the highway department for returning Harrison Ferry Road is that hey return to land owner All Passes 17 Z that will conclude the highway Department's business next we have budget committee yes sir Mr chairman first is a general fund 101 Amendment Six is a C cdb Grant left 20 21 on some analis clearing up all that so Mr chairman question or comment proceed to vote 170 sir next we have general fund 101 budget amendment number seven now in your packet on item one uh for EMS taken in the grant uh it was requested a change in it and it went through the budget committee so you all need to make a note that that is 413 drugs and medic rather than 79 other equipment this is a lengthy Amendment 1329 it uses [Music] $57,200 852 and change so move it Mr chair

question or comment Mr Brook Mr chairman yes sir I request that item six be voted on separately from this budget amendment and then item 28 be voted on separately from this budget amendment is there any objection all right so move Mr chairman 1 through 29- 6 and 28 you'll be voting down 1 through 29 - 6 and 8 28 28 is that correct yes sir motion 17 Z sir item Six Ada transfer out of 8 funds expenditure line for Americans disability approvement the county and so move the chairman question or comment Mr Brooks Mr chairman I voted against this in budget committee and I'm asking my Commissioners to join me voting against it here $72,000 for a sidewalk seems a bit steep to me so I'm asking that the commission vote no on this uh item's the that is the sidewalk behind the mayor's office over next door you to address

that we have an ADA architect this is the figure he came back this is not our figure he he he comes in it's sidewalk placing sidewalk adding a handicap space fixing some sewer that's uh not attached to Danger that's included so uh the way you normally do it you you get a price from the architect they put it out to bid Mr Brooks Valley P she put it out for 71,000 guess what the bid's going to come back at so I I don't that that's exactly that's explanation next we have Terry doy uh Miss Jesse there's there's you remember the previous commission allocated money towards some of the priorities on adna and the finance director was given the authority to authorize the work provided the cost was wasin the scope of work estimate does this fall into that category yes ,500 I'm not sure what included in that this was done long time ago years Partners remember from Partners did the study yeah well and that was several years ago ago and we all know what inflation has done Years thank you Jim y so mayor could you share with us once more I know you didn't the facilities committee but what that room what this would actually provide access

to the lower portion of the annex now houses a lot of records that come from archives records that can be seen no handicap inance into that if you've ever been back it's a stoop it's a step concrete's faing it's it's in bad shape so it needs to be Ada entrance for anyone that needs to go in there and see those records uh so there needs to be a ramp and so the architect drew a a conceptual plan for the whole thing so that's that's the reason and if County ever wanted to use that for any other purpose you still going have to be ADA Compliant to get in there so it's not urgent based on what Miss Jesse just said wasn't identified as urgent four or five years ago when that list was first produced so there'll be nothing wrong with taking another shot at it and see if we can get a sidewalk for 40 or 50,000 bucks no problem it's just I think the tear out and doing the ramp and they were going to add a handicapped SP parking space to connect to it so all right and you're not getting how many calls you get to come in to the records room on a month just just the archives just going in and out right now so okay but yeah so it's not urgent not hearing anybody else we'll proceed to vote voting on the 71 $ 71,9 for yes a yes vote would approve it a no vote is to strike

it got three yes 14 NOS ex trct number 28 Mr chairman budgeted funds use from fund balance for zoning compliant office position adjustments for uh fiscal year 2425 due to the zoning officer on medical leave this request of the mayor so move it Mr chairman Mr Brooks Mr chairman a question for the mayor so would this is this promoting Stephanie into the zoning compliance officer position is that correct at time his retirement uh we're still having to pay uh the previous cuz they have haven't reached they will reach retirement so these funds is not to what the level he was is to give a increase for the work that she's doing for the rest of this year but there's no funds in the budget because we're having to pay someone who is not working we don't have a choice in that so that's where we're at has this gone before Personnel committee no it has not it's under the mayor okay I would prefer this to go under the Personnel committee I realize it may not have to but I'd feel more comfortable um because I think there's going to be some other things coming out of our zoning office next Tuesday at our Planning Commission meeting regarding the sheds Mr Jim snog so sorry I would wasn't aware of what was going on there is it a temporary change and then that money will be removed once the other position is filled full-time that money will just finish out this year and it will not be a it's just to finish this year out because we two people I understand

that so when the position is filled I guess Pop's position if he's doesn't return does change that budget I understand but will this person's PID go back to the current level since that work will be redistributed unless this person takes the directorship that person becomes the director go that opens up position okay so is that clear in this in the motion that this is a temporary pay adjustment while taking on those addition yes it is it's a it's an interim it's an interim salary supplement is what it ends up being because you're paying two people one is on medical and that particular person still has to be paid and to pay the interim the the mayor is requesting a supplement salary supplement for that position but it's freeing up another position that he is working on for a codes and part of this is uh help me out Miss Jesse there's a there's an element in there on the other position that has to be covered on insurance for family coverage yes on the if if they need it that that we we figure it whe need or not so the way we it we just adjusts remain of is not creating that's not what I'm asking I'm just asking is it an interim it's interim salary supplement and it's not the full amount that the director was making I understand so yeah Mr re Mr chairman Mr Mayor I one of my concerns is and and I think some of our citizens have brought this out that we

need to be proactive in the future uh I think uh a department head in the zoning department is extremely important and I think we should make sure that when it comes time to find someone that we get the input from the now present department head and and we really take time to interview people that are going to be able to fully take care of that position to act in that position I don't know exactly uh how the person you're talking about would fill in at that position at this time I just have doubt with that and I think we as commission should get more involved when it comes to Personnel we respect the mayor normally we agree with the mayor but we really need to start being transparent within this commission whatever affects the citizens of this County so I really can't support this at this time thank you katier okay I have a question for the mayor if this is an interim one day when you deem you want to have your Perman perent replacement does it come back around that the person you select or the mayor has complete control with this selection of this employee does that make sense no it fil on the mayor by so you don't go through the Personnel committee anyway no not on this one okay and and if it's interim you can decide at the time when you have to have the person who's

going to fill the role but this is just an interim we're kind of financially bound at this time because you don't want to put another director in there at a director's salary until we get to that point of a retirement and there's actually a position available this is an interum temporary to fill that position not at full salary but until we get to that point okay thank you we shall proceed to vote could you repeat the motion please I pressed the button to resp to speak I which I don't want to now but but I didn't see it it's a recommendation from budget committee recommendation budget committee for a s uh interim salary supplement okay for the remaining fiscal year of 2425 got you 14 years three no passes Mr Mayor all right next is general fund 101 number eight unassign comes some unassigned fund balance this came through the uh budget committee quite a bit of discussion but is a request from the sheriff's department for $600,000 for medical and dental expenditure for inmate medical expenses uh Miss Jesse this is a negotiated amount after it was negotiated down from 900 iton Sy

does anyone have any Sheriff questions for Sheriff coffee but this is for medical expenses to pay inmate medical expenses already incurred already we have will be off to the state for reimbursement and we'll see how much they will reimburse us Mr Brooks I think you got we got you crossed up here you speak next and Ronnie colan thank you Mr chairman uh during the discussion in budget committee it uh was brought up that there are potential other bills that this county has paid that we could go to the state and ask to be paid back for and I believe our Circuit Court Clerk and our Sheriff are going to be working together uh to sort that out and I just felt like the full commission needed to to know that the discussion we had in budget committee but my understanding is we don't have any choice but to pay the bill so how you Mr Ronnie long story short the monies we owe we have to pay there's no way around it correct correct that's all I got we shall proceed to vote 17 yes Z

no general fund 101 amendment number nine uh budget funds received from me Tennessee Foundation Grant into the correct uh expenditure line so move it Mr chairman $75,000 proceed to vote 17 Z sir next Highway fund 131 Amendment two so move it Mr chairman uses Reserve balance of 20 $2,152 we shall proceed to vote 170 sir Capital fund 171 Amendment Three 1 through five budget Funds American Disability Act you'll see this is the other side of that one and since it failed it will be struck on on number one please make that correction so you're voting on two through five so move it Mr chairman question not hearing any proceed to vote 170 sir lanfield 207 amendment number two $200,000 budgeting fund from fund balance due to engineering costs and permit modifications for disposal fees so move it Mr chairman proceed to

vote 17 Z sir fund 141 budget amendment number five this one was one that was added went through of at our special meeting Tisa payments $1 52,1 so move it Mr chairman proceed to vote Mr Scarlet would you please repeat the uh what we're voting on this is Tissa Revenue coming coming in uh bid budget amendment number five item one item one item only okay yeah that was in the packet yeah this isn't what we just discussed in the budget meeting yeah it was oh okay all right what you voted on over yeah proceed to vote please 170 pass fund 141 general purpose budget amendment number six a request this request was changed items 2 through four were struck uh it leaves one item only unassigned fund balance Capital 1 million $968,000 for roof Replacements and repairs so move it Mr chairman proce the votee when we get there t Docker uh excuse me this this budget amendment request is in the

neighborhood of $2 million to do roof roof Replacements at various schools and and I'm all for being proactive and staying ahead but it feels to me like if we've got $2 million needs to be spent at Jaron Elementary School um the other amendments that didn't pass was about 10.8 million to spend at other school so they were roughly asking for 10.8 million to be spent and and not towards Jon Elementary so I'm against this if we have an emergency and something needs to come up we can replace it but I think with their if they have that 10.8 million uh they've already got a million or maybe three set aside for juston elementary I think when the when the request comes County Commission can come up with several million dollars and I think we can get at least in the neighborhood of 20 to 23 million cash to take care of the issues at Jaron Elementary School and for everything we've heard about it I think it are be a priority so I'm against this one thank you Jim SN Mr cman why were items 2 three and four removed they didn't pass budget did not pass budget I understand they were struck so you're one item only item one 1. n68 I was the only one that survived the budget committee

this we can finish up those I know we need to go to money but there's over10 million left that we use in the right not no no sir there's about 8 million the total the total the total budget was request for a little almost nine it was uh 10 milon 868 th000 so there's a short 9 million that's what curious about that we still would have to 9 million right 11 million on the sign if only it number one it Le unal we shall proceed to vote we have 13 yes and four NOS passes sir 141 General budget amendment number eight Career and Technical education SPC Grant $4 4,532 in change so move it Mr chairman hold on just a second you said budget amendment seven seven I'm sorry I think you meant seven I'm sorry I've missed one here let's go to budget amendment seven yeah Career and Technical education special education and transportation

items 1 through four so move it Mr chairman proceed to vote 17 yes z0 passes now budget amendment number eight so move it Mr chairman proceed to vote 170 Pro 141 budget amendment number nine items 1 through six so move it Mr chairman proceed 170 sir 141 budget amendment number 10 140 sorry 141 it's not n number n this is a carryover does everybody have does everybody have budget amendment number 10 no okay it is maintenance of plant it is from unassigned fund balance uh Move Motion to the school board on 1925 to fund assistant maintenance supervisor position for the remainder of the fiscal year $3 37,3 [Music] any questions on it that question or comment repeat the amount please $ 37,3

60 proceed the vote it has been approved by the budget committee so move it Mr chairman Ransom Douglas 170 proceed 142 Federal fund budget amendment number five items one through four so move it Mr chairman title money question or comment proceed to vote [Music] 1601 exstension 142 Federal fund budget amendment number six items 1 and two idea Part B Consolidated title one so move it Mr chairman question or comment proceed to vote sir all right policy 6.8 Surplus policy Surplus property policy so move it Mr chairman I've got a travel policy 2.1 a purchasing policy 3.1 before it all right I can get to

it my list is different my number one is travel policy 2.1 all right so move it Mr chairman not hearing a question or comment proceed the vote [Music] all right purchasing policy 3.1 so move it Mr chairman proceed to vote Surplus property policy 6.8 so move it Mr chairman question or comment not hearing any proceed 170 passes sir debt management policy 4.3 so move it Mr chairman question or comment not hearing any proceed to vote 170 pastors I'm done Mr chairman thank you sir next we're down to Old business we're going it's 8:00 we're going to take a short restroom break let's get back in here and we will proceed

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e e this meeting is back to order first resolution of O business is 2024 D31 resolution to Levy a mineral Severance tax on all sand gravel Sandstone CH and Limestone severed from the ground in Jefferson County Tennessee we have a motion on the floor in a second Austin Brooks and Marcus Reed question or comment can't hear you talk in the microphone being that it's in 2025 should it not be renumbered for 2025 when it's passed it was referred over is what it was it'll be a 25 it won't be in the tile of

it that's why it still has that 24 we'll have to move it to a new number that would be it'd be Fort Mr Mayor sir if if we renumber this resolution it'd be 20 25-14 that'd be correct it would be correct because it was rolled from previous the same resolution Mr scarlet and then Jim snog as I said in the work session I'm against this because I don't think it's going to create much value and at least in the Seventh District that mine sitting down there there's 450 jobs down there and I would like to at least know exactly what we're risking on 450 jobs and I'd like to at least know a number on this thing before we start down this road because to me this is a significant risk with what that mine sitting down there so does the maker of the motion have any idea what this is going to bring in okay Mr bevens your motion do you have any idea what this tax will Levy for year well um Mr Clark If you have the graphic we can put it up there and we'll go through it but if it's not going to make much I don't know how to get anybody fired either let's see hold on just a second

one would be Clos that's what I bear with us for just a second uh plus see the one with the East Tennessee on it and what the current Counties have it are bringing in quarterly Okay so people watching on YouTube or whatever at home can't see this very well we need to address that too by the way at some point Knox County is in the lead of this with two thou $223,500 they just instituted this this is the first quarter they've had it okay the low on it should be like Clayburn County it's 45,000 again that's 45,000 more than we have and we should land somewhere in the middle of those I think more you heard the highway director say we can't pay two miles with the budget they have 100% of this goes to Highway Paving has to that's what all the other counties use it for if you can show the other Graphics sir oh Union County there is not on yours I didn't have the number time 89,000 $85. 77 Ma I I guess

sir and I guess the the other question I'm still asking is all of these other counties are gross amounts they are Quarry operations they are not mining operations deep mines County Green County unoy I guess the mins don't have to worry about it then do they I I I don't know what you're asking I don't see how that can in any way hamper a job when it operates other mines and these well you sell gross amount on the other mines they're selling everything they're putting out of there well if it's $10,000 hold it one of talk at a time Mr Scarlet you got the floor B can answer agme is exempt zinc can't be taxed so the only thing left is Stone so I'm asking for that little amount what are we putting at risk it would seem like you answered yourself sir nothing nothing they operate just fine in Knox County with those if it doesn't affect the mines what you're saying then then what's the problem we have a new quar and pedmont out here that we might get something back from so if you ever been behind a rock truck or drove down the roads near the mines or any of these other places they're destroyed we can't pay but two miles of Road okay we can't even pay that we don't want to tax the prop prop owners we don't want to tax the wheel tax chairman commissioner Scarlet has the floor he sure does as I say based on not knowing what this thing's going to bring in I am not going to put 450 jobs down there in New Market at risk thank you Mr chairman thank you sir Mr snug so I just like to share my work experiences relative to these mins over the past few years years um I worked for 177 years down in Mascot at

that industrial park next to the mine and over that 17 years we saw these mine jobs ramp up and ramp down a lot of it driven by the it's a commodity product the biggest ramp up we saw was when CH China exploded in the mid 2000s and we lose people to that then a few months later they're back because these investment groups got what they wanted out of the minds and then laid everybody off I and I think maybe Miss billers mentioned this this is 15 cents per ton they're going to shut down the mine for that it's going to be passed on to the customer just like right now those of us that are cattle Farmers we're getting double what we were two years ago okay that and then we as consumers are going to bear that cost they're we're not going to stop eating beef because of that they're not going to shut down the mine for 15 cents a ton they're going to pass on to us or the retailer in between so again I the Minds come and go even since I was a kid people I knew who grew up with and white pine worked in the mines they're working and then they're laid off it's all supply and demand it's a global driven economy and then the other piece of good news that would be positive for our minds that are selling the rock that they harvest out of that if this big announcement we're getting from our new Administration tomorrow about an in infrastructure explosion that could be increased demand on that as well and one more experience down to what was mentioned last week's meeting um couple years ago I was running a staffing firm and we supplied to the mine just inside of Knox County and also to the one here in Strawberry planes uh upwards to 100 positions or so anyway that was progressing well and this was a late 20122 and that mine in Gordonville was open because they were asking us to open an office down there and consider

supplying staff there so I'm I'm not sure about the closure that was presented last week but it's basic economics if that Baseline input goes up they're not going to stop producing they're going to pass that on to the customer and keep product rolling so and I I appreciate John Neil's concern I mean there a lot of good jobs there pay well um but again it's 15 cents a ton they're not going to shut down a factory over mining operation over that so thank you okay I've tried to do my due diligence on this researching um it's a hazy gray topic to me and it's difficult to make a decision so I can see why there's debate on both sides but I just wanted to give some information that I F found while doing research so in East Tennessee Nar has three mine location one's EML which is in Knox County one's Co boy Jefferson County third one's young mine Jefferson County but they're all processed in Jefferson County Knox County implemented the mineral tax in 2022 so one of those three locations has a mineral tax associated with it Nar processes for zinc the zinc's not taxed the byproducts are AG LOM which the agriculture is not taxed and the sales agent Tennessee Valley Resources um the other byproducts Rock which is what the debate is associated with the mines and the sales agent is Mossy Creek Mining the Minal tax goes to the roads is the tax unpredictable with Revenue yes but it all goes to the roads is it a problematic tax I was asked it's self-reported from the companies and the money comes back to the county so it's not going to cost us a money to oversee

it um Nar is the third largest non-government employer in our County with around 450 employees the prices of zinc rise and fall periodically um you can get online and you can find tables to see what years they rise and fall I don't know what causes the the pattern but it's a global commodity and the prices based on supply and demand across the world the mins reduce production periodically which is based on the pricing and what the M the companies are making for the zinc as far far as the rock I was trying to determine the increase of product sales for the Nar Rock but it's hard to do because they sell it at wholesale cost which makes a difference from retail cuz I can find retail but I can't find wholesale 10 months out last year Rock was not sold from Mossy Creek Mining the Jefferson County mines don't have geranium or gallium resources which is something they're looking for currently at Gordonville Jefferson County processing plant has more than two times the capacity to process than Gordonville the difference this time we're voting on it that I see is pedmont is producing Rock so those are just that's just some information who is next call the question the question has been called We Shall proceed to vote we're voting on The yeah the call should be the voting on the motion we call the question no wait

a minute you about to get behind me there no we're voting on the question question is that the call we don't have to vote on okay so you're voting on the motion we're voting on the actual motion yes if you're for it no if you're against it you have 10 yeses seven NOS takes 14 votes to pass this tax it fails next we have resolution 2025 d01 resolution requesting the 114th session of Tennessee General Assembly to allocate half of the real estate transfer tax to the county where the tax is collected on a reoccurring basis T Docker uh chairman I just like to say the the numbers for the bill the numbers on the bills for the house and the Senate have not been assigned yet so uh I'd like to include that if this commission approves the resolution I'd like for it to be with understanding that once those numbers have been assigned the mayor's office may be per permitted to insert those Bill numbers into the resolutions uh if anyone has any questions is David seal you still here do you have anything

okay sorry this bill does have sponsor okay thank you we shall proceed to vote 170 pass next we have resolution 202-02 a resolution to apply for a Tennessee Community Development block grant as set forth in title one of the Housing Community Development Act of 1974 not hearing a question or comment we'll proceed to vote 170 passed C we have resolution 202-0324 vote on these or should we follow that policy has it gone to the school board and then has it gone to the fire departments and rescue squad but it has now so my question is now follow Poli so do we need to vote on these three or follow that policy either way they

have parliamentarian can I get your opinion I would make if I was doing it I would I would make this contingent upon following that [Music] policy that needs to be Amendment yes I'd like to amend the motion to approve that all three of these contingent upon follow following that policy question a comment we shall proceed to vote 17 yes Z no so ased you want to take all three of them together because we've done voted on one of them say be hard to do that we just go ahead and take them one at a time next you have D resolution 20254 resolution declaring Surplus to authorize the registered AGS Jer County to Surplus and dispose set equipment got a motion in second to vote would Mr Doner need to

amend this one do we need to do it item by item well that's that was my point well yeah I'd like to me this one the same manner I'll include that in the motion yes just includeing the motion and guess what I'm going to do on the next one that's that that was my thinking while ago that's why I was trying to do them all three together so you just do one 170 pass next you have resolution we shall proceed to vote 170 next we have F resolution 20 25-8 a resolution authorizing an additional motor vehicle privilege tax and providing for the deposition of the proceeds thereof this is commissioner Reed's resolution is there a question or comment not hearing any we'll proceed to vote you got to get a motion in a second no we got to have a motion heid what would you want to say wait wait for the motion please is there a motion on the floor

fails for La is I I wouldn't see anything oh okay oh there it is I got you now Marcus re made the motion Janet ort second it Mr John Neil Scarlet this wheel tax to take the proceeds and put into a reoccurring expense and to put this into something that maintenance of effort is a bad idea and therefore I cannot support this okay anybody else question or comment anybody else Mr re we need to do something okay I uh respect what Mr SARS had to say I think he has great ideas in his uh paper that he presented to us uh we need to do something uh we cannot continue allowing our employees not to be taken care of this is written so you as commission working with the department heads to come to agreement so we can do something to help retain Sheriff deputies 911 dispatchers and other members of the county side of the house uh if anyone looks at what Mr SAR has done and wants to amend something the floor is open but we are basically going to do the same thing when we look at the next resolution coming up so it's time to either do something for the county or

not thank you thank you sir we shall proceed to vote you have six yes 11 NOS fails next we have of G resolution 2025 -09 a resolution authorizing an additional motor vehicle privilege tax in providing for the deposition of the proceeds thereof this is commissioner huffaker and commissioner Do's motion is there a motion on the floor in a second kti H Faker and Terry doy is there a question or comment before we proceed to vote we have a Greg bird yes I'd like to amend this uh motion to add another 15 cents to it making a $50 wheel tax and that'll be on vehic on cars and same go up the same percentage for the wheel tax from uh motorcycles and this extra 15 cents and go straight to the general $15 go to the general fund is there a second on the motion we will vote uh Mr Austin Brooks I just want to confirm this resolution has no expiration is that

correct no expiration that is correct thank you sir dollar am mcy it be 30 M haker the dollar amount on motorcycle does average out to 30 okay you tell me I always said the same percent yes yes okay it' be the same Jim sers so I'm not in favor of a no expiration date okay I've heard this since I was a kid about will taxes go on forever and all it serves as a crutch we we talk about missing meetings for these other um short-term rentals and it it's just a cushion okay if we put that out there too long then we're going to lose the sense of urgency to get other revenue streams started okay so why not own up to it and put a three-year limit on this and get busy with getting these other things pushed through instead of just an open-ended policy have some courage put an ending on it and let's get to work on these other things that's it Mr re I have I'd like to amend the motion we're R an amendment I would like to amend this motion that if this wheel tax is approved you I'm sorry you can't we're you're want to amend an amendment or a motion oh which amendment are we on right now we are voting on an amendment to the original motion okay IED want to amend the original motion wait just a second we'll see if it pass I tried while ago when we were still in discussion and it didn't come up on the screen I'm sorry turn at me next time

I'm trying to keep with everybody so we can't amend an amendment yes something you can but can but that's what I saying it has to be amend Amendment if it's done now if it's done after the vote you can actually right well you want to amend the amendment I'd like to amend the amendment to add that if this is approved that this goes to the citizens of the county in the 2028 election as a referendum and allow them to vote yes or no on this okay your Mo your motion to amend the amendment is don't follow follow that to send it to a referendum in 2028 election right 2028 that's what I heard 2028 yes that would be the next election where it could be possibly looked at6 okay we got a motion to amend and Amendment is there a second is there a second to amend amendment I have not seen okay I've got a second now okay now we can discuss okay you have fa okay can somebody please clarify what election it could actually go on what ballot because I'm unclear of the year the amendment was the 20208 that's what's currently on the floor so it be on the

2028 that's what they make of am and it stays into effect until after the vote it can yes 28 vote so you have to get through the voting year so it apply maybe in 2029 well it would once you lock it in say if it's part of the tax levy once you lock that in it's it's in whatever year you're on that's right right so okay if they voted it would be the next budget that come up that either used it or didn't use it once you lock it in the state don't let you change that they won't let Miss Jesse pull out Revenue Austin Brooks just wanted to point out there is an election in 2026 that would be the next election held in this County okay Greg bird and one thing with if I understand it right with no no sun no sunet set in this thing it can go away at any time you don't have to wait you know if it's got sunset for four years you can't get rid of it till four years this has nothing so if it's know you can get rid of it at any time County Commission can vote to end it at any moment yes so Sunset me after the fiscal year it's being used after it's being used they can't pull it out of a revenue line once the budget's set yeah cuz we can only set a budget from year to year Jim snas I'm just asking is that going to be reality everybody needs to think of is that reality that we're going to come up we're going to get it together soon enough and say hey we got enough money

let's just go ahe and cancel this whe tax that's not reality all right we got to generate more revenue and this gives us a never ending cushion if it's not got a sunset time on it we'll be talking about this 10 years from now Katy haker I'm done okay so I think that if there's election in 2026 I I don't think that gives enough time to see what the new revenue streams could bring in so your shortterm rentals there's going to be a bridge you have to get through a few years to determine what it's even going to generate um I think there are some positive things different people are working on to diversify the tax base but I think if you put it on the 2026 election that doesn't give enough time to get some of these other revenue streams in place um so you can balance a budget with what we're the dollar amount we're talking about so is it what year are we talking about for the I just want clarification before we vote on what year we're talking about putting it on the [Music] referendum what the motion is did I cut you off short Jim I seen your request to speak come back on I apologize I thought you was done oh okay Jan Norton um I think Katie had a very valid point that you know of course we didn't vote vote some of these taxes in today but uh with the the taxes that we are trying to be bring in and

and bring in this Revenue it does take time for that Revenue to actually show up and so this would give us a bridge between now and and then till those revenues come in and I would rather the people choose whether or not to take it off or put it back on because they're the ones having to pay it um since I've been a county commissioner um over two years I think I've had a total of five phone calls I mean it's I'm not hearing from the people enough you know just the same five people every time so I would like for the people to have a choice as to whether they want to keep it or or get rid of it and what I've been told by the people who are calling me is they don't want any more property taxes and I want to see those property taxes come down and they're all more for this will tax so I think we need to go ahead and do it get ourselves out of the hole before we end up where we were several years ago and and at that point point if we can cut it out and the people choose to do so then let them choose we shall proceed to vote on the amended Amendment no no did I say that wrong you're voting on the amendment to the to amend all right I thought I said it wrong does everyone understand what they're voting on we're voting on Marcus Marcus am you're voting on Marcus Amendment his his Amendment only right if you're for his Amendment yes if not no we have nine yeses eight NOS fails okay we're back to the original amend

Amendment so we will vote on the original amendment to change Katie's resolution from 35 to 50 question or comment before we vote we shall proceed to vote okay okay for just just for clarity for clarity the amendment is to add an additional $15 and whatever the dollar amount was for the motorcycle so 15 to 30 35 go 35 additional $15 it's motorcycles will claim this de climb the same amount are we on the bir Amendment yes we're on the original Amendment if you are for that Amendment vote Yes if you are against it vote no the amendment fails we're back to the original motion we shall proceed to vote T doctor I'm not sure if I can really offer this amendment again but if I can I want to try it one more time I want to keep it $35 but I want to amend to say that this if passed it stays in place until it

goes on the public reference referendum in the 2000 election I favor that year but 2028 because it's a presidential election and whatever the voters say in that election the will tax continues or ends at the end of that physical year we have an amendment on the floor is there a second [Music] Katie do you have to speak I want to speak on the original motion all right hang on you said it depends on how they vote okay they say yes we keep it they say no with that you got vote three NOS 14 yeses passes so the original motion is amended correct

correct so we're back to to the original motion as amended we shall proceed to vote Katie would you want to speak I do want to speak okay so this is $35 if you look at the budget the LA last year how we balanced the budget we removed over $1.5 million from what what we had been supporting through the years of essentially so this is putting back it supports Public Safety shifts Vehicles EMS ambulances fire department rescue squad funding and adds a little bit to the public education capital and the public highways Capital this is not going to balance our budget but it it does help a lot and I really hope every single one of you vote to support this because our budget is way off this year and I've heard from multiple people they would prefer a whe tax over a property tax increase this does not increase maintenance of effort it exempts those who receive the Tennessee property tax relief program the goal is to replace back the m mostly what we removed from last year so I really hope everybody will report this um to help with our budgeting we shall proceed to vote pass the 16 yes one

no we shall move right along to resolution 2025 f 10 resolution amending the zoning resolution of Jon County Tennessee to reflect certain prohibited uses and committed uses of A1 R2 and C2 zoning districts assist a referral Mr Brooks Mr chairman uh this uh resolution would just the gist of it is to take campgrounds out of the A1 Zone 80% of the County's land is in the A1 zone so a campground could pop up anywhere maybe next to you so I'm suggesting that we move that out and put that into the C2 Zone which would also uh affect the way the property is taxed uh I think we didn't agree campgrounds are commercial use this resolution was written by our County attorney so you're wanting to pass the resolution itself Mr chairman uh it's my understanding this resolution would need to pass tonight it would then go to the regional Planning Commission from there it would go to the city planning commissions and then it would come back to this body for final approval we have a motion in a second question or comment we shall proceed to vote John NE Mr chairman if we do this this way then there's no need to have a Planning Commission if you're dictating a thing and passing it already that's not the procedure to do it and this thing here just so everybody understands it says permitted uses is hereby amended by placing a period duplex and deleting the words mobile home on individual Lots so if this

passes modula housing's done in jerson County because it's not permitted use anyone else you rest rest got a whole bunch of people Jim nogas you're up first yeah I need some clarification on that so is that factual can't in commercial the words mobile homes on individual lots are deleted as an allowed and per use can I speak to that that Austin is that correct that what you're intention was floor then you can have the floor I'm I'm just yeah just clarify that for us please Austin can I answer the question Mr chairman yes K am I yes so my question was the same if Austin can I ask Austin if he can answer the question please okay do I have the floor Mr chairman you sure do thank you so much all right so this does not delete it it actually moves it into the I believe the R2 Zone and as far as the procedure for which we are doing this uh this was recommended by our County attorney the law on this is extremely vague passing this resolution tonight the only thing we're doing is sending it on to the regional Planning Commission and then to the cities and then it comes back this is not a final pass and I believe Mr Scarlet sits on

Regional planning and uh I'd be happy to discuss it with you there so let me be clear and ask a question you are taking mobile homes out of A1 is that correct moving them into mobile home so if I buy five acres and it's A1 I cannot put a mobile home double wide whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa double wide does not fall into that definition mobile homes it rolls in on set of wheels and the definition is the same manufactured M Janet if you're done as a realtor I'll tell you right now there is almost no property in Jefferson County that you can put a double Wi on right now I have hunted the 14 other realtors in our firm have hunted there is nothing to be found the restrictions that people put on their properties almost always say no mobile homes a mobile home has to be rolled in um you can also have a manufactured home that's put together on site that is not a mobile home it looks like one it acts like one it quacks like one but it didn't roll in so it's not a mobile home so they can still do that but it is very difficult around here to find a piece of property with no restrictions I'm I'm looking for some now so if anybody's got some property don't have any restrictions on it let me know you j k h okay Austin thank you for bringing this

to she has that is correct that's fine so we'll move to the next one be that have you spoke yet yes so we're done speaking if somebody else wants to [Music] speak anyone else want to speak to this before we vote we'll proceed to vote you have seven yes 10 NOS fails anyway you look at we shall proceed on to resolution 2025 d11 res res olution recommending the general assembly of the state of Tennessee to protect private property rights by making or amending law to limit the power of an imminent domain I have a motion on the floor and a second Terry doctor chairman chairman this is the one where I got way ahead of myself and I guess it is because on 20 20251 I saw 114 session of the Tennesseee General Assembly but this is the one if passed I'd like permission from commission for the bill numbers to be inserted in the right place on the on the documents is that correct Mr seal okay do you accept the makers of the motion Sammy yes you and Ronnie is accept so be it we shall proceed to

vote 16 yes one no passes next we have resolution 20 25-12 resolution establishing infrastructure development districts Mr chairman got a little clarification on that real quick for you um this is a voluntary that the developer and it's designed to encourage low to moderate income housing U I wanted to do an impact fee but the state says we follow the same rules on an impact fee as we do on the adequate facilities growth so you have to grow at a certain percent over 10 years in order to enact that the state also kind of hinders us a little bit and they say so if you think you've grown more than that before the 10 years is up you can pay for a special census andus that you have so it's prohibited for that this here would be for uh basically for a developer that comes in that is trying to do a a different house a house that uh we have a shortage of we have people bringing jobs in there's nowhere for people to live I mean you know what the housing market is and I'm sure we might have a realtor that could tell us what prices are doing around here this would be someone that has the incentive to try to take 10 acres or so do affordable housing that can't really do the infrastructure cost up front they were voluntarily asking the idb would would help them that infrastructure but that infrastructure would be recovered by the county on a yearly basis until it was paid back so the county would not be out anything you would recover in your cost no one's applying for it at this

time this is simply another tool and the tool belt of the Industrial Development board any foring questions I question comment I got a question for long if we were to postpone this time postpone this if we were to postpone this until such time and leave it on the books open if something come along and somebody applied would we still be able to implement it prior to that or does it have to be implemented prior to what they're doing or application without knowing the in intricacies of it I would I would tell you it would have to be in place okay thank you Katie okay when I look at this it looks like high density affordable housing in the county doesn't have to necessarily be in the county the city can adopt it it so wouldn't the cities adopted on their own like I'm I don't we have no control over what the cities would do right so they would have their own so this would have to be a minimum of a 10 acre lot but it's and it would have to meet your zoning requirements what we in on that 10 acres it would be somebody that doesn't have the ability to put all the infrastructure in does come and move forward with the project I guess my concern is that we're going to turn around and we're going to improve high density housing in the county when everybody come out and said they don't want additional housing right and and and this is really the way I perceive it

is helping the developer with their costs cuz it's internal infrastructure it's not helping me as a citizen necessarily because they're going to have to take the cost on themselves to make the development so I really don't feel comfortable let me the intent of this every county is having Workforce issues in in in FA Market housing on where to live as we've been attracting people in it's start to rise to the point they go do you have the workforce to support us so U no one's on on this would have to be approved of the idb uh I don't think it in currency is high density out of the county I I think it's just limited to like 10 acres one acre lots something like that but I don't think you would be able to go out into the county and establish this type of infrastructure if if you follow me but I think it's about point I I don't know how this work out the legislature only gave us this ability in July this year so so if we postpone this or so we can discuss it more yes process it more figure out what am I actually no I I've got you out at the work session for information and uh I would like read That's to be put on so that's why I'd like a motion to postpone it a second definely I'm open for ideas next meeting so we've got a let me make a suggestion real quick refer it to the Industrial Development board and let them review it and come back and bring a recommendation to you how's that okay is that in a motion I'll make a motion everybody I'll withdraw my second you withraw your second send it back to the

okay so we're going to refer it to the Jim Saras while we figure this out request to speak up had my request to speak up before she made the motion can I ask the mayor a couple questions so what body determines a blighted area is it us as a commission or what down here when you're looking it says blighted area which is going to be the area that's designated for some type of development right the 10 acre but who determines what property is B it says H what is blighted property but what body determines that well that have to be planing zoning so if you're going to do develop you got to plan Zone you get a s plan get through then you would come here to try to get your infrastructure all right so with that boted means this property is not so good and it's run down buildings and so forth so the Planning Commission would then say hey we're going to say this property is no good and let it fall under this program it's near the Section 8 John Neil that's a pretty tough task is my point so I just want to know what body is that a county body or a state body that says plane plane refers to the plan commission but the blight I'm not I'm not sure how's it determin now for I don't know I think it's a good point for Katie to say let's study this a bit because I see that and I can say hm what bodies in charge is it some developers and engaged in that body and they want to so take some land somebody somebody could go down this road without this infrastructure package if they wanted to if they went through zoning and approval got everything done they would just not be able to get any help in putting their infrastructure in

which may make the difference of way they do it sure so let's say we don't have the infrastructure District in somebody comes in and they look at this property and they say blight it or whatever it is we want to do this development they would go through the regular procedure that they always do if they got that approval and then want this infrastructure it would have to be done through the idb and also approve of this body to do that does that make kind of but I still think it's a good idea to send it back to the idb let them look at other people do further study this is brand new it started in July Knox County adopted it and we'd be like second or third in the state but there's no there's no race here nobody's asking for it so we have time to study J Norton I'll just hold off with my question for now um I I want to study it further as well and I know that we are in great need of lower income housing um that I would love to see come to the people that need it um and it be done well so we can all live with it so that's let's study this and I I know I'll do my my due diligence as much as I can and bring as much information to the next meeting arrest we shall proceed what does commission wish to do we we had a second withdrawn so the second's been withdrawn so we're down to the original motion Kati motion I apologize for being behind we got a different problem we're figuring out right now so we got a big problem her motion is to refer is that correct Miss Katie so you need to a

motion on the floor to refer and do we have a second refer back to the idb I okay question or comment before we vote we're voting to refer back to idb proceed to vote oh we've got a beer board meeting Drive drink beer 190 passed full majority next on our agenda we got to throw it in reverse and go back to resolution and May 1st and the clerk says he needs 90 days so we're going to have to revisit this date it's going to have to be August first the state I'll will already be collecting uh May will taxes in April I mean people pay them ahead the state requests 90 days before they really request 120 uh which was a discussion we had two or three will tax resolutions ago but uh they'll already have renewals sent out for made renewals and they'll have the wrong amount on them and it will cause chaos in my office Mr jenon would you please take the podium please sir we my question to you is what's the best way to fix that well um and your parliamentary might want to weigh in too but uh um you you if youve if you passed

it and you're still in the in the in the same meeting I guess you could um I guess you could make a motion to um reconsider or to be candid with you off the cuff I'm not 100% certain I'm just trying to think of a way that you could reconsider it before you adjourn uh to uh amend that at the date and that's the only the only thing I could think of be the otherwise my question you would have to admit would I have to resend and then change the date and then reapproved no you can move to we ain't had a second reading yet lawyer drenan said you can move to you can either move to reconsider or you can move to amend the previously passed motion to include or change that data and it's a parliamentary question for sure with whether or not you can reconsider that at the at the same meeting I I don't think you have to you don't have to resend it I I I don't I don't believe so you can reconsider the same mean the simple thing would be to move move to amend a previously pass motion to change the data all right Mr do had a I move to amend the previously passed a motioned date what date did you say Mr Heen we do July us inside get us budget year July 1 you're [Music] saying okay I move minute with the effect amend it with the effective date July the 1st 2025 question or comment not hearing any we proceed to vote hold

up and I appreciate this very much this fails we appreciate you doing my go that's what I thought they were telling us the budget was like oh okay we're almost at the end is there any announcements we have the mayor's uh resolution to apply for raise Grant funds for the purpose of completing an eligible Transportation Planning and design project that will benefit the majority of residents jerson County Tennessee question or comment Mr BL oh not on that I just have something to say before you adjourn oh we ain't going to adjourn for minute we have a motion on the floor in a second question or comment clarify the motion once more please okay this motion is a resolution to apply for raise Grant funds for the purpose of completing an eligible transportation planning or design projects that benefit Json County in other words it's to ask the partake Grant funds US Department of Transportation has responsible for the administration to notice a funding opportunity for physical year 2025 rebuilding America

infrastructure with sustainability and Equity grant program which is awarded on a competitive basis per statue for planning constructing surface Transportation infrastructure projects that will improve safety environmental sustainability quality of life mobility and Community connectivity economic competitiveness and opportunity including tourism state of good repair partnership and collaboration and Innovation question comment we'll proceed to vote pass 170 do we have a beer board yes we do is there any announcements Mr bevens you're up I just want to say thank you school board members who came at our work session and tonight we appreciate you being here thank you very much it means a lot let you show up and come thank you for the direction you're going down to adjourn motion to adjourn