Commission - Regular Meeting

Mr. number. I am too. It is time to call to order the January 20th, 2026 county commission meeting. welcome all of you here tonight and invite you back any opportunity that you might have to be with us. This time I introduce Commissioner Haskell Evans for our prayer and pledge and ask you to remember the family of Bob Carr uh which ran 231 Car Sales and Sports World and did a lot for our community over the years. So remember his family if you will please rise.

Thank you. Want to thank everybody for coming out this evening. Let's pray.

Holy and righteous father in heaven, we thank you for this day. Thank you for all the many blessings of it. We thank you, Father, for this country we live in. We pray for our armed forces, our men and women that serve us, especially those on foreign fields. We ask that you protect them. Father, there's a lot that's a miss in our country. We ask you forgive us for wrongs we've done and for wrongs that we've allowed. We pray, Father, that you heal our great nation. Defend those that would seek to do it harm. Protect our first responders in their line of duty. I pray, Father, for this assembly tonight. Pray for your guidance and wisdom on us as we conduct the business of our county. Father, help us put our ourselves aside and our will and help us all to represent our county as best we can in such a way that brings honor and glory to you. [snorts] We pray, Father, for the many sick. We ask that you be with them and grant them a return to their health. It be your will. Pray, Father, your comfort on those that have lost loved ones, especially Mr. car and his family. Pray, Father, that you be with them and and and comfort them as only you can. Pray, Father, that you be with us now through the rest of this night. Guide us, protect us, forgive us. This our prayer in Christ's name. Amen.

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

Thank you, Commissioner Evans. If you will please press your panel to record your presence at tonight's meeting. [snorts] I will ask you tonight if you will when you get ready to speak uh if you would push request to speak and we're trying something a little bit new. When I recognize you on this panel it turns your mic on and that way everybody can hear you when you talk but you have to request to speak and then I have to hit this button. We're seeing if we can make that a little bit better. 23 present two absent.

23 present two absent. This time we'll have public comment period. Uh, at this time, Mr. Ken Young, the water authority in Adenus operate the Academy Road step system serving 293 subdivision homes. Its drip area is underwater, literally and financially. Adenas quietly reached into the pockets of Wilson County taxpayers and took $863,000 to repair their failing system. How? By building a pipeline from this subdivision to Lagoro Elementary School grounds. No one on the school board or county commission voted to use school soils as a subdivision dumping ground. And please understand, I don't blame the school board or any of you. There is no shame in being conned by an expert in deception. There can be culpability, but only if those who tax the citizens and those who spent their money won't now act in the public interest. Now that this has been discovered, you have a duty to claw back the wealth illegitimately taken from the taxpayer. You have been good stewards of tax dollars. But can we agree that you do not have unrestrained and unaccountable taxing power? If citizens see their hard-earned money being pilered and no one is held accountable, they will protest any level of taxation and object object strongly to a rate increase. [snorts] There is no such thing as a small tax or a small taxpayer or corruption so small that it should not be rooted out and punished. Thousands of homeowners live in subdivisions similar to academy. They are bitter and frustrated. If you allow

this mischief to stand, it sends a message that civic affairs here are no different than in Minneapolis, where even after fraud is exposed, it is defended by friends with political power. In 2023, you obligated taxpayers. Our creditors now have legitimate claims on $ 58 million over 20 years. School expenditures must too be legitimate to be paid. I expect Mr. Jennings or an outside attorney to demand the illegitimate cost of this pipeline be returned to the taxpayer. $863,000 is no small sum. New school construction funding will be a hard cell if this pipeline scheme is not corrected. The solution is simple. [snorts] I believe you only need to decide what board, what committee or whether this commission initiates this action. Thank you and I will take any question.

Thank you, Mr. Young. This will close public comment period since no one else signed up for the public comment time against the commission. We'll close that and we'll move this port from the steering committee. Commissioner Fields. Yes, Mr. Steering Committee in regular session on Thursday, January the 8th in the upstairs conference room. A copy of those minutes are in your packet. I move that they be received and filed. Second. Any comments? All in favor say I. Adoption of the agenda. Yes, Mr. Mayor. We do have a consent agenda. Uh it's a resolution 20. Let's go to the one-1. Let's go to the adoption of the You want to make the amendment first? Let's go to the amendment first. Yes, sir.

I'd like to make a motion to amend the agenda to include two items. first of all being moving one part-time judicial commissioner to full-time and the second that we uh do the zoning uh schoolboard zone vote. So what he's asking is that we move the elections and appointments uh up after special before special recognition is what he would like to do with that and then amend the agenda to add the judicial commissioner appointment which was not on the agenda to begin with. That's what he's asking. I got a motion to second. Any discussion? Anybody? All in favor say I. I. Okay, we're good there. Now we're ready for consent agenda. Commissioner Fields.

Yes. Consent agenda 26-1-1 is just a line item transfer in the trustee. I move that it be approved. Second. I got a motion to second. Are you ready to vote? Please cast your vote. Commissioner Marlo, all hearts and minds go with your vote. Please record 23 and two. 23 and two resolution passes. We have no special recognition at this time and not and so therefore we'll move to the elections and appointments. First one on the list there would be the notaries. Mr. Goodall. All the notaries in good shape. There a motion to approve the notaries. All in favor say I. I.

Industrial development board tonight. You have three members here that we are to look at. You are to elect three members to serve a six-year term on the industrial development board. I would like to recommend for your consideration Mr. John McDermott, Mr. Phil Smart, Mr. Ed James. Information about these candidates were in your packet. Do I hear a motion? Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. This time I'll turn it over to Commissioner John Gentry for the judicial commissioner appointment. Uh, yes. We have one part,

Nita Fox. She's been serving in the commission, the judicial commission office for a number of years now. And I make a motion that we approve her for full-time starting on the 28th of January for a one-year term. And we have a second. Okay. Thank you. Got a motion in a second to take Miss Anita Fox from part-time to full-time starting January the 28th. Uh any discussion on this? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Let the record reflect it was unanimous. At this time now, I will move to the election of the school board member. Let me give you just a little bit of ground rules if I can for this. Um, tonight we'll need to first of all, I guess I need to ask you uh are you wanting to make that appointment tonight? Do I hear a motion? I hear a second. Uh, any discussion on that? All in favor say I. Any opposed? Nay. So I got one nay. Who was that? That nay was

Tyler Chandler. Okay. So we will make the appointment tonight. So tonight we'll run we'll run as follows. Um we will go out of session to let the public speak. Uh I have an agenda here of people that want to speak tonight. When you speak uh you you know our goal is for you to have three minutes. Uh we want you to make your will known to the commission. Uh you may nominate five or six or seven people from the commission from the committee from the public. Uh they will not be voted on. Only the people that are nominated by the commission when we go to that session are the people that are voted on. So you may bring up a lot of different people but only the people that are nominated by the commission when we go to that part of the election is is voted on. You will speak. You'll have three minutes. Our our ask is that you give the commission information that you want them to have. If someone else has already said what you're about to say, then you don't have to say that. It's not about how many people can get up and speak on a candidate's behalf. It's about giving the commission your thoughts, your will, so they can hear that before they go into session to do that. Once you get through with what uh your com your public comment, we'll go back into session. We'll open the floor up and we'll take nominations. You will make nominations. You may nominate two, three, four, however many you choose to do. So when nominations cease, then we'll let those nominated candidates speak to the commission. Five minutes is what we'd ask them to do. They'll speak to the commission. Once they speak, then we'll vote. We are voting secret ballot. That is what the rules say. Everybody will know when it's over and the votes are posted who voted for who, but we go secret ballot. And it will take 13 votes to win the election. So if we go through the first vote and everybody nobody gets 13, then we revote. We take the lowest number off lowest person that had the lowest score off and we start all over again. Any questions or comments from my

commission about how we work? If not, I need a motion to go out of session. A second. All in favor say I.

And now at this time we'll go through public comment period from the comm from the the um audience back there. Um, be sure and uh if you will just state your name and address for the record and uh um that's all you have to do now. I'll let you speak. Uh Leon Alig Good is the first one. Good evening. My name is Leon Aliggood. I live at 3839 Mitchell Road uh in Lebanon where I've lived for more than 35 years. My wife and I raised two sons who graduated from Wilson County Schools. I address you tonight in support of Larry Tomlinson's bid to be named school board member for zone 5 to serve the roughly seven months until the August election. I have known Larry for several decades. I found his previous service as a schoolboard member for zone 5 to be outstanding. He understands the purpose and the functions of the school board and has been a supporter of public education throughout his career. Larry represented us well on the school board serving as chairman for a number of years. I voted for him every time his name appeared on the ballot because I had more than a measure of full confidence that he would work diligently to understand the issues facing public schools. I believe he would do so again in this limited role of serving until the general election on August 6. Larry has stated with emphasis, I might add, that he will not be seeking to fill the remaining two years of this unexpired term. As a voter from zone 5, I would prefer that the commission did not appoint anyone to this temporary post who is seeking to be on the county general election ballot in August. My reason is because of the power of incumbency that it gives to the candidates. Since 2010, according to the stats from the Wilson County Election Commission office, there

have been 29 schoolboard races. In those races, 20 of the incumbents won, nine of them lost. Naming Larry as a placeholder, a more than adequate choice, would place all the candidates running in the county primary in May and the general election in August on a level playing field and would give voters the opportunity to vet them during the campaigning process. If we didn't have a cap capable candidate like Larry, who has served for many years on the school board as an option, I wouldn't be up here speaking. But we do and it makes sense to name him. This empty slot from zone five is important to me and my neighbors. We want the best candidate and zone 5 voters should make that decision in the voting booth. Thanks for your consideration.

Thank you, Miss Becky Siver.

Becky Siver. I at at 4135 Oaks Boulevard here in Lebanon. Uh, Mayor Hut and county commissioners, my name is Becky Siver. I am a proud retired educator. I served as a teacher, then later as a principal for both Wilson County Schools and Lebanon Special School District. I was also a county commissioner for eight years. I'm quite pleased that both of my children went through the Wilson County School System. I'm here tonight to share from my unique perspective as a commissioner and a school administrator about my experience in working with Larry Tomlinson. I served for eight years on the education committee and often would see Mr. Tomlinson at our meetings as well as the monthly commission meetings. He was committed to learning everything he could to help the schools. As a former commissioner himself, he was able to work with commissioners to accomplish many projects for Wilson County that including building five new schools. As a school administrator, I understood how much the schools the school board's support can affect all aspects of a school. I also felt supported by our school board during those days and the teachers felt it too. Larry's leadership was a major factor in that support. D d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d dre lutil sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry Jeff [snorts] has publicly spoken out about the many important decisions that are coming up in the school system Mr. Tomlinson has the experience, the wisdom, and the integrity to help. He can be a wise voice for our school through his experiences beginning on day one. His reputation is stellar. I have witnessed his leadership and his down-to-earth decisionmaking firsthand, and I've been wholly impressed by both. I know many of you in this room, and we worked hand inand did such wonderful

things in Wilson County. I don't care for the local politics that are at play, but I have been in your shoes. Your decision should be based on experience and a proven track record, not what a particular party tells you to do. There is no place at all for partisan politics in locally held seats. In working with Mr. Tomlinson, I had no idea what party he was affiliated with, and that is what we want a represent a representative for our school board to be. Long before candidates had to declare a party, we all worked together. We had our disagreements, but to my best recollection be and being a Republican or a Democrat never played a part in our decision-making. My memory is that we tackled problems and did what was best for Wilson County. That is how it should be and that is what I'm asking you to do. Please make your decision based on what is best for the county, the students, and the families, and vote to elect Larry Thomasson as schoolboard rep. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Miss Siver. Mr. Brad Lidle.

My name is Brad Lidle. Um, I am uh live at 10:30 John Wright Road. First of all, I'm a Christ follower, a husband, a father, a grandfather of 13, and I'm uh grateful to be here to speak to you, and I thank you for this opportunity. You've uh we respect your offices and all you do. You have some tough choices to make in your daily and you have some easy choices. And frankly, I thought this was going to be an easy choice and it's not. Apparently, uh I've been accused of making this political. I've been accused of uh creating partisan races and it wasn't me. It was the state legislature that did that. We support that, however, because we think it's important. We think it's important for the transparency of the candidate to tell people what they believe because regardless of what people say, you vote your values. So, we've put together this little piece here to tell you what our values are in the Tennessee or the Wilson County Republican Party. We believe in family rights, religious freedom, respect life, property rights, second amendment rights, small government, less regulation, low taxes, safe communities, fair elections, excellent education, not indoctrination. We want to end DEI everywhere. and we don't want to see boys in girls bathrooms. Very simple. This is what we believe, Republicans believe. Uh, another party may have opposite beliefs of this. They certainly aren't these. And I think it's important to let the voters know when it comes around. Primaries are good because they they let people they give the people the first look at you to say, "What do you believe

in?" And in Wilson County, I think that most people believe in these values. And I believe that most of you do, which is why you all pulled Republican petitions. So I I ask you to make the choice. We won this election last year. Last time 1143 votes to 399 for the Democrat. You people say we want to know what the people in five say. That's what they said. 1143 Republican votes to 399 Democrat votes. They already told you. So, the reason I thought this was going to be an easy one is as the chairman of the Wilson County Republican Party, we're only asking what we think we've already won. Um, [snorts] I don't, you know, people can complain about partisan elections, but they're here. Um, so I ask you respectfully, please put a Republican in the seat in zone 5. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Lotto. Mr. Tommy Bryan, excuse me. No, I said thank you, Mr. L. Oh, yes, sir.

I'm Tommy Bryan, a lifelong resident of zone 5. My address is 102 Oakill Circle, Lebanon. Members of the county commission, Mayor Hutau, I'll be brief. Tonight, you'll make a decision about the open seat on the school board. Larry Tomlinson has graciously offered to step back into that position, but only until the next general election. Make no mistake about it, the decision you'll make here tonight impacts public education in Wilson County. A former chairman of the school board, Larry is a product of the Wilson County school system. He's a graduate of Lebanon High and he has been a champion of public education throughout his career. He and his wife Pam have two daughters, both of whom are products of the Wilson County school system. They have grandchildren who have been enrolled and currently enrolled in the Wilson County school system. He has been to parent teacher conferences. He sat on those hard bleachers as his children played softball, volleyball, and cheered. He's been to the auditorium for plays and musical performances. Larry has a deep understanding of the inner workings of our local school system. He supported the construction of five new school buildings and the renovation of many others during his tenure on the board. Rarely does a body such as this have the opportunity to fill a vacancy with someone whose credentials are as strong as Larry. Someone who is so knowledgeable and prepared to hit the ground running. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, "The time is always right to do the right thing." Members of the county commission, do the right thing tonight. Make the courageous decision, the one you know in your

hearts will be in the best interest of the students, teachers, and administrators of the Wilson County School System. I thank you for this opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Brian. Sophie Moore.

Hello, my name is Sophie Moore. I live at 9636 North Milton Road, Milton. [clears throat] Ladies and gentlemen of the commission, I would like to thank you for your service to our county as well as for this opportunity to come before you today in support of Kevin Mack. He is the most qualified person up for appointment to fill the vacant seat in zone 5. I'd like to present some of his qualifications now. He was a small business owner and he is the former mayor of Mount Juliet. So he has both public and private budget experience. When Green Hills High School needed a STEM teacher, Kevin volunteered to fill that position. Under his leadership as mayor, Beckwith North Road interchange was built. The northern section of Golden Bear Parkway was built and he was able to widen Mount Juliet Parkway in under 18 months. He was able to accomplish this without a city property tax. History will most likely remember him as one of the best mayors Mount Juliet has ever had. That is saying a lot considering the fact that the current mayor, James Mannis, is doing a truly spectacular job. A Republican overwhelmingly won this seat in the last election. I know that the vast majority of voters still want a Republican in this seat. This is your opportunity to do the right thing by the voters of Zone 5 and all of Wilson County. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Moore. Jason Moore. Wow, she did a pretty good job, right? Sorry. [laughter] Sorry. Um, all right. So, I would like to thank the commissioners and you, Mr. Mayor, for the opportunity to speak tonight. Before I get into qualifications for school board, I would like to say that the voters of Wilson County are desperate for elected officials that will instinctively do the right thing. That will make the right decision without being harassed and heranged by the people who put them into their positions. They don't want to spend their Tuesday night at the courthouse. They want to elect good men and good women to represent them well in their position. Tonight, you have the opportunity to show them that you are worthy of the trust that they put in you. And since we're talking about qualifications for office, I would like to list some of Mr. Tomlinson's achievements while in office. The same office he now seeks for your appointment to because he's had this position before. In 2013, he was appointed to the school board by the Wilson County Commission and he once again comes before you to make this request. On his Facebook page, he has a list of his qualifications. Included in that is a statement that there was a balanced mud budget every year of his tenure. Anyone who served on this body during those years knows this not to be true. His budgets only balanced after coming before the commission and putting them in the unenviable position of having to make up for him not being able to stay within the budget. As school board chair and representative of Wilson County Schools, he came to an agreement with the state of Tennessee and the city of Mount Juliet over sales tax revenue. At the direction of the then director of schools, he backed out of that agreement. This decision went on to cost the city of Mount Juliet $200,000.

Under his leadership as board chair, he renovated renovated the old Lebanon High School to become the new school administration building. It had a budget of $14 million that he promptly blew through to create a final price tag of 21 million. This is at a time when a new building could have been built for a fraction of the cost. He was board chair when Green Hills High School was built. It had a price tag of $100 million. This made it the most expensive school in Tennessee history. And it was at the same time that Williamson County built a new high school for $60 million. Being an ambitious man, he figured out a way to make the final cost rise to $130 million. Currently, Wilson County Schools is facing an insurance budget shortfall of over $7 million, and we are only halfway through the school year. Is that amazing? Isn't that amazing? Over the past two years, there's been a shortfall of $5 million combined. And these shortfalls are due to the actions and inactions under his leadership. Due to his mismanagement, the money that should be going to maintaining all of our school buildings is being spent on covering shortfalls. This is a direct result of his leadership. During his time on the board, by these accounts and only these, he has squandered 60 to 70 million dollars of Wilson County taxpayer dollars. And he stands before you today talking about experience and qualifications to be placed back into that position. He has proven through his actions that he is not worthy of an appointment tonight. And I ask you to answer him with a resounding no. Thank you,

M. Terry Nicholson. Good evening. My name is Terry Nicholson and I live at 1303 Camelot Bay in Mount Juliet. Uh I currently serve on the Tennessee GOP rep I mean Tennessee Republican Party board. Um first of all, I'd like to thank our commissioners and mayor Hutto for allowing us to participate in public comments as well as everybody who joined to come out tonight. In 2021, our Tennessee legislators provided Wilson County voters with the opportunity to clearly understand where our candidates, both Republican and Democrat, and independent, stand politically by allowing them to identify their party affiliation if they choose. The choice is theirs. This empowered the Wilson County voters to make more informed decisions at the ballot box. Our Wilson County School Board candidates, for the first time, were finally able to communicate their political beliefs more transparently to the voters. This promoted greater integrity and transparency, and it strengthened accountability, which is imperative for anyone who holds an elected position. In the most recent election for the Wilson County School Board zone 5 seat, 74.11% of the voters chose the Republican candidate. This strong majority outcome is highly significant and should be carefully considered when determining how to fill the current zone uh vacancy. For these reasons, I respectfully request that you honor the clearly sorry, you honor the clearly expressed wishes of the zone 5 voters and appoint Mr. Kevin Mack to fill the open zone 5 schoolboard seat. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration of this request.

Thank you, Miss Nicholson. Miss Laura Hedley Warren. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. My name is Laura Warren and I reside at 200 Vineyard Way. Although I am not in the zone up for consideration tonight, I did feel strongly that I wanted to speak. I met Mr. Tomlinson when we moved to Lebanon in 2014 or 15. Uh he was one of the first people I met at a chamber event actually and for a long time when he and I discussed the fact that I was a former educator uh and had entered a different career field which led me to become a resident of Lebanon. Uh for a long time we talk about education and I had no idea what political affiliation he had if any. Nor did I know that that was a requirement of board members to actually declare because when I was a teacher and worked at the school board in Nashville, you know what we talked about was we talked about kids and we talked about what was best for students and the teachers who served them and the administrators. So, uh, some of this political interplay involved with students was fairly new to me coming out of, uh, I guess what was more naive of thinking about students first in some ways. But I, I found in Mr. Tomlinson, someone who consistently talked about the importance of the students in our county and what I've come to love so much about Wilson County is especially our blue ribbon schools and you guys have helped make that happen by supporting so much of what happens in Wilson County and thank you for the hard work that you do. Um, I did not know I was going to speak tonight so I was uh thinking what should I focus on. There were two things. First, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my experience of getting to know Mr. Tomlinson and um and what I had found which was a a nonaffiliated political there was no political affiliation. He

spoke consistently about students and teachers and what the county needed. The second thing uh is that in looking at his resume, which I did not get off social media, I looked for facts about Mr. Tomlinson's uh background, which I'm sure you appreciate facts. So, I'll stick to some of those. Uh, someone else mentioned that he had been appointed in 2013 to fill an unexpired term and he'd been elected by zone 5 voters who I would have to imagine are a little bit appalled by the sexually scandridden issue which is why we are here tonight to make these determinations and you have to think really hard about what's happening here. Uh, Mr. Tomlinson. My understanding is he stepped in because there was a need and that this all this political conversation that's happening is probably Mr. Tomlinson not what you were planning on having to deal with when you thought you were just helping out for the next seven months because you have the experience to step in and finish the term out particularly when it is so scandalridden unfortunately. Now, let me switch gears a little bit to a business owner perspective. I'm a business owner and I have a position open in my staffing right now and I have choices about who I have step in temporarily until I find my permanent.

Thank you, Miss Warren. Thank you. Thank you. I hope you will consider Mr. Tomlinson for this.

Tim Bryant. Hello, good evening. Uh, my name is Tim Bryant. I reside at 405 Barkley Court, Nashville, Tennessee. And even though I do not reside uh in the zone for for uh the seat that is up for discussion. I was born and raised in Mount Juliet, Tennessee here in Wilson County. I currently serve as the area director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I've been in that position now for 11 years and we serve weekly over 2500 student athletes and coaches. And I come tonight uh to speak uh about Larry for just a few minutes not as a Republican or Democrat, but as a man, as a human being uh that was elected to our board and he served uh for about a little over eight years. I've been in that position for 11. after he stepped down uh we selected him as a board member emeritus and I just feel like Larry will bring stability to this position. It needs stability. He'll bring stability. Uh he'll bring character, high morals, trustworthiness. He's dependable and a man of his word. He's family oriented, communityminded.

He's always talking about community. He's a straight shooter, but yet always tactful. To me, he has a genuine concern for the students and the families here in Wilson County that he has served all of these years. And that's most important at this time. And lastly, I believe that Larry is a sincere follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he displays that by his everyday walk and lifestyle. Because I firmly believe as a minister that people would rather see a sermon than hear one any day, as you've heard before. But I know this for a fact that the students and youth that I serve here in Wilson County, they don't care about how much you know, but how much you care. I believe that Larry Tomlinson cares about the students and the parents here in Wilson County. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Brian. Mr. Perry Neil. Thank you guys for the chance to uh come here and speak for a couple of seconds. Uh my name is Perry Neil. I am a lifelong resident and voter of zone 5. Um I would be one of the 1143 people that voted in the last election for the Republican candidate. Uh, I come before you here tonight to express my support for my neighbor and friend, Mr. Kevin Mack. Uh, not only am I here to support him for tonight, but Lord willing, I plan on supporting him in the future in a future election for this spring and fall. Um, I don't know him real well. He's moved to our community to the Crossroads neighborhood five or six years ago, but what time I have gotten to know him, uh, I want to make just a couple of quick comments. I I think he is more than just a candidate with an R beside his name. Um in my opinion, um he's he is he's wellqualified, very intelligent. Um he has a heart for public service and doing what he feel is right for Wilson County. Um I also want to uh to say that in the past I have voted and supported for Mr. Larry Tomlinson. I have nothing whatsoever negative to say about Mr. Larry Thomasson. And I'm going to say something that may make your jobs harder or easier. I don't know. Uh I think you've got two great choices here tonight that I hear of. I think it's a win-win. You know, I don't know if that takes any pressure off anybody or not, but I think regardless of which way you go, you got a winner, you know. But I at the end of the day, I want to say that I did uh you know, I did come up here to speak in behalf of Mr. Mr. Kevin Mack is my neighbor and I think he'd do a great

job. Uh the only other comment I would say is I believe there's been quite a bit of division over this in the community. Maybe amongst you guys, I don't know. And whoever you guys vote on tonight, I hope we all leave here in 100% support of that candidate. I know I will. And I I will 100% support each one of you guys however y'all choose to vote tonight. I hope we can all do that and move forward after tonight. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Neil, Mr. Jack Pratt Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioners, Jack Pratt Jr., 1145 Grant Road, Tucker's Crossroads Community. Commissioners, tonight I rise in support of my friend and a friend of a lot of people here in Wilson County, Mr. Larry Tomlinson. A lot of people have talked about Larry's experience, so I won't double into that too much, but that is the main reason that I'm here in support of him. 20 plus years on the school board representing zone 5, many of those as chairman, 12 years as a county commissioner. Now, think about that. someone who is setting your seat and setting the school board seat just wanting to fill this for the next seven or eight months to the election. 19 years as the director of the Wilson County James E Ward A Center and I believe he served six years in the military as well. Everything people have talked about Larry about being trustworthy, serviceoriented, community oriented, I can't go into it anymore and explain it any better than they can or many of you know. Larry is your plugandplay candidate. He can step into the role and fill it. Two other things I'd like to mention tonight. They're fear and courage. Unfortunately, as some others has mentioned, it seems that partisan politics has reared its head into this decision and in this debate tonight in a place it shouldn't be. You've had people talk about it's one party or this party. Ladies and gentlemen, this commission, this office that you're choosing tonight, this is the people's office, the people of zone 5, the people of Wilson County, just like you represent all 25 of you.

You know, if you look at it like that and you talk about what Larry brings to this position, you have to think about the oath of office that the candidate's going to take. You're going to swear to uphold the Constitution, not swear a loyalty to one party to do the duties of the office honorably. And Larry can do that. I just ask that tonight that you look into your heart and you think about the words of Winston Churchill who said, "Fear is not fear is a reaction. Courage is a choice. Look into your hearts, commissioners. Look beyond fear because I know they're filled with courage." Larry, I know yours is and mine is tonight. Thank you. God bless you.

Thank you, Mr. Pratt, Johnson, I decline. Thank you. Al Williams.

Good evening. My name is Al Williams. I'm a resident at 801 Morland Hills Drive in Mount Juliet and I rise to speak in favor of Kevin Mack. I've known him for 25 plus years. Um, I've heard a lot about Mr. Tomlinson. I actually don't know the man. He sounds like a great guy. I think I I probably like him as well. Uh what I want to talk about with Kevin though um is his u future looking and his um his thought processes. Uh when he was mayor of Mount Juliet, he actually appointed me to a one of the boards. It wasn't because I was a Republican. It was because he wanted some differences made. He wanted differences of thought and we were able to transform that board into a lot more organized um process. um through his uh through his time as an engineer, time as a business owner, his time as a teacher in Green Hill, we've had conversations on a on at least a monthly basis uh talking about what's going on and thinking about the future. One of the things that he was appointed to the STEM um type of program at Green Hill was think about how what's kind of the future, how we should we educate our kids better in this particular role. And that's what I saw with Kevin is that he has a a vision and he wants the future to be better for kids. He thinks deeply about all the issues in which he's involved. And he seems fiscally conservative. That may not be as important, but uh he really is is thoughtful for the future of education. And for that reason, I would support his candidacy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Williams. Kevin Mack. Good evening anyone everyone. [clears throat] I just uh have been impressed with the proceedings here tonight. I think we all should be very proud of Wilson County uh citizens and commissioners as well. Um I'm honored to be a candidate tonight and um I've met Mr. Tomlinson and we've had a cordial relationship through this and hope to have a cordial relationship no matter who wins going forward. So, I u I just want to say hats off to Wilson County, hats off to all of you all. I'm honored to be a candidate and I would be honored to serve as well as a school board member. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Mack. Mr. Joselyn Conrad, go ahead. This takes me a minute. So, don't let the three minutes start till I start talking. Random. [laughter] We'll give you an extra 5 seconds. [laughter] Mayor Hut and members of the county commission. Uh my name is Joselyn Conrad and I live at 1673 Carthage Highway here in Lebanon. I've been a lifelong resident of Wilson County. Uh thank you for allowing me a moment to uh to speak to you this evening regarding the vacancy on the Wilson County Board of Education created by the resignation of a former member. Before I before I continue, I want to say that voting is a privilege that I take very seriously. Each commissioner's vote is their own choice and their own right, and I fully respect the responsibility each of you carries when making decisions on behalf of our county. As a person, I believe that every time you look in the mirror, you need to seek courage and self-respect. We cannot change yesterday. We can only work on today and improve tomorrow. That perspective matters in moments like this when decisions should be made with integrity, reflection, and a focus on what is best moving forward. Tonight, you're asked to consider a candidate who is not only qualified, but uniquely prepared to step into this role without disruption to our school system. Leia Thominson is that candidate and he is he is amply for this appointment and his record service speaks for itself. Mr. Thomasson served on the Wilson County School Board for many years, including several as chairman. And during that time, he demonstrated steady leadership, sound judgment, and a deep understanding

of the challenges and responsibilities that come with governing a large and diverse school system. Beyond his service on the school board, Larry Thomasson is respected member of our community who has answered the call to public service on numerous occasions. His commitment to Wilson County has always been rooted in doing what is best for our citizens, especially our children, rather than advancing any political agenda. For over 50 years, Larry and his wife Pam have been two of my most trusted friends. It is important to emphasize that this decision should be based on qualifications, experience, and the ability to serve effectively from day one, not on not on a political party or affiliation. Our students, teachers, and administrators benefit most from leadership that is knowledgeable, experienced, and focused on education. The director of schools has specifically requested Mr. Thomasson's appointment due to his knowledge, experience with board operations, and familiarity with current district needs. His appointment would ensure continued stability and informed decision making during this transition period. For these reasons, I respectfully urge this commission to vote to appoint Larry Thomas fill the vacancy on the Wilson County Board of Education. His proven leadership, extensive experience, and dedication to public service makes him the right choice for our schools and our community. One last thing before before I stop. Uh my husband looked at me before he was killed in a car accident and one night and he said,

"Miss Conrad, I hate to stop you, but trouble with arrest. [laughter] I know that." And I knew got one thing to say. Uh he looked at me and he said he looked at me and he said, "If you ever thought that it's not what you take with you, it's what you leave behind." I'll leave you with that thought. Thank you for allowing me to speak. [applause] And for any of you that have ever had a conversation with Miss Conrad, that is the shortest conversation she's ever had. [laughter]

For sure. I will end public comment period and I'll take a motion to go back into session. All in favor say I. Commission. Now uh the floor is open for nominations. Um and uh we will take those. I was corrected earlier. I said secret ballot. It's really paper ballot is what we go by. So it's not secret. We just don't tell who votes for who until after the commission meeting tonight. And Miss Sandre does that. So I now open the floor um for the commission for nominations. Please be sure and push request to speak so I can get your mic going. Uh, and Commissioner Denton, I'll turn the floor over to you.

Yes, I'd like to do Can we speak to our our motion? More than welcome to uh just making a nomination, but you're welcome to do that or you can do that when we start getting ready to vote. Whichever you want to do.

I'd like to make make a motion and speak to that. um of Kevin Mack to [snorts] go back and to fill the position uh for the rest of this term. Um also I feel like that said he'll probably be a candidate a good candidate uh for the next election as well. But I do that u because of all his experience that he has. Experience to me is not the issue here. experience here is that that experience has accomplishments with it. Has competence with it. He has experience with competence. He's been successful in everything uh from political uh educational uh to in his career. He's been successful at commercial. Anything he touches, he seems to do a good job. Successful, thinks well. He's very intelligent. And um we don't want to go back to incompetency. We don't want to go back to uh huge amounts of debt and no bid contracts and those kinds of things which went on back u when Mr. Thompson was the chairman. Uh but he has a wide variety of successful enterprises, very successful businessman. He has retired at a young age so he's very flexible and he's even been a teacher in our schools as well. So he's um he's knowledgeable about all aspects of a job. I think you work well with our board now, president board and our director of schools and um I think experience is always trumped by competence and we don't want to go back to the days to where we had those kinds of unproven leadership um and days to where we didn't know why while $300 million $600 million debt rolled up in a short period of time. And so we certainly don't want to go back to those kind of days. We want to go forward to good days and partisan politics is not what any of us likes. But I can remember

when Mr. Thompson was the chairman that many every time I had to go before the board, it was partisan politics. It was five to2. Five to2 always two conservatives against five that took a more moderate to liberal view. And so u things flipped a few years ago and we certainly hadn't fell apart. In fact, we from what our director tells us, we're doing tremendous days. So, I think Kevin Mack will help us just go to a higher higher level and our education department will work well with our team we have now. So, I make the motion that we elect Kevin Mack. Got Mr. Kevin Mack. And now, Commissioner Hall.

I'd like to nominate someone who has not been mentioned tonight who I believe deserves the opportunity to speak her case. And I'm going to nominate Cindy Johnson and Commissioner Kurts. Like to nominate Larry Tomlinson. Seeing nobody else in the hopper, do I hear a motion to nomination cease? Second. Second. All in favor say I. This time I would like to ask uh these candidates if they would like to address the commission to step forward to the back of the podium there. and I'll give you five minutes to do that if you'd like to do that. And I would start with Mr. Kevin Mack.

Yeah, I don't have much to add beyond what I sent to you guys already, so I won't take up any of your time, but just to refresh a little bit about my budgeting experience, which I think will be significant and important as we move forward. Um, I've spent a lot of time trying to do a lot of things with a little bit of money. Uh, referencing my time in Mount Juliet, we were able to, um, build roads such as widen Mount Julia Road and, um, get the Golden Bear Park Parkway project started, uh, and others. Um, while I was the when I was first elected onto the county commission, we had a a property tax. we were able to set that to zero and it stayed at zero the entire time that I was there. So, I'm very uh as was mentioned earlier, fiscally conservative um and worked really hard to uh not only run without property tax, but also one of the things we did was [clears throat] sent uh Bobby Franklin there, who worked for me at the time, to Las Vegas, and that qu caused quite a stir. But that's where the shopping center convention was. and Bobby brought back um what ended up being the Providence shopping complex and then later the Paddock uh complex in Mount Juliet. Both of those have created significant t tax dollars that have made your job easier to hold the property tax down because of that sales tax revenue. So, someone mentioned a forward-looking um viewpoint. That's an example of what what we did and just I was only mayor there for four years but we got a lot a lot of things accomplished there. Um same in my business experience um in my company we ran debtree um and that was again to very conservative viewpoint and focus on budgeting and so again as as the Republican candidate you can count on me

to preserve Tennessee's low tax heritage. Um, one of the other things I want to talk a little bit about is what I hope to accomplish uh on the school board and of course we've got tremendous growth coming along and and it will continue. There's no sign of it abading and so um again that budgeting and the ability to run with minimal tax input as possible will come in helpful I believe in in continuing the growth of the schools. As far as education goes, what I taught was uh a career and technical education course called advanced manufacturing. It uh included things like digital electronics, mechatronics, which is combination mechanical and electrical type skills. And one of the things that my students in one of my classes came away with was a certification that most students uh don't get until they get into college. That's a seaman's level one uh certification. and that enabled them to uh go directly into the workforce, which some of them did, or go on to college uh at Tennessee Tech or elsewhere. So, I'm definitely interested in in trying to replicate those type things. Uh I know the the school system, the college and technical career education folks, uh having worked in that area and I look forward to pushing that u STEM and CTE things further. Um, one of the last things that I'd like to mention is that um, I do, while it's not core to what I'm looking to do, um, I do have a very strong, um, socially conservative viewpoint as well, uh, things like right to life, uh, second amendment, uh, things such as, um, the transgender movement that impacted me as

a teacher. uh when I was in teaching, I had to deal with that and I appreciated that uh there were strong guidelines in place that helped me understand how to deal with that better. And um again, I think Mr. um um Brad Lidle says sums it up as we don't want boys and girls bathrooms. Um and I'm definitely behind that as well as making sure that the materials we have in the libraries are appropriate. [snorts]

So, I'm happy to um serve in this temporary position regardless whether you elect me or not. I'll be a candidate uh for the Republican primary and also candidate for the general election August. Um but if you choose to elect me, I'd certainly appreciate your vote tonight. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Kevin. Miss Cindy Johnson. Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the county commission. I am here tonight. I know my name is Cynthia Dunovet Johnson. I have been a late comer to this this commit this election uh and appointment for the zone 5, but I have a great love for this community. My family moved here in this area in the early 40s and had went on to raise five children in this fine county. I have pulled a petition to run in the upcoming election for the zone 5 school board position. I am a Republican and due to my husband's failing health and count and countless hospital stays, I failed to vote in some of the primaries and will be running as independent candidate. I was his caregiver for 10 years up until the time of his passing. I have lived my entire life in this area except for the years that I had attended MTSU. I have a bachelor's of science in elementary and special education. I then later went on to get my master's degree in administration and supervision. I spent my next 32 years in Wilson County School System. I have worked in both the in the both the certified and classified areas of the system. I have worked my career in the field as I served as the pre uh I served at the high school and elementary levels in special education. I have a love for the special needs students and I hope to be there for those of all students, not just special ed. My students have been successful. They may not be the greatest ones that go out there and change the

world, but they are most are employed now. Uh I at the as the classified position, I worked as the prek secretary. I went back after my uh uh leave of absence when my mother was sick and I took care of her until her passing. At that time, I decided I needed to go back and finish out my time in the system so I could finish my retirement. I only lacked three more years and so I went back and spent five more years as the prek secretary and as my part of that I also assisted at the family resource person who was able to go out and help collect food for our homeless and assisting our students and families who were in need of food. I was nominated for teacher of the year at the vocational center. I unfortunately did not win that that nomination, but I was honored to have lost to a dear friend and fellow educator, Johnny Payton. College Street Church also had a teacher and administrator banquet each year. I was nominated by the vocational center and I won that year. It was such an honor. I was special Olympics director here in Wilson County for 12 years. I helped to oversee our training for coaches and athletes. I oversaw and assisted with the fundraising activities and spent numerous days and weekends planning local activities, taking our athletes to local, state, and invitational competitions. I was also fortunate to be able to to take athletes and to coach at three of the world games. I have established some strong parent relationship in our area and across the state. I am dedicated to providing the best service to zone 5 voters and to all children throughout Wilson County. I will be here I will be here will bring dedicated services and positive outcomes to the citizens of Wilson County and the

children of Wilson County. I just like to get a thank you for allowing me this opportunity to address the county commission. And if you are currently undecided on your vote, I would appreciate your consideration for this position. Any questions? Thank you, Miss Cindy. Thank you,

Mr. Larry Tommenson. Mayor Hutto, ladies and gentlemen of the county commission. I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the years that I spent on the school board. I think my record speaks for itself. I make no apologies about anything that we did while I was on the school board. We elected some good directors of schools. Whenever I first got on the school board, one of the first issues we were faced with was having to appoint hire a director of schools when it was took away from being an elected position. And I'm proud of the directors that we appointed during that time. And I'm especially proud of the one that we have now in Jeff Lutral. man of character, a man that don't mind saying what he believes, standing up for what he believes. And Hij's record and the school board's record speaks for itself. You've had the opportunity to watch some things on the board tonight about all reward schools and that kind of thing. And I'm proud to have been a part of that. And ladies and gentlemen, that wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for you guys. in your relationship that you had with the board of education and director of schools, all the directors of schools of all these years, we had a good relation working relationship and I would see that that could continue to be if I get back on that board of five of the people that's on the current board now I've served with and there's no reason that I couldn't sit down in that seat and start working with them again. But I'll tell you what I am about. I'm about every boy and girl that comes through the doors of our schools

having the same opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, or what it might be. [snorts] They all deserve the same opportunities. I'm for our teachers and for our administrators and his staff and all the mamas and the daddies and the grandmothers and the granddaddies that get up every day and bring them to school to know that their school that their children are coming into a safe school, a safe place. We worked hard to make that happen and we'll continue to do that. But I want to talk to you a little bit about the seat that you're sitting in here tonight. I sat there for 12 years. I [snorts] got elected three terms. Some of you sitting in here tonight had people that on the commission that I sat with and I served with. Part of that 12 years I served as eight years of that I served on the road commission and [snorts] we had a hard time back during that day of getting the people out of gravel roads eating dust. We had to implement we had to get into the landfill business. We had to get into the EMA, ambulance service, fire protection, and we didn't have no near the resources that you guys got made available to you here today and tonight. But we made it work. But I want to tell you one other thing about the commission. When we came through those doors, we put personal feelings behind us. We hung our hats up. We came in here to do the business of the people that elected us. Did we always agree on everything? No, we didn't always agree. But we didn't care what political party you belong to. And back in that day, we didn't even talk about political parties. Didn't even know about political parties. You know, there may have been some Democrats. There may have been some Republicans. I

don't know. We never even talked about that. But the situation that you're in tonight, that's been made a big issue. and it's put a lot of you in a really bad position and for that I apologize. But I volunteered at with encouragement of some of the people all over this county that asked me when the seat came available would I be interested in doing it and especially at the encouragement of our director of schools Jeff Lal and I told him I would. I said, "When the V seat comes open, I'll be interested in it." I have no ambition, no desire to run for it again. But I want to tell you, you ladies and gentlemen have been put in a bad place simply because that somebody has held over your head or called you and told you that if you don't vote for somebody that's got an RB name, we going to primary somebody against you. Well, that's wrong.

[snorts] We don't need any bullies in our community that's going to harass you and bully you over something like this. This should have been a pretty easy decision. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. But you've made it tough, Thompson. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Hutto. Now, we're ready to vote. Ladies and gentlemen, y and I'll answer any questions that you might have.

It's time for us to vote. Uh and Mr. Dowy will pass out the ballot. Remember, you have three people to consider. Mr. Kevin Mack, Miss Cindy Johnson, Mr. Larry Tomlinson. You will vote for one. Uh we'll count the votes. Remember, it takes a simple majority of 13 to win the seat. After the first vote is cast, if you do not have 13, we will take the lowest person off and revote. Please be sure and sign your ballot and the district you represent, please. Again, you're to vote for one person. You have Kevin Mack, Cindy Johnson, and Mr. Larry Tomlinson to consider. Soon as you sign your ballot, if you'll pass them to the center aisle, Miss Daddy will pick those up again. Vote for Kevin Mack, Cindy Johnson, or Mr. Larry Tomlinson, you only vote for one. Takes 13 votes to get the nomination. Once we finish this, we will swear in that candidate at this time before we move forward. Everyone know I didn't realize he was right there.

Have all the ballots been handed in? Ready to go. Y'all ready? Yes, sir.

What is that? Tomlinson.

Tomlinson. Tomlinson. Mac Mac. I'm standing Tomlinson. Tom Libson, Johnson. Johnson, Tomlinson, Mac, Tomlinson. Mac. Tomlinson. Tomlinson. Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac, and Mac.

So the votes we have are nine for Mr. Tommenson, two from Miss Johnson, and 11 for Kevin Mack. So we'll revote. We'll take Miss Johnson out of the voting. And now you'll vote between Mr. Kevin Mack and Mr. Larry Tomman. So we will vote again. Again, it takes 13 to win the nomination. You have a choice between Mr. Kevin Mack and Mr. Larry Tomlinson. Be sure and sign your ballot. So, your options are down to Mr. Kevin Mack, Mr. Larry Tomlinson, please sign your ballot and the district that you're in. Once you finish, if you will pass those to the middle, we will go from there. My wife

can't be Give me those words. Do not start. All ballots are in. You ready?

Yes. Tomson Mac. Tomlinson Thomas. Mac Mac Tomlinson Tomlinson. Mac Tomlinson Mac abstaining Mac Mac Tomlinson Mac Mac. Mac.

Matt got 13. Okay. Is that what you have, Mr. 13?

So, the vote was 13 votes for Mr. Kevin Mack, nine for Mr. Thomasson. Mr. Thompson, thank you for your consideration. Congratulations, M. Uh, Kevin Mack, if you would step forward, and I will swear you in at this time. use that podium there. You can use that mic there if you'd like to. Okay. [clears throat] Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Kevin Mack, I, Kevin Mack, do solemnly swear

do solemnly swear that I will perform that I will perform with fidelity with fidelity the duties of the office the duties of the office to which I've been appointed to which I've been appointed in which I'm about to assume and which I'm about to assume I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear to support the constitutions s to support the constitutions of Tennessee of Tennessee and the United States and the United states and to faithfully perform and to faithfully perform the duties of the office the duties of the office of the board of education the board of education representing zone five representing zone five of Wilson County, Tennessee of Wilson County, Tennessee. Thank you. Thank you.

You will I'll let you sign right here. I'll feel those two sign there. Thank you. Congratulations, sir. Thank you to the [applause] just like to thank our audience uh for the respect that you showed tonight. Miss Cindy Johnson as well for being a candidate. Uh and at this time, we will move forward with um uh the reasonzoning. Uh at this time motion for a fivem minute recess.

Got a motion to second for a fivem minute recess. All in favor say I. We'll be back in five minutes. Well, you'll have one.

All right. We'll be up there. I don't know. Are you going out that way? We're headed that way. Well, that one

This is Work I think I'll be there tomorrow.

Oh, hey. overall. I'm glad you got my It puts all of it to the back spot. Oh, that's

Is it cracked yet? I guess cuz

I hope I can You don't have to Let's go to work.

Like to call back the order of the county commission meeting. Go back into session. There is no special recognition at this time. Now you need to go out of session. There is no special recognition. So we go to public zoning uh for tonight. And I need a motion to go out of session again. All in favor say I. And I'll turn it over here to Mr. Christopher. Glad to have you here. U. Mr. Sam, thank you for being with us tonight. Christopher, I will He couldn't hear me though. Uh Christopher, floor is yours.

Okay. Uh before we get into this tonight, uh there were two items that u one was on your agenda, one was removed prior due to um emails that we had received. It was the the first one is the US property located at 3505 Murphy'sboro Road. That applicant has requested deferral until your March agenda. Um he will then be heard then that is his last deferral. Um there will have to that is the last def deferral from the applicant on that case. He will have to be heard unless you all defer him again at that March meeting, but he will be heard at that March meeting. Um the second one is um Jim Lukans from where Malcolm. Um this is the property on McCreary Roads known as Project Crossroads. This was deferred by the commission last month. That has been deferred by the applicant to your February agenda. Um that is in relation to a meeting that um the planning office and the applicant had with TOT. They're requiring a traffic impact study on the intersection for the proposed traffic light that you all wanted them to look in there to [snorts] there. Um so the applicant is going back and running financials to see if that's feasible on his account. Um both both of those will be before you in the future. A public hearing will be held before the Wilson County Commission on Monday, January 19th, 2025 at 7 p.m. or thereafter in the county commission room of the Wilson County Courthouse, 228 East Main Street, Lebanon, Tennessee. Items for consideration tonight are the application made by Jeff Kanninski, Panatonia Development, representing property owners Carolyn Gillahand and Clarence Blackburn, requesting a land use plan amendment from low density residential area to medium and high density, medium and highintensity commercial. The applicant also seeks to reszone the same properties from A1 agricultural to C4 planned commercial. The properties contain approximately 31.57 acres and are located at 2308 and 2450 Gwyn Road. And as further

referenced is parcel 10.03 on Wilson County Tax Map 141 and parcel 10.06 on Wilson County Tax Map 141. Second item for consideration tonight is the application made by Victoria Goddard representing Goddard Construction and representing property owner Paul Gore Goddard requesting a land use plan amendment from lowdensity residential area to low low density lowintensity commercial area. The applicant also re seeks to reszone the same property from A1 agricultural to C1 neighborhood commercial. The property contains approximately 10.46 46 acres and is located at 4881 Murphy'sboro Road and is further referenced as parcel 42 on Wilson County Tax Map 123. A copy of these requests have been on file on the Wilson County Planning Office located 228 East Main Street [snorts] and on the Wilson County website at Wilsonountn.gov. They have been available for inspection during regular business hours. Anyone desired to comment is requested to attend tonight's meeting. This time we'll have public comment period on the two properties that were just talked about uh on the public top comment signin sheet. Miss Victoria Gutdddard. Please state your name and address for the record and you will have three minutes to talk.

Hi Victoria Goddard 10006 John Wright Road. Um I just signed it in case you guys have any questions about it when we get it reszoned. So that's all I got. Thank you so much for being here. I didn't see anyone else uh wishing to speak on our list. Is there anyone else in the audience? Seeing none, we'll close public comment period and then we'll go go back into session. Got a motion to second. All in favor say I. I. Christopher.

All right. The first item for consideration tonight is the application presented um by Jeff Kinsky, Panatonia Development. This application um is representing property owners again, Carol Gillahand and Clarence Black Blackburn requesting a land use planet amendment from low density residential area to medium and highintensity commercial area. Um the applicant also seeks to reszone the same properties from A1 agricultural to C4 plan commercial. Um that overlay is was included in your packet and it's um the properties contain approximately 31.57 acres and are located 2308 and 2450 Gwyn Road and his further references parcel 10.03 on Wilson County tax map 141 and parcel 10.06. This resoning request was presented to the Wilson County Planning Commission on Friday, November 21st, 2025 and is being forwarded to the Wilson County Commission with a positive recommendation from that board. Commissioner Evans is in your district. We'll open the floor with you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This request would actually close a donate hole in the Speedway property over where the all the warehouses are built on the back side of it. Um, it's has no access to Gwyn Road other than through for emergency access. So, I have no no issues with the with the request and I'd make a motion we approve. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, you're ready to vote. All in favor say I. Any opposed? The record reflect is unanimous. Kevin, I mean Chris.

Um, last item I have for you all. Um, um, this application will be presented on Monday, January 19th, 2026. Application has been made by Victoria Goddard, Goddard Construction, representing owner Paul Gard, requesting a land use plan amendment from lowdensity residential area to low density, low inensity commercial area. The applicant also seeks to reszone the same property from A1 agricultural to C1 neighborhood commercial. The property contains approximately 10.46 acres and is located at 4881 Murphy'sboro Road and is further referenced as parcel 42 on Wilson County tax map 123. The resoning request was presented to the Wilson County Planning Commission on Friday, November 21st, 2025 and is being forwarded to the Wilson County Commission with a positive recommendation. [snorts] Um to give you a little bit of history on this property, it was originally before you. It was deferred. The applicant was originally requesting C3 highway commercial. It was deferred by the county commission in the interim. The applicant had withdrawn that request and then reapplied for C1 neighborhood commercial and now they're back before you as they've went through the process.

Again, Mr. Haskell is in your district.

Thank you, Mr. [snorts] said, this one originally came as a request for C3. um they withdrew that and reapplied for the C1 uh zoning at my request to uh alleviate some concerns that came up between the the planning commission and the county commission meeting. I do appreciate the applicants working with me on that and um I don't know if Christopher made the com actually I don't think Christopher made the comment but at planning commission then I did ask if there was any way that we could help these folks out with some of the uh the fees that they had to pay twice being that it was done at my request. So I'll be getting with the county attorney to to continue to pursue that. Uh other than that, I appreciate them sticking with us through uh this extra long meeting to get to that and I'd make a motion that we approve this request.

Second. Any discussion or comments? Ready to vote? All in favor say I. Any opposed? Respect. It was unanimous. Okay. Are we good? Need to take action from the applicant. Okay. We get some more free. Okay. Thank you, Christopher. Believe it or not, we're with the minutes. reports of minutes committee. Commissioner Fields. Yes, Mr. The steering uh excuse me, the minutes committee met in registration on Thursday, January the 8th. [clears throat] Excuse me. Had some dental surgery yesterday. A copy of those minutes are in your packet. I move that they be received in file.

Motion and second. All in favor say I. I. Reading of the minutes. All in favor say I. Communication from the chair tonight. Just to let you know that there is a packet inside your on your desk there in celebration of our nation's 250th anniversary. Uh we're excited now. It's a traveling exhibit will be here in the courthouse uh on display between March 30th and April 20th. And thanks to Brook Driver for making this happen. It's free and open to the public uh as we celebrate that. There'll be some other things coming out, but thank her for taking care of that for us. Uh we'll move forward now. I believe we're going to ready for unless I'm missing something. Report from the emergency management committee. Commissioner Bernard. No report.

Emergency manager director report. Uh Mr. Brian Newberry. Mr. Cooper is out uh on a medical assignment tonight.

Thank you, Mayor. Commissioners, you have your packet there. Total call volume was uh just a little over 19,000 from all aspects, fire, EMS, rescue, hazmat, etc., which is just a little bit over a thousand up from from last year. So, as I'm sure the sheriff will have uh similar increases as well. Uh, still got the warming shelter going on with obviously the cold weather coming in. So, if you hadn't got your bread and milk, you better go get that. There's a lot of snow on the way evidently depending on which forecast you look at, I guess. Uh, other than that, that's all we've got unless you'll have any questions. Any discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor say I.

Report from the law enforcement committee. Thank you, Mr. Newberry. Uh, Commissioner Curts, no report.

Sheriff Brian for the sheriff's report. Thank you, mayor, county commissioners. Uh, your reports in your pack in the packet. Um, numbers are pretty much on par. Little little bit elevated in different areas. Uh, that second line right there, officers initiated checks. That's just majority of that is traffic complaints. And you see the numbers that we're we're we're stopping cars left and right. And it's uh we're doing our best, but with a lot of traffic out there. So, uh that I'll be short with my report. School resource officers are busy uh every day. Um [snorts] this cold weather is going to pull the inmate work crew in. So, we'll do our best and um when we can. Uh Chief Newberry mentioned about this weekend snow uh Armageddon we're having. Um, just my my my suggestion is if if we're getting what they're saying we might get, just everybody please stay at home because us and Weimman and the fire department and everybody else will be out there on the roads and u we don't want to be out there rescuing people putting, you know, it's dangerous. It'll be dangerous, but we just request everybody stay at home if they can. So that concludes my report.

Motion approved. Any discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor say I. Thank you, Sheriff. Report from education committee. Commissioner Marlo. Education committee minute January the 8th. Minister your packet. I move that be received. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say I. Directors of school report. Mr. Jeff Leil.

Thank you mayor commissioner. You have my report there in your packet. U. We did meet twice in in January. You have those agendas attached. Next meeting will be February 2nd and February the 19th if you'd like to attend. Uh enrollment [clears throat] up to 20,800. Uh total enrollment. Won't be surprised to see us hit 21,000 about spring break is kind of what we're predicting. Uh have conducted interviews. Central Pike Elementary principal. I'll be looking to name that here in the next few days. Still still got some things to go through to pick that uh principal. they will begin work preparing to open u Central Pike to the beginning of the school year. Uh with that, Central Pike is on track, moving right along. Uh and we will be opening at the start of school year. Uh the week of January 25th through 31st is uh Tennessee Public School Board rec Appreciation Week. So if you get an opportunity to thank them for what they do. Uh January 5th, we had our night celebration. And thank everyone who a lot of you were in attendance. A lot of you know couldn't make it. You do have a copy just one sheet or front and back shows our success last year and very excited. Uh 82% of your schools are a A's and B's. Largest highest academic performance every grade level in the history of Wilson County schools. And uh I'm gonna say that every time I can. Uh want to thank our our teachers, our students, our administrators, our parents, you, everybody involved, man. We got to work together.

Amen.

And and that that is so important [snorts] uh in what we do. But but the highest ever u and I wish I could drill down and show you again. If you're ever interested, come see me. We got some grade bands hitting 80% proficiency. We we got some we we got some schools been reward schools six seven years in a row and and mathematically that's hard to do. Uh and I want to say this all of our students all of our subgroups are moving now where they want we want to go no because we want to be at the top. I set some strong goals when I took this job and and we're seeing that come to fruition and it's very important that that we stay the course on what's most important. That's educating kids. That's what'll matter in 10 years. Uh and so as long as I'm in this position, I'm going to keep pushing forward on that. I'll tell you that that that's what I'm about. But I want you to look at that. I know you're going to get a lot of information about public schools. I've given you two sheets. Refer to it, please. because that that's that's the data. That's what the state and federal government has set out and we just keep achieving. Is there difficult stories? Absolutely. We live them every day and we're not going to give up on those kids either. So, I wasn't going to say that much, but I'm going to brag on Will County schools and I I want you to brag on them. I want you to brag on these teachers and and our kids. Our kids are the ones that's doing it. So, uh, and our teachers, they're a big part is our the dedication of our teachers. So, uh, want to point that out. Also, included in your packets, our open enrollment numbers. We've approved open enrollments, um, for next school year, and we do have enough room. We didn't have to do a lottery. [snorts] Uh thankfully we don't want to do a lottery if we if we can keep from it, but we've worked through that and got those approved and those families will be receiving that

information quickly so that they can begin getting registered for classes. Uh do do want to point out an employee that has received an honor and it's quite an honor. The Connie Hall's Given Award was established in 2007 by the Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance called Tappard to recognize a school district or individual who promoted exemplary physical education, physical activity, and health programs as part of coordinator school health. Our very own Chuck Whitlock has has been named the recipient of the 2025 tapered county halls given coordinated school health award state award. It's a great award. Uh so if you know Chuck, you see him, congratulate him. What Chuck does, he wears many hats in our district. He is the coordinator of school health. He's also our our health supervisor. He's our district athletic director. And he exemplifies what goes on in Wilson County every day. And to be recognized at a state level for this award is quite an honor. And I know a lot of you know Chuck if you see him. Uh when you see him, he's not around much because he's out working all the time. when you see him, don't forget to thank him because when you're when you're recognized by your peers, uh that is the best honor that you can get. That is my report. I'll be glad to answer any questions.

I got a motion to second now. Commissioner Gentry. Yeah, I appreciate the great job, your leadership, and everything in the school system. I noticed the K through five and the kindergarten enrollments are down by about 50 or so. What do we attribute that to? Or do you attribute that? Well, you're seeing a reduction in [clears throat] birth rate during that time frame. Okay. Uh but ours is less than around the state. We didn't experience the dip. Many of them did. Um Okay. And we it's to be off that few is not that it's not a great not much. I know the overall enrollment is up. Yeah. Overall enrollment is up and and uh we're still monitoring that, but other districts their kindergarten was down significantly. More.

Yes. And ours was not. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? All in favor say I. I. Thank you. Jeff Leil. Register your deeds report. Miss Murphy has a uh a packet and have a report in your packet. I do not see her here. Do a motion to approve the report. Approve. Second. All in favor say I. Trustees report. Mr. Hackett also has one in there to hear a motion. Motion. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I.

Road superintendent, Mr. Steve Murphy. Mayor, commissioners, [snorts] uh, in your packet, we should have the new road list for the 2026, which is shows 868 miles. Uh, I know everybody's got a copy on it in your packet. If you want a hard copy, call the office and we'll get you a hard copy made. But a lot of people [snorts] don't want it now. We used to give out hard copies to everybody. Anyway, if you want a hard copy, let me know. Call call office 6154449022. Uh I was going to speak on these bridges with the bridge at Stewart's Ferry. If most of you don't know, it's completely gone now. So there's just a big hole here, but they are working. Hopefully we can, whether permitting, the end of June, we'll try to have it back to going, have traffic back on it. The next one we've got, uh, the state has come in and told us on the East over road. I don't know if you know where Spring Creek comes across there. We've had to shut it down. The state said we had to so many days to get shut down. So, it's shut down indefinitely. So, I've got engineers working on it. could take [clears throat] three to six months to have it designed. Then I got to bid it. So that's going to be a process. So I just want to let everybody know that it is shut down. We shut it down today. Uh we're doing a patchwork across the county and our slope moors are still running, weather permitting. Just doing our general maintenance. That concludes my report. Let's see. Anybody's got any questions? Motion

to approve. Second. Motion second. Commissioner Hall. Mr. Murphy. I'm just curious if you all got your scrapers good and sharp. We've got We've got them sharp [snorts] as we can get them. We hope we don't have to have them, but it don't sound good. I can tell you that. Seeing no other comments. All in favor say I. Act center report. Mr. Major is out of pocket tonight and he does have a report in there to hear a motion to approve it. Motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I.

And expo center report. Miss Gail. Good evening everybody and I will not take a long time but I did was not able to be here at the last meeting so I wanted to make sure I was available for the year-end report in case you had any questions. Um, I emailed you a copy and I also put a copy on your desk and how it turned out for 2025, we ended up about 41,000 under covering expenses. But if you look at the 5-year average, it was about 105 to the good. So I was just trying to look at where the positives were. It clearly points to expenses because if you look at the income, it was pretty routine and pretty steady even with a couple cancellations that we had. So where those expenses came in, it was HVAC repairs. It was light repairs. The lighting repairs are proving to be expensive and they are going out like two or three at a time and then we have to fix those and then we have to wait and then the others go out too. So, we've got that and then there were some additional expenses. I am very excited to say the new sound and AV system is up and running in the main exhibit hall. It is phenomenal. You've got two LED screens that are very large. Great to watch football on. I'm just saying. Um, and then you've also got the sound system, all the speakers mounted in the ceiling and the subwoofers, and you don't have to crank that volume up very much for everybody to be able to hear. So, I think everybody that comes in is going to see the difference that uses it. And it will eliminate having to bring in outside sound in AV for a lot of things. Not everything, but for a lot

of things. So, we do have that. Um, and our preferred provider program has just continued to elevate and be a very strong contributor to the revenue stream. Does anybody have any questions for me? Yes, sir. Yes. I'd like to I'm standing by contract with Expo Center with us is um with Wilson County Promotions [clears throat] is different uh from all the rest or at least from most of them anyway. You you don't negotiate that through the expo center. Right. Correct.

Right. And in their contracts, I know we write we had rate increases for all our other people that come in there and have shows, exhibits, whatever. And I I think, you know, we had large increases because we needed them and I'm grateful for that. But in their contract, it says that they cannot be raised at any point in time more than 6.7%. So that means that they don't abide by the same guidelines of our new um our new expense or our new charges that we we're putting on the expo center. And so they since they rent for the whole month of August um I think that needs to be lifted. We raised it considerably more for everybody else in 6.7. In fact probably was real close to double on some some of them or at least 50%. So, I just uh I know that's in their contract and I'd just like to call on um uh the mayor and the office here to renegotiate that contract so that when they sign the contract, it's what everybody else has to sign. [snorts]

So, to that point, yes, they do have a limiter on their contract. Um and that contract has not been renegotiated for the next three years to my knowledge. Let me check.

No. Okay. Yeah. So, it's not done yet. So, I can tell you that that that's all I know about that one. Um, and I can tell you about the rate increase. It has proven to be very advantageous for us to have done that. It also has been received very positively from the marketplace perspective. Nobody's questioned it. Not one person has said, "Oh, well, you know, wow, that that seems expensive." They're not doing that. So, it tells me we made the right move. It was a prudent move. Um, we could probably go up a little bit more, but I would hesitate doing that right on the heels of doing it now. We're just now coming into I wrote six contracts in the past two days and all of them had to roll over to the new rates and nobody has questioned it. So, you can tell that the market is expecting it and rightfully so. [snorts] Those are the only two comments that I have on that based on what I know.

Right. Well, that would take the loss off of August and put it a It would certainly adjust it. Yes, you're right. Okay. Any other questions for me? There a motion to approve the report. All in favor say I. Thank you, Miss G. Thank you for your support of the expo. Report from public public buildings committee. Commissioner Weathers, report. A center management, Commissioner Scrugs, Animal Control, Commissioner Breeze, report. Audit, Commissioner Glover, no report. broadband um access. Commissioner Franklin, no report. Uh developing tourism, Commissioner Brown, no report. Ethics, Commissioner Da, no report. Uh finance, Commissioner Cosley, no report.

Health and Recreation, Commissioner Smith, no report. Insurance Commissioner Kurtz, no report. Judicial Commissioner Gentry. Judicial Committee met tonight. Minutes will be in next month's package. Thank you. Legislative ad hoc. Commissioner Cosley, no report. Planning and zoning. Commissioner Franklin, no report. Rules. Uh, Commissioner Keith, no report. Permanent facility board, Commissioner Scrugs.

Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I.

Finance director's report, Mr. Aaron Maynard. I gave a handout before the start of the meeting tonight and I started not to address it since y'all have had so much fun. But uh I think we should probably go ahead. It won't take me but about five minutes per page, 32 pages. Just kidding. Um so the first page is the the general debt service fund budget projections. Again, behind that you have a on page three, you have the interest that's been earned uh for fiscal year uh June 2020 through June 2025. And then behind that, you have the amortization schedules, which is the principal and interest payments on all the debt issuances that uh are paid out of 151. Then when you get back to page 19, you have the same thing for the rural debt service fund, which is fund 152. its sources and uses of funds and then the amortization schedules that support it and then fund 121 which is the other fund that basically supports debt service. Um and I will explain these in brief. Why are we doing this? Because I hear that basically some people look at this as the golden parachute, right? This is our way that basically we can fix all our problems. And there's one problem with that. Number one, I'm not going to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but if I did, I would expect the chute to open. And in this case, I don't think it will. Okay? So, when you look at the interest earned, this is minus, by the way, if you look on the second page, this is minus the 1.7 that we used uh of interest to fund the 2026 raise and minus the 1.2 for this year that we're using for the sheriff's department raise. So that's uh it's 2.9 million almost $3 million. So it's it's that 138

is net of those two things. Okay. Uh and then you look down where I highlighted excess of revenues over expenditures on page two. Notice you have 13,800,000 in interest earnings and an excess of revenues and expenditures of only 9 million. That means you're betting on $4.7 million basically not for your fund balance to start to decline in interest income in addition to the 2.9 million that you're counting on in the general fund. And I'm going to be coming back for another million pretty soon for insurance for property casualty work comp, whatever. So I just don't want everybody to look at the debt service fund as this is my fix. Okay. [laughter] Um, I'm not saying there's anything that we have to fix. I just This is not a golden parachute. That money is there for a reason. So, what am I what am I doing with that money? If you look at page 25, that is the West Wilson Middle School bond issue. Bobby, did I not give you one of these?

No. I'm sorry.

You looked at 2025. You give me just a minute to grab another one off my desk. Suppose for a minute that you could uh next year because if you look at the call date down at the bottom. I don't know if you'll see that or not in bold. Call date 412027. That's the date at which you can call these bonds in. You can actually pay them off early. So suppose for a minute that you could scrge up $49 million. That's a heck of a lot of money. And it wouldn't negatively impact your bond rating. And you could pay $49 million and save yourselves 16.8 million in interest. That's where I'm going with the interest income. That's solid. Okay? There's nothing that can go wrong in that plan. So, or in this case, rather than you might not do that because if you look at some of these coupon rates later on, they're three and a half, 3.6. What if we turned around and we had to borrow money at 6 and 1/2? Why would I want to pay down bonds at 3 1/2 and I'm going to have to pay 6 1/2% on something? I've got to build a school. So maybe instead of taking that 40 million and paying it on this bond, maybe I want to take it and pay it directly toward the construction price of another school. Again, it's solid. It's not speculative. So those are my plans, my thoughts of the kinds of things that we should do with these interest earnings while they last because we don't know how long they're going to last. If you look at that schedule on page three, it's crazy.

2020 2.5 million in interest income. 21 and 22 almost non-existent. 23 I thought we were back in high cotton. We got to 6.2. 24.6 million and 25 18.3 million. [clears throat] So, I just need to point that stuff out so that we don't start looking over here as this is where I'm going to make my living is in the debt service fund. So, um that's really all I want to say. So,

Mr. Mayor, also as we look at that, a lot of the construction funds are in there are drawing some of that interest, and as they as they work their way down, there's no money there because we you had two schools on the list there that you well know of that you and an $84 million uh uh judicial center that you're working on. So, those three schools, two schools, and that is where a lot of your interest earnings come from. And as you build those and those funds go away, that's your interest rate going away. I know I have a couple of um questions here. Commissioner Curts, I'll go with you first. When uh FEMA or TEMA, whoever ends up with the money and drawing the interest before we actually get it, decides to release that money, where where are those funds?

They will go back into fund 152 where the bond was issued uh for the new West Wilson where the the additional debt was issued to finish West Wilson. Okay. Middle. But

we will come back to you with that uh money and ask you some questions probably on that as well. Okay. Commissioner Breeze. I was looking around. I wish uh Mr. Hacket was here, but I've had some conversations with him recently about CD rates. So, he is bidding out CDs as much as he can every six months or so, and he's usually getting somewhere between 3.8 and 3.9% on six month CDs. So, it's starting to decline as he's bidding this out. Not by a lot, but we just need to be aware as to kind of that's what our CDs are drawing from an interest rate perspective, which will affect the amount of interest that we have sitting in these accounts. Commissioner Franklin,

yeah, this is this isn't big money, but it is some money. Million dollars still worth something. And I don't know if you mentioned this at the budget committee because it was my 44th anniversary and I couldn't be there at the Thursday meetings. I'm sorry, but um I got a boss, too. Anyway, um taking a $900,000 offline on storm water. Have you have you talked about this commission? I have. It it is a I mean it's good news. I mean it's something I hope our planning and and codes enforcement could do as well. Uh could you summarize it better than me? What happened?

Well, in essence, the storm water fees were raised. Uh number we did this. We we suspended the storm water um reserve fund so that basically it's capped where it sits right now. Um and then I say we I mean you you guys uh you guys then raised the storm water fees to basically cover the cost of the storm water budget which is roughly 9 uh 900,000. So basically you you added $900,000 to your bottom line. Simpler because that's one road. Yeah, we're going to fix these roads. Any other comments or questions? [laughter] Got a motion to approve. Do a second. Second.

All in favor say I. Report from the budget committee. Commissioner Marlo. Budget committee met January the 8th. Minute in your packet. Move they be received. Got a motion and second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say I. Resolutions. Commissioner Marlo. Resolution 26-1-2 classifying the public roads in Wilson County. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. Second. Resolution 26-1-3 um in the budget a and appropriation resolution by approving education budget amendment 26-07.

Got a motion, a second. Any discussion? Are you ready to vote? Please cast your vote. Commissioner Gentry. Okay. All hearts and minds good with your vote. Please record. 23 23 and 0. Resolution passes. Resolution 26-1-4. Amend the budget appropriation resolution to make an appropriation from highway public funds to capital outlay bridge construction.

Any discussion? Seeing none, are you ready to vote? Please cast your vote. All hearts and minds good with your vote. Please record. 23 and0 resolution passes. Any old business to come before the body tonight? Any new business? Motion to adjourn. We are ajourned.