County Commissioners Meeting
December 6, 2004

Personal Minutes Written by Cindy Sobota

Special session meeting was first and started at 7pm.

The ONLY thing on the agenda for the special session was the Wheel tax referendum. It was unanimously approved to put the wheel tax referendum up for a public vote. Stay tuned for the date of that election, as it was not specified in this meeting.

Regular working session followed.

1. Was just an approval vote for the November 1, 2004 meeting minutes.
2. Discussion on the subject of population census. If the county were to hold another census count they could increase the amount of shared revenue they get from the state. This would bring in an approximate extra $13 per person in the county. Approximately $8 of this would go to the highway department as that portion comes from the gasoline tax. The balance would go to the general fund. The issue is with the cost to collect the census data. It is currently estimated that it would cost about $50,000 to gather this census data. One commissioner spoke up to state that this discussion should not go further since the county has no way to pay for this census. There were suggestions made to look at getting funding from other sources, such as private, or from the cities within the county. It was decided to motion for this issue to be studied, get actual figures, and find out if there could be a source for funding other than the county. That motion passed.
3. This item was a vote to make a new lease agreement for a copier in the election office. Their copier quit and the estimate was over $700 to repair it. It was motioned to start a 60-month lease with Dickson office supply with the same conditions as the copier leased for the UT extension.
4. This was a motion to appoint someone (I did not catch his name) to the board of zoning appeals. A man was "elected" but this only means that his appointment will have to be approved in a full court.
5. There were some amendments to the zoning ordinances but this discussion was motioned to be delayed due to the fact that the commission has been focusing on budget issues and have not had sufficient time to study the proposed changes.
6. The mayor went over November’s financial reports. We will post copies of those documents as soon as we have them. One thing to note: the financial reports do NOT show negatives in categories where the county owes money above what they are able to pay. One example is waste management which the county owes $300,000 but only has approximately $21,000 in the account for the landfill.

This was the end of the agenda items. Other discussions brought up were regarding the nursing home sale, televising the commission meetings, the fight for the wheel tax, and a resolution to name a bridge after someone’s father.

The nursing home sale has not been completed yet due to the fact that many repairs were needed before the building could be inspected by the state. The inspection is due to occur some time after January 3, 2005. The county layer suggested that the sale is still very tentative and the money should not be counted on any time soon. This money, however, has already been put into the 2004 – 2005 budget, it just has not been spent yet.

One of the commissioners is looking into televising the meetings on the public access station. The work is preliminary, but he is working with the high school to handle the technical aspect and working on the paperwork. If this can be done, he thinks the meetings can be broadcast at no cost to the county.

The fight for the wheel tax. A few of the commissioners believe that they can get the wheel tax approved if they are able to provide the public with enough good PR to show how the county needs the money. They will work on getting the Chamber of Commerce and the school system involved. The mayor also reported that she has some people willing to help the tax cause with some work and advertising, so look for the county to push for a yes vote on the wheel tax and ask for some big support to do so. On another note, it was stated, by the chairman, that the county would have to cut funding to ALL non-essential functions if the wheel tax does not pass. The people will get a chance to vote on this issue and will decide if this major cut should happen or not. I do urge everyone to get involved and make your opinion be known when voting day arrives.

The naming of the bridge was motioned to be discussed at the next meeting when more details should be available.

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