COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING
March 7, 2005

Personal Minutes Written by Dave Sobota

1. Approval of February 7 minutes – approved by all present
   
2. Tim Harris, state level go between for county commissioners to address new state legislation, was to speak today. He was not here but did leave a package with all of the bills Tennessee’s legislators are proposing this year. This package is available to the public by request or on-line and was not discussed at this meeting. The package was a bound book full of text approximately ½ inch thick.
   
3. Discussion on putting an ambulance in Vanleer- Mr. Steve Manley requested the commission’s approval to move one of Dickson’s ambulances to Vanleer. The city of Vanleer agreed to provide the housing, location, phone line, etc, at no cost to the county. The plan is to take 2 day time crew from Dickson and move them to Vanleer along with one truck. This motion was approved by all that were present.
   
4. Shaun Winter of Ensafe spoke to the commission about the monitoring being done at the landfill. This appears to be largely the result of requests made by a concerned citizen regarding methane monitoring. The commissioners asked several questions of Mr. Winter, most were regarding what is being monitored, when, how often, and can the public readily access this information. His responses can be summed up thus: The methane monitoring is being done quarterly (no comment why is was apparently not done so in the past), the maximum methane level is 25% and no reading, done in Dickson, has been above 1%. He was also asked by arsenic measurements. Those measurements are done monthly and are sampled at the location where the land fill "leachate" enters the sewer system. His other comments went to the public availability of their documentation. The public can get this information but it is not readily available. The only time the records are made readily available to the public is when any readings are above the government set limits. At that point they have a reporting requirement that makes the information public knowledge. Any other access to this information is done on a case by case, request by request basis.
   
5. Discussion on Industrial Development Board of Dickson County- The commission asked the Industrial Board to update them on the scope and function of the Dickson County Industrial Board. Mr. Ramsey, the Industrial Board’s lawyer, spoke on the Board’s behalf. Some of the details are as follows: The board regularly meets quarterly. The board has 9 members and they are appointed for 6-year terms. The county Mayor is usually a member. The county commissioners are not allowed to be on the board while on the county commission, by law. The board member’s only compensation for their service is lunch served during the meetings. The board’s attorney only gets compensated when he provides services related to the sale of property, his service to the board is otherwise free of charge. The board generally decides how the industrial park property will be used. They try to recruit a diverse spectrum of industries so the area is not dependent on one industry. They coordinate the agreements with incoming industries, offering a standard package of property tax breaks (for a certain period of time only), some assistance with access road building, and installation of utility lines (75% of funding comes from the state). They can also issue bonds for the incoming industry but they only act as the go between. Their signature on the bond note does not make the local government responsible for the re-payment, in any way but it does give the possibility of providing a federal income tax brake for the lender. The board meetings are open to the public and are announced in the Dickson Herald. As a general rule, if the board is to make any offerings that are beyond the normal package, they bring the special circumstances to the county commission to be approved.
   
6. Financial reports- For January the county took in $1,024,340.43 and paid out $1,260,905.77 leaving $827,888.77 in the general fund. This statement reflects the end of "catch up" payments so all past due items are now up to date. The reserve (rainy day) fund is approximately $375,000 of the $800K number. For an update on the wheel tax collections since the rate hike – The first month was good for $65K extra into the county bank. The piece of industrial park property, sold in the last full meeting, has been paid for and the county has deposited Mr. Ramsey’s check minus closing costs.
   
7. Other business- Commissioner Tidwell asked for a resolution to support 3 bills being introduced by Doug Jackson (State rep.). Bill 1 – Amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between 1 man and 1 woman. Bill 2 – Amend the state constitution to give the people of Tennessee the right to hunt, fish, and game. Bill 3 – has two parts, first is to not allow a homosexual adult to foster parent, the second part is to not allow homosexual adults to adopt. This resolution is a statement that the Dickson County commission supports these bills. This motion was accepted by Mr. Wetterau and second by Mr. Spencer. The measure was voted on and approved by all present (Mrs. Gray was not present).
   
8. The next item discussed was the convenience site (for trash drop off) in Pond. The owner of the property is currently charging the county $100 per month for the use of the land. He has asked to increase that to $300 per month. This property was under a 10-year lease agreement. That agreement has expired. The commission agreed to pay the $300 per month, on a month to month basis, until they can find an alternate site for less money. As a side note: the county’s figure on running one of these sites is $25,000 to $30,000 per year depending on how many hours per week the site is open.

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