CC Notes – January 22nd 2013
The first regular monthly meeting of 2013 was held on Tuesday, January 22nd. All commissioners were present for the meeting.
Visitor’s Center
The visitor’s center again found its way onto the monthly agenda of the County Commission. If you would like a refresher on the background of this issue, just go to my website at http://allenfoster.net and type visitor’s center into the search bar and click the ‘Search’ button. After all the bidding and rebidding, when the last set of bids were opened and all costs were added up, the project came in slightly over budget. In a strong signal of support, a private donation in the amount of $10,000 was donated toward the project by local businesses. The sources of the donation wish to remain anonymous. The vote to approve the funding was approved in an 11-7 vote. Voting in favor were Commissioners Houston, Sabine, Hyder, Safdie, Koester, McNeil, Carter, Turner, Brown, Rimmer and me. Commissioners Hassler, Presley, Seiber, Allen, Harvel, Kinnunen and Lynch voted against.
Resolutions
The first resolution authorized the Mayor to sign a proposal with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. This proposal is for work to be conducted on Highway 127, North of I-40 out to Legion Road. This was approved with an 18-0 vote.
The next resolution, also approved unanimously, was the 2012-2013 Cumberland County Road List. The majority of the revisions were either corrections or additions to the road list. All of the changes had been vetted and approved by the Planning Commission prior to submission to the County Commission.
A budget amendment resolution was presented that authorized acceptance of grant funds into the Sheriff’s Department budget. The AARA Grant was in the amount of $9,534 and will be used for equipment. The resolution was approved unanimously.
The final resolution of the evening was the authorization of an application for funds from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The County Commission is authorized to apply for funds from the CDBG on behalf of a utility district. The amount requested in the grant is $358,800 with matching funds coming from South Cumberland Utility District (SCUD). If the grant is approved, the funds will be used to provide water line extensions to areas within the SCUD service area that do not currently have service. The motion to approve the application was unanimous.
Financial Report
Property tax collections for December are at 46.5 percent of budget. Last year at this time it was at 47.7 percent. Hotel and Motel collections are at $367,000 which is 56.5 percent of budget. Ambulance collections are at 46 percent of budget and prison boarding is 55 percent at $413,000. Sales tax collections are down $41,000 year to date.
Please check out my updated website at http://allenfoster.net. There are new features and documents available. Your feedback is important to me. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Thank you for allowing me to serve the 4th District and Cumberland County.
Sincerely
Allen Foster
Board of Commissioners
4th District Representative
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 