CC Notes – March 18th 2013
The regular monthly meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners was held on Monday, March 18, 2013 at 6:00 PM in the Cumberland County Courthouse. All seventeen sitting Commissioners were present for the meeting.
Second Civil District County Commissioner Vacancy
Four candidates presented their credentials for being appointed to fill the 2nd District Commission seat vacated by former Commissioner Robert Safdie. The candidate names were drawn at random to speak to the Commission for up to 10 minutes concerning their qualifications for the seat. The candidates were Caroline E. Knight, Roy K. (Tom) Isham, Joseph B. Patton and Jack E. Miller. The field of candidates was strong, but in the end Caroline Knight was appointed by the Board.
Voting for Knight: Brian Houston, Harry Sabine, Nancy Hyder, Allen Foster, Joe Koester, Jan McNeil, Larry Allen, Terry Carter, Roy Turner, Jeff Brown, Sonya Rimmer, and John Kinnunen
Voting for Isham: David Hassler, Johnny Presley, and Mike Harvel
Voting for Patton: Charles Seiber
Voting for Miller: Carmin Lynch
I voted for Caroline Knight as she is qualified for the position and had strong support from the community. I had more people contact me from the 2nd District asking me to vote for her than I did for any other candidate, by a wide margin. Although Mr. Safdie will be missed, I believe Caroline Knight will do a great job representing the 2nd District and Cumberland County. She will serve on all committees that Mr. Safdie formerly served on.
Resolutions
A fee schedule for mechanical inspections of residential home construction was approved in a 13 to 5 vote. The City of Crossville currently conducts construction inspections for Cumberland County. Mechanical inspections are already required by code and this resolution simply allowed the City to collect payment for the work. If Cumberland County did not contract with the City for these services, inspectors could be sent from the State Fire Marshall’s office and the County would have little to no say in pricing or the timing of inspections. Voting in favor of the motion was Houston, Sabine, Hyder, Knight, Hassler, Foster, Koester, McNeil, Harvel, Turner, Brown, Rimmer, and Kinnunen. Voting against the motion was Presley, Seiber, Allen, Carter, and Lynch.
Three budget amendments were unanimously passed. The first was for the Sanitation Fund. A total of $969,000.00 was approved for the creation of a single stream line at the recycling center. This money is for a building and land adjacent to the current facility, as well as for the equipment needed to create and run the line. Money will be taken from the Sanitation Fund Balance and combined with grant funds to get the project going. This project will result in a significant savings in taxpayer dollars by reducing the amount of garbage that the County pays to have hauled off. It should also generate revenue by reclaiming recyclable goods for resale. The vote was unanimous with Mike Harvel abstaining as he works for the Sanitation Department. A second resolution for $95,824.00 was approved allowing Circuit Court Clerk Larry Sherrill to purchase an updated computer system for his office. The department has been saving funds for several years in order to make this purchase. The final resolution approved was for $3,500 for the Senior Citizens building owned by the County. A set of doors need replacing and this money represents half of the approximate cost needed to complete the repairs.
A resolution to reappoint David Gibson and Grant Thurman to the Adult-Oriented Establishment Board for four year terms to expire April 1, 2017 was unanimously approved. Unanimous approval was also granted to appoint Greg A. Watson, Ronald P. Erick, and Jennifer Marie Phillips as Judicial Commissioners for Cumberland County for four year terms beginning March 18, 2013 and ending March 18, 2017.
Financial Report
Sales tax receipts for December came in at approximately $755,000 compared to a projected $769,000. This leaves a budgeted deficit of about $63,000 for the fiscal year. The dollar amount collected is up over previous years, but was down when compared to projected revenue. Hotel/motel tax collections continue to be solid coming in at just over $43,000 for the month. The hotel/motel fund is at 68 percent of budget year to date. The Ambulance Service continues to be on budget and property tax collections are at 90 percent of budget.
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 