CC Notes – June 18th, 2018
All County Commissioners were present for the June 2018 meeting of the full Cumberland County Commission except Roy Turner and Tim Claflin. The first item of the evening fell under Unfinished Business. The Animal Shelter Adoption Center came in under budget. Sonya Rimmer made a motion that was seconded by David Gibson to allocate up to $7,000 of the remaining construction funds to purchase equipment for the building. The motion passed unanimously.
Resolutions
The extension of the Downtown Crossville Incorporated (DCI) lease agreement was the first item on the agenda. In a 15-1 vote, the lease was extended for an additional year and now, expires June 30, 2019. The agreement also allows Steve Norris, local meteorologist, to use the building. Commissioner Scarbrough voted against the motion.
A resolution to approve a license agreement between Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and Cumberland County was unanimously approved. The agreement is to continue to provide office space for the Ground Water Protection Staff through June 30, 2019 at a rate of $350 per month.
The contract between the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services was amended in a 16-0 vote. This amendment extends the contract to June 30, 2019 and includes the fees associated with various services. This agreement covers costs for defendants charged with misdemeanors that have orders from the General Sessions, Criminal, or Circuit Court for evaluations and treatments.
A new speed limit on West Creek Drive was formally adopted. After receiving a petition from a large majority of residents and receiving recommendations from the Sheriff and the Superintendent of Roads, the Environmental Committee recommended setting the limit to 30 MPH. The resolution was approved 15-1 with Commissioner Geisler voting against.
Several year-end budget cleanup resolutions were unanimously approved for the Board of Education, Highway Fund, Sanitation Fund and Cumberland County government. These are the typical resolutions seen each year to make sure line items are fully funded by moving money between line items and various fund balances.
The final restitution payment from former VSO Mark Daniels has been paid. The Cumberland County Veterans Assistance Council, a 501(c)(3) charity, was established to support and assist veterans and to distribute these funds. The final payment of $46,660.50 was unanimously approved to be paid to the council, making restitution monies fully distributed.
You may have read about the CCHS and Crab Orchard building project bids coming in over budget. Various items contributed to this overage of $1,375,273. In order to make up the funds required for the project, the Board of Education designated a $750,000 contribution to the project from previously allocated capital funds. This resolution was approved by the County Commission in a unanimous vote.
That brought the overage down to approximately $625,000. Approximately $430,000 in contingency funds are associated with the project. Past experience indicates that around half of that money will be used during construction. In order to move the project forward, a resolution was introduced committing last dollar funds from the County to complete the project. These funds are to be allocated after the $750,000 Board of Education contribution and after all contingency funds are spent. This could result in the county contributing an additional $200,000 to $625,000 to the project. The final amount is likely to be somewhere in between. The resolution was approved 16-0.
The final resolution of the evening was approval of a lease agreement with Daniel Benson. The county owns property that connects to the Homestead Market that is owned by Mr. Benson. He requested to lease a small portion of that property to allow delivery vehicles better access to the market. The lease agreement is for five years with a $500 annual payment. The agreement was approved 16-0.
Financial Report
Local option sales tax collections for the Board of Education were again higher than budgeted estimates by $8,187 for May. The year started with several months where estimates were below budget putting the overall income at around $100,000 below expectations. May’s total reduced that deficit to $16,944 with two months to go in the budget. Property tax collections are at 101% of the budgeted amount. The Hotel/Motel tax collections are $673,163 against an annual budget of $810,000. That represents 83.1% of the budgeted amount, compared to 79.6% at this point last year. EMS collections continue to be strong after very weak initial collections. Year to date, EMS has collected $3,712,721 of a budgeted $3,900,000 through June. That leaves collections at $137,721 above budget with one month to go. Prisoner boarding, through nine months, is at $490,737 against an annual budget of $525,000, or 93.5% collected.
The average cost of diesel is now at $2.05 per gallon and the average cost of gas is $1.86 per gallon. Both were budgeted at $2.00 per gallon. There were some overages in a few line items for fuel, but they were due to actual usage and not cost.
Thank you for allowing me to serve the 4th District and Cumberland County. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at any time.
Finally, if you are interested, you can subscribe to my County Mayor newsletter by clicking here: http://eepurl.com/c_Zx-L.
Sincerely
Allen Foster
Board of Commissioners
4th District Representative
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 