TRACY HARRIS – Staff Writer
The Marshall County Board of Commissioners regular meeting was held April 22, 2024, at the Courthouse Annex. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mayor Mike Keny. Roll call was taken by County Clerk Daphne Girts. There were 17 commissioners present. One commissioner was absent – Anna Childress. Chapel Hill Church of Christ Preacher, Isaac Bourne, led prayer. Commissioner Jeff Poarch led the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no public comments. The minutes from March were approved.
Five notary publics were approved. Mayor Keny appointed the following members to the Board of Equalization with an April 2026 expiration term – Jimmy Hill, Roger Brown, Mike Waggoner, Shannon McClean, Sandra Wolaver, Bobby Beech-Alternate, Tony Lancaster-Alternate, and Peggy Burrow-Alternate. Committee members start in June 2024.
The first order of New Business was “Appropriations” and both passed unanimously. Resolution 24-04-01 was a budget amendment for the General Fund (1) “to correct the Library Director salary from what was budgeted in June for FY25” by increasing the Library-Supervisor/Director account by $1,150 and decreasing the Library-Longevity account by $1,150 and (2) “to amend the Recovery Court Grant budget for additional funds being allocated by the state” by increasing the Other General Government Grant account by $2,500 and decreasing the Probation-Data Processing account by $2,500.
Resolution 24-04-02 was a budget amendment for the Highway Fund “to correct the salary classification of one employee” by increasing the Highway and Bridge-Foreman account by $63,212 and decreasing the Highway and Bridge-Equipment Operators account by $63,212.
In “Other New Business” the commission voted 17-0 on the following items:
- authorized Marshall County EMS to have a means of understanding with the following fire departments: City of Lewisburg, Town of Cornersville, Belfast, Town of Chapel Hill
- Resolution 24-04-04 authorized the county to apply for grant funds for Mental Health Court for misdemeanor offenders for July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 ($115,000) – 100% reimbursable
- Resolution 24-04-06 authorized Marshall County EMS to write off bad debt with Credit Bureau Services (CBS) because the county changed collection agencies and over $3 million remains “uncollectable.”
- Resolution 24-04-11 authorized the county to apply for grant funding to sustain Recovery Court for the period July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025 ($102,5000) – 100% reimbursable
- authorized the application of a recycling equipment grant between TDEC and the county
Commissioner Mickey King made a motion to suspend the rules to allow for new business that was not on the agenda. The motion passed so the rules were suspended. King brought up a new resolution concerning water line extensions because back in March, at the last meeting, Resolution 24-03-07 was approved. That resolution gave the commission authorization to apply for the CDBG grant and the engineering services associated with it. The county is already compiling data and testing for the grant application. The funding available for construction projects is $1 million and the county is required to match 21%. The cost estimate provided by the engineer exceeds the budgeted amount by more than $250,000.
King introduced Resolution 24-04-12 in New Business this month to allocate additional funding for the CDBG grant for water line extension. The County wants to move forward with this project and according to the resolution, “looks to share in the additional funding need with the Marshall County Board of Public Utilities; and Marshall County’s additional funding is in an amount not to exceed $128,639.” It passed by a vote of 17-0.
The final item in Other New Business was a Resolution to increase the Building Official’s pay grade to AP13, provided the person holding the position has all the necessary certifications. Commissioner Craig Blackwell asked, “Well what’s the pay going to be?” Mayor Keny was not aware at the time but said he would email Blackwell with the amount the following day. The motion to increase the pay for the Building Official’s pay grade to AP13 passed by a vote of 17 – 0.
Tabitha Parish, Marshall County Human Resource Specialist, told The Post on April 29, 2024, that the AP13 pay rate is $32.83 per hour.
