By Marilyn Toppins

Monday, June 10 at 7:00 pm, the Commission will meet in special session to consider the FY20 Union County Budget. Mayor Bailey announced, “The budget is balanced.” According to Finance Director Ann Dyer, 1.06 pennies were moved from debt service and 2.97 pennies were taken from capital projects to balance the budget. The tax rate remains the same as last year.

Union County Solid Waste collected 421 pounds of household hazardous waste during its event on Saturday, May 18.

Dakota Fields from UCHS designed the Union County Seal and received a $50 gift card from Mayor Bailey for his efforts. A local business, Foxy Wraps, is digitizing the seal. The seal can be viewed on the Union County Facebook page.

Minutes of the April 22 meeting were approved. Debra Henderson was approved to make a Public Comment, but never arrived to speak. The commission approved three notaries.

Under the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Bailey updated several items. The Safe Route to Schools Grant has been resubmitted with the changes requested by the state. The mayor is hoping to hear the results of the Home Grant within a week. Union County has been trying to purchase the Optimist Building for several months. Mayor Bailey related that the survey and title search have been completed and the next step is to meet with the remaining members of the Optimist Club to secure ownership for the county.

After decades of no new development, two businesses have expressed interest in the Luttrell Business Park. Mayor Bailey will discuss the information with the Business and Industry Committee.

Continuing on, Mayor Bailey related that courthouse improvements including painting, landscaping, and pressure washing have been included in next year's budget. The phone and internet systems upgrades should be completed in June. The maintenance vehicles are at the dealer in Nashville for state inspection and could arrive within a few days. The mayor met with about fifteen people from the 13th District to hear their concerns. These concerns will be discussed by various committees in the coming weeks.

Sheriff Billy Breeding reported for April 738 calls received, wrecks with injury 9, wrecks without injury 22, admitted to the jail 150, released from the jail 144, and the current jail population 111. In addition, the sheriff offered for approval a contract that would allow a phone line visitation service that did not involve relatives of inmates having to purchase phone cards in person at the jail. The jail budget would receive 62% of the funds paid for this service. The contract was approved.

Finance Director Ann Dyer gave the Finance Report for all departments. The commission approved budget amendments to add revenues and clean up for the end of fiscal year budget 2019. Gail Corum from the Union County Audit Committee asked that the Audit Report be delayed until the July Commission Meeting due to vacations of committee members and some information from the state regarding the audit procedure.

Doris Martinson from Knox County Archives informed the Commission of the importance of storing and indexing county records in a way that hard copies would be preserved for legal as well as genealogical and historical purposes. Genealogy has become the most popular U.S. hobby behind stamps and coins. Court documents are a necessary part of finding one's heritage. She also noted the need to teach cursive writing so documents in cursive can be read in the future. Finally, she admonished that climate control is imperative to preserve these documents. Mayor Bailey thanked Ms. Martinson and stated that, currently, documents are archived in the original form in the appropriate office or a building at the Union County Road Office. Also, most offices have either digitized a portion or all of the past records.

Sick leave to be used toward retirement continues to cause debate. Sick leave has been part of the county employee handbook since 1998. However, the 2008 handbook specified that sick leave could not accrue and must be used or lost annually. “Use it or lose it” was the policy that was in effect in 2011 according to Ms. Dyer when she was hired to begin centralized finance. Further, Commissioner Larry Lay (6th) maintained the 2008 policy did not mention using sick leave for retirement since sick leave could not be accrued until the 2016 policy update. The debate centered on the fact that the 2008 policy was not signed by the former sheriff and now employees who have served under the previous and the current sheriff want to use their sick leave toward retirement. Recent litigation as well as statements from the current sheriff and finance director confirm that no records of employee sick leave days accrued were kept before Sept 1 2014 when the current sheriff was elected. Jeff Brantley (5th) moved to reject the request to allow accrual of sick leave to count toward retirement. Danny Cooke (4th) seconded the motion. But when Mayor Bailey asked Mr. Brantley for a date to be included in the motion, debate resumed with some commissioners voicing opposition to a date prior to the 2016 policy change. Finally, Mayor Bailey asked Mr. Brantley to withdraw his motion to enable more study by the county attorney to properly proceed. Commissioner Brantley agreed and the request will be revisited at another meeting. Allowing the request could increase the amount that Union County would be required to contribute toward the state retirement.

In the April Commission Meeting, County Commission voted to give the Union County Historical Society the large map plotter printer that had been surplussed by one of the courthouse offices. Since that meeting, Mayor Bailey has been advised by CTAS to bid the printer. The county attorney spoke with the state auditors who gave a conflicting opinion that the gift was legal. But the motion to bid the plotter failed by a vote of 7 Yes, 4 No [E. Cox, Jessee, Keck, and Munsey] and 2 Pass [Brantley and Hill]. Absent were Jody Smith (2nd) and Jeff Chesney (1st). When Mayor Bailey asked Attorney Myers for a recommendation, Mr. Myers stated that a vote could be done at the next meeting to bid the printer.

Renae Williams addressed the commission regarding the condition of her road. She lives on a private road and suffers from numerous serious health conditions. Ms. Williams said that she needs the road repaired so medicine can be delivered to her door instead of a half mile away at the main road. It is also difficult for an ambulance to reach her in an emergency. County road funds are prohibited by law from repairing private roads. The road would have to be privately improved to the current standards to be placed on the county road list. Mayor Bailey related that ETHRA is researching options for Ms. Williams. The mayor and some commissioners volunteered to explore other opportunities for aid for Ms. Williams.

The next meeting of the Union County Commission will be on June 10, at 7:00 pm.