A new health department building moved one step closer to reality at Monday night’s Marshall County Commission meeting.

The commission agreed to the purchase of a two acre parcel on War Eagle Drive that will house the new facility.

The $245,000 purchase will be contingent on pre-construction engineering and environmental reports.

A new health department has been under discussion for years, as the current facility on Legion Drive is outdated, undersized for the number of patients the department sees, and beset by various maintenance issues.

At one point the previous county commission had determined to build the new facility next to the existing building, but the issue was reopened and the decision was made to move closer to the city’s other concentration of medical facilities.

The commission chose Dr. William Bell, a Chapel Hill dentist, to fill the vacancy for the First District on the Marshall County School Board, created when sitting board member John Dippold moved out of the county.

Commissioner Craig Blackwell nominated Bell, while Commissioner Anna Childress nominated Charles A. Sellars for the position.

The commission voted 13 to 5 to approve Bell.

He will finish Dippold’s unexpired term in office until the August 2020 election.

The commission approved a resolution authorizing Director of Schools Jacob Sorrells to enter into a lease agreement for 1,083 Chromebooks and 345 laptops for the coming school year.

The school system is in the fourth year of its initiative to provide technology to each student in the schools.

Two resolutions requesting the rezoning of approximately 31 acres at the Rogers Group Pottsville quarry were withdrawn, at the request of the company, until a future meeting.

The company wants to rezone the two parcels, one on Kenny Nelson Road and the other on Highway 99, from A-1 (agricultural) to C-2 (commercial) in order to build additional office and shop buildings on the site, not for additional mining operations.

Following the commission meeting, the county’s budget committee met to review the six candidates who have applied for the position as the county’s director of accounts and budget.

The committee selected three candidates to interview for the position next week.

Malinda White held the position for five years before retiring at the end of June.

Tribune photo by Scott Pearson

Deputy Comptroller Jason Mumpower and auditors from his office presented Marshall County Mayor Mike Keny with recognition for the county’s clean annual audit at Monday night’s commission meeting.

The county was one of 12 Tennessee counties to achieve a clean audit last year and joins an even more select group to have two audits without any findings in consecutive years.