Commission establishes new department

By Scott Pearson Associate Editor
Posted 3/7/22

The Marshall County Commission marked the beginning of some new projects and heard updates on the progress of others at Monday night’s monthly meeting.

The commission approved a resolution …

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Commission establishes new department

Posted

The Marshall County Commission marked the beginning of some new projects and heard updates on the progress of others at Monday night’s monthly meeting.

The commission approved a resolution establishing the county’s human resources office as a department level entity, reporting directly to the County Mayor’s Office.

When established in 2017, human resource employees were included in, and reported to, the county budget office.

Mayor Mike Keny said that the intention from the beginning was always to split off the department and with current Director Beth Stockwell in place for over a year it made sense to “do it now or never bother.”

Commissioner Tony Beyer added that the budget office had enough on its plate and that while the departments were aligned there was enough difference in duties to separate the two.

Commissioners also celebrated the state’s certification of the county’s newly established Recovery Court. See separate story on Page 1 of today’s Marshall County Tribune.

Commissioners approved a pair of resolutions concerning funding finishing touches at the new health department building being constructed on War Eagle Drive.

One item was the acceptance of $75,000 in CARES Act funding to install an awning at the facility to enable the drive through services that have proved so valuable of the last two years.

Mayor Mike Keny told the commissioners that he was hoping that the building would be ready to open in April.

Commissioner Mickey King discussed the outcome of recent mediation efforts with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation after the county’s appeal of restrictions within the permit issued for water withdrawals from the Duck River.

King said that the Board of Public Utilities, the county water utility, had all three necessary permits, from TDEC, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Army Corps of Engineers, in hand, but restrictions on withdrawals based on the flow rate of the Duck are an issue.

As written, King said there would be nine days on average per year that the county could not draw water from the Duck.

The Board of Public Utilities, the county water utility, is moving forward with plans to build a water purification plant to increase the county’s capacity for drinking water.

TDEC agreed to a new study on the river’s flow to update the current numbers, collected in 2008.

Costs for the study will be split between TDEC and the Duck River Agency.

Commissioners renewed their approval of an increase in the setback for new cell phone towers to 1,000 feet from an occupied structure.

The measure was approved in January but needed a required public hearing, held Monday, before final passage.

Commissioners approved the retention of the law firm of Spivy and Medley to serve as the county’s delinquent tax attorneys. County Attorney Barbara Medley noted that collections of past due property taxes had run approximately $100,000 per year for the past two years.

Related to the discussion, County Trustee Scottie Poarch reported to the commission that as of Monday, the deadline for local property taxes, his office had received more than 91% of the expected payments, more than $18.7 million.