County committees discuss animal shelter

White County Commission committees met Dec. 1, and it was a long night, starting with a detailed overview of the landfill from County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson, which was highlighted in a previous edition of The Expositor.

The other committees also had business to attend to for the month.

Commissioner Derrick Hutchings brought up the Animal Shelter, which has been a part of the discussion with Solid Waste because of the convenience center at the landfill closing. One of the biggest questions was if there is a non-profit that is willing to work with them. For now, a work session will be scheduled for the committee to work in depth on the matter.

Steering Committee B briefly discussed the property tax freeze that had been brought up last month. The committee decided to schedule a work session to go through the details of the freeze, the date for which will most likely be announced during the commission meeting later this month. Commissioner Kyle Goff had an update on the Rowland Sawmill as well. The quote for it came out at just over $25,000, and the next step would be to put together a Request of Proposal.

Commissioner T.K. Austin spoke up to add, “There will also be an expense to removing the existing structure if you’re going to have that put over. They’re in the same place. That’s something you need to look at it.”

The committee agreed for now to put together the RFPs.

The Budget Committee approved a few amendments to send to full commission. One was a library Tech Grant to improve equipment at the library, and the amendment was for $11,350. The other was the Tennessee Corrections Institute Training Equipment grant for $13,145 for schools. Both were approved to go to the full commission.

There was also one amendment that stayed within committee, which reallocated animal control budget funds. Instead of two full-time and two part-time positions, the funds would be shifted to basically combine the part-timers to make three full-time positions. Commissioner Dakota White wanted to make sure that nobody would lose their job because of the change, and Finance Director Chad Marcum confirmed that it would not inconvenience any existing employees.

White County Board of Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m., Dec. 15, on the third floor of the courthouse.  All commission meetings are open to the public, and they are livestreamed on the White County Tn Commission website.