Commissioners welcomed a special guest during the December meeting who recognized White County for the hard work they have done in becoming a Storm Ready Community.
“Mr. (Matt) McBride and Mr. (Kyle) Winnett have gone above and beyond what most emergency managers do,” Brittany Whitehead, of National Weather Service, in Nashville, said.
She talked about some of the things that White County’s Emergency Management Agency team has put in place, including having multiple ways to get weather alert warnings, having multiple ways to get those warnings out to the community, and hosting weather safety meetings.
“I have gone over their weather safety plan, and it is very thorough,” Whitehead said. “They have gone above and beyond to make sure your community has a plan in place for when you do get hit with severe weather.”
Whitehead said she was in White County just a few months ago to recognize the White County school district as well, saying they, too, have been diligent in making sure they put the safety of their students, faculty, and staff at the forefront of their preparedness. She further stated she was impressed with the amount of planning that both the White County Office of Emergency Management and the White County school systems have done to ensure they limit the amount of harm that comes to anyone in the community during severe weather and weather-related emergencies.
Following Whitehead’s addressing the county commissioners, County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson presented Kyle Winnett with an official proclamation honoring him for the over 100 volunteer hours he has put into the community and in helping to build the Emergency Preparedness Program in White County. Earlier this year, Winnett was the recipient of the Governor’s Volunteer Star Award.
White County’s recipient of the Governor’s Youth Volunteer Star Award, Cayden Sparks, was also recognized by Robinson with an official proclamation as well. Sparks has recorded 168 hours of training for emergency and fire protection at just the age of 18, while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average as a student at White County High School.
After the proclamation presentations, it was back to business as usual for the Board of Commissioners who made quick work of approving most of the resolutions on the agenda.
The one resolution that failed to pass, Resolution 96-12-2023 Authorizing Levy of Additional Sales and Use Tax, did not receive a motion and therefore failed before the commissioners could vote whether to add a referendum to the March 5 ballot in which the residents of White County would have been given the opportunity to vote on whether to raise the sales tax in the county to match that of the city of Sparta.
All other resolutions, which can be viewed in their entirety on the county’s website, passed with the 12 commissioners in attendance being in unanimous agreement:
Absent from the Dec. 18, 2023, meeting were commissioners Lanny Selby (District 4) and David Cranford (District 2).
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