In preparation for a lengthening list of large-scale building projects, the county mayor has created a new director of property management position to cover all government properties and agencies and serve as “the clear point of contact.”
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said the county’s lineup is “snowballing” to include the county-wide overhaul of school facilities, a new medical examiner’s office, and a new drug recovery court.
“The bandwidth is not really there on our side or on the school system’s side,” he said.
The Hamilton County Commission is set to approve Michael S. Kirk, the current chief operations officer at Boyd-Buchanan School, for the position.
Hamilton County already has 125 buildings to maintain. The new position was approved as a budget item for the current fiscal year and is part of the public works department. It will deal with leasing, improvements, space allocation and efficiency, and property damage, among other things.
Also, broadband internet is coming to a rural neighborhood of 147 homes on Walden’s Ridge in Sale Creek where EPB, Sequatchie Valley Electric Cooperative and Bledsoe Telephone Cooperative services convene.
The commission plans to contribute $40,000 to the $656,000 project. An Appalachian Regional Commission grant gives another $328,000.
The steep topography of the area makes installation difficult.
“It’s one of the only pockets left,” said Matthew Boynton of Bledsoe Telephone, which will install the broadband.
“This has almost become a necessity in modern day,” said Commissioner Steve Highlander, who compared the area to another dry spot in the upper Highway 58 area.
Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw announced a new Safe Baby Court program for cases involving a child 0 to 3 years old. The commission will approve a reimbursement grant of $200,000 from the Department of Mental Health to launch the program.
“It’s really about safe families,” Judge Philyaw said. Parents are counseled in drug abuse, mental health, employment and stable housing, all to find “safe permanency for a child,” he said.
Judge Philyaw said the Safe Baby Court program is an intensive problem-solving court that relies on lots of programs and services to help stabilize families. These time-consuming cases require frequent review, he said.