Rhea County Commission selected its officers for the next year. Seated is Commission Chairman Jim Reed. Standing behind him, from left, Finance Chairman Nick Welch, Budget Committee Chairman Billy Thedford and Vice-Chairman Phillip Dunn. They will serve till the September 2025 meeting.
The Rhea County Commission at its September meeting tabled any action on the proposed Our Fathers House Drug Rehabilitation Center.
Fourth District Commissioner Leo Stephens had requested at the agenda meeting last week to resend the lease agreement between the county and Our Fathers House for a location of county property on Landfill Road, At the past three meetings, a large contingent of both pro and con parties have attended the meeting with a large number at the August meeting voicing their concerns for the center being placed in a rural residential area. At this meeting there were only three of the residents and two members of Our Fathers House that showed up. No one signed up to speak in front of the commission.
Commissioner Stephens made a motion to table the matter until the Commission could “get more knowledge and information" on the matter.
Commission Chairman Jim Reed spoke to the commission advising that he was setting up a committee of Commissioners Phillip Dunn, Mark Cashman, Billy Thedford and Commissioner Stephens as chairman of the group to vet those applying for the Opioid Abatement funds from the county. Chairman Reed said this committee will be separate from the committee that County Executive Jim Vincent is setting up as required by the Opioid Abatement Settlement.
The commission made its annual selection for chairman and vice chairman as well as set budget and finance committees.
Nomination was made by Commissioner Billy Thedford for Jim Reed to serve as chairman for the next year. There were no other nominations. All commissioners voted for Chairman Reed.
Motion was then made by Commissioner Stephens and seconded by Commissioner Nick Welch to make District Three Commissioner Phillip Dunn vice-chCairman. There were no other nominations. Commissioner Dunn was elected with all commissioners voting for him.
This makes Chairman Reeds eighth year term as chairman of the commission. He currently, besides commissioner Sandy Francisco is one of the longest serving members of the commission.
Commissioners then voted for selection to the budget and finance committees. Commissioner Mark Cashman made a motion to keep the budget and finance committees as they currently are. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Thedford.
Chairman Reed explained since they were putting two items on the agenda as one motion it would require five votes or more on the motion. It passed with all nine commissioners voting for the measure.
In a rare move, Commissioner Sandy Francisco was ill and participated in the commission meeting by phone. This measure was enacted by the commissioners to allow them during illness or other conditions to still be present in the meeting.
Commissioners voted to approve a change in some of the language in the PILOT agreement that Rhea County and the city of Dayton have with the Nokian Tyres Corporation.
County Executive Jim Vincent said they requested a change in some of the verbiage of the contract and not with the terms. He said that County Attorney Carol Barron, along with City Attorney Susan Arnold, have signed off on the changes and it’s been okayed by both the Dayton and Rhea County Industrial Development Boards. Ms. Barron said the changes were not significant.
County Finance Director Ralph Beck advised the commission that he, along with County Executive Vincent and Karmen Sutton, have met with Konica Minolta about doing some options with the IT system of Rhea County.
Mr. Beck said that “there is a need for a seamless solution with not only the offices in the courthouse annex but the commission room as well.” Mr. Beck said nothing has been agreed on as of yet and they are still exploring options at this time. Once something is concrete, he will report back to the commission.
The Highway 60 Convenience Center took one step further to completion with the approval of a $73,260 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for the purchase of two trash compactors and two receivers for the center. Rhea County will have to provide a matching amount of $18,314 toward the purchase. Commissioner Nick Welch, who’s 8th District the Center will be in said that the project is almost complete and will be ready to go when the compactors and receivers are installed.