Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

County Retires Two Long-Term Debts

Posted

HUNTINGDON (March 14) — Two of three long-term debts in the county’s General Fund will be retired, following action of the Carroll County Commission on Monday, March 14.

With the county earning very little interest on its cash reserves, the Budget Committee recommended the retirement of the debt on the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the renovation of the Carroll County Courthouse with an estimated total cost of $910,000 to the county’s reserve account.

The EOC was constructed in 2016 with an original loan cost of $550,000. Its original retirement was scheduled for 2026. The courthouse was renovated in 2004 and its bonds were to retire in 2028.

The lone long-term debt in the general government is approximately $5,500,000 today. The original note was $8,164,130 in the year 2012. It bears an interest rate of 2.32 percent and is scheduled to retire in the year 2037.

In other business, the commission approved the roads to the county road system. The roads are very short and in close proximity to the Carroll County 1000-Acre Lake.

Those include .42 mile of Sportsman Cove; .13 mile of Shore Line Drive; .22 mile of Lake Point Drive; .08 mile of Beech Bluff Lane.

Amendments were approved to departmental budgets. Those are: $3,085 for the Circuit Court Clerk’s office; $8,153 for the Highway Department the installation of high-speed internet; $33,804 for the purchase of chemicals and equipment; $124,703 for the General Purpose School Fund for instructional supplies and equipment and another $25,596 for technology equipment.

A revision was approved to the Personnel Policy to county employees who served in the military to provide 36 hours of yearly leave to any veteran with a service-connected disability of 30 percent or more to attend appointments related to the service-connected disability.

A resolution was approved to grant employees of the Carroll County Health Department annual leave equal to the state’s program. The new policy would grant employees with fewer than five years of full-time service accrue 7.5 hours of annual leave each month, employees with five years and less than ten years of full-time service earn 11.3 hours of annual leave per month, employees with ten years and less than twenty years of full-time service earn 13.1 hours of annual leave per month, and employees with twenty years or more of full time service accrue annual leave at the rate of 15.0 hours per month.

A canine with the Sheriff’s Department was retired. K9 Max was gifted to his handler, Agent Kris Byrd of the 24th Judicial Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.

The service weapon of the late Frank Rezac was gifted to his family. Sheriff Andy Dickson said Rezac was responsible for developing policies for the jail and was instrumental in the transition from the old to the new jail. Rezac worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and retired from LASD October 24, 2006 and joined Carroll County Sheriff’s office from July 5, 2011 until his death February 16, 2022. His service weapon was presented to him by Sheriff Andy Dickson after approval by the County Commission.

The county pledged funds provided by the American Rescue Plan in an amount of 10 percent up to $500,000 total to Charter Spectrum and TEC to assist in the local portion of any federal grant received for the extension of fiber optic-high-speed internet in underserved areas of the county.

A resolution was approved to assist the eight municipal water/sewer departments and the two separate water utilities district with funding is also on the agenda. It allocates $50,000, plus other TDEC funds to each of the utilities participating in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation grant. The county’s participation helps each utility earn additional grant co-funding. Total project costs are: Atwood $737,223; Bruceton $831,028; Clarksburg $649,551; Hollow Rock,$714,536; Huntingdon $1,374,418; McKenzie $1,399,636; McLemoresville $641,970; and Trezevant $730,935.