County Commission Holds First of Week’s Two Meetings
March 14th brought a return to the regular Jefferson County Commission Work Session and Voting Meeting Schedule following a month off from County business. This week the Commission will pack both their Work Session and Voting Meeting into a four day period to accommodate Commissioners that want to take advantage of the School System’s spring break. Monday’s Work Session saw Commissioners debating issues that have been hovering on the agenda or been topics of discussion for several months, including Hotel/Motel Tax, potential Sales Tax impact from extension of Growth Boundaries, and the structure of the meeting agenda.
Addressing the County Commission during the Work Session was a representative from Nyrstar, requesting that the Commission take a pass on a proposed Mineral Tax that was a part of a package brought by Jefferson County Mayor Palmieri and will be available for action Thursday evening. The Representative stated that Nyrstar had already put their Middle Tennessee operation on hold, laying off several hundred employees, and a $12 million dollar loss has the local mine in a precarious financial position that could shift for the worse if the Mineral Tax is approved.
Chairman of the Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Dale Fain, informed the Commission that fourth quarter losses in the Market resulted in a small loss for the Foundation’s investment. Coupled with administrative costs, which were cut this year, the Foundation showed a little less than $90,000 in losses for the year. Though the principal investment is strong and requests for assistance have been received, Fain said that no distribution would be made this year due to current County Commission/Jefferson City policy. He also informed the Board that during the years when the funds were idle, during the time of change at the hospital, the Foundation lost its designation with the IRS. The Chairman requested that the County Commission approve paperwork that would assist in re establishing that designation, as well as considering a change in policy that would allow for distribution of funds regardless of the yearly success of the investment.
Commissioners discussed the request of the Mayor to establish a committee for redistricting to restructure the County districts and reduce the number of County Commissioners. Parliamentarian Scarlett stated that the issue is moot until the results of the 2020 census are available, noting that there will be an election before that time, therefor, the question would fall to a new Commission. Commissioner David Seal stated that he has requested information regarding estimates for HVAC at the Jefferson County Workhouse, as well as on the mold issue. Though he was informed that he could view the information, copies of the information would not be available.
The Jefferson County Commission will hold their voting meeting on Thursday at the Historic Jefferson County Courthouse.
