NEWPORT — The appointment of an alderman and an alderwoman to the Cocke County Partnership (CCP) board led to a discussion about the agreement with the CCP and the board makeup during the regular meeting of the Newport Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday evening.
Mayor Roland A. “Trey” Dykes, III, appointed Alderman Mike Hansel and Alderwoman Louanna Ottinger to the board. One of them has the authority to appoint a local business person to the board as well.
During the discussion, Alderman Randy Ragan brought up the CCP agreement. He pointed out Cocke County Legislative Body (CLB) Commissioner Rick Vassar asked for a copy of the agreement and was repeatedly told one could not be found on file, but later received a copy of an agreement lacking signatures that had handwritten notes on it.
“Shouldn’t an interlocal agreement be put in place? It doesn’t have to be this agreement, but something written in an agreement so we can understand it,” Ragan said.
He added he doesn’t necessarily agree with everything in the unsigned agreement, but there should be confirmation that there is one in place.
He also pointed out that according to that agreement provided, the city is paying more than it is obligated to pay. He said it states the funding is based on census numbers, and if that is the case, the census numbers have not been updated and are not accurate in calculating the city’s financial contribution.
Dykes explained the state mandates aspects of an interlocal agreement, but things can be tweaked.
City Administrator James Finchum said he had been told there is a signed copy of the agreement and the employee who would have access to it is currently on vacation. He said it was his understanding former CCP Director Lucas Graham had been given copies of the agreement on two occasions.
“We want to see if she (the CCP employee) can produce a copy of the agreement after she returns from vacation,” Finchum said.
Ragan said he wanted to see if there is an executed copy of the agreement out there because what he was provided had no seals and no signatures.
Gary Carver, former community development director, said he had found in the minutes that the city had approved an agreement, but did not find any supporting documents or the agreement itself.
Finchum said he was aware the city was paying more because of the CCP’s limited budget. He said in-kind contributions of the office space in the Tanner Building are substantial, and then the city covered the $30,000 cost of the Buxton software to help businesses track traffic and determine where to locate.
Finchum agreed an executed copy of the agreement is needed.
Mayor Dykes asked City Attorney Terry Hurst whether his appointments to the board would affect the agreement, and Hurst said it would not.
“There has been a board in effect for 24 years. At least we are sticking to what we have done sometime in the past. We are getting additional representation and there is an additional businessperson that can be appointed,” Dykes said.
Other appointments
Other board appointments included:
Members of the Newport Museum Advisory Committee were appointed. Members include Eddie Walker, Whitney Laws, Clay Blazer, Linda Lewanski, Chris Edmonds, Derrick Woods and Mechelle Robinson.Pat Mason was reappointed to the library board.Clint Hammonds was appointed to the Industrial Development Board to fill an opening at the conclusion of Tommy Bible’s term.James Finchum was reappointed to the Industrial Development Board.
New business
New business included the following:
Resolution 2024-11 authorizing the city to hire engineering services for the Woodlawn Streetscape Project.Authorized the Newport Police Department to apply for a School Resource Officer grant through the State of Tennessee. It is a $75,000 no matching grant, according to Assistant Chief Matthew Elliott, which was the same as approved for the 2023-24 budget year.Approved commercial driver’s license training for the street department. Four employees were trained by Jimmy McNabb at a cost of $10,000. It was pointed out that the cost had increased by $1,000 per trainee.Agreed to allow First United Methodist Church to use city property. It was explained the church inherited a house near Newport Grammar School and would need city property for parking and staging the area for bidders.
Bids, purchases and expenses
Upon the request of Streets Director Ben Hicks, the annual salt contract was approved for the fiscal year. He said salt will be $114.27 per ton, which is less than the cost of $124.58 per ton last year. Last year about 80 tons were used, but they have up to 500 tons reserved. The amount used depends on the winter weather.Agreed to accept the bid for a mechanic’s truck for the street department to replace a 2006 truck. The new truck is a Chevrolet 2500 Tradesman four-wheel drive vehicle with a service body for $53,601, and the funds are in the budget.Approved a bid for two swift water rescue boats and a double trailer for the fire department through the Community Development Block Grant program at a cost of $65,000 per the request of Fire Chief Jeremy Shelton.
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