County Puts on Hold Funding to Relocate Election Commission Office

December 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The county commission has put on hold, at least for now, funding to relocate the election commission headquarters from the first floor of the courthouse to unused office space at the county complex.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the commission considered but failed to adopt a budget amendment for up to $110,000 from the fund balance as recommended by the budget committee to make proposed election commission office renovations at the new location along with the purchase of new office furniture, and setup of the IT network, etc. The vote was 6-4 against.

The reason behind the proposed move of the election commission office to the county complex was to tighten security at the courthouse while providing more office and storage space for the election commission. Even though the county complex has been in operation for 12 years, this particular location, originally intended for use by the county mayor’s office was never finished and remains unused.

However, some members of the county commission now question whether the county may be acting too hastily without considering other factors. For example, if the courthouse is eventually locked down and secured after hours could the county commission still hold committee meetings there. Some discussion has also been given to making the vacant history room at the county complex, where the county commission holds monthly workshop meetings, an actual history room which is what the new county Historian Freddy Curtis has suggested.

The regular monthly meetings of the county commission are held in the auditorium of the county complex also known as the Mike Foster Multipurpose Center, but that space is often rented out or used by groups at other times and not always available for county committee meetings and workshops.

“I feel that we as a commission may need to think this through,”” said Commissioner Sabrina Farler. “I do think the election office needs to leave the courthouse so we can secure it but I am not sure we have thought through the domino effect. When you move one office what else is going to happen? If we make this move for the election commission to go to the back of the county complex and we secure the courthouse, which needs to be done, where is the (county) commission going to meet? We need to determine where our meeting rooms will be. We need a plan,” she said.

Farler and others also have questions about whether the back-office space at the county complex is the right location for the election commission.

“I think (Election Administrator) Dustin (Estes) has done 110% into doing his job as the (county) commission has asked but I’m not comfortable making this allocation for the money and I’m not sure this is the right location. Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. I still have some questions,” said Farler.

“We did talk about moving the election commission to the history room and the arcade room (county complex),” explained Commissioner Larry Green.

“Yes, there was a discussion that the history room was an option, but I believe we decided there wasn’t enough space there for what they (election commission) needed. That’s why they ended up where they are (proposing to go),” said Commissioner Tom Chandler.

“Nobody ever put anything in a drawing that would show how much space is in the history room and arcade room (for election commission) like we did the back office (county complex). If you draw it out there may be more room there than in the back,” said Green.

“I don’t see how this (county commission meeting space) impacts whether or not we are going to move the election commission especially after all the effort that has been put into it,” said Chandler.

“If we turn the history room into an actual history room and give the election commission the back offices (county complex) where do we meet,” asked Commissioner Green. “My opinion is when we secure that courthouse, there will be no committee meetings in that courthouse,” he said.

“Why can’t we still have meetings in the courthouse,” asked Commissioner Glynn Merriman. “The sheriff is always there. We will still have protection,” he said.

“But when we have meetings in there the doors are unlocked (unmanned) and somebody could come in the courthouse and go anywhere they want to go. They could spend a night in the courthouse, and no one would ever know they were there,” explained Green.

“Where we would need to meet is a separate issue from voting on this,” said Commissioner Chandler.

Commissioner Merriman made a motion to adopt the budget amendment for up to $110,000 from the fund balance to renovate the proposed new election commission office location at the county complex and Commissioner Chandler offered a second to the motion but it failed on a 6 to 4 vote.

Those voting for the amendment were Tom Chandler, Tony Luna, Glynn Merriman, and Tony (Cully) Culwell. Voting against were Commissioners Larry Green, Beth Pafford, Myron Rhody, Greg Matthews, Jeff Barnes, and Sabrina Farler. Commissioners Mathias Anderson, Andy Pack, and Daniel Cripps were absent. Susannah Cripps’ seat is now vacant with her recent resignation.

The issue will most likely be referred to the public works committee for another look at options.

December 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Putting it in writing!

Although the county had an understanding of how much to pay, it was recently discovered that there is no written policy for payment of the medical examiner and medical investigator per death call and that has recently apparently caused some confusion.

As a contracted service, Dr. Denise Dingle is paid $5,000 a year by the county as medical director and $100 per body as medical examiner. However County Mayor Matt Adcock reported to the county commission in November that an invoice from July, when Dingle was on suspension and not the ME, charged a $200 fee for one decedent

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission adopted a written policy as recommended by the government services committee to become effective February 1, 2025.

Under the policy, “$200 will be paid to the Medical Examiner per body. The $200 will be $100 for the Medical Examiner and $100 for the Medical Investigator. 911 will notify the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for contacting a Medical Investigator on each body. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for paying the Medical Investigator within 30 days of receiving the money from the county. A DeKalb County employee can be the Medical Investigator as long as they are not on the DeKalb County clock during the investigation”.

County Mayor Adcock said members of the DeKalb Ambulance Service trained in medical death investigations may be called upon during their off-time to perform this duty but not while they are on the clock because that amounts to double dipping according to the state comptroller.

December 26, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Grandfathered?

Since October when the County Commission adopted the County Powers Act with a set of regulations the discussion began among some about whether it applies to three companies in particular, Jones Brothers Alexandria Quarry, SRM Smithville Quarry, and McMinnville Energy Crypto currency mining.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission voted 8 to 2 to have County Attorney Hilton Conger send all three companies a letter with an application as per the county powers act. A letter had already been sent to Jones Brothers. On the application the companies may request an exemption and explain why they should be grandfathered. It would then be up to the county whether or not to grant the request.

Commissioners voting to send the letters with an application were Tom Chandler, Sabrina Farler, Myron Rhody, Tony Luna, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, and Beth Pafford. Commissioners Greg Matthews and Jeff Barnes voted no. Commissioners Andy Pack, Mathias Anderson, and Daniel Cripps were absent. Susannah Cripps’ seat is now vacant with her recent resignation.

“I know we sent the application for Jones Brothers to complete but it seems to me that it would be a good idea to send this application to the other businesses even if they would be grandfathered in. I think that is important for us to keep a record of that,” said Commissioner Pafford.

“There is a place on the application that states do you wish to be grandfathered in and If they answer that its up to us to decide if they can be grandfathered in,” added Commissioner Green.

Under the regulatory resolution, which was approved by the county commission on October 28 “No quarry, rock crusher or gravel pit, cryptocurrency mine, landfill, adult entertainment, or methadone clinic may be located within 5,000 feet of a residence, school, licensed daycare facility, park, recreation center, church, retail, commercial, professional, or industrial establishment. Measurements shall be taken from the nearest recorded property line of the business to the nearest property line or boundary of the foregoing”.

However, under the grandfather clause of the resolution, a provision in section VIII states that the distance requirements shall not apply to quarries, rock crushers or gravel pits, cryptocurrency mines, landfills, adult entertainment or methadone clinics “in existence and in operation” on October 28, 2024. Defining what “in operation” means is proving a topic for debate.

During the public comments period at the beginning of the meeting, County Attorney Hilton Conger was called into question about a potential conflict of interest regarding his advising the county commission on enforcement of the county powers act regarding the SRM quarry.

Michael Antoniak, a resident of Old Snow Hill Road, said he and Doug Walter met with Conger in his office last month and discussed SRM.

“On November 13, 2024 Doug Walter and I met with Hilton Conger in his role as county attorney. We presented evidence Mr. Walter uncovered to show why the SRM quarry should be subject to the county powers act as adopted and effective October 28, 2024. To our surprise during the course of that meeting the county attorney volunteered to us this his wife represented the sellers in the private sale of the land to the quarry as a real estate advisor. He also shared details of how the landowner was approached by an SRM representative, initially refused to sell the property, but agreed when the offer reached one million dollars. I only know what the county attorney told us. I don’t know who his wife is. But if this is true and can be verified it suggests enough potential for the appearance of a conflict of interest to warrant recusal on advising whether or not to enforce the county powers act against the SRM quarry,” said Antoniak.

Antoniak also questioned how that the county commission could have reached a consensus on whether to grandfather SRM and McMinnville Energy during an attorney client conference Conger had with the commission earlier this month.

“Last week the county attorney issued this statement to the local media: “As for SRM and McMinnville Energy it is a consensus of a majority of the commission that they would be grandfathered” At last week’s workshop I pointed out to the mayor and commissioners that the Tennessee Code requires that all votes must be public. Regarding attorney client privilege, any discussion regarding what action to take whether settlement or otherwise shall be in an open meeting or violate the state’s sunshine law to which County Mayor Adcock replied, “there was no formal vote on whether to accept or deny each business so there was no violation of the sunshine law” although, Antoniak said “the law references any discussion regarding what action to take If there was no vote, I have to wonder how you reached that consensus of a majority, and by what authority that statement was issued. I believe you should provide the public an explanation about where the commission stands and the decision-making process through the same local media channels which did their part by reporting the statement issued by the county attorney on behalf of the county commission,” said Antoniak.

Antoniak concluded his statement by thanking members of the commission for supporting passage of the county powers act. “I think it’s a real progressive step forward to where we need to be. We are finally doing something to protect our county, our homes, and our investments. I sincerely appreciate all of you who voted for that,” he said.

Doug Walter, also a resident of the second district, had planned to speak during the public comments period but because of a flight delay he could not attend the meeting. His prepared remarks were delivered by a neighbor, Valencia Garner. In the statement, Walter gave his account of the meeting he and Mike Antoniak had with the county attorney concerning SRM.

“On November 13, 2024 Mike Antoniak and I met with Hilton Conger regarding the quarry on Snow Hill and the fact the SRM had not applied for their TDOT permit prior to passage of the county powers act. Also, they had operated for a few days illegally without any Tennessee state permit and the state subsequently stopped them from operating. This happened again recently, and they were told to remove all equipment”

“I have learned attorney Conger has advised the commission to move forward on a cease-and-desist order from the Jones Brothers quarry in Alexandria, but they do not have the same for the SRM quarry on Snow Hill. The SRM quarry on Snow Hill is further behind on the application process than Jones Brothers and the county is willing to file a cease-and-desist order based on attorney Conger’s advice for one quarry and not the other”

“It is my contention that attorney Conger may have a conflict of interest in offering advice regarding the SRM quarry as he told Mike Antoniak and I while in his office without us asking that his wife handled the real estate transaction for the person that sold the land to SRM. If true, and I have no way of proving or disproving what he told us, I believe the commission may be best served seeking outside advice from another attorney regarding issuing a cease-and-desist letter to SRM as well. It makes sense that Jones Brothers will point this out in their rebuttal to the cease-and-desist order. If the commission is going to enforce the county powers act, you have a better chance of winning a battle in court with SRM than with Jones Brothers. It is my opinion that you need to fight both, or future businesses will learn of the inequity in your decision making and you will be engaged in future conflicts with other businesses that try to violate the county powers act, and you will not be able to say you have enforced it equally on all businesses,” wrote Walter.

Later in the meeting, Conger denied having any conflict of interest regarding SRM.

“I can assure the public and this commission that my wife was not involved in the sale of the property to SRM. As I understand what happened and it doesn’t come from my wife, Mr. (Mike) Hollingshead on his own visited with the owners of the property, asked them what they would accept for it, they told him how much they would accept for it, they shook on it, and that was the end of it as far as they were concerned. Mr. Hollingshead has his own title company and his own bank of lawyers. I was not involved in the sale of it, nor was my wife involved in the sale of it. After the sale was complete, after SRM owned the property outright, the owners Mr. McCoy and his partner did contact my wife and asked her to help them find another place to purchase but it had nothing to do with the sale of the property where the quarry is to SRM or Mike Hollingshead. The records are public,” said Conger.

Conger did not address Antoniak’s concern on how he (Conger) felt that the county commission may have reached a consensus on whether SRM and McMinnville Energy should be grandfathered under the county powers act.

Because his office plays a role in handling the application process under the county powers act, County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss said he needed to be kept in the loop if letters are being sent out by the county attorney.

“If we are going to be issuing applications and permits, they need to leave out of our office,” said Poss. “If they are going to leave out of our office outside of us issuing them at the time it also needs to be included in any letter and application sent that they need to report that application back to us to collect that fee and for us to then in return turn it over to this board to decide what they are going to do with it,” added County Clerk Poss.

“I think the application has that in it,” said Commissioner Green.

The application to be sent to the three companies is as follows:

APPLICATION FOR LICENSE TO OPERATE QUARRYS, ROCK CRUSHERS, GRAVEL PITS,CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING, LANDFILLS, ADULT ENTERTAINMENT OR METHODONE CLINICS AS DEFINED IN RESOLUTION NO. 2024-10-115 IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF DEKALB COUNTY, TENNESSEE

 CERTIFICATION OF FAMILIARITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH RESOLUTION

 A copy of Resolution No. 2024-10-115 is attached to and incorporated in this Application by reference as Exhibit A. By signing this Application, the applicant certifies that he/she is familiar with Resolution No. 2024-10-115, and that his/her business is in compliance with same.

 INFORMATION REGARDING APPLICANT AND APPLICANT’S BUSINESS

1. Please state the type of business entity of applicant

Individual: _________’

Partnership: ___________

Limited Partnership: ___________

Limited Liability Company: _________

Joint Venture: __________________

2. Please state applicant’s full business name, tax identification number, telephone number and address.

Full Name Person/Entity: ________________________________

Tax I.D. Number: ___________________________________

Telephone No: _____________________________________

Current Address: ___________________________________________

                                       ___________________________________________

                                       ___________________________________________

1. Please state the name, relationship to applicant, telephone number, email address and current mailing address of the applicant’s person or agent to contact with regard to this application.

Name: ________________________________

Relationship to Applicant: ____________________

Phone No._________________________________

Email Address: _____________________________

1. Please state the name of the owner of the property and physical address of the property on which the quarry etc. is to be operated by the applicant.

Property Owner:_________________________________________________________________

Physical Address: _______________________________________________________________

    _______________________________________________________________

                _ _____________________________________________________________ 

1. Which of the following classifications as defined in Resolution No.2024-10-115 is to be operated by the applicant?

(a) Quarry: ______

(b) Rock Crusher: _______

(c) Gravel Pit: ________

(d) Cryptocurrency Mine:__________

(e) Landfill:__________

(f) Adult Entertainment:________

(g) Methadone Clinic:_______

6. Please attach a map which shows the physical extent of the quarry, rock crusher, gravel pit, cryptocurrency mine, landfill, adult entertainment or methadone clinic operation as to the area, along with a written description of the current activities being conducted on the property and the location where the current activities are taking place.
7. Grandfather Status. Are you claiming grandfather status under Resolution No. 2024-10-115?

Yes: _______________________

No._______________________

8. If your answer to Question 8 is “Yes”, please state when a quarry, rock crusher, gravel pit, cryptocurrency mine, landfill, adult entertainment or methadone clinic as defined in Resolution No. 2024-10-115 first began operation on the subject premises.

Date: _____________________________

9. Please attach your check made payable to DeKalb County in the amount of $150.00 for the Application Fee.

This ________________day of ___________________________202_____.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ________________________________________________________

(PRINT FULL NAME OF BUSINESS ENTITY APPLICANT.)

BY: ______________________________________________

Print Name and Title of Person Signing Application

______________________________________________

(Signature of Person Signing Application)

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