Deputy Chief Hoyte Hale Receives Smithville Fire Department’s “Robert Eller Highest Attendance Award”

January 24, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Smithville Volunteer Firefighter and Deputy Chief Hoyte Hale received the “Robert Eller Highest Attendance Award” Tuesday night during an appreciation dinner for city firefighters at Ace’s Steakhouse, Seafood, and Italian Restaurant downtown.

The award was presented to Hale by Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker. Hale earned this award named in honor of the late Robert Eller, who served the Smithville Fire Department as a member and assistant chief for 64 years until his death in 2009. Hale has won this award eight times since it was established.

Deputy Chief Hale, 39-year veteran of the department, responded to 161 incidents in 2023, the most of anyone during the year including trainings, incidents, and events. Others receiving honorable mention were veteran city firefighters Captain Donnie Cantrell with 129 incidents, Captain Danny Poss with 109 incidents, and Captain John Poss with 109 incidents.

Dylan Goodman, one of the department’s six rookie firefighters, received a Volunteer Training Award for logging the most training hours during 2023 at 188 hours. Chief Parker said Goodman dedicated himself to firefighter training while also attending EMT school to become a certified EMT basic. His 188 hours of training does not count the extra hours of classes and practicals  for him to complete his basic EMT license. City volunteer firefighter Jayden Mitchell earned honorable mention for 133 hours of training.

Another training award was presented to a strictly career city firefighter and Ryan Evans received the honor having put in 210 hours of training during the year 2023. Other career city firefighters earning honorable mention are Glenn Lattimore with 172 and Dalton Roberts with 123 hours.

Chief Parker singled out six new firefighters who joined the department in 2023 including Daine Powell, Max Lahoda, Jayden Mitchell, Eric Gaw, Ryan Evans (career firefighter), and Dylan Goodman.

“During their one-year period of time, they all completed their basic 64-hour class, a 20-hour LIVE Burn class, 16-hour Introduction class, and most of them completed Hazmat Awareness and Operations”, said Chief Parker.

The Smithville Fire Department is made up of four career (full time paid firefighters) including Chief Charlie Parker, Dalton Roberts, Glenn Lattimore, and Ryan Evans along with 27 volunteers.

Members of the department recognized and presented certificates for their years of service are as follows:

Daine Powell- 1 year, Max Lahoda- 1 year, Jayden Mitchell-1 year, Eric Gaw-1 year, Ryan Evans-1 year (career firefighter), Dylan Goodman-1 year, Tyler Cantrell-3 years, Mark Riggsbee (Auxiliary)- 3 years, Cole Wright- 3 years, Dakota Nokes-4 years, Kayla Johnson (Auxiliary)-5 years, Andrew Cooper-5 years, Seth Wright-8 years, Kim Johnson-8 years, Dalton Roberts-10 years (career firefighter), Bradley Johnson- 10 years, Shawn Jacobs (Auxiliary)-11 years, Becky Atnip- 11 years, Cory Killian-13 years, Glen Lattimore-16 years (career firefighter), Stephanee Tramel-18 years, James R. Hunt-19 years, Gary Johnson-19 years, William (Wink) Brown-26 years, Greg Bess (Photographer)-29 years, Captain John Poss-33 years, Assistant Chief Jeff Wright-38 years, Deputy Chief Hoyte Hale-39 years, Captain Donnie Cantrell-44 years, Captain Danny Poss-44 years, and Chief Charlie Parker-44 years including 32 years as Chief (career firefighter)

Chief Parker highlighted several fire department achievements during the year.

“This year we had a total of 234 incidents, the highest number we have ever had. That tells us we (city) are growing and hopefully we (city firefighters) are providing good service. I want to thank our training officer and Assistant Chief Jeff Wright. He offered 52 different training opportunities in 2023 including in-service and online classes, etc. and our firefighters logged in a combined total of 2,034 training hours and that’s also the largest number we have ever had. That’s almost 70 hours per person throughout the year. That shows the dedication of our firefighters,” said Chief Parker.

“This past year we had 19 firefighters’ complete incentive pay training offered by the state. These 19 firefighters put in at least 30 hours through this program, our most participation ever. Six firefighters are participating in a course through the Tennessee Commission on Firefighting Personnel Standards and Education to become certified as a professional firefighter in Tennessee”.

“I also want to thank the mayor and aldermen for voting to spend $115,000 to buy 25 multi-band portables for our department to move us forward in radio communication. I want to give special recognition to Alderman Beth Chandler for her work in helping us identify what we needed. We also plan to apply for a grant to fund mobile radios for our trucks in combination with the county and Alexandria Fire Departments and I was notified yesterday that we are receiving a Tennessee Fire Marshal’s Office grant for $32,500 with no local match to buy turnout gear,” said Chief Parker.

January 24, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

An election will be held to fill the unexpired term of the vacant 6th district county commission position.

Justin Adcock, who was elected in August 2022, announced his resignation Monday night at the end of the monthly county commission meeting effective immediately. The commission accepted the resignation. Adcock’s term expires August 31, 2026.

Administrator of Elections Dustin Estes has announced that the office of County Commission District 6 will be on the August 1, 2024 ballot to fill the unexpired term. This election will be held in conjunction with the 2024 DeKalb County General Election.

County parties may certify a candidate by caucus by the qualifying deadline 12 NOON April 4, 2024.

Independents may pick up petitions beginning February 5, 2024.

The county commission is expected to appoint someone temporarily to fill the position until the August Election during its next monthly meeting on February 26 at the Mike Foster Multipurpose Center Auditorium at 6:30pm”.

County Mayor Matt Adcock announced Tuesday that those that wish to fill the vacancy must be nominated by another commissioner, meeting all the qualifications of a County Commissioner, and their primary residence must be in the sixth district of DeKalb County. Reach out to your County Commission or County Mayor for a request of nomination. For questions, feel free to contact the County Mayor’s Office at 615-597-5175″.

January 23, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The state has released its audit report on the basic financial statements of DeKalb County as of and for the year ended June 30, 2023.

According to the state comptroller’s office, “our audit resulted in five findings (3 in the Office of Road Supervisor and 2 in the Office of Director of Schools) and recommendations, which we have reviewed with DeKalb County Management. Each department has responded and cited planned corrective actions”.

To see the full annual financial report visit:
https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/la/documents/county/2023/FY23DekalbAFR.pdf

The detailed findings, recommendations, and management’s responses are included in the Single Audit section of this report below:

FINDINGS BY OFFICE

The following are summaries of the audit findings:

Office of Road Supervisor

FINDING: The Highway/Public Works Fund required material audit adjustments for proper financial statement presentation.

“At June 30, 2023, certain revenue and expenditure account balances reflected in the accounting records of the Highway/Public Works Fund were not materially correct, and audit adjustments totaling $1,112,428 were required for the financial statements to be materially correct at year-end. During the year examined, highway department personnel posted five separate journal entries that erroneously reduced revenue and expenditures that had been posted to record the transactions of a state-aid bridge project. The effect of these entries was to eliminate all transactions of the bridge project and understate both revenues and expenditures in the fund financial statements by $1,112,428. Generally accepted accounting principles require the highway department to have adequate internal controls over the maintenance of its accounting records. Material audit adjustments were required because the department’s financial reporting system did not prevent, detect, or correct potential misstatements in the accounting records. It is a strong indicator of a material weakness in internal controls if the county has ineffective controls over the maintenance of its accounting records, which are used to prepare the financial statements, including the related notes to the financial statements. This deficiency is the result of a lack of management oversight. We presented audit adjustments to management that they approved and posted to properly present the financial statements in this report”.

RECOMMENDATION:

“The highway department should have appropriate processes in place to ensure its accounting records and subsequent financial statements are materially correct.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE – ROAD SUPERVISOR: “ I concur with this finding.”
PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTION: “We will properly post revenue and expenditures from this point forward”

FINDING: Expenditures exceeded appropriations.
“Expenditures exceeded appropriations in the Capital Outlay major appropriation category (the legal level of control) of the Highway/Public Works Fund by $273,970. Section 5-9-401, Tennessee Code Annotated, states that “All funds from whatever source derived, including, but not limited to, taxes, county aid funds, federal funds, and fines, that are to be used in the operation and respective programs for the various departments, commissions, institutions, boards, offices, and agencies of county governments shall be appropriated to such use by the county legislative bodies.”

RECOMMENDATION: “ Expenditures should be held within appropriations approved by the county commission.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE – ROAD SUPERVISOR: “I concur with this finding”.

PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTION: “We will do budget amendment from now on”

FINDING: The office had deficiencies in the administration of accrued leave records.
“Our examination revealed the following deficiencies related to the administration of accrued leave records. These deficiencies exist due to a lack of management oversight and the failure to comply with state statute”.

“A. Accrued leave records for the highway department contained numerous errors. Beginning balances did not always agree with the prior period ending balances. In some instances, records indicated that employees used leave amounts that were in excess of what was accrued, and in other instances, employees had no earned time recorded when it appeared that they likely should have. The failure to make accurate calculations and maintain accurate balances weakens internal control over the payroll process and increases the risks of improper payments”.

“B. Subsidiary accrued leave accounting records were not closed and available for audit by August 31, 2022, as required by Section 9-2-102, Tennessee Code Annotated. This statute provides that records should be available for audit no later than two months after the close of the June 30 fiscal year-end. The accounting records for the department’s accrued leave were made available to auditors on September 8, 2023. The failure to maintain accounting records on a current basis diminishes the usefulness of the financial records as a management tool, results in the loss of accounting controls, and increases the risk that errors will not be discovered and corrected in a timely manner.

RECOMMENDATION: Balances of accrued leave should be properly recorded in compliance with local policy and regularly reviewed for accuracy, and any noted errors should be corrected promptly. Management should close its subsidiary accrued leave accounting records and have those records available for audit by the following August 31”.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE – ROAD SUPERVISOR: “ I concur with this finding”

PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTION: “We will get help from CTAS cleaning this up”

Office of Director of Schools

FINDING: The school department violated state statues in the administration of a stadium bleachers construction project.

During the year, the school department completed a stadium bleachers construction project totaling $585,410. Our examination revealed violations of state statutes in the administration of this project”.

“A. The department did not employ a registered architect or engineer to design plans, specifications, or estimates for the project. Section 62-2-107, Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA), requires a registered architect or engineer to be employed whenever construction projects are estimated to exceed $50,000”.

“B. Competitive bids were not solicited for some of the construction materials used for the project. Purchasing procedures for the county are governed by a private act which requires competitive bids to be solicited through newspaper advertisement on all purchases exceeding $10,000. The school department purchased the materials for the bleachers through Sourcewell, a national purchasing cooperative. Section 12-3-1205, TCA, allows governments to make purchases through cooperatives; however, Section 12-3-1205(b)(4)(B), TCA, specifically prohibits the purchase of certain items, including construction materials, through cooperative agreements”.

RECOMMENDATION: “The school department should follow state statutes governing all construction projects and the purchases of construction materials”.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE – DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS: “I disagree with this finding.

AUDITOR’S COMMENT: “ The Director of Schools states above that he disagrees with the finding and includes a comment in the corrective action plan that he thought they could use purchasing cooperatives. As pointed out in the finding, Section 12-3-1205, TCA, allows governments to make purchases through cooperatives; however, Section 12-3-1205(b)(4)(B), TCA, specifically prohibits the purchase of certain items, including construction materials, through cooperative agreements.

PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTION: “We will bid future construction projects”

FINDING: Amounts withheld from contractor payments were not deposited into an escrow account
“The school department did not deposit amounts withheld from contractor payments into an escrow account related to a construction contract for the installation of HVAC systems at various school gyms totaling $1,193,733. Section 66-34-104, Tennessee Code Annotated, requires that funds withheld from contractor payments be deposited into an escrow account with a third-party for contracts of $500,000 or more. This deficiency is the result of a lack of management oversight and could result in the loss of interest earnings for the contractor”.

RECOMMENDATION: “Amounts withheld from contractor payments on contracts of $500,000 or more should be deposited into an escrow account in compliance with state statute”.

MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE – DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS: “I concur with this finding”

PLANNED CORRECTIVE ACTION: “When we have big projects, money will be placed in the proper ESCROW account”

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