October 19, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Commission is expected to decide Monday night whether to give its blessing on the Board of Education’s plan to build a new Pre-K to 2nd grade school adjacent to Northside Elementary to replace Smithville Elementary School.
While no plans are yet in place to fund the project, the school board wants to make sure the county commission is in agreement with this specific (Pre-K to 2nd grade) proposal, before a contract is entered with its architect Upland Design Group to develop plans for the construction phase. The proposed new school, 98,000 square feet, would accommodate 800 students. The estimated project is $19,464,500 but that figure does not include costs of site preparation or the purchase of additional land if needed. The Tennessee Department of Transportation also requires a traffic study be done anytime a new school is built near a state highway. Findings of that study as it relates to increased traffic flow and congestion at this location will also be a factor in how the architect draws the plan. Once those issues are resolved and the school board arrives at better cost estimates, the budget committee has signaled its willingness to start working on a financial plan to fund the project, subject to final approval of the county commission.
In other business, the county commission Monday night will decide whether to grant County Clerk James L (Jimmy) Poss’ request to make a part time position in his office full time. To fund the request, the commission is being asked to adopt a $15,896 budget amendment for the pay period October 29, 2018 to June 30, 2019. The funds would be taken from the county’s fund balance (cash reserves) to pay for it. That would give County Clerk Poss a total of four full time employees in his office. The county budget committee Tuesday night voted 4-1 to recommend to the county commission that the budget amendment be approved.
County Clerk Poss said the workload in his office has increased over the last four years with more services added to better accommodate the public and the county has benefitted from the increased revenues those services have generated.
In other business, the county commission Monday night will consider making appointments to the 911 Emergency Communications District Board, as recommended by that board; consider approval of budget amendments, quarterly reports, and notaries.
Monday night’s county commission meeting will be held on the third floor of the courthouse starting at 6:30 p.m.