Commission discusses changes at Landfill

The Lewis County Board of Commissioners met Monday evening, June 19th in regular session.

The commission voted 5-2-2 to enter into a contract with Maury Regional to provide ambulance service to Lewis County. The proposal includes paying $525,000 for the next five years for a locked-in subsidy total of $2,486,530. The plans are to build an ambulance bay and modular or manufactured housing unit on Commerce Street on county property next to the E-911 building. (See last week’s edition for full details on the resolution).

The commission voted that the General Purpose School Fund will transfer $200,000 to the Federal Projects Fund. This is in addition to the transfer of $50,000 on September 21, 2009 and the $50,000 transferred on April 17, 2023, for a total amount of $300,000. The $200,000 transfer will remain in the Federal Projects Fund as a designated fund balance from the General Purpose School Fund and may be repaid at any time as noted in a resolution passed by the Board of Education and County Commission. The resolution took effect on June 19th.

* All approved the resolution authorizing up to $21,000 in LATCF Federal Grant Money to build a shelter and catwalk for the garbage trailers outside the upper building at the Transfer Station. The lower building at the Transfer Station has a shelter and catwalk that Landfill attendants can pull full garbage trailers under to tarp them and keep them out of the rain, so they are not weighed down by extra water. However, when the upper building was constructed, the County did not have the funds to construct such a shelter and catwalk. Because there is no catwalk at the upper building, attendants have to crawl up into trailers when they are pulled out of the upper building and walk all the way on top of garbage to tarp it. This is dangerous and presents a liability to Lewis County. Because there is no shelter, the trailers often have to sit out in the wind and rain. This causes debris to be blown around and water to soak into the garbage, adding large amounts of weight to the trailers, which the county must pay for by the ton to haul and dispose of. The commission accepted the quote of $11,822.59 from Summertown Metals to build the shelter, as well as the quote of $8,481.45 from Richland Steel Industries for the metal for the catwalk, which the county will construct, for a total of $20,304.04. Authorized was $21,000 in Lewis County’s Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund grant for the construction of both the catwalk and shelter.

The next item on the agenda also included business regarding the landfill. Since 2020, Lewis County Government has partnered with the American Jobs Center to provide employment opportunities for over 30 dislocated workers and disadvantaged youth through fully-funded grants provided by state and federal job programs. Those individuals have combined to provide the county with tens of thousands of hours in labor at no cost to the county, while receiving well over $100,000 in compensation from the AJC that went toward supporting them and their families. Over the last three years, Lewis County Government has been able to hire 17 landfill attendants, and currently, there are four individuals working through the AJC program as landfill attendants at the Transfer Station. However, the grant funding that pays the salaries of these employees will run out on June 26, 2023, and the Transfer Station will lose those workers, drastically impacting productivity.

In order to help meet the needs of the Transfer Station, especially the cardboard recycling program, Solid Waste Director Josh Stutts is requesting permission to hire one of the grant-funded workers as a full-time attendant on June 26, if the program does indeed end. The current cardboard recycling program has 100 locations throughout the county with routes running and cardboard being baled Monday through Friday. If the program ends, and a hire is not made, County Mayor Jonah Keltner urges, “The County will not be able to efficiently operate the cardboard recycling program at its current level, and reductions in that service will be made. The hiring of these workers has resulted in a total positive impact of well over $100,000 to the Solid Waste Budget since its creation in 2020.”

Commissioner Loveless questioned the potential new hire’s ability to operate the equipment, to which Director Stutts ensured he did. Loveless also questioned the number of hires, and it was noted that with Director Stutts being one of them, the new hire would be the fifth full-time employee. Also noted was the pay of part-time positions of $12 an hour and the inability to keep anyone hired at that rate of pay. Due to this, there are two inmates working part time on work-release at $8 an hour. After being questioned of his intentions or resolutions to the matter, Commissioner Loveless stated, “I’ll gladly volunteer. I’ll be there around 9 or 10 in the morning.” It was confirmed that Mr. Loveless did not show up to the Landfill to volunteer.

All commissioners approved the hire, and Mayor Keltner had already allocated funding for an additional attendant in preparation of the grant funding eventually ending, and therefore there does not have to be an increase in fees nor the use of any new money from the Solid Waste General Fund to fund the position.

The next resolution on the agenda was a budget amendment regarding the local Health Department. The request was to move $8,066 from the ARPA General Fund into the APRA Local Health Department line in the budget to pay MapleTronics for a three year agreement for hardware, licensing, support and labor regarding a firewall system for the phone lines at the Health Department. Hardware is estimated at $4,984, License at $1,432, and labor at $1,650. All work will be completed during normal business hours, and after hours work is not included and will be billed at 1.5x the hourly rate. Power, power distribution, and data cabling must be in place at the time of installation. Any items outside those listed above are considered out-of-scope of this project and will be billed accordingly.

NEW BUSINESS

All were in favor of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office authorizing to declare a 2008 white Chevy Trailblazer as surplus property. The Trailblazer will be sold at public auction and monies will go into the general fund.

At the most recent committee meeting, the need for new tasers and radios was presented before the board. The expansion of the Lewis County Jail has required the hiring of more Correctional Officers who must be properly equipped to perform necessary duties. All commissioners were in favor of accepting the quote from Two Way Radio Center for $7,028. The company will provide radios for the officers. Also accepted, was the quote of $5,990 from Accredited Security to provide them with tasers. The funding of $13,018 for this project will come from the Federal LATCF grant money.

Notaries elected this month were Attorney Jack Heath, Amanda Seabrook of McDonald Funeral Home, Caleb Odom of McDonald Funeral Home, Marci DuBois of Assure Title and Escrow, and Gwynn McVickers of AOP of Delaware, Inc.

The commission recessed until Thursday, June 29th, at which time they will pass the year-end budget amendments.