County Officially Opposed Federal Vaccine Mandates

At last Monday night’s meeting on October 18, 2021, Commissioners Aren Ragsdale and Austin Carroll sponsored a resolution that sought to hire local grant writer, Laurie Wagner, to assist the county as a consultant in finding and writing grants.

The resolution stated that funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) would be used to pay Wagner. The resolution read, “the use of such ARPA funds is very limited at this time; however, the ‘Interim Final Rule’ issued by the United States Department of the Treasury has declared that such funds may be used to cover the costs of consultants to assist with managing and administering the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, and for ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory and other requirements.”

Attached to the resolution was an email addressed to County Mayor Jonah Keltner from Wagner which told her experience and qualifications for the job.

Wagner has worked as a grant writer for Buffalo Valley for 15 years and has lived in Lewis County for 25 years. “I am very passionate about being a Lewis County resident as I have chosen to live here, build a family, a business and a large cattle farm within Lewis County,” she wrote, “I know what opportunities are out there for the County Government and would very much like to see the county benefit from those funds. As a resident, a business owner and a farmer, I have a unique understanding of the needs we all have here in our county.”

She has been writing grants since 1994 in undergrad school and has had a 99 percent success rate with 129 grants written and received.

Wagner’s fee scale for the County Government was broken down by the job from $22-$25 per hour for Compliance Monitoring which is a monthly review to make sure the County is in compliance, Compliance Training where she will train county staff on any new grants requirements and how to stay in compliance with the grant, and Review/Audit Preparation which prepares the County for funding source reviews in order to maintain funding and ensure that there is no lost opportunity.

Resolution Urging State Leaders to Oppose Federally Proposed Vaccine Mandates

Commissioners Carroll and Kyle Bobo sponsored a resolution calling for the Lewis County Government to officially urge Tennessee’s Elected Leaders to oppose the federally proposed vaccine mandate.

The resolution stated that President Joe Biden and the federal government have announced a plan under which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would mandate all private employees with at least 100 employees to require their employees to either be vaccinated for Covid-19 or produce weekly negative test results. “This proposal fails to take into account the numerous steps already taken by Tennessee employers to reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure and the impact these additional burdens will place on the workplace and workforce,” read the resolution and cited concerns expressed by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III who said the proposal is overly broad and likely violates federal law, including both the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the United States Constitution.

The mandate could potentially reach Lewis County, said David Conner with the Tennessee County Services Association. In a proactive measure, the resolution came before the commission in order to be mailed to the Governor, Speaker of the House, Lieutenant Governor, State Representative David Byrd and State Senator Joey Hensley.

There was little to no discussion among the commissioners before voting on the resolution in a roll call vote in which 10 commissioners voted in favor of the resolution and Commissioners Larry Hensley, Brian Peery, Larry Pigg, Timmie Hinson and Bill Dyer passed, which is counted as neither a yes or no vote. The resolution passed and a letter will be sent to the County’s state representatives.

Industrial Park Purchase

Local businessman Kevin King brought a resolution before the commission that would authorize the sale of Parcel 4 at the Lewis County Industrial Park.

Parcel 4 consists of approximately seven acres, the exact number will be determined by a new survey which will also determine the purchase price. The resolution sought to sell the land at $5,000 per acre. King also requested to purchase a parcel of Industrial Park that rests below Parcel 4 that is not labeled on the park’s map. The land is approximately 4-5 acres which will also be determined by a new survey. The land has a pond and will be sold at a rate of $1,000 per acre.

King said that he would use the land to build an 8,000 square-foot building which will serve as a warehouse space.

The resolution also stated that King would be responsible for all closing costs and the cost of the new surveys. The contract is to include a buy-back clause for the County. The funds from the sale will go into a Reserve Account and be designated for economic and community development.

The resolution was sponsored by Commissioners Jim Grinder and Hensley. The resolution passed in a unanimous vote.

Debbie Landers gives update on Chamber of Commerce and Nashville’s Big Back Yard

Director of Lewis County Chamber of Commerce, Debbie Landers, came before the commission to give her quarterly report on the Chamber as well as NBBY.

Landers said that the Chamber ‘s welcome center was alive and well as it had served visitors from 17 different states. However the gift shop has been suspended because it was costing more to keep it open during the day, according to Landers. In order to stay open, the welcome center needed four bus tours and when Landers called to schedule them, two of the companies were no longer in business due to Covid-19. The other two were no longer traveling to rural communities.

Landers said there has been a partnership between Lewis County and Muscle Shoals, AL. in which they will put together day trips to visit Lewis County and we will do the same for them.

NBBY was launched one full year ago. Since then, the advertising for the program has made over four million potential impressions, had 100,000 hits on their website, and 139 families moved into Lewis County within the past 12 months.

Lewis County Public Library Update From Crystal Nash

Crystal Nash, Lewis County Public Librarian, announced to the commission that the library was awarded $5,300 in emergency connectivity funding from the Federal Communications Commission.

This funding is going to provide internet hotspots to meet the remote learning needs of students, schools, staff and library patrons who otherwise lack access to connect their devices and broadband access. It’s being administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company.

“We have hotspots, but this is going to help us offset our cost of those and allow us to get more,” said Nash, “I know [MLEC] is extending broadband throughout the county but we do have people that live in the county who cannot get [MLConnect] high-speed internet. In fact, I had one come to the library last week that because they live off-grid, they don’t qualify to have [MLConnect] without paying for poles to be run out to their property. So hotspots still are helping people in our community.”

The library offers virtual sessions with students from Lewis County Head Start and Lomax Day School with an attendance of 95.

They have also continued their tween book club every Wednesday at 3:30 and a new program called a “Movie Mates and Book Buds Club.” The program is designed for teenagers to make more friends, read new books, watch new movies and discuss with each other. It was designed by Vanderbuilt University and piloted at Nashville Public Library. Our library was one of five contacted by the state library to test the program in rural communities.

Staff members have cleaned 11,000 public archives which means getting rid of dirt, stains and getting documents up to archival quality.