Commission invests in Public Library; Votes to add Sales Tax Option to Ballot

A sea of green t-shirts filled the courtroom in support of the Lewis County Public Library and Archives' Librarian Crystal Nash as she prepared to ask the County for a donation at Monday night's County Commission meeting. Commissioner Robert Brewer was absent for the meeting.

Commissioner Patrick Halfacre started off the meeting by making a motion to suspend the rules in order to hear the resolution before other items of business. Commissioner Austin Carroll seconded the motion, and the rules were suspended.

"I had a whole presentation ready for you, but anything that can go wrong will go wrong and my computer suddenly decided to do updates," said Nash with a laugh. "We are asking for $100,000 [from the American Rescue Plan Act Grant] for the Expansion Project."

She went on to explain that their number one reason for wanting the expansion was the lack of space.

"We do not meet state standards of square footage based on our population. Our library was built in 1972 for a population of 6,000 and our population is now above 12,000 and is still growing," said Nash. "We are at capacity. If you ever come to the Library's summer reading program, you will see that it is wall to wall children, and patrons cannot get through the crowd to get to the books."

She said they do utilize the Community Building and going outside, but they are often rained out or have scheduling conflicts. She also added that those who would like to come to the library to work on computers or have a quiet place are unable to do so due to the space being so close to where the children's space is.

"Other issues we're having are due to the age of our building. We have one toilet in each bathroom. When 200 people come for the summer reading program, lines are backed up to the other end of the building, and also causes backing up in the toilets themselves," said Nash. "We also have electrical issues. A twentieth century library did not anticipate computers. Again, we are at capacity. When maintenance came in to install sneeze guards during Covid, they threw a circuit. When the health department plugged in a heater during Covid testing, they threw a breaker. These issues will be resolved in the new build."

ADA accessibility was another issue Mrs. Nash highlighted as she has had patrons with disabilities who had trouble navigating their facility in wheelchairs. She also cited the Tennessee Public Open Records Law that says any citizen has the right to walk into their library and view any public record for inspection, and they do not have the space for archiving all the records.

Phase One would be to build a meeting room with an ADA compliant entrance and bathrooms. Phase Two would be County Archive space and study rooms. Phase Three would be interior changes including computer labs, children's area, etc.

"With $100,000 I will assure you the money will not sit in a fund and gather cobwebs and dust. We have plans for this money. In fact, we can start core samples and survey work so that we can proceed forward," said Nash. "There are very important modifications that we can do now instead of waiting for later. Libraries are a smart investment. When people are looking for a place to move to, libraries are in the top five things they look for. There are studies that show for every $1 invested in a library, you get $4.64 in return value."

The resolution was sponsored by Commissioners Carroll and Halfacre, and was put to a roll call vote where it passed unanimously.

Resolution Requesting State & Federal Governments Conduct Research on 5G Before Further Deployment

A resolution came before the Commission which stated, "According to the World Health Organization, there is limited research on the frequencies used in 5G technology and its effect on humans; and as the result of such limited research, several local residents have repeatedly expressed to the Lewis County Board of Commissioners that they would like to see our state and federal governments, specifically the Federal Communications Commission, conduct an in-depth independent study to re-evaluate the health effects of 5G wireless technology."

The resolution concluded that it sought to halt the deployment of 5G until it is determined to be safe. County Mayor Jonah Keltner reminded the Commissioners that if the resolution passed, a copy would be sent to state and federal elected representatives.

There was little to no discussion among the Commissioners before the resolution was put to a vote. Commissioners Kyle Bobo and Larry Pigg sponsored the resolution. The resolution passed in a 16 to 1 vote, with Commissioner Doug Jobbitt voting against the resolution.

Raising Local Sales Tax Rate to Benefit School System

A resolution came before the Commission which requested to raise the local option sales tax by .25 percent in order to help fund the new high school.

"Part of the [planned] funding that has been put in place for this [new] high school included a local option sales tax, and when it failed, I was charged to go find other methods [fund the project]," said Director of Schools Benny Pace. "The thing I pursued was USDA loans... and we were approved for more than we wanted to borrow."

Pace said that the school intended to borrow no more than $19 million for the project and currently has $12 million in their budget to put toward the project. The new school is expected to cost $32 million.

"The reason I have come back to ask to raise the local option sales tax again is to relieve the financial burden on the school system," said Pace. "I said a long time ago that I would never come before you to ask for a property tax increase, and, in my 19 years, I haven't. The least painful way to ease the burden is our sales tax."

The school system gets half of all local option sales tax. The remainder of the sales tax goes to the City or the County, depending on where it is generated.

The resolution did not seek to approve the sales tax raise, but did seek to put the issue on this year's election ballot in order for citizens to decide.

It was sponsored by Commissioners Caleb Feichtinger and Bill Dyer who spoke before the Commission voted.

"All we're voting on in this resolution that I sponsored is to get this on the August ballot. That is up to you, you get to decide.. not the commission," he said.

The resolution was put to a vote where it passed unanimously.

County Mayor Reports County's Good Financial Standing

During Mayor Keltner's Quarterly Report, he announced to the Commission that the County had $3,378,803.92 in their General Fund with only approximately $250,000 of it being grant money.

"This is great for this time of year.. And according to the audit reports that I have seen that's the highest and strongest it has been at this point in the year," said Mayor Keltner.

The Solid Waste Fund, he was happy to announce, was in a similar condition with $366,410.68, which was also the highest it has been at this point in a year from the same audit reports.

He also reported that there were 14 delinquent residential solid waste fees that amounted to approximately $12,000. Mayor Keltner announced they had been turned over to the County Attorney, Jack Heath, to be pursued in court.

Next in his report was CDBG Program and TDEC water infratructure investment, that the County partnered with the City on in order to rehabilitate the sewer system, are both offering match reduction, saving them money.

Mayor Keltner was also happy to announce that Lewis County had been shown to have the lowest overall tax burden in South-Central Tennessee as well as the lowest property tax rate in Middle Tennessee, according to CTAS Tennessee County Tax Statistics.

The County Mayor was met with a room full of applause once he was done with his announcements.

The conclusion of the County Commission meeting will be reported on in next week's Herald.