Members of Carter County’s new Joint Economic and Community Development Board held their first meeting Tuesday evening to fill vacant seats and elect officers.
The initial seven members of the 11 member Board were selected either by their elected or appointed position in as outlined in the interlocal agreement that established the board. Those members are Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey, Elizabethton Mayor Curt Alexander, Watauga Mayor Delissa LaFleur, Johnson City Mayor Clayton Stout, Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce President Ken Markland, Elizabethton Electric System Director Rob Toney and Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Elizabethton Director Dean Blevins. Of the seven initial members, all were in attendance at the inaugural meeting with the exception of Blevins.
Humphrey served as Interim Chairman of the Board for the start of the meeting until the Board could fill vacant seats and select a its officers.
The four remaining vacancies on the Board were set forth in the interlocal agreement to be as follows: one person who owns land qualifying as greenbelt; one member of the private sector that works in the financial sector; one member of the private sector that works in the manufacturing industry; and one member of the Carter County School system.
Humphrey informed the Board that no one had applied for the vacant seat to be filled by a qualifying land owner.
For the private sector financial seat, there was one applicant, David LeVeau who is the Chief Financial Officer of Security Federal Bank.
LeVeau introduced himself to the Board and told a little about his career. “I’ve got a unique background,” he said.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in business, LeVeau became a restaurateur and owned the former Makato’s restaurant in Johnson City. From there he worked with Ruby Tuesday’s before going back to school and getting his master’s degree in finance. Since then he has worked with several banks before joining the team at Security Federal.
“I’ve been a Carter County resident since about 2000 but I’ve been in East Tennessee since 1991,” LeVeau said. “I’m very interested in the growth and success of this county and the quality of life in our community.”
Humphrey opened the floor for nominations and Alexander nominated LeVeau and he was subsequently selected to fill the private sector financial seat.
For the private sector seat for the manufacturing industry, only one person submitted an application —Carter County Commissioner Charles VonCannon who owns the old Bemberg property. VonCannon was not in attendance at the meeting.
Humphrey opened the floor for nominations and Alexander nominated VonCannon who was then approved to fill the private sector manufacturing seat.
One one application was submitted to become the representative of the Carter County School System and that application came from Rusty Barnett, who serves as chairman of the Carter County Board of Education.
Barnett introduced himself to Board and told a little about his experience. Barnett is the Assistant Chief for the Elizabethton Fire Department and he has also served as a law enforcement officer and substitute teacher within the county over the years.
In his duties with the Carter County Board of Education, Barnett also serves on several committees, including the committees over pre-K and Headstart programs.
“I hope to be a part of this team,” Barnett told the Board members, adding he wanted to work for the betterment of the county.
Humphrey opened the floor for nominations and Alexander nominated Barnett, who was then selected for the county school system seat.
Once those three vacancies were filled and LeVeau and Barnett took their places on the Board, Humphrey directed the members to the next order of business which was selecting the Board’s officers.
The floor was opened for nominations to the position of Board Chairman. Barnett nominated Alexander to serve as chairman. No further nominations were made and Alexander was selected to serve as chairman.
Humphrey then turned the meeting over to Alexander, who opened the floor for nominations to the position of Vice-Chairman. LeVeau nominated Humphrey and Barnett nominated Rob Toney. Humphrey asked to withdraw his name from consideration. Toney also asked that his name be withdrawn, and in turn nominated Barnett for the position. The Board then chose Barnett to serve as the Board’s Vice-Chairman and subsequently selected LeVeau to serve as the Board’s Secretary.
Once all the positions were filled, the only matter of business before the Board was to set a schedule of quarterly meetings for the remainder of 2016 as well as for 2017. Meetings will be held at 6 p.m. on the following dates: November 15, 2016; February 21, 2017; May 16, 2017; August 15, 2017; and November 14, 2017.
The schedule of meetings was proposed by Humphrey to fall on the third Tuesday during the second month of each quarter. He told the Board he had selected those dates so as to avoid interfering with any other regular meetings of any of Carter County, the City of Elizabethton, the City of Watauga, or the City of Johnson City.
“Of course you can meet more frequently if needs require, but this meets the statutory requirement for quarterly meetings,” Humphrey told the Board.
At the end of the meeting, Alexander said he looked forward to working with the new Joint Economic and Community Development Board as well as with the new regional partnership both the city and county have entered with the Washington County Economic Development Council. Alexander also thanked Humphrey for the work he put in to bring the Board together and set up the inaugural meeting.