Members of the Carter County Commission will have several matters to consider when the group meets on Tuesday.
Typically the Carter County Commission meets on the third Monday of each month, but the February meeting was pushed back one day to be held on Feb. 21 due to the President’s Day holiday. The Commission will convene at 6 p.m. in the courtroom located on the second floor of the Carter County Courthouse.
Among the items on the agenda for Tuesday are the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding and the consideration of six resolutions.
The Memorandum of Understanding is between Carter County and Microclinic International (MCI), a nonprofit corporation which received a grant from Blue Cross BlueSheild of Tennessee Health Foundation to partner with organizations in Tennessee to offer the Microclinic Program to Tennessee residents.
As part of the agreement, MCI will train staff at the Carter County Health Department in administering the Microclinic Program and provide facilitator curriculum and participant workbooks. The Microclinic Program is a 16 session education program designed to help residents live healthier lives.
The first resolution up for consideration seeks to clarify and clearly establish the amount of the county’s litigation tax and county privilege tax levied in civil and criminal cases instituted inside the county.
The tax amounts are not being changed, but rather the county is seeking to “consolidate and clarify” all of the past resolutions used to establish the litigation tax rates into a single, up-to-date version, the resolution that will go before the Commission states.
The second resolution up for debate urges members of the Tennessee General Assembly to pass the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act. If passed, the resolution will seek to encourage State Sen. Rusty Crowe, State Sen. Jon Lundberg, State Rep. John Holsclaw Jr., and State Rep. Timothy Hill, who all represent portions of Carter County in the state legislature, to support the Act when it comes to a vote in their respective legislative sessions. The county will also mail copies of the resolution to Gov. Bill Haslam, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell if it passes the Commission vote.
According to the resolution, the Broadband Accessibility Act seeks to improve broadband internet access across the state, and particularly in rural underserved areas, by providing grants and tax credits for companies to deploy broadband service to those areas.
The third resolution to appear on the agenda seeks to authorize the County Mayor to apply for Community Block Development Grant Funds on behalf of the County.
The fourth resolution up for consideration approves the Carter County Highway Department to complete a project on the grounds of Happy Valley High School.
A change will be made to county policy regarding accumulated sick leave for county employees if the fifth resolution before the Commission is approved. Under the current policy, county employees are only allowed to receive credit for 180 days of sick leave toward their retirement. If the proposed resolution is approved Tuesday night, the 180-day cap would be removed, and the employee would receive credit for any amount of unused sick leave when they retire.
Members of the Budget Committee approved some measures earlier this month that will likely be brought before the full Commission for consideration. Those include the following:
• Allocating $2,500 to Carter County Tomorrow for use on the Phase II Assessment study of the Matheson Property located on Highway 19E.
• Allocating $2,500 toward the Elizabethton/Carter County Holiday Lighting Committee.
• Increasing the county’s Tax Relief Aid from $20 per qualified individual to $40 per qualified individual.