Buildings and Grounds Committee approves Election Commission building addition and possible archives facility
Published 10:37 am Wednesday, August 2, 2023
- Star Photo/Roberts Sorrell Dashiell Masonic Lodge is being considered as a possible archives facility.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
BY ROBERT SORRELL
Star Correspondent
Plans to add on to the Carter County Election Commission building and appraise another building for a possible archives facility moved forward Tuesday.
The Carter County Buildings and Grounds Committee approved a motion to spend up to $65,000 for a 14-foot by 18-foot addition at the Election Commission building on Main Street. The cost could be lower, the committee learned.
Mayor Patty Woodby said the Election Commission is in need of an addition to store new voting machines, which are about the size of a golf bag. The older voting machines were about the size of a suitcase.
Woodby said the state is offering to give $25,000 toward the project.
Following the committee’s approval, the plan will go to the Budget Committee for consideration.
Committee members also gave Woodby the approval to pay for an appraisal of the Dashiel Masonic Lodge near downtown Elizabethton.
The organization plans to downsize and is offering to sell the building to the county for a possible archive.
Committee chairman Daniel McInturff said the committee has been looking for a building to house an archive for years.
Woodby said the county is one of two in the region to not have an archives building. The other county, Johnson County, is also actively looking for a building, she said.
County Historian Lisa Germaine told the committee the one-level building would be an ideal location for the archives. She said some renovations will be necessary, which could include new walls and a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
The committee approved a lease agreement with the state of Tennessee to allow county maintenance staff to use a building at the Herman Robinson campus.
Last month, Woodby informed the committee that the state plans to hand the campus over to the county as it will move onto the Workforce Development campus.
The group of commissioners also met as the Rules and Bylaws Committee. The committee failed to pass a motion to officially recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for employees. A motion was made, but not a second.
