Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis spoke to the Finance Committee about the need to replace a heating and air conditioning unit in the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center.
Davis said Tennessee Rehab leases the building from the county to provide warehouse-type jobs for individuals with handicaps. The two-unit system usually only runs one unit, but during the summer months both are needed. Without a second unit the organization cannot use its facilities during the extreme heat, Davis said.
The Finance Committee passed a motion to cover the purchase of the lowest-priced and best unit for the building. According to Davis, this is an emergency situation and the unit would not have to be bid.
A motion to pay a bill for inmate medical evaluations from 2008 was withdrawn because the committee wanted more information. Committee member Mel Griffith had made a motion to pay the bill, but not an attorney fee that was added. The bill had been turned over to an attorney for collection five months after the medical services were used.
An accompanying letter from Bradley County attorney Joe Byrd said he had not heard anything about the charge until last month. The statement from the attorney’s office was dated March 31, 2011.
Committee member Ed Elkins wanted to know why the issue had not come up before. He questioned if the bill had been sent to the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. The committee requested a copy of the original bill be found for them to review.
A decision on granting a request for traffic safety was also postponed until more information can be made available. Elkins wanted clarification on the amount of money being requested to pay overtime.
The Finance Committee approved amendments for the Bradley County UT Extension service, parks and recreation and courtroom security.
The amendment for Extension rearranged funds to give the employees the 1.6 percent increase all county employees received.
Bradley County Finance Director Lynn Burns said the money had been accidentally left out of the budget, but the department was able to rearrange allotted funds to make the increase possible.
The Finance Committee also accepted a state grant for parks and recreation to fund six state workers with equipment to assist in disaster cleanup and restoration.
The final amendment granted a request for funds to be moved from reserve to where they could be spent on items for courtroom security. The reserve account was created for funding such items and granting the request did not affect the fund balance.
