Top Stories

HUNTSVILLE — Citing “two incidents in seven days” of work detail inmates being caught bringing money and other contraband into the jail, Scott County Sheriff Anthony Lay said the program would be terminated if the problem continues.

“This could turn into a real negative publicity problem for the county,” Sheriff Lay told county commissioners Monday night.

Lay said one work detail inmate who had been working at the recycling center had money in his shoe when he returned to the jail, while another went unsupervised for some 20 minutes and walked from the juvenile detention center to the courthouse “while Criminal Court was going on” Monday.

The sheriff, who said he had detailed the incidents in a memo to Mayor Rick Keeton, asked for a meeting with county employees to stress the need for constant supervision of inmates on work details in various county departments.

Sheriff Lay’s statement about the lack of supervision of work detail inmates came immediately after he had talked briefly about a two-page memo he had provided the commissioners which stressed the need for funds to increase staffing at the jail once the new facility at the Scott County Justice Center opens next month.

He explained that his memo was simply a summary of his appeal to commissioners during a recent work session. He stated that his request for a total of 26 jailers is not what he wants, but what “the state requires me [to have] to safely operate and maintain this new jail.”

In other business Monday night, the commission voted 12-0 with two members absent to lease the old Capitol Hill School building to the Scott-Morgan Project to develop a homeless shelter.

Ella Smith, executive director of the Scott-Morgan Project, had asked for a one-year lease agreement for the furnished apartments and office space in the county-owned building to get the shelter up and running.

During the first year, she stated, Morgan-Scott would be working to establish a separate 501(c)3 organization in order to obtain grant funds and faith-based donations to enable the shelter pay its own way.

“I’m asking you to give me this chance to see if we can get it up and going,” Smith said.

The discussion began when 2nd District Commissioner Leonard Bertram asked Smith: “Is this for real this time?” — a reference to an unsuccessful attempt by another non-profit organization to establish a center to help the needy in Scott County.

“I cannot promise we’ll be successful,” Smith told the commissioners, but did pledge to give it her best effort.

Acceptance of the lease agreement was put into the form of a motion by 7th District Comissioner Willie Boyatt and carried by a 12-0 vote, with 1st District Commissioners Odeva Byrd and Jeff Watson being absent.

Also Monday night, the commissioners:

• Approved a resolution awarding a $47,250 contract to Miller & Sons, Inc. for the paving of a 2,880-yard parking area for employees at the Scott County Justice Center;

• Voted to amend a contract with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for post-closure costs on the old Scott County landfill in Helenwood, in lieu of providing a performance bond;

• Voted to amend a three-year contract with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for up to $982,656.74 for housing juveniles in the Scott County Juvenile Detention Facility in Huntsville;

• Voted to approve a contract with the Tennessee Department of Health in the amount of $192,100 (for salaries) for the Scott County Health Department;

• Voted to accept a $9,000 Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth Supplemental Grant to fund a part-time Youth Services Officer for the Scott County General Sessions Court;

• Voted to authorize Mayor Keeton to execute a contract with the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency for workforce investment funds in the amount of $204,423 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year;

• Voted to donate $250 to be a “bid board sponsor” of the upcoming auction-telethon which will benefit the Scott County Firefighters Association and its nine volunteer firefighting forces;

• Voted to urge the Tennessee General Assembly to grant local governments the option of implementing unfunded state legislation, and to forward a copy of the resolution to State Rep. Les Winningham, State Senator Tommy Kilby (and his successor), asking for their assistance in getting such a measure adopted;

• Voted to allow Mayor Keeton to publish in The Knoxville News Sentinel a request for proposals advertisement for one time seeking consulting services to develop a comprehensive adventure recreation tourism plan for the county; and,

• Voted to award bids to 1) IBC Sales Corp./Merita Lance, Inc., for bread and crackers; 2) D&W Environment, Inc., for 14 cubic yard capacity recycling containers, and to Municipal Equipment, Inc., for 19 cubic yard capacity containers; and 3) Appalachian Tire Center for tires;