Prior to adjourning, the outgoing commissioners Parton and Parsons were presented with plaques for their service.
Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
It’s not likely the end of an effort from the Swain County Tourism and Development Authority to secure a Memorandum of Understanding with the county, but progress is like skating on a layer of glue.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the commissioners were short one with chairman Kevin Seagle out, and when an MOU proposed by the TDA months ago was brought to a vote, it failed to pass getting 2-2.
“This is back to the original proposal,” said interim county manager Lottie Barker.
This follows several back-and-forth volleys between the two boards.
Phillip Carson, who sits on both boards, said the benefit of the agreement is that the TDA would help pay for repairs to the county-owned building opposed to the county having "to bear the brunt of the whole cost.”
He pointed out it is just an agreement and that the TDA doesn’t intend to stop operating the fly-fishing museum or aquarium. At issue was a section about how the TDA could use it for another tourism-related purpose if the case arose.
Both commissioners David Loftis and Kenneth Parton took issues with the agreement and voted against it.
Parton contended, “I’d rather have them pay for all of it
because those are strictly tourism buildings and used for tourism and that’s the purpose of the TDA.”
Briefly, it was discussed that the county has insurance on the buildings.
Commissioner Parsons said he looks at it like the TDA is like a management company. Also, he pointed out the agreement is non-binding.
Either way, it failed when brought to a vote and Parsons, acting as chair, ended the discussion, saying, “There’s no point in beating that dead horse any longer,” adding he suspected the next board would be presented with another agreement proposal.
In other TDA news, county finance officer Cally Elliott presented the TDA’s quarterly finance report. The revenues for July-September totaled $754,825 and the surplus at the end of the quarter was $47,374. The TDA made a large purchase of the Christmas light show display in September.
At the TDA’s regular November meeting held Nov. 13, director Sarah Conley reported that their media campaign had shifted to the holiday travel and lightshow and that organic searches on Google accounted for the most website traffic. The TDA had a couple of influencer visits recently and had one scheduled with NCT Tripping to ride the train and see the light show.
At their meeting, the TDA also voted to do away with the Strawberry Jam 5K this next spring, due to not having the turnout they expected after the first three years. They also adopted language for attendance that board members must make at least half of the meeting to be counted as having been in attendance.
Health services agreement
In other actions last Tuesday, the commissioners unanimously approved a health services agreement with Dr. Ben Gans at Merritt MedCare, replacing the 10-year-old agreement that the county had been operating under with Smoky Mountain Urgent Care.
Barker explained Dr. Randall Castor sold the Smoky practice, and the county didn’t have an agreement with the new owners. They approached Dr. Ganz about taking up a new 10-year agreement which designates his practice as the primary care for inmates held at the Swain jail. Also, county employees can be patients at his practice and pay $20 for acute care and same day visits.
Parton was somewhat hesitant to take action because they hadn’t seen the agreement before, but then said he didn’t have a problem with it, and the commissioners took it to a vote. Parsons noted he has a daughter-in-law who works at the practice and considered abstaining, but Parton said he doesn’t have to abstain unless he or his spouse directly benefit, so he participated.
Christmas bonus
In other county employee-related matters, the board approved budget amendment 2 that will provide Christmas bonuses to employees at $300 for full-time employees and $100 for part-time, for a total cost of $75,000.
“This is a continuation of what we’ve done in past years,” noted Parsons.
In other financial matters, the board also approved health department revisions that added state funds for several programs and approved the tax collector’s report and inspections annual report.
Regional investors
During public comment, the board heard from two Murphy residents who spoke about having worked in China and know of manufacturers who want to set up manufacturing in the area.
Parking, manager
In discussion, commissioner Loftis brought up four concerns, starting with Great Smoky Mountain Railroad passengers parking in the county courthouse lot.
Barker said the railroad asked if they could use it after hours and on weekends. She said she communicated events that were on the books at the park with parking reserved but otherwise said it is a public lot.
Loftis took issue with that, asking why the county has signs they will tow there and that the railroad causes county resident problems.
Related to that, Parton said he had been contacted by a resident in Jackson Line who is apparently being sued by the train over a railroad crossing.
Parsons also brought up that from his understanding, passengers are charged for parking, so that conflicts if they are using the public lot.
Loftis then turned focus to overtime pay that goes to those working in the 24/7 services, like the sheriff’s department, jail, EMS and dispatch. He provided examples of employees getting from $20,000 up to one the county paid a whopping $68,000 in overtime pay last year.
“You cannot run a business on overtime,” he said. “We could hire more people and give our workers a raise and still be ahead.”
He suggested they review each county department to find savings toward the effort.
He also brought focus to the need to move forward in the hiring process for a county manager, pointing out they took applications months ago.
“It’s time to hire a county manager,” he said. The previous manager left the position in April.
He also brought up an animal control issue that he said someone had given him a letter about. In responding to the issue, Sheriff Curtis Cochran took issue with Loftis sharing details, and said it was a case currently under investigation.
Adieu to Parton, Parsons
Prior to adjourning, the outgoing commissioners Parton and Parsons were presented with plaques for their service.
Next for the commissioners will be a swearing in ceremony for the newly elected commissioners Tanner Lawson and Bobby Jenkins at the county courthouse Monday, Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. followed by a meeting at 10 a.m. that morning at the administration building.