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CLB talks school and jail funding
The Cocke County Legislative Body(CLB) meeting Monday evening heard from Dr. Ken Johnson who chairs the Cocke County School Board. He called on the body to fund a school upgrade program expected to have a price tag of about $25 million. But Dr. Johnson said he recently toured the jail and had a first hand look at the conditions. Cocke County is the defendant in a number of federal lawsuits which allege that the jail conditions violate federal law. As a result, Dr. Johnson called on the commission to also fund a jail. "I think most of us agree it is less expensive to be pro-active in caring for our buildings, like we are trying to do with our school buildings, than it is to be retroactive," he told the body. Johnson said he recently toured the Cocke County Jail and understands the need for a new facility. He also said he has learned that a new jail likely will cost $25 million, however if it is not built and a federal judge orders a new facility, the cost would increase to $50 million. And deciding not to follow a judge's order likely would result in a contempt of court charge. "We don't want to get into that situation with the state Department of Education. We did a study five years ago and the estimated cost of upgrades at that time was $20 million, today with additional needs and inflation, the cost is about $25 million," he told the CLB. The commission and the school board will have a joint workshop on June 10 to further discuss the school needs and funding options. Commissioner Norman Smith challenged those who have argued that property taxes should have been raised years ago to fund a jail. "How much should taxes have been raised?" he asked, suggesting taxes raised years ago now would have been spent on other projects. Commissioner Gary Carver also reported that two sites are still under consideration for a jail; to the immediate west of the courthouse and on county-owned property on Cope Boulevard. He said an engineering evaluation of the two sites likely would cost $80,000 and so he is doing the initial evaluation on his own, using previous studies. The body voted to fund nine ballistics shields; four for school resource officers and five for the sheriff's department at a total cost of $15,750. Sheriff Armando Fontes had argued that although the SWAT team has two such shields, it often is 45 minutes until the team reaches a crisis location. Mayor Crystal Ottinger also addressed the body with regard to recent concerns with the Recreation Department. There have been allegations that some parents were not able to sign up their children for athletics teams because signup was confined to daytime hours, in the office of Mayor Ottinger. There also were reports that some children were unable to play because they could not afford the sign-up fee, however the mayor disputed that. She suggested if the commission does not like her oversight of the Recreation Department, the body should consider moving the oversight to another department. The commission also appointed Carver to serve on the Cocke County Partnership Board. The body also agreed to hire a diesel mechanic to examine all of the landfill equipment. The commission voted 8 to 5 to appoint Josh Spurgeon as First District Constable replacing the late McCree Whitten. Grady James was the other candidates who was considered. Members agreed to re-bid the project to replace or repair the roof on the courthouse annex. And Meka Henderson was appointed to the Cocke County Library Board replacing Jan Dellinger who has resigned her position.
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
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