Mayor’s Commission Summary – January 2019
The January Commission Meeting was last night and went very well with some very monumental decisions taking place. I’ll touch on a few:
The Commission passed an agreement with the City of Townsend giving them control and responsibility of the one lane bridge that crosses Little River at Sunshine and Kinzel Springs, also known as the old Wilson Bridge because of the Wilson Restaurant sign painted across it for so many years. The bridge has been repaired and will be able to be used for walking and bicycle traffic. With the City of Townsend taking the bridge for the next 99 years, they can now begin working with private investors to design and build an attractive covered bridge to accent the already beautiful entrance into the Tuckaleechee Valley on both Highway 321 and from Little River Road. I am excited to see this completed.
The Commission also voted to implement the recommended Compensation System by Evergreen Solutions to bring our employees up to the 70th percentile of market. This allows us to pay our employees at a competitive rate that reduces turnover. We are very fortunate at Blount County Government to have great, hard-working employees and we have to ensure they stay with us. Turnover can be a lot more expensive than paying a competitive rate of salary to ensure we keep a great workforce. By bringing this information to Commission, we are advocating on behalf of our employees. With this approval, our HR staff is already at work to get the information finalized and reported out to our employees. Our employees deserve a fair wage for a fair day’s work.
The item on the agenda that brought the most discussion was the Commission appointment of two board members to the Blount Memorial Board of Directors. This item was postponed to next month. As I stated last night, we have been in discussion with the hospital administration concerning the fact that we can find no resolution that identifies the actual relationship that exists between Blount County Government and Blount Memorial Hospital. This in no way was an attack on the hospital by me or any other members of Blount County Government. We simply want to put some confusion to rest. We recognize the role the hospital has played over the last 75 years in making Blount County the great community it is. Our only intent is to get a true understanding of our relationship, and if no documents are found, the Commission can move forward with a resolution that clearly sets those parameters, one that is clear to understand for everyone. There are many factors that play into this issue that affect everything from county debt to property being removed from the tax roll, some of which have a direct impact on our financial health.
Complete minutes from all items on the Commission Agenda can be found at: http://www.blounttn.org/1462/Meeting-Packets-January-2017-to-Present