A crowd of twenty-five citizens gathered in the Little Courtroom Thursday evening for a two hour work session along with almost 900 online viewers, to discuss concerns about the recent election, the dilapidated dwellings in the community, as well as other topics of interest.
The first matter discussed was the need for the community to have an online source that would provide general information about what the community has to offer for people coming into the area, but would also be a hub to provide information about area activities, emergencies, etc. Commissioner Michael Hicks said that Derek Villers had taken the lead on that and was working with the Calhoun Gilmer Career Center to get a website established.
With community interest rising and several new families coming into the area, a focus on what image the community projects to newcomers is another great concern. Dilapidated and burnt dwellings are eyesores to potential property buyers and to the community who dwells here. Commissioner Matthew Walker took the lead on this project with a compiled list of 31 dwellings that they hope to address. While the County does not have an ordinance in place to deal with this matter, Commissioner Walker was going to contact the property owners if possible and provide information or ask if assistance was needed to take care of the neglected properties. What assistance can be offered is yet to be determined but the county is looking into that as well.
Melissa O’Brien with the firm Thompson & Litton addressed the group regarding the multi-county project set to expand broadband availability in Calhoun. O’Brien’s firm has been employed by the Roane County Economic Development Authority to provide engineering services to expand broadband capabilities over 285 miles in a seven-county area which includes 39 miles in Calhoun county. Once the funding is awarded for this project, Citynet, who will provide the internet service in Calhoun will have 2-2 1/2 years to complete the project. The Calhoun Commission is hoping that an additional 2 million dollars in grant funding will be located in the future to cover the entire County.
Donald Pitts, President of the Calhoun County Park asked about the possibility of the park connecting to this project to provide internet service to those visiting the growing park. O’Brien stated that she would help to look into possible ways of connecting to service providers wirelessly.
A topic of great concern for the community was the recent failure of the Emergency Services Levy and the issues with the Voting machines on election night.
According to Commissioner Kevin Helmick, low voter turn out received the blame for the failure of the levy with only 26% of the county voting in the mid year election. But the crowd questioned the communities lack of information regarding the levy and it’s purpose. Commissioner Walker stated that the County certainly needs to take a proactive approached and advocate for the levy when it’s placed back on the ballot for the November general election.
A portion of that Levy is to be used to pay a deputy’s salary. The low wage of a Deputy was questioned and if there was any way raise the salary to attract people to apply for the position. Commissioner Helmick said that the salary was set by Sheriff Warren Basnett and he could spend his budget the way he saw fit. All employees of the Courthouse will receive a $1.00 on the hour raise at the beginning of the new fiscal year which is a start.
With the ambulance receiving the greatest share of the levy, they also have the greatest amount to lose. Transparency of expenditures was questioned with regard to the service with much discussion on community complaints about the lack of service or delayed services of the ambulance staff. Calhoun EMS currently has only one ambulance in service on a 24 hour shift with transports covered by Minnie Hamilton Health System. Without the capability of transports, which Commissioner Helmick said was the ”cash cow” of the service, Calhoun EMS did not have a way to cover expenditures. Medicare and Medicaid do not cover the amount billed for the ambulance service and private pay and insurance does not make up the difference needed to run the organization.
Michael and Cheryl Plato brought up a recent incident that they had witnessed, where the ambulance did not arrive in time for a patient in need of CPR. A nurse who happened to be there administered CPR for the patient, but it caused the Plato’s to realize their need to have a CPR class. Unfortunately they have not been able to find anyone in Calhoun who teaches the CPR Course. The Commission said they would connect the Plato’s with people who could help.
Shari Johnson of Ridgeview News brought up the Communities need for more positive direction from leadership and the need for a boost of community pride in what Calhoun has to offer. A greater presence by elected officials at community events, more contact and more transparency is need in order to build the trust that has been lost.
Crystal Mersh, President of the 1982 Foundation said that she and Shelia Burch of the Economic Development Corporation had recently been in an ARC meeting where it was said that Calhoun County has been on the distressed list of counties for 40 years. She reiterated that the Commission needs to do something to bring us out of this condition.
The last matter addressed was that of the voting machine failure. County Clerk Jean Simers addressed the crowd with a full explanation as to why she made the statement ”I can’t or don’t want to touch the machine, because I’m on the ballot.” This was a personal decision on her part but was impossible to fulfill when the machine would not read the PEB’s. (Personal Election Ballots). By law she is the County Election officer and is required to do what ever is necessary with regards to the election operation. When the machine malfunctioned she attempted to help Mellissa Hixon, but was unable to do so without operating the machine herself. With the help of the Casto and Harris company they were finally able to get the machine operational and the ballots ran through. She apologized for the confusion and stated it was the frustration of wanting to make sure it was done correctly that caused it.
The Calhoun County Commission will meet for canvasing at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 16th with the Commission meeting to follow.
