The DeKalb County Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on a proposed status change concerning two county roads. The hearing will be held on Monday, September 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the downstairs courtroom of the courthouse.
County Mayor Tim Stribling informed the county commission Monday night that the purpose of the hearing is to receive public input regarding a status change of the end section of Taylor Lane (Andy Redus property) from a county road to a private road in the Wolf Creek Community. Also regarding a status change of approximately 1,600 feet of the end section of Wright Bend Road (Ronnie and Elaine Cantrell property) from a county road to a private road in the Belk community. The September meeting of the DeKalb County Planning Commission will be held following the public hearing.
In other business Monday night, the county commission voted to have County Mayor Stribling assign office space in the courthouse for the judicial commissioners, who have been meeting for the last year in a room at the county complex. The vote was 9-3. Commissioner Wayne Cantrell made the motion and suggested that accordion doors might need to be installed in the hallways to keep the public from accessing other areas of the courthouse after business hours.
Cantrell also asked that copies of county officials’ personnel policies be made available to the county commission. Cantrell first made the request in June but the commission hasn’t yet received copies of the policies. According to Cantrell, each county should have a written personnel policy on file and made available to the county commission. “If they (county officials) don’t adopt one (personnel policy) then the county legislative body adopts the policies. This covers every elected official. But department heads who are not elected officials are not included in this. They have to fall under the general policies of the county,” said Cantrell.
“The county has a personnel policy as a whole and I have a copy of three or four of the (county officials) personnel policies. Nobody has adopted them. They are still in my office. I spoke to the state auditor last week and told him each office was looking to adopt their own personnel policy but you (county commission) will have a copy of them by the next meeting,” said County Mayor Stribling.
According to CTAS, the County Technical Assistance Service, If a county official chooses to prepare separate policies, the policies are required to be reviewed for compliance with the law by an attorney appointed by the county mayor with the approval of the county legislative body, and then the approved policies must be presented to the county legislative body to be included in the minutes and filed in the office of the county clerk. These policies are not subject to approval by the county legislative body. The procedure is set out in T.C.A. § 5-23-103.
If a county official chooses not to adopt separate policies for his or her office, that official’s office will be covered by the policies adopted by the county legislative body and the county mayor for all other county employees.
Meanwhile Commissioner Jerry Adcock made a motion that the budget committee begin another review of the pay scale and salaries of employees of county elected officials starting in January in preparation for next year’s budget to determine if any adjustments need to be made. Commissioner Joe Johnson amended Adcock’s motion to include a review of all county employee salaries, not just the elected officials employees. The motion and amendment were approved.
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