After 40 years of meeting at 7:30 p.m., the Claiborne County Commission officially changed the meeting time, beginning with the February meeting.

Commissioner Barry Thomas presented a resolution to the commission requesting the time be changed to 6:30 p.m. during Daylight Savings Time and back to 7:30 p.m. the rest of the year. Several commissioners voted to table the motion; however, that motion failed 8 to 12.

Thomas then amended the motion to change the meeting time to 6:30 p.m. year-round, as some commissioners were concerned that the change twice a year might be too confusing for the public.

“I understand your point,” said commissioner Bill Keck, “but that means us farmers are going to start rolling hay at 12 or 1 and have to quit at 4. That’s hard on us farmers.”

Commissioner Danny Longworth disagreed, saying, “A lot of people can’t drive at night who would like to come to these meetings.”

The motion to change the meeting time to 6:30 p.m. year-round passed 13 to 7, with Keck, James McAnally, Dennis Estes, Hugh Singleton, Steve Mason, David Mundy and James Hatmaker voting against it.

At the beginning of the meeting, Longworth expressed that a resolution submitted late to the commission should not be added to the agenda. Normally, late resolutions can be added to the agenda with approval of the commission. The resolution was mailed out to the commissioners after the January meeting of the Claiborne County Hospital Board and asked for the commission’s support for the hospital board to borrow $3.5 million for a new computer system that is needed for the new electronic medical records requirement.

“Some things have come up that we need to take a look at,” said Longworth, “like a possible lease or partnership for the hospital, and I don’t think we should vote on this right now.”

The vote to not add the resolution to the agenda was unanimous.

In other business, the Tri-County Veterans’ Honor Guard presented a thank-you card to the commission for their support.

County Mayor Jack Daniels reported that he had spoken to officials with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and the expansion of parking at the Needham Hollow Boat Ramp is still being worked on.

The next meeting of the Claiborne County Commission is scheduled for Feb. 25 — a week later than usual because of the President’s Day holiday — at 6:30 p.m. It will be held in the large courtroom of the Claiborne County Courthouse.