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The Claiborne County Commission voted 17-4 against paying approximately $39,000 to a consulting firm for a salary study of county employees at their meeting last Monday. The study was recommended by County Finance Director Eric Pearson to see how Claiborne’s salaries compare to similar counties in Tennessee.

During discussion of the measure Pearson explained that information from the study would show which positions in the county are underpaid and how much they are underpaid by. It was asked if the county or finance department could do the study. Pearson said they didn’t have the staff and that having “experts” do the study would include surveys of department heads and over 220 employees about their concerns and ways to run each department more efficiently.

Commissioner Carolyn Brooks said the bottom line was that the commission would have to raise taxes 15 to 20 cents to get the salaries in line with other similar counties.

“They’re going to look at comparables . . . the problem is If you don’t look at how you compare, if you don’t make some regular pay increases every year, you’re going to run into problems again at the Sheriff’s Office and the Highway Department.. . .  If you want to retain qualified staff you have to pay them a wage that’s going to keep them there,” Pearson said. “If you don’t pay the wages, employee morale is going to go down, productivity is going to go down, and it’s going to be very difficult for those departments to provide the services you want them to provide. There is a cost, yes, but it’s a cost to provide services to the community that you want to provide.”

Mayor Joe Brooks said that while the consultant had listed providing similar services to larger counties and municipalities like Knox County and Morristown, those were not the areas that Claiborne was looking to be competitive with on salaries.

“We’re concerned with  where we stack up with Hancock County, Union County, Grainger County, typically counties that are sized like us with regards to all of those paid positions,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to compete with Knox County on the pay scale, that’s not going to happen.”

Commissioner Steve Brogan said the $39,000 seemed to be a waste of money.

“We already know our people are underpaid,” he said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

He suggested having the nine members of the budget committee each contact one nearby county that is similar in size to Claiborne to see what they’re paying their employees.

When the resolution came to a vote it failed 4 to 17 with only commissioners Mike Campbell, TIm Shrout, Sherry McCreary and Dustin Wilson voting in favor.

In a separate matter, Dan Spurlock gave a year end report to the commission on the Stand in the Gap Coalition (SIGCO).

“It’s been a very good year for us and we’ve had a whole lot of activity,” he said.

This is the 14th year of Stand in the Gap as a Tri-State, five-county prevention coalition and the sixth since the commission gave support to SIGCO with a resolution.

Spurlock shared some hand-outs with the commissioners detailing their efforts over the last year.

“We’ve just finished our 25th course for adults in our county. These are people who have had a misdemeanor situation, we give them a solid three hours of training and then they get another opportunity to rejoin the workforce and do what they have to do to raise their family,” Spurlock said. “We just finished our 38th class with our young people in conjunction with the juvenile court system. These are for our youth who have had infractions at school.”

He said vaping was an epidemic in the schools and was getting more dangerous every day due to the different chemicals and products now available for vapes without FDA approval.

Spurlock said going into 2025 the state of Tennessee has aligned all of the substances SIGCO is concerned with: alcohol, nicotine and the hemp derivatives.

“In the state the law is now that you have to be 21 to not only buy these, but to have them in you possession,” he said. “That’s a new arena for our young people because a lot of them are getting their hands on these hemp-related products through vapes.”

SIGCO’s plan is to educate young people on the dangers of using those vapes.

“Someone smarter than me said you’re not going to legalize or arrest your way out of this, you’re going to educate them,” Spurlock said. “That’s our plan.”

Signs pointing out the law have been posted in over 30 local convenience stores in Claiborne County by SIGCO. They also have a billboard on U.S. 25E in Dogwood Heights pointing out age 21 law.

“Our basic philosophy is ‘communication plus education equals performance.’ What’s the performance? Better choices for our youth, better choices for their parents in the workforce and a more healthy community,” Spurlock said. “I appreciate you all. If we can ever be of service to you as we go into the new year, we’re here for you the whole time.”

The commission also voted 14-7 against making a $2600 one-time donation to the non-profit Sheds for the Homeless.

McCreary explained that the sheds will be places that homeless people can go to get blankets, jackets or other warm clothing that have been donated. The sheds will be located on private property so the county would have no liability. Despite the resolution being defeated, the project will be continuing and is being spearheaded by Carl Nichols with the Cumberland Gap Regional Tourism Commission.

The sheds will be located at Stand In the Gap, Pickers Paradise and The Game Center in Dogwood Heights. Each location will have a volunteer on site to oversee, restock and maintain the sheds. Both the New Tazewell and Tazewell Police Departments have agreed to patrol the sheds. Materials are being purchased and volunteers are lined up to build the sheds and they are expected to be up within the next 30 days. Commissioners Epperson, Campbell, Cosby, Barnett, Brogan, McCreary and Wilson voted in favor of the resolution.

Claiborne County Director of Health Garnett Southerland addressed the commission to introduce the Health Department’s new nursing supervisor Christina Lane.

“You’ll be seeing her out in the community and seeing her name on different things so I wanted you all to be able to put a face with the name,” Sutherland said.

She also shared a packet of information with the commissioners so they would know what resources the Health Department has for the community.

“We will be starting some additional construction in the next couple of months to expand our clinical services,” Southerland added.

Resolutions unanimously approved by the commission included:

— Adding a part-time position to the Claiborne County Jail based on the recommendation of the Opioid Board. The position will be responsible for ensuring the timely transfer of inmates from their pods to their meetings with Evidence Based Professionals for a full ten-year cycle. This includes a budget amendment for the use of Opioid Abatement Funds in the amount of $24,680 to pay for the position this year. The evidence based professional is a social worker who helps prevent opioid use from recurring after an inmate is released.

— A budget amendment for the Sheriff’s Department to show $28,000 in supplemental pay from the State of Tennessee for law enforcement officers.

— A budget amendment for the Sheriff’s Department for a $10,000 High Visibility Enforcement Grant from the State of Tennessee. The grant helps fund law enforcement activities to reduce the number of DUI crashes.

— A budget amendment for the Sheriff’s Department’s School Resource Officer program. The county’s 2025 budget shows a $900,000 SRO grant, but the actual grant award was for $975,000. The amendment reflects the additional $75,000 with $27,739 going to fund the salary of an officer and $47,261 going toward motor vehicles.

— Two separate budget amendments for the Tazewell Senior Center and the Harrogate Senior Center. Each center received $10,000 grants from the state of Tennessee to improve operations and both will use the funding for building improvements.

— A budget amendment for the Board of Education to add $15,715.95 to their General Purpose Budget. Those funds were from insurance recovery for repairs done at Forge Ridge and the Alpha School.

— A budget amendment for the Family Justice Center to reflect a $50 contribution that will be used for supplies and materials.

— Awarding engineer services for the 2025 Community Development Block Grants to JMT (formerly known as Vaughn & Melton).