Who should pay?

What the heck is going on?

Columbia Daily Herald - County Votes not to fund road

"While Spring Hill pledged to build the road a year ago, the plans for the road were changed without the knowledge of Spring Hill officials, more than doubling the cost and leading them to balk at the agreement.

"The (Maury County) School Board and engineers moved the school and they were not informed," Chairman Tom Primm said Monday he had been told by Spring Hill officials.

"Spring Hill officials would commit to only the $200,000 it would take to construct the part of the road they were aware of when they agreed to pay construction costs. This left Maury County with a $256,500 bill for the remainder."

Danny Leverette's response:
Columbia Daily Herald - Mayor 'amazed'

Mayor 'amazed' county refuses to pay for road

By NANCY GLASSCOCK/Staff Writer
SPRING HILL — After a vote by Maury County Commissioners not to fund a road leading to Wright Elementary School, city officials are discussing alternatives to finance the project, Mayor Danny Leverette said Wednesday.

Those talks have included Spring Hill land owner and local attorney Huntly Gordon, who Leverette said has expressed interest in helping Spring Hill achieve funds needed for completion of the road located off Derryberry Lane.

“We are discussing it, and we have a developer willing to work with the city of Spring Hill,” Leverette said.

The mayor said he is “absolutely amazed” by a recent vote by the Maury County Commission not to provide the $91,000 needed for construction of the road.

“It takes the wind out of your sails,” he said.

Leverette said he was surprised by the outcome of the vote, after Spring Hill officials have been “working behind the scenes” to help boost Maury County’s economy.

“Spring Hill is going to a different level, and we’re going to continue to elevate the city,” Leverette said. “The revenue that we’re going to generate on the south side of the city is going to help take pressure off the budget for the county.”

Leverette said he wanted to thank commissioners who voted to finance the road —Glenda Bolton, Joe Reischman, John Davis Jr., Bob Duncan, Eugene Richardson, Walter Harlan and Tom Primm. Commissioner Cindy Williams, who represents Spring Hill’s Maury County section, was among 14 commissioners who voted against the measure.

Williams, who Leverette said had been adamantly opposed to funding the road, said Spring Hill officials should honor a commitment she said they made to the project without restrictions.

Leverette said Spring Hill representatives committed to build a portion of the road for $200,000, though Maury County officials changed plans for the school’s location without informing Spring Hill officials of the decision. After construction plans were altered, the cost for the project more than doubled, though County Budget Director Christy Mash said Spring Hill City Administrator Ken York told her developers who would be served by the road would help with financing construction, leaving the total cost at $91,000.

“To haggle over $90,000 or $100,000, it’s really concerning,” Leverette said. “But I’m an optimistic person and I let things run off my back pretty easy, and I’m moving on.”


Cindy Williams' response:
Columbia Daily Herald - Cindy Williams' comments

Spring Hill knew of changes to school plan, commissioner says

Former mayor's wife says city should build road

By NANCY GLASSCOCK

Staff Writer

SPRING HILL - A Maury County commissioner and a School Board member said statements from city officials who say they had no knowledge of the school systemfs changes to Wright Elementary School site plans are inaccurate.

Maury County Commissioner Cindy Williams, who represents Spring Hill's Maury County section, said while the school system changed the proposed school site three times during the past 16 months, Spring Hill officials made verbal and written agreements to finance construction of a road leading to the school off Derryberry Lane at no cost to the School Board.

Maury County Commissioner Tom Primm said during a recent County Commission meeting Spring Hill officials told him the school system changed Wright Elementary's proposed location without their knowledge, but Williams said she made Spring Hill officials aware of changes to the school site.

"It comes down to possibly being a little tight with the money and having an excuse, saying 'we didn't know'," Williams said. "But you still have to go back to what was the promise made to the School Board, and the promise made from the city to the School Board was that we were going to provide the road, water and sewer."

Maury County School Board Vice Chair Judy Vick agreed Spring Hill officials were aware of changes in location of the new school as they were approved.

"They had numerous conversations with the director of schools and the chairman of the board," she said. "(Spring Hill Director of Codes and Zoning) Ferrell White attends all our board meetings, and Ferrell has been a big part, in the beginning of that, when all that came into play."

According to a letter from City Administrator Ken York in April 2005, "the City of Spring Hill, in conjunction with the Maury County Road Department, will rebuild Derryberry Lane to service the proposed new school at no cost to the Board of Education."

Spring Hill land developer Dino Roberts donated the first 30-acre site proposed for the school in 2004, when Williams' late husband, former Mayor Ray Williams, committed to provide the road, water and sewer services for the property. The Maury County School Board later changed the site to a location off Port Royal Road, but school board members decided the site's swampy location was unsuitable for construction. The board eventually moved the site to its current location off Derryberry Lane.

"I feel they will come to a consensus at some point," Vick said. "I just hate that it has been such a controversial issue. The school should be really nice and a positive thing for Spring Hill.

Attempts to reach Spring Hill Mayor Danny Leverette for comment Friday and Saturday were unsuccessful.

You know, if I remember correctly, wasn't it Cindy Williams that advised the BOMA a couple of months ago to push the extra cost for this road extension back to the county. I will have to go through my notes, but I think there might be several at that meeting to corroborate that. Isn't a representative supposed to back his/her constituents in a matter like this? Especially when Spring Hill was not involved in creating the longer road, but only asked to pay for it.

This, coming from a county commission who voted against a proposed new state Sunshine Law:
Columbia Daily Herald - Sunshine Law

County Commission opposes strengthening Sunshine Law

By THOMAS MUNRO/Staff Writer
The County Commission Monday stated its opposition to a bill before the state Legislature that would strengthen Tennessee’s open meetings law and impose legal penalties on those who break it.

Among several changes to the Sunshine Law, the “Sunshine in Government Improvement Act of 2006” would, for the first time, impose a civil penalty on individuals responsible for a breach of the law. Today, the law offers no prescribed remedy in the case of an illegal meeting.

County Mayor Jim Bailey, addressing his comments to the media, said Monday, “I want to make it clear to members of the press here that we’re not opposed to the Sunshine Law.” He said his major problem was he felt the new law would make public officials guilty until proven innocent. The resolution was written in response to information distributed by the Tennessee County Services Association which made just this claim.

The flyer written by TCSA quotes Section 7(j) of the bill, which reads, “The burden of proof for justifying any action claimed to be in violation of this act shall be upon the governing body of the public body or its members. The justification must be proven by clear and convincing evidence.”

This language is taken nearly verbatim from a passage of the existing open records law, T.C.A. 10-7-505 (c), which states, “The burden of proof for justification of nondisclosure of records sought shall be upon the official and/or designee of the official of those records and the justification for nondisclosure must be shown by a preponderance of the evidence.” However, the existing law imposes no penalty on this official or designee if the law has been broken. Bailey said Monday he supported the existing law.

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson told The Daily Herald March 10 he was working with city officials, school boards and representatives of the judicial branch to iron out problems with the bill. He said the TCSA was the only organization that had refused to talk about the legislation.

The resolution against the bill was supported by 19 commissioners and opposed by commissioners Bob Duncan and Bobby Harris. Joe Duncan Sr. abstained for the vote. The resolution will be forwarded to the state capitol.