Three members of the Campbell County Commission attended their final meeting Monday night, with departing commissioners Marie Ayers and Dewayne Kitts taking time to address and compliment their fellow commissioners.  The commission exhibited a streak of unanimity as well, voting 13-0 on practically every motion throughout the meeting. Among those actions were motions to approve budget amendments including a $1,488,875 bond for the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative to provide LED lighting in all county schools and another to allocate a one-time $25,000 contribution to the Drug Enforcement Task Force. Motions to approve three grant applications for the Department of Environment & Conservation were also discussed, with two of the three being approved unanimously. The commission voted in favor of a $100,000 grant fund improvements to convenience centers and another for $50,000 for cardboard collection containers. The commission did not approve a third grant, for up to $50,000 to be used for education and outreach including information mailers. The county would be liable for a 20 percent match on each grant. The commissioners also gave unanimous approval to a motion exempting volunteer firemen and rescue squad members from paying the county wheel tax, following a recent state law allowing counties to exempt emergency workers from the tax. The exemption only applies to emergency personnel who have a minimum of one year of experience and applies to only one vehicle per worker.  The commissioners also discussed a request made by citizens at last week’s workshop to close portions of the Ivydell ATV trail due to vandalism of adjacent private and church property. Sheriff Robbie Goins told commissioners that his deputies have responded to complaints but by the time they get to the site, the ATVs have departed the area. Because of questions about how much authority the county has on trails established by state agencies and what areas are within City of La Follette’s control, the commissioners took no action at this time. Another item that was discussed at length was a motion by Clifford Kohlmeyer to eliminate insurance benefits for commissioners. Finance Director Jeff Marlow reported that his discussions with the Comptroller’s office made it clear that all elected officials have the right under state law to participate in the state health insurance plan. Commissioners and school board members are elected officials and the commission cannot vote to deny their access to the insurance, Marlow pointed out. He added that the funding source for the policy premiums is a separate question. Kohlmeyer’s motion failed for a lack of a second. Ralph Davis made a motion to grant power to the Drug Task Force to sell seized property and retain the proceeds to support the task force. Marlow reported that he had been notified by the state that a new policy allows the Circuit Court to retain proceeds from forfeiture sales and transfer those funds to the task force, so the county would only be voting to “give their blessing” to the policy. Davis changed his motion to “give the county’s blessing” and the commission approved unanimously.  Davis also made an announcement that TDOT officials would be at the Stinking Creek Church of God this morning to announce that the state is preparing to pave Stinking Creek Road. Stinking Creek residents flooded the commission workshop a couple of months ago demanding action on their badly potholed road. Two committee meetings preceded the commission meeting. The Sanitation Committee discussed whether and how the county can force the cleanup of burned structures but postponed any definite action until more information is available on the law. The beer board also met and postponed action on a request from one person to grant a beer license for a houseboat on Norris Lake that would deliver beer and groceries by boat to people on the water. The board was told that TVA and TWRA have both declined to take a position on the request and the board instructed the applicant to obtain letters from both agencies confirming have “no position on the request” before further action will be considered. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/21/2018-4PM)