JOHN COFFELTEditor

A committee of local police chiefs is in the works to address the logistics of a Public Safety Committee, according to County Mayor Judd Matheny.

A standing Public Safety Committee was proposed at the Aug. 17 meeting of the Coffee County Ambulance Authority when the committee voted 3-0, and two members absent, voted to dissolve the authority so that the new committee could be reformed in anticipation of the Interstate Industrial Complex (formerly known as the megasite) development, which the state will finalize the sale of the property within about two months.

Matheny told the Heath Welfare and Recreation Committee at the Sept. 26 meeting that Sheriff Chad Partin will initial these initial study committee talks. Later the county would need to commission a study committee with a mission statement to move forward.

Matheny placed a six month deadline on the committee’s research.

“The study committee would look at the logistics, communication, everything (required) to go into a codified public service committee,” Matheny said.

“Let’s dig our hands in, talk to some other counties and see if this is something we need to do now or five years from now,” he said.

Matheny assured a group of volunteer fire chiefs in attendance of the meeting that they were “not being cut out of anything.” Matheny said that rural fire chiefs could be ad hoc members of the committees but would not be able to have governance of the committee. The committee conversely would also not have direct governance of the departments, which are all independent 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.

“We have billions of dollars coming this way and 10,000-15,000 more people coming in the next seven or eight years,” Matheny said.

Partin warned that the counties near the West Tennessee megasite were slow to plan for the development, resulting in the state and federal government stepping in and taking over the implantation.

The proposed Public Safety Committee hit a snag when at the Sept. 12 County Commission meeting, the matter was pulled from the agenda. At the Sept. 21 meeting of the Ambulance Authority, the board failed to rescind the prior vote.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.