JOHN COFFELTEditor

The City of Tullahoma’s Planning and Codes Department has recently sent notification to the Coffee County government that the work being started at the Coffee County Health Department Tullahoma Clinic parking lot is out of compliance.

Chairman of the Capital Outlay Committee, Commissioner Dennis Hunt said that the county codes department received an email from the Tullahoma counterpart saying that the county had not applied for permits or provided a cite plan, mirroring the series of steps that a developer would be required to do for a project in the county.

Hunt said at the Nov. 2 Capital Outlay meeting that county, being a government entity, would likely have exemption from these requirements.

Director of Maintenance Rick Soucy reported to the committee that Tullahoma requests included a complete set of site plans, erosion and sediment control plans, topographical site location maps, storm water calculations and related maintenance agreement forms and related permits.

Hunt said that the notification said that the work already done at the site was noncompliant because it was done without permits.

Soucy, however, was confused how that the work completed on site would have required a permit.

“All we’ve done was clear some brush and remove a couple of trees. I’ve never been told to pull a permit to cut a couple of trees,” he said.

The committee moved to send the matter to County Attorney Ed North to see if the county could be granted immunity as a governmental entity.

The project will entail moving parking for the clinic from the front of the building to the rear of the building to accommodate a TDOT project expanding Wilson Avenue. Recently the county moved to cancel a lease agreement with the neighboring landowner whose fence is on county property.

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.