Hamilton County Commissioner John Allen Brooks wondered aloud Thursday just who would be footing the bill for liability insurance for the new mounted patrol in the sheriff’s office.

“These are private animals,” Mr. Brooks said during last week’s County Commission meeting. “They’re going to be out there under the auspices of the county, and you’re going to have them out there in Riverbend with people who might be inebriated. What happens when they step on somebody, break a leg, do something like that and we end up getting sued?”

Sheriff Jim Hammond said the sheriff’s office would be able to lease the horses for a year and cover them under the county’s insurance.

“We are already liable with many of those things with the officers we use and the equipment we use,” he said.

Mr. Brooks said horses may be more likely to cause harm than people, however.

“I understand that animals are not always in control as much as human beings are in control,” he said.

Sheriff Hammond said there’s certainly a risk involved in having the mounted patrol, but he said his office is taking every precaution to protect the county and the public.

School board sells former Signal Mountain Middle

Hamilton County Board of Education members voted Thursday night to sell the former Signal Mountain Middle School to businessman Tom Poteet, owner of the Signal Mountain Athletic Club. Mr. Poteet was the only individual who submitted a proposal for the property. The board accepted one of two proposals he submitted for the 63,808-square-foot property on Ault Road off Taft Highway.

Mr. Poteet’s winning bid was for $800,000 plus the donation of two plots of land adjacent to Soddy-Daisy High School.

Proceeds of the sale will be placed in a school system capital improvement fund.

Mr. Poteet has said he plans to redevelop the school into a 15-acre wellness campus, including an indoor swimming pool, racquetball courts and outdoor walking trails open to the public.

EARLY VOTING eruption

During the public comment period at the City Council meeting Tuesday, District 1 candidate Deborah Scott lashed out at council members who voted to have one early voting site.

“You may have altered the outcome of the election,” Mrs. Scott told the council.

Mrs. Scott spent two minutes at the podium explaining to the council about how her opponent, Councilwoman Linda Bennett, outpolled her at the Hamilton County Election Commission on Amnicola Highway. Mrs. Scott said she had more voters at Northgate Mall.

The council had approved only opening the Amnicola Highway location from March 25 to April 8 for early voting.

“We were just trying to be conservative with your money,” Councilman Jack Benson responded.

Election officials said operating an early voting site costs about $30,000.

Mrs. Scott also asked if any council members spoke with election officials before making the decision.

“The election commission recommended it,” Assistant City Attorney Phil Noblett said.

pushing the parking

County officials were excited Thursday to hear that Unum Group’s new parking deck would open up about 12-plus acres of downtown property for development.

Tom White, senior vice president of investor relations with Unum, said the new garage would allow the company to sell or develop its parking lots north of Fourth Street. He said it would also make Chattanooga’s Unum branch competitive within the company, which has locations in several other states.

“This is a good project,” County Mayor Claude Ramsey said. “It’s good for our community. It’s good for our neighbor across the street.”

The commission will vote Wednesday on a property tax break for the new $21 million garage, which will hold 1,450 cars, according to Alfred Smith, attorney for the company. The garage will take up the block bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Walnut and Cherry streets, Mr. Smith said.

BENNETT LAUNCHES PAVING CELEBRATION

District 1 City Councilwoman Linda Bennett is hosting a party on the pavement Monday at Four Squares shopping center on Mountain Creek Road as a community event to celebrate the city fixing the roadway.

The party begins at 5 p.m. and also acts as a “kick off to the runoff,” said Robin Derryberry, president of Derryberry Public Relations.

The city’s Department of Public Works began repairing a stretch of Mountain Creek Road that had previously been chip-sealed. The department plans to place an ultra thin layer of asphalt on the road.

Ms. Bennett faces Deborah Scott in the April 14 runoff.

Ms. Derryberry said refreshments will be served, and Ms. Bennett plans on updating the community on what’s going on with the road project.

council cancels meeting ... again

The Chattanooga City Council canceled a pre-budget meeting Monday after questions arose about adequate public notice.

Carol O’Neal, clerk of the council, said she spoke with the city attorney’s office on Friday and decided to postpone the meeting after it was learned the meeting had not been announced publicly at the City Council’s Tuesday business meeting.

It is the second time in two weeks the council has postponed meetings for failing to give public notice.

Frank Gibson, executive director for Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said three criteria are needed for special meetings. A notice needs to include what topic will be discussed, it needs to be placed where people can see it and it needs to be done so people have a chance to see there will be a meeting, he said.

bye-bye paper trail

Hamilton County’s Public Records Commission decided last week to destroy records from eight departments, including the Board of Education, the Health Department and the county clerk’s office.

County Clerk Bill Knowles, who was elected Thursday as the commission’s new chairman, said some of the records date back to as late as 2007.

The documents are preserved on microfilm, he said.