Councilman Bill Graham, who also is Rhea County’s finance directorDAYTON, Tenn.-Rhea County will start fencing a radio tower site on Grandview Mountain while seeking resolution on funding the project, county commissioners agreed.
County officials have been discussing the matter for months after property owner William Hilleary asked them to secure the site. Hilleary is allowing the county to use an abandoned fire tower as a tower for radio antennas, but he asked for the fence to keep people away from the tower.
County Executive George Thacker said Rhea agencies that use the antennas have agreed to share the cost of the fence, but that the E911 director chose not to participate because the emergency communication agency maintains it does not use the radios involved.
Commissioners disagreed Tuesday with that assessment, but no representative of E911 was present at the meeting, so they asked Thacker to seek an explanation of the agency’s stance. In the meantime, they directed county Finance Director Bill Graham to begin the fencing project.
In other matters, commissioners agreed to buy the Grandview waste disposal center site for $40,000 from James Gilliam if they can secure funding within 30 days.
The lease for the property, at $5,000 per year, has expired, and commissioners were interested in buying the site rather than continuing to lease at that rate.
They also agreed to hold a workshop session on Nov. 7 to discuss compensating employees for unused vacation time and to consider proposed contracts with Dillard Construction Co. to serve as project manager for construction of a new jail or justice center.
Tom Davis is based in Dayton. Email him at tsdavis@volstate.net.