Animal control needs livestock shelter

Bedford County Animal Control has reported an increase in problems with large animals, such as horses and livestock, which leaves the agency in a bind when it comes to transportation and housing.

BCAC Director Michael Gregory made his quarterly report during Tuesday night's meeting of Bedford County Board of Commissioners. He said BCAC has no livestock trailer and no place to house livestock that can't be identified.

At one time, BCAC had a handshake agreement with the Celebration to house stray horses on the grounds -- but regulatory issues have made that nearly impossible. Whenever the grounds is hosting an equine event -- which accounts for a large number of weeks each year -- it can't accept any horses on the grounds that haven't had a Coggins test for equine infectious anemia.

Gregory said BCAC eventually needs a trailer and some way to temporarily house livestock.

Earlier in the meeting, commissioners approved an equipment lease agreement between BCAC and Middle Tennessee Spay Neuter Clinic, a 501(c)3 non-profit agency located on North Main Street.

In other discussion Tuesday night:

Schools

School Supoerintendent Ed Gray reported that the new building for Community High School will be finished soon, with final "punch list" items scheduled for the first week in June. The new Learning Way Elementary School is already on its punch list, he reported.

Gray said the $1 million to equip the new schools will come from operating funds, not from construction funds.

In response to a question from Commissioner J.D. "Bo" Wilson, Gray denied that any teachers are being ostracized over their attire. He said that Bedford County Education Association, which represents the teachers in labor negotiations, agreed to a statement calling for teachers to have "professional" attire. He said this was intended to give the school system a way of dealing with extreme situations, like the case in a neighboring county where a kindergarten teacher had a pierced tongue.

In response to a question from Commissioner Phillip Vincent, Gray said teachers with perfect attendance will still get the bonus they were promised last fall, and which was also part of the BCEA-negotiated agreement.

Roads

Commissioners voted on second and final reading to add Grandview Circle and Barton Drive to the list of county-maintained roads.

County Highway Superintendent Stanley Smotherman said that the recent flooding did not cause major damage to county roads. But he said it was an occasion for thieves to steal "road closed" and "high water" signs. This is a safety risk, noted Smotherman, who said the county takes such thefts seriously.

"We will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

Smotherman asked for prayers for highway department employee Mike Neeley, who is recovering from an automobile accident.

Car titles

County Clerk Kathy Prater reported that county clerk's offices statewide will close for several days during August so that the state can implement a new computer system for tracking car titles and registrations.

Prater also said a fee on specialty license plates has been building up a fund which her office can use to buy new equipment.

Nursing home

Bedford County Nursing Home administrator Wayne Schumann reported that this is National Nursing Home Week, which is being observed by BCNH with a variety of activities.

Schumann said that April was the nursing home's best month ever in terms of Medicare reimbursement.

He reported that an air conditioning unit in the facility's kitchen is out and that repairs of old equipment are costing $3,000 to $4,000 per month.

The county is currently seeking proposals from companies to lease the county-owned facility and operate it for the next two years.

Election

Election administrator Summer Leverette reported that a bill to alter the Voter Confidence Act is stalled in the state House and keeps getting deferred in the Senate. The law as it now stands would require Bedford and other counties to buy new voting machines which will use paper ballots and create a written record which could be used for recounts of disputed elections. Although the machines themselves would be paid for by a grant, Leverette said they would be more expensive to operate -- the paper ballots are 50 cents each and the county would have to have enough for 104 percent of the registered voters for each separate election -- including separate ballots for the Republican primary, the Democratic primary, the general election, and each city or town election. There are 23,000 registered voters in the county.

If the current bill fails, counties will have to go ahead with purchase of the new paper ballot voting machines.