Bedford County Commissioners met in a regular meeting Tuesday night to vote on several resolutions.

The resolution to authorize County Mayor Chad Graham to transition the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) operations to the current Tennessee Rehabilitation Center (TRC) facility was passed.

The current TRC building, located at 1618 Railroad Avenue, is being leased by the State. The lease is set to end in June. The TRC facility operations will most likely be moved to the Bedford County Business Complex, 200 Dover Street, according to Mayor Graham.

EMA, which is at 1304 Railroad Avenue, handles the planning portion of emergency response, according to Graham. He said it often gets confused with emergency medical services (EMS), which provides ER-level care during emergencies.

Commissioner Bill Anderson raised the question of cost for transitioning EMA. County finance director Robert Daniels said there would be some cost to restructure the interior of the TRC building but no cost for the building structure itself.

Graham added that the EMA building would be sold, and the funds appreciated from that transaction should offset costs for moving into the TRC building.

As for the communications tower at the EMA building, Graham said they originally thought it would have to be taken down and rebuilt. However, the County’s EMA is on their way to transition to a state-wide system to replace their current “obsolete system,” Graham said.

Commissioners also considered adding the 911 facility to the TRC building as well, however, Graham said 911 was “not interested” in moving.

Graham said there are national debates about consolidating resources together into the same location to share costs. However, doing so presents the potential for a “catastrophic failure, which could lose the whole system.”

If anything like that were to happen, EMA director David Kitchens said during the meeting that the EMA facility has the capability of a CAD (computer-aided dispatch) system of 911.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, CAD systems help prioritize and record incident calls, identify the status and location of responders in the field, as well as dispatch responder personnel.

Therefore, if something happens at 911, EMA can see and monitor what’s going on through the CAD system and dispatch.

Ag center improvements

In another resolution, the commission voted to pass the resolution for the USDA Rural Grant Development for Rural Business Development. The resolution was initiated by commissioners Bill Anderson and Jeff Sweeney.

According to the official USDA, “This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.”

According to the resolution, the County intends to apply to the USDA for $50,000 for constructing “free standing” restrooms and installing LED lighting at the Bedford County Agriculture and Education Center.

The County will provide $12,000 of that $50,000.

Lastly, the resolution in support of development of U.S. bike route 121 was passed unanimously. Commissioner Linda Yockey, who has headed this project, said BR 121 will most likely come up Highway 130 and head towards Flat Creek and Wheel.