County Commission Meets in Regular Session, Meeting Time Changed Back to 7PM

The Wayne County Commission met in their regular monthly session on Monday, September 15, 2025. Commissioners in attendance were Tom Mathis, Logan Shull, Kathryn Staggs, Sherrie Powers, Colby McDonald, Vickie Petty, Jeremy Heard, Stan Hanback, David Martin, Stephen Pevahouse, and Rickey Kelley. Also in attendance were County Executive Jim Mangubat, County Clerk Stan Horton, Financial Advisor Lori Brasher, and County Attorney Andy Yarbrough. Commissioners Patrick Butler, Tyler McDonald, and Alvin Creecy were absent.

First on the agenda was a public forum for citizens to address the commission. The first citizen to approach the podium was James “Nick” Sherrill. Mr. Sherrill directly addressed County Executive Mangubat concerning some public records he previously requested but had not yet received. Mr. Mangubat said he would set a time to meet with him about this matter.

The only other citizen to address the commission in the public forum was Keith Williams. Mr. Williams has addressed the commission to express his opinions at some previous meetings as well, mainly concerning the Solid Waste Department issues. Mr. Williams, who is employed as a forester by American Forest Management, expressed his concerns about the possibility of trash and litter being dumped around the county if the mobile convenience centers are shut down.

At last month’s meeting, Mr. Williams questioned the commission about a Pulpwood Severance Tax that went into effect in Wayne County several years ago by way of a 1989 Private Act. Mr. Williams claimed that only one logging company, Threshold Logging, had been paying the fifteen cents per ton severance tax since it went into effect. He explained that the tax is basically an honor system where the loggers are responsible for keeping weight tickets from their loads and figuring out how much they owe. None of the commissioners seemed to be aware of this tax, and all agreed there needs to be a way to track this and make sure all loggers are paying the fee. Mr. Williams was put on the agenda to discuss the matter at the recent Budget Committee meeting, but the meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum. County Executive Mangubat assured Mr. Williams that he would be put on the agenda of the next meeting of the Budget Committee, which will take place within the next couple of weeks.

The minutes from last month’s commission meeting and various committee meetings were approved, along with one notary, Adrianna Daniel.

Budget amendments were next on the agenda. Sheriff Shane Fisher explained that the line-item budget amendments in his office came from insurance reimbursement for a wrecked vehicle, along with amendments for SRO expenses. Sheriff Fisher also told the commission that some reimbursement funds had come back to his department from deputies who resigned and forfeited their contracts. The contracts contain a stipulation stating that the county pays for officer training at the academy unless the officer leaves the department within a certain amount of time. If they do so, they must reimburse the department for those expenses. The budget amendments in the Sheriff’s Department were unanimously approved.

Sheriff Fisher then made a request to declare four vehicles from his department as surplus. He said it would cost more to repair them than to buy newer ones. The commission unanimously voted to declare the vehicles as surplus.

Lastly, Sheriff Fisher requested the declaration of some old computer equipment at the Sheriff’s Office as surplus. The computer equipment was unanimously approved for surplus as well.

Under old business on the agenda, County Executive Mangubat reminded the commission that the Solid Waste Department issues would go back to the Solid Waste Committee at their next meeting on September 22.

County Executive Mangubat again addressed the request for funds from the opioid settlement requested by Helping Hands. Mr. Mangubat said he would be contacting the State and a CTAS attorney to review the request.

A hospital update was next on the agenda. County Executive Mangubat stated that Maury Regional had sent a reimbursement request for an overage on the previously expected cost of the new chiller installed at Wayne Medical Center in the amount of $23,877.00. Commissioner Powers asked if this would be the final bill for the chiller project, and County Executive Mangubat said Wayne Medical Center CEO Phyllis Brown confirmed that it would. The commission voted unanimously to approve the request for funds.

The next item of old business was a request from the District Attorney’s Office (at the State level) to impose a new $12.50 fee on court costs. It was confirmed that if imposed, these fees would be collected by the county and go directly to the State. Commissioner Patrick Butler, who is the Wayne County Assistant District Attorney, stated at the last meeting that he was not in favor of the additional fee. The commission voted unanimously to reject the fee request.

Next was a lease for a portion of Industrial Park. The commission agreed to table this until County Attorney Andy Yarbrough reviews the county covenant agreements.

First on the agenda under new business was an opportunity for commissioners to make comments and/or ask questions related to any concerns they have. Commissioner Powers questioned County Executive Mangubat concerning the bids on HVAC equipment and the spending limit of the County Executive without obtaining approval from the County Commission. Most of these questions appeared to have come about after County Executive signed an agreement with Trane for repairs of the HVAC system without commission approval. Mr. Mangubat stated last month that the repairs were an emergency situation which should not have required commission approval. Neither County Executive Mangubat nor the commissioners were certain about the County Executive’s spending limit. Mr. Mangubat said his office would be looking for documentation regarding the legal spending limit of the County Executive, and if clarification is not found, the County Commission will have to set a limit.

Next was a request to declare a laptop computer as surplus. County Clerk Horton said the laptop was no longer in use in his department and was very outdated. The laptop computer was unanimously declared as surplus.

Department reports were next on the agenda. Highway Superintendent Chuck Moser gave a report concerning the roads that have been completed and the ones his department is in the process of completing. He also spoke about the Second Creek bridge, which was destroyed in a flood many months ago. Mr. Moser said FEMA funds were approved for the bridge project, and demolition of the old bridge will soon take place. A new bridge will be constructed at the site to replace the old one.

Next, IT Director Mike Floyd gave a report on his department. He confirmed that all the computer workstations at the Sheriff’s Office had been upgraded, and he would be conducting off-site backup testing within the next 30 days. Mr. Floyd added that he would soon be holding cyber security classes for all county offices.

Mr. Chuck Koblentz, President of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Board, presented the new Executive Director of the Chamber, Ms. Martha Kelly.

Sheriff Shane Fisher came to the podium again to present an oral report on his department. The sheriff began by stating that his job is to uphold the U.S. and State Constitutions, and he takes those responsibilities very seriously. He stated that he strives to always be fair in carrying out his responsibilities, which means that at some point, he may have to correct or address anyone who needs it. Sheriff Fisher reminded the commission that he stated those same things at the first commission meeting he attended after being elected 7 years ago.

Sheriff Fisher went on to give a brief statistics and financial report on his department.

The commission next voted to approve line-item budget amendments in the School Board budget that were overlooked earlier in the meeting.

Several months ago, the commission discussed and verbally agreed to change the commission meeting time from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Commissioner Kelley made a motion at last Monday’s meeting to change the commission meeting time back to 7:00 p.m. Commissioner Martin seconded the motion, and it passed on roll call vote with Commissioners Kelley, Martin, Shull, Hanback, Petty, and Staggs voting yes. Commissioners voting no on the time change were Mathis, Pevahouse, C. McDonald, Heard, and Powers.

With no further business to come before the commission, the meeting was adjourned.