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THE GREENEVILLE SUN BENCHMARKS EDITION Saturday, March 17, 2012
www.greenevillesun.com
County Votes To Operate Its Own Asphalt Plant BY KRISTEN BUCKLES STAFF WRITER
Months of heated debate finally culminated in the purchase of a county-owned-andoperated asphalt plant in October for $769,900 following a 14-to-7 vote — exactly the two-thirds the state required — by the Greene County Commission. The plant should arrive in the county by April 2012 and be ready for use this summer. While County Commissioner Hilton Seay said the commission had discussed the matter on and off for years, the issue came to a head in June 2011 during a public hearing to study the financial feasibility of such a plant. A state-appointed Financial Feasibility Oversight Committee officiated the hearing on June 22 in the boardroom of the Greene County Board of Education’s James W. Parham Building. Attendees filled the room to capacity. For four hours, officials and the three-member feasibility group studied and debated the merits of a financial feasibility study Greene County Highway Superintendent David Weems had requested from the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS). The Oversight Committee appointed to evaluate the study was chaired by Ronald Queen, a county government consultant with the office of the State Comptroller of the Treasury. Other committee members included Mike Agee, with the Tennessee Road Builders Association, and James H. Westbrook, of the Tennessee County Highway Officials Association. The purpose of the committee was to determine whether the financial feasibility study included “all appropriate ordinary and necessary capital and operational costs.” Part of those criteria included an estimate of production cost savings, the need for hot-mix asphalt over the next 15 years, the ability of the Highway Department to purchase the necessary components, and the impact on the local economy and state and local tax revenues. Following some revisions throughout the hearing, the study projected that, in June/July 2010, Greene County could have produced asphalt at $50.27 per ton, rather than the $62.20 purchase price of that time. For years, the county purchased “hot-mix” asphalt from private suppliers, mainly Summers Taylor, which has a location on the Rogersville Road (Lonesome Pine Trail, Tennessee Rt. 70) near the Vulcan Materials quarry. Following the agreedupon modifications to the study’s electric, heating, employee, spoilage and miscellaneous costs, Queen and Westbrook voted in favor of the completeness and accuracy of the study, thereby granting the state’s approval. MAJORITY REPORT Before the County Commission could take the matter to a vote, however, the members of the Oversight Committee had to first release their majority and minority opinion reports. Thirty days after the hearing took place, the members made the reports public. In the majority report, Queen and Westbrook reiterated their opinion that the study should accurately ref lect the costs the county could anticipate in the purchase and implementation of an asphalt plant and that the county could recoup its investment within an appropriate time. MINORITY REPORT However, in the minority report, Agee pointed to many issues of disagreement or skepticism
SUN PHOTO BY JIM FELTMAN
Road Superintendent David Weems, at right, addresses the Greene County Commission in August during a meeting in which the members voted 14-7 in favor of buying an asphalt plant. TENSION, ACCUSATIONS Before the matter finally came before the full County Commission, both the County Highway Committee and the County Long-Range Planning Committee took it under consideration. Commissioner Ted Hensley, who frequently referred to himself as the “spearhead of opposition” against the plant, called the Long-Range Planning Committee to meet and study the issue in July. Tension and accusations filled the meeting, which lasted almost two hours and ended without any specific decisions. However, after a tour of Washington County’s asphalt plant in August, the Highway Committee unanimously recommended purchasing the plant. By state law, the County Commission had to approve the matter through a two-thirds SUN PHOTO BY O.J. EARLY vote, requiring at least 14 Washington County Road Superintendent John Deakins, center, talks with County Commissioner Robert Bird of the 21 commissioners to while conducting a tour of Washington County’s asphalt plant. Shown, from left to right, are Commissioners approve the purchase.
Nathan Holt, Robin Quillen, Bird, Road Supt. Deakins, Greene County Road Superintendent David Weems, and Commissioner Lloyd “Hoot” Bowers. APPROVAL IN AUGUST In August, after a prolonged public hearing in which numerous citizens spoke against purchasing the plant, the commission voted, giving the plant exactly the twothirds majority needed to approve the plant: 14 to 7. Commissioners Phil King, Ted Hensley, John Carter, Bill Moss, Brenda Grogan, David Crum and Jimmy Sams voted against the resolution to approve the plant, while all others voted in favor. Those in favor included Commissioners Jan Kiker, John Waddle, Nathan Holt, Margaret SUN PHOTO BY JIM FELTMAN Greenway, Hilton Seay, County commissioners, concerned citizens and representatives from Summers Taylor, among others, fill the Anthony Sauceman, M.C. boardroom of the Greene County Board of Education’s James W. Parham Building during a public hearing Rollins, Lloyd “Hoot” Bowconcerning the then-proposed county asphalt plant. The hearing allowed a three-man committee to publicly ers, Robin Quillen, Robert Bird, Rennie Hopson, Tim question and study a financial feasibility report for the plant. White, Fred Malone and Wade McAmis. these factors meant the county would produce DECISION STANDS asphalt for $4.61 a ton In September, Hensmore than the cost to ley presented a resolupurchase the asphalt. tion requesting that the “Once the county commission rescind its received this bid ($52 per decision to approve the ton), this entire debate purchase, but the resoluabout an asphalt plant tion failed 16-5, with only should have ended,” Agee commissioners Carter, wrote. Hensley, King, Moss and Grogan voting in favor of SPECIFIC POINT IN TIME rescinding. Several county commisSimilarly, a motion by sioners and Supt. Weems Hensley to form a separate argued against this, accounting system for the saying that the CTAS asphalt plant operations study conducted during failed in October with 19 2010 and early 2011 was dissenting votes, King SUN PHOTO BY KRISTEN BUCKLES intended to deal with a abstaining and Hensley Workers with the Greene County Highway Department use a crane in early March specific point in time, as voting in its favor. 2012 to lift pieces of a truck scale off the bed of a tractor. The scale was the first was stated in the majority Many commissioners of several loads of equipment to arrive at the site on Hal Henard Road where the report. noted that the accounting county’s new asphalt plant will be located. In addition, they also must be based on auditors’ pointed to the temporary requirements and that most he had with the study, June public hearing. asphalt the county could nature of the lower bid, of Hensley’s requests in the citing his knowledge of The charts showed the purchase in implement- which was related to the resolution would thereby be other plants’ operating committee’s approved ing a 2010 $5.5 million much-larger-than-usual met automatically. costs and his own years production cost num- road bond. amount of asphalt to be Since that time, no further of experience operating bers supplement ed (In the CTAS study, the purchased. resolutions have appeared, and managing asphalt with an updated cost road bond money allowed “I feel like this big and the County Purchasplants. of materials and a dis- for the purchase of the decrease in the price of ing Committee approved Agee estimated that the counted price of $ 52 per plant and the higher asphalt is a reminder of the purchase of the plant county’s cost to produce ton for the high-volume production of asphalt to how much profit there just a few days later. asphalt, with updated purchase of asphalt make its startup finan- really is for the vendor,” Weems has since completcomponent costs, would that Summers Taylor cially feasible for the Weems said after first ed the rough grading for be $62.90 per ton, if the offered the county dur- county.) hearing of the reduced the site where the asphalt county produced 37,000 ing annual bidding two The lower bid extended bid. plant will be located on tons per year. weeks after the public beyond 2011-12 for up to “This kind of tells me, Hal Henard Road and He also pointed to hearing. three years, provided the in my opinion, that the has said he expects to be charts he and Summers Summers Taylor Presi- county purchases at least county’s probably been finished in time for the Taylor produced that dent Rab Summers said 25,000 tons the prior overpaying for asphalt for asphalt plant to arrive Commissioner Ted Hens- he based the lower bid on year. many years.” in March, pending clear ley released following the the additional amounts of According to the charts, weather.