The Monday evening county commission meeting was held to a full auditorium with standing room only.
Commissioners heard of some staggering loss of revenue from representatives of the Smoky Mountain Wedding Business Alliance. The representative showed figures in the millions of dollars that is brought into the county as a result of wedding held in the county. He claimed that weddings were down 25% over the previous year.
Other County Business:
· Public comments were made by Clark King regarding his disapproval of the commission and the way the Mountain Press reports on certain items and how the commissioners should perform their jobs according to their oath of office. John Meyers stated he was concerned about the validity of the ethics committee as none of his formal complaints have been addressed. Kim Pierce commented on the possibility of Don Parton double dipping into the county coffers by working for the sheriff’s department and the school system. J.J. Jackson’s concern was that the those in official capacity needed to review the growth as it is putting a strain on the resources of the county.
· A resolution was pass to honor Bill Parham, the late voting machine technician.
· Various other zoning and rezoning issues were discussed. Some passed, others were tabled.
· There was discussion of supporting a House Bill which would create a special account from the lottery k-12 funds. Mayor Waters commended those involved in raising funds for the new county library which is to be constructed in Sevierville.
· JoAn Trentham was appointed the county historian.