Smith County Commission authorizes contract negotiations for emergency services building after debate over rent split

Smith County commissioners on an extended discussion authorized the county mayor to enter contract negotiations for a proposed Emergency Services Building on county-owned property in Warrenville and to return a proposed contract for approval at the commission's February meeting.

The item, introduced by the county mayor at the Smith County Commission meeting, covered a proposed metal emergency services building the county would help fund and that Smith County Rescue Squad would use. Commissioner Justin Mauldin moved to authorize the mayor to negotiate the contract; Commissioner Steven Leach seconded the motion.

The commission debated whether the county should require that it receive all rent from a planned 1,600-square-foot finished addition (described during the meeting as space that could be occupied by the Tennessee Highway Patrol or used for other county needs). Commissioner Lynn Brown said she opposed county funding that would leave the county with a minority share of rental income if the rescue squad kept two-thirds while the county provided most construction funding: “I’m not against the rescue squad having the building … the issue is us building a 1,600 square foot addition and then renting it out … and them getting two-thirds of the money,” Brown said.

Rescue Squad representative Rich Gibbs urged support for the project. Gibbs said the squad currently receives $34,000 a year in county donations and that predictable rental revenue would help the volunteer organization move away from an annual fundraiser that he described as essential for its survival: “Without that, we cease to exist,” Gibbs said. He described operational problems caused by dispersed volunteer resources and said a consolidated station near the interstate would reduce response times for incidents on nearby waterways and the highway.

Commissioners pressed staff for cost and revenue details during discussion. The mayor and staff described the county’s preliminary estimate for the overall project at about $800,000 of county funding; they said the 1,600-square-foot conditioned finish for the patrol/tenant area was separately estimated at roughly $125,000–$175,000 to complete from a basic shell. The county expects a state pass-through contribution of approximately $50,000 for a separate drive-through bay element tied to mass-vaccination flexibility. Commissioners were given a rough monthly rent estimate of $1,800–$2,200 and a utilities estimate of about $2,500 per year to inform negotiations.

An amendment that would have required the county to retain all rental receipts from the 1,600-square-foot space was offered and put to a roll-call vote; the amendment failed, with only a small number of commissioners supporting it. Following that vote, the original motion — to authorize the mayor to negotiate and return a contract for the commission’s February meeting — passed on a roll-call vote in which the commissioners present voted to approve returning a proposed contract for final consideration.

The commission directed the mayor and staff to tighten cost estimates and to seek a firm answer from the Tennessee Highway Patrol on interest in occupying the 1,600-square-foot area before the February return of the contract. If the commission approves the contract in February, staff said a budget amendment and appropriation would follow to provide initial cash flow and begin the work.

The commission did not finalize lease terms, the split of rental revenue, or a final construction contract; those items were left to negotiation and the February contract vote.