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Washington County mayor lists 2024 accomplishments, projects for 2025; Health, schools and extension give updates
Summary
Mayor Randy recapped last year's major county projects — library relocation, training center lease, court-security upgrades, water-task-force work — and described priorities for 2025. UT Extension, health and schools also gave status reports.
Mayor Randy addressed the Board of County Commissioners with a summary of projects completed in 2024 and priorities for 2025, including library relocation, training and learning center development and ongoing water infrastructure work.
The mayor highlighted last year's accomplishments: sale of the Gray Library site; completion of an industrial access road; court-security upgrades including panic buttons and ballistic panels; establishment of a countywide hotel-and-motel tax that has generated more than $200,000 to date; purchase and conversion of the former City 4 building into the Washington County Training and Learning Center (WCTLC); progress on an immunization drive-through pod at the health department; a countywide reappraisal of property; and planning and budget work for multi-year water projects. The mayor said the county issued 972 building permits last year, an 11% increase from the prior year, with $183,575,000 in property value tied to those permits and $563,000 collected in permit fees.
Elizabeth Renfro, the newly appointed county director for the University of Tennessee Extension and Tennessee State University office in Washington County, gave the Extension's report to the board. Renfro said the office helped collect and distribute agricultural donations after the storm through the Appalachian Fairgrounds and provided informational handouts for flood clean-up at the Johnson City Farmers Market and other distribution sites.
Director of Health Butterfield said the health-department drive-through immunization building is scheduled for a ribbon-cutting Friday and that second-floor HVAC replacement work is starting. "It will be a two-lane drive-through building... it'll be very organized and controlled compared to the chaos that I believe ensued during 2020," Butterfield said.
Director of Schools Boyd briefed the commission on the FY26 budget calendar and invited commissioners to a joint schools-commission work session on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. Boyd and the Washington County Board of Education reiterated the board's opposition to school vouchers, arguing that public dollars should go to public schools and noting concerns about accountability for private schools that would receive public funds. Sylvain Bruni, who spoke during public comment, told commissioners he had not encountered any voter support for vouchers in his campaign contacts: "Not a single person expressed support for vouchers," Bruni said during public comment.
The mayor said the county will continue to pursue tenant opportunities for the WCTLC, move forward with phase 2 of a TCAT facility that will add heavy-equipment training, and seek state support for phase 3. He also said the county will press for disaster-recovery funding for the region and meet with state officials.
Sources: remarks by Mayor Randy; remarks by Elizabeth Renfro; remarks by Health Director Butterfield; remarks by Director of Schools Boyd; public comment by Sylvain Bruni.
