Sumner County commissioners voted Nov. 10 to create a shared, read-only applicant-tracking spreadsheet to record who applies for county boards and commissions and whether required documents have been verified.

The action followed staff reports that county IT had sent a test email around 4:00 a.m. after some application emails failed to arrive. Staff said some earlier submissions did not include required attachments—examples cited included a driver’s license and an electric or utility bill. Staff told commissioners IT would forward the missing attachments when they were located.

"I would like a motion that we add that to the, the report in Excel spreadsheet with information on who's applied and for what committee and if they're verified maybe," a commissioner said when introducing the motion. The motion was seconded.

Commissioners described wanting a read-only file (for example, an Excel or Google sheet) that captures names, timestamps and basic applicant fields while restricting access to attachments. A staff member said the packet normally includes the attachments and that commissioners could receive the summary file without the attachments.

The motion passed; the chair recorded the result as "motion passes" and reported a 4-to-1 margin on the vote.

Next steps: staff said they would provide the shared, read-only file and continue working with IT to ensure all applicant materials are delivered and captured in the log.