Rhea County Commission appoints Jacob Ellis to District 7, approves grants, budget amendments and lease for stadium display

The Rhea County Commission met Sept. 16, 2025, at the Phil Swafford Building and elected Jacob Ellis to fill the District 7 vacancy, re-elected Chairman Jim Reed and approved a series of budget amendments, state grants and a bank lease for a live video display.

Jacob Ellis was nominated from the floor by Commissioner Welch and seconded by Commissioner Cashman. Commissioner Cashman then moved that nominations cease and that Ellis be elected by acclamation; Commissioner Thedford seconded, and the motion carried with all voting AYE and Commissioner Francisco recorded as absent.

The commission confirmed leadership and committee assignments for the coming year. After an initial motion to retain the existing chair, vice-chair and committee memberships, a roll-call-style vote re-elected Jim Reed as chairman (AYE: Dunn, Fisher, Reed, Stephens, Thedford, Welch, Ellis; NAY: Cashman; ABSENT: Francisco). Commissioners also approved the purchase and finance committee and the budget committee rosters, with Jacob Ellis replacing former Commissioner Tommy Ballard on the budget committee.

On fiscal business, Commissioner Thedford moved and Commissioner Dunn seconded approval of County General Fund 101 budget amendments numbered 1–31; the motion passed with all present voting AYE. The commission also approved an amendment for the Solid Waste Fund 116 (moved by Thedford), two Highway Department Fund 131 amendments, and School Department Fund 141 amendments 1–7; the motions carried unanimously among those present. The minutes and specific amendment line items were referenced in the meeting materials but are not specified in the publicly released transcript.

The commission accepted several grant agreements from state agencies. Commissioner Cashman moved (seconded by Thedford) to approve Resolution #25-09-69, a Tennessee Department of Tourist Development grant for $4,900 with a $1,470 local match to produce map and rack cards; the vote was unanimous among those present. Commissioner Dunn moved (seconded by Thedford) to accept Resolution #25-09-70, the Statewide School Resource Officer grant in the amount of $600,000 to maintain school resource officers for each school in the county; that motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Welch moved (seconded by Commissioner Cashman) to accept Resolution #25-09-71, a Department of Environment and Conservation grant of $1,568,399 with a matching grantee contribution of $1,568,399 to fund two soccer fields and related improvements at the Abel Sports Complex; the commission approved the measure with the City of Dayton's consent noted in the materials.

Additional grant approvals included Resolution #25-09-72 (a $30,000 non-matching grant for enforcement of Tennessee DUI laws) and Resolution #25-09-73 (a $159,332.20 non-matching grant for Project: Safe Journey), both approved by unanimous vote of those present. The commission also approved Resolution #25-09-74, an agreement for maintained trail crossings and signage for the Cumberland Trail.

On appointments, the commission approved Resolution #25-09-75 appointing Rick Wilkey to the Rhea County Planning Commission to complete an unexpired term through August 2026. The agenda was then amended to add a bank lease matter (Resolution #25-09-76); the amendment carried. Commissioner Stephens moved and Commissioner Thedford seconded approval of Resolution #25-09-77 authorizing negotiation and execution of Lease No. 20000036669 (dated Aug. 11, 2025) with Huntington National Bank in an amount not to exceed $539,563.96 for a Daktronics live video display; the motion passed unanimously among those present.

The commission also read into the minutes committee minutes from the Rhea County Regional Planning Commission (May–July 2025) and the Rhea Medical Center Board of Directors (July 2025). Commissioner Thedford presented a report from Rhea County Trustee Neva Webb listing deletions, changes and pickups made from the property assessor and the state to the 2023 tax roll; the commission approved the trustee's report.

Finally, the commission approved bonds for five notaries public (Brandy Nichole Anderson; Barbie Hall; Heather Lutes; Kimberly F. Devillier; Rebecca Elaine Frost) and adjourned following a motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Cashman. The meeting record is signed by Chairman Jim Reed.

The transcript references detailed amendment pages and grant/lease documents as following pages; those underlying documents contain specific line-item and contractual details not present in the public transcript.