Commission approves split of project-management roles, moves one position to mayor's office

Sumner County commissioners voted to reorganize how project management and grant functions are distributed across county government, approving an amendment that keeps the grant writer and a project coordinator in the Finance Department while moving one project-manager slot into the county mayor's office.

The change followed an extended discussion about the original purpose and workload for the positions. Chair (Speaker 1) reviewed the history: the county had created dedicated project-management capacity after a subcontracted manager left a courthouse project and a judge had temporarily overseen construction. Commissioners said the county needs staff who can both produce procurement documents and, where appropriate, follow projects through to field completion.

Several commissioners and staff described distinctions among three roles: a grant writer, a project coordinator (responsible largely for RFQs/RFPs, POs and paperwork) and a project manager (the on-site, implementation-focused role that verifies completion and signs off on invoices). "Project manager is someone who receives a project and sees that thing through to execution," one commissioner said, explaining why that role may need closer operational oversight.

County leadership argued for the mayor's oversight of at least one project manager because of the mayor's statutory responsibility for custody and care of county buildings. The county mayor (Speaker 8) said, "It's my name that goes on that. I need to have oversight of that," arguing that signing construction-related documents requires closer knowledge of project details.

Finance staff described project-tracking improvements already underway, including requiring Gantt charts on projects over $200,000 and providing commissioners with viewing access to project spreadsheets. Commissioners also noted that some projects are ARPA- or opioid-abatement-funded and that a separate grant-management function will remain in Finance.

The commission adopted an amendment that (1) keeps the grant writer and a project coordinator within Finance, (2) moves one project-manager position into the mayor's budget and hiring authority, and (3) suspends hiring of a third position to evaluate workload needs later. The motions carried by voice vote. The commission directed staff to finalize the budget placement and to work across Finance and the mayor's office to clarify responsibilities and reporting.

The reorganization takes effect as departments align budget lines; commissioners said payroll and hiring details will be resolved in coordination with HR and payroll staff. No formal roll-call vote with named tallies was recorded in the meeting minutes; the motion passed by voice vote.