Erin council approves next step
for consolidation attempt
TENNESSEE EXPRESS STAFF WRITER
It didn’t take a lot of time or discussion for members of the Erin City Council to give the go-ahead to form a charter commission to work on a consolidated government in Houston County.
According to Erin Mayor Rhyne Largent, “It starts the ball rolling, but it doesn’t mean consolidation is going to happen.”
Largent said with the council’s approval, the charter commission which would be formed would develop a charter and submit it to the state. Then there would be a referendum election, where the citizens of Erin and Houston County could vote for or against consolidation.
“If it fails either [the city or the county election], then it’s a dead issue for six years,” he explained.
Largent told the council that there are three communities in the state currently with consolidated governments: Nashville-Davidson County, Monroe County, and Trousdale County.
The mayor added that he had not formed an opinion for or against consolidation, but he felt the council should approve the charter commission in order to give the people of the community the opportunity to vote for or against it.
He said the city is in no way out any money. Houston County government, however, will be out more than $25,000.
“We’re always wanting the public’s input,” Mayor Largent said. “This resolution will lead us to a referendum and give the people the decision of whether to consolidate or not.”
Councilmember Jimmy Lowery made the motion to approve the charter commission, which was seconded by Martha Greenfield.
Randy Lewis then asked what the county’s reason was for wanting consolidation.
Mayor Largent told him the county had formed a 14-member committee to study consolidation, and after months of looking into it, 12 members were for it, with only two members against it. The committee made the recommendation to Houston County commissioners at their January meeting.
Largent added that Montgomery County had recently tried to consolidate, but failed to do so upon the referendum.
With no further discussion, the motion passed.
In other business, the council ratified the revised city charter, revised a franchise fee ordinance for Peoples CATV from five years to 20 years, and approved more funds for on-going water projects of $1.2 million.
During the meeting at one point when it was difficult to hear discussions, Betsy Ligon made a motion to look into the cost of a microphone system and video for council meetings. It was seconded by Wanda Lockhart and passed unanimously.
Also at the meeting, the board heard from an outside attorney, Tim Potter, who said his investigation was complete and that he was ready to file a declaratory action to see whether or not receipt payments in lieu of insurance for the mayor and city attorney were proper or improper.
The Erin City Council will meet again n
ext Tuesday, May 4 at 6 p.m Read more!