By DAVID MELSON - dmelson@t-g.com
A yearly loss of $224,000 is projected for Bedford County Juvenile Detention Center is projected, and talk by a Bedford County Commission committee Tuesday indicates the facility’s future may be in question.
“The commission needs to decide if it wants to stay in the juvenile detention business or not,” Commissioner Linda Yockey told the commission’s Rules and Finance committee.
Monthly losses range from approximately $12,000 to more than $30,000 most months, according to records supplied by County Finance Director Robert Daniel. The facility, currently the only occupant of a portion of the former sheriff’s office on Lane Parkway, derives most of its income from jail fees, most paid by other counties who send teens to periods of varying lengths.
Several commissioners have met informally with law enforcement representatives about the possibility of building a new juvenile detention center on the grounds of Bedford County Justice Center.
Solid waste
Bedford County’s solid waste may be going to a different location soon, the committee was told.
Bedford, Franklin, Lincoln and Moore counties and the city of Tullahoma are members of the Interlocal Solid Waste Authority. Waste from Bedford County is being trucked to a landfill in Marshall County, but the so-called “tipping fees” — fees paid to landfills for handling refuse — are increasing due to rising transportation costs.
Road Superintendent Mark Clanton and Solid Waste Director Diane Forbes both said they’ve recently attended conferences in which governments are turning to trains to carry away garbage.
Franklin County has proposed building a large solid waste collection center, Clanton said. All ISWA counties would send their waste to be transported from that site to “anywhere in the world.”
The proposal isn’t an ideal solution but is the direction most areas across the country are going, Clanton said.
Hazardous waste
Only 50 people attended the Solid Waste Authority’s recent household hazardous waste event, Forbes told the committee. Several attendees were from surrounding counties, with the furthest from Wilson County.
But Forbes was pleased with how the event went. She said the new location at Bedford County Agricultural Center worked well in terms of room and access.
The event took in 1,975 pounds of waste at a state-covered cost of $4,667.60.
More EMS runs
Bedford County Emergency Medical Service has made 2,218 calls for service so far this fiscal year, the highest ever at this point according to Director Ted Cox.
Maintenance costs are increasing due to the unfulfilled need for two new ambulances, Cox said. The service placed orders for one completely new ambulance and a remount of an existing modular ambulance unit on a new chassis some time ago.
“Hundreds of orders” including Bedford County’s remain backed up due to microchip and other shortages plaguing multiple industries, Cox said at the committee’s September meeting. In the meantime, wear is taking its toll on the older ambulances.
Records
More than 300 boxes of Bedford County Sheriff’s Office records from the 1867 “rock jail” have been taken in by Bedford County Records Center.
“These records will always be restricted and some will be almost permanent at 100 years retention schedule,” County Archivist Carol Roberts.
Left behind among records “packed tightly” in the building are several covered with black mold and too dirty to move, Roberts said.
Bus sales
Several retired Bedford County school buses have proved to be an unexpected profit source, Daniel said.
Some of the buses were sold by Bedford County Surplus Director Juan Orozco at up to $4,000 apiece. Yockey noted some people are buying buses and renting them as small homes
