County Commission takes first step towards training supplement for corrections officers
Plus: Oneida receives nearly $400,000 for walking track at Bear Creek Sports Complex
Good Thursday evening! This is The Weekender, a final look at this week’s news from the Independent Herald. The Daybreaker (Monday) and The Weekender (Thursday evening) are our two news-first newsletters. We publish several other newsletters throughout the week, as well as our regular E-Edition on Thursday and our Varsity E-Edition on Sunday (during sports season). If you’d like to adjust your subscription to include (or exclude) any of these newsletters, do so here. If you haven’t subscribed, please consider doing so!
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Buckeye Home Medical Equipment. Serving Scott County and several other communities in the Upper Cumberland region, Buckeye is a full-line DME providing home health equipment to its patients.
County Commission takes first step towards training supplement for corrections officers
HUNTSVILLE | Scott County Commission later this month will consider a $400 supplement for county-employed correctional officers who complete their annual 40 hours of required inservice training.
County Commission’s Intergovernmental Committee recommended the matter to the full commission at Monday’s monthly work session.
The committee tabled a similar proposal that would provide a $600 supplement to county commissioners who complete the annual eight hours of training that is required by state law.
Both measures were proposed by Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers. The amount of each incentive is set by state law. The difference between the two — which ultimately led to the Intergovernmental Committee tabling one and forwarding the other — is that Jeffers said the Sheriff’s Department has money in its budget to cover the supplement for correctional officers, while the incentive for commissioners is not in the current budget.
The cost to the county would be $8,400 each year for the commissioners’ supplement, and around $10,000 each year for the correctional officers’ supplement. Jeffers said correctional officers at the county-owned juvenile detention facility would also be eligible for the supplement, at a total cost of $2,800.
While state law provides for the $600 and $400 supplements for commissioners and correctional officers, it does not provide the funding. The state does provide funding for a similar training supplement for deputies, who receive $800 for completing their annual training, as well as EMS personnel and firefighters.
Jeffers said the resolution he prepared for County Commission to consider was modeled after an incentive program offered for correctional officers in Shelby County.
In other matters Monday evening:
• The Intergovernmental Committee gave preliminary approval to a recommendation from Road Superintendent Kelvin King to lower the speed limit to 20 mph on Cowan Lane in the 7th District and to 15 mph on Church Lane in the 4th District.
• The Building & Grounds Committee gave preliminary approval for the Scott County Historical Society to remodel the kitchen and bathroom in the upstairs of the old county courthouse, which 1st District Commissioner David Jeffers — who is president of the Historical Society — said would be done at the Historical Society’s expense.
• The Emergency Services Committee heard from Chris Wilson, representing the Scott County Firefighters Association, who said that the association feels it should have more of a presence at County Commission meetings and plan to be present more often at those monthly sessions.
• The Community Development Committee approved House Joint Resolution 51, a call to prayer for July 12. The local prayer meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. that day at the gazebo in the center of the courthouse mall in Huntsville.
• Mayor Jeffers informed the Parks & Recreation Committee that he has received a quote of $56,000 to remodel the restroom facilities at the John John Yancey Memorial Park, and said that playground equipment that has been purchased for the Robbins Community Park and Straight Fork Community Center should be delivered by the end of July.
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Oneida receives nearly $400,000 for walking track at Bear Creek Sports Complex
NASHVILLE | State Rep. Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdstown, and state Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, announced Monday that the Town of Oneida has received $392,000 from the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) for an ADA-compliant walking track at Bear Creek Sports Complex.
The project includes a one-mile ADA multi-use trail with ADA parking. It is funded by the Recreational Trails Program, which provides federal funding to match local government investments for land acquisition for trails, non-routine trail maintenance, trail construction, trail rehabilitation, and trailhead support facilities.
“This is great news for the people of Oneida,” said Yager. “Investing in outdoor recreation not only enhances quality of life, but also strengthens our communities and local economies. I’m proud to support efforts like the Bear Creek Park Trail that make our natural resources more accessible for everyone, including those with disabilities.”
“This project opens the door for more people to enjoy the natural beauty of our region,” Keisling said. “The new trail at Bear Creek Park will improve access for residents and visitors alike, especially those with mobility challenges. I’m grateful for this investment in Oneida and look forward to seeing how it helps boost outdoor tourism and community well-being.”
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O&W Road bridge set to go to bid
HUNTSVILLE | With the bridge over Pine Creek on O&W Road set to go to bid on Monday, Scott County continues to hope final approval of the design for the bridge over Norfolk-Southern Railroad on Niggs Creek Road will be close behind.
Scott County Road Superintendent Kelvin King said this week that he hoped to hear from the railroad within days, noting that the end of the 30-day window for Norfolk-Southern’s response was nearing.
Both bridges have been condemned by the TN Dept. of Transportation and ordered closed to vehicular traffic. Although the Niggs Creek Road bridge was the first to be closed, the design process for the new bridge there has been slower due to the required railroad approval, which comes in steps.
The O&W Road project will be bid Monday by the Scott County Finance Committee. There will be a 45-day window for returning bids, after which the winning bid will be chosen by the committee. King has said he’s hopeful construction of the new bridge will be completed and the road re-opened by winter.
The Niggs Creek Road project has been approved for funding by TDOT, pending Norfolk-Southern’s final okay. Should the design not be approved by N-S, the funding will be shifted elsewhere and will further delay the project. King said this week that he’s spoken to TDOT and the funding is still in place.
Horner pledges landfill construction by September as opposition gears up
ONEIDA | Knox Horner, the developer who has proposed to build a second landfill and rail transfer station near Bear Creek, said Wednesday afternoon that construction on that project will begin in September.
Horner’s comments came at an inaugural meeting of a coalition of local governments that are joining forces in an attempt to stop the landfill from becoming a reality.
Scott and McCreary counties have both joined the coalition, along with the towns of Oneida, Huntsville and Winfield, and representatives of all five entities were present at Wednesday’s inaugural meeting at the Oneida Municipal Services Building. Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers, McCreary County Judge Executive Jimmie Greene, Oneida Mayor Lori Phillips-Jones, Huntsville Mayor Dennis Jeffers and Winfield Mayor Jerry Dotson were all present, along with Scott County Attorney John Beaty, McCreary County Attorney Austin Price and various other representatives.
The coalition — which now has an official name: the Scott County-McCreary County Environmental Coalition — is an idea borne of a meeting of mayors several weeks ago. The governing bodies of the five respective entities have since voted to join the coalition, with the Town of Winfield becoming the most recent to join it when its board of mayor and aldermen met Tuesday afternoon.
Official actions taken at Wednesday’s meeting were to appoint Phillips-Jones as the coalition’s chairperson, Dennis Jeffers as vice-chair, and Oneida Alderman Jeff Tibbals as secretary. The coalition also voted unanimously to enter into a retainer agreement with attorney Lisa Helton of the Nashville law firm Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison. She is the attorney who successfully led the City of Murfreesboro’s fight against an expansion of the Middle Point Landfill earlier this decade.
Helton will be retained at a billable cost of $640 an hour, while two of her associates who will also work on the case will bill at $500 an hour. The costs will be split equally between the five governing bodies. Phillips-Jones will work with Helton on a letter, drafted by McCreary County water manager Steven Whittaker, that the coalition will submit to the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation informing them of the coalition’s intent to fight against the landfill.
All five mayors in the room stated that they were opposed to the planned landfill, though there were differences in their tone.
Oneida Mayor Phillips-Jones said that she was opposed to a second landfill until TDEC could answer questions she has about monitoring of the existing landfill at Bear Creek, which is owned by Waste Connections LLC. She specifically mentioned a leachate leak that occurred in February 2025, stating that TDEC had not provided appropriate notice of the spill — which resulted in a violation against the landfill.
“I told TDEC there are things happening here that you’re not giving me notice of,” she said. “There is definitely a communication breakdown somewhere, and I don’t know how to remedy that.”
Regarding the existing landfill, Phillips-Jones said, “I have a lot of questions for them on the monitoring of the current landfill.”
Huntsville Mayor Jeffers flatly said that he and his town are opposed to the landfill.
“At this point we’re either all in or all out,” he said. “Huntsville is all in.” At a later point, Jeffers said he was “not sitting at this table to make deals.”
On the other hand, Scott County Mayor Jeffers said part of his job as a watchdog for Scott County’s citizens is to avoid leading the county into a lawsuit that it might be unable to win.
“Am I excited about a secondary landfill?” he asked. “No. There is nobody excited about a secondary landfill. But my job as county mayor is to make sure the citizens are okay and to make sure I avoid a lawsuit that is going to wind up drowning this county and causing more financial heartache for this county than we already have. So if you’re asking what my opinion is, I’m not excited about it. Not one bit. But it is what it is. I try to do the best thing I can by this county to try to avoid bad things happening to the citizens, as well as trying to avoid a lawsuit.”
Horner told the coalition that the annual recertification of the existing landfill permit on a portion of the property his investment group is purchasing was approved by TDEC last week.
TDEC issued a 24-acre landfill permit to Roberta Phase II Inc. in 2010. The property was owned then by Johnny King, who pursued the first landfill at Bear Creek as early in the 1980s. That property is among the acreage being purchased by Horner’s group.
In February 2025, TDEC issued a letter to Roberta Phase II and Horner, stating that a new owner’s intent to build a landfill on the property would be subject to further investigation by TDEC before construction could begin. It’s not clear whether last week’s recertification satisfies TDEC’s requirements for a new owner to construct a landfill on the property; however, Horner seemed confident that there are no roadblocks currently in the path of construction.
Separately, Trans-Rail Waste Services LLC — a corporation affiliated with Horner and his investors — has applied for a transfer station on Poplar Lane, another portion of property being purchased by the group. That project has not yet been permitted by TDEC.
In response to a question from Tibbals, Horner said that his group has not yet pursued additional landfill permits on the property it is purchasing, which is close to 700 acres in total. He said “standard operating procedure” for landfills is to start with 15 to 30 acres, then to permit additional acreage as the landfill progresses, due to the expense involved.
Horner also said that his group has procured an agreement with Safety-Kleen, an environmental waste company, to process leachate produced by the new landfill. As previously reported by the Independent Herald, what to do with the leachate had become a question after the Town of Oneida indicated that it might be unable to take more leachate. The town currently treats much of the leachate produced by the original landfill at Bear Creek, at an average flow of three gallons per minute.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Oneida Water & Wastewater manager Steve Owens said it was unlikely that the Oneida wastewater treatment plant could handle additional leachate from a new landfill.
“We’re already struggling with the other landfill … I doubt we’re going to be able to accept any more,” Owens said.
Horner referenced a letter from the town in January 2025 that he said stated differently. But, he added, “That’s fine; we have an alternative,” which was a reference to Safety-Kleen.
Without specifically saying so, Horner seemed to indicate that his group is prepared to pursue the lawsuit Scott County Mayor Jeffers said earlier in the meeting that needs to be avoided.
“This permit has been issued,” Horner said. “It’s just going through recertification. There was a lawsuit and it was appealed back in 2010 and then the permit was issued. I just want to make sure everybody is aware, we’ve invested a lot of time and several years up here, and a whole lot of money, so understand … we plan on starting construction in September.”
Huntsville Mayor Jeffers questioned whether permitting issues in 2014, 2015 and 2016 would constitute violations that void the original permit.
“Here’s the problem we’re getting into,” Jeffers said. “We’re calling plays here and the opposition is listening. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s obvious that we have a difference of opinion. And I don’t know — we may be throwing money into the wind. But we’re gonna throw it.”
That point of contention — Horner’s presence — was a major one, with a citizen who was present later saying that he should not be allowed to be there. Mayor Phillips-Jones pointed out that public meetings mean any member of the public can show up — in other words, if they’re closed for one, they’re closed for all. However, she also said she intends to discuss with Helton, the attorney being retained by the group, whether the coalition’s meetings fall under the state’s open meetings requirement.
“At some point in time, the public is going to have to let us govern,” Huntsville Mayor Jeffers said. He added: “This coalition was formed as a result of the public’s outcry. So we have heard, loud and clear. To go back and rehash it over and over and over again … we need time to be constructive, not hear the same complaints.”
Phillips-Jones asked Horner if he would consider a new way into the property he intends to build the landfill on. Currently, commercial traffic into the property is using an easement through property owned by Timber Rock Lodge. An easement was granted through that property to reach a house on the property being purchased by Horner’s group.
“It would go a long way with a lot of folks in the room if you all would find an alternate way to access that property,” Phillips-Jones said. “It’s a pretty big imposition on Timber Rock Lodge, which has put a lot of time and money into developing a facility in Scott County. That is one of my significant concerns.”
Horner indicated that he would be “more than happy” to pursue that request.
The Weekend
🌦 Weather: Hot with daily thunderstorm chances. That’ll be the primary outlook for this weekend. Rain chances will go from 50% on Friday and Saturday to 80% on Sunday. Severe weather isn’t expected to be a threat. Check out our daily Eye to the Sky updates on our Facebook page — published each morning at 7 a.m. on the dot.
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📅 Community Calendar
• Friday: The Bandy Creek Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today ($3, or $2 for ages 6-12). Huntsville Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today ($3). The Oneida Splash Pad is also open.
• Saturday: The Scott County Farmers & Crafters Market will be open from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. — rain or shine. The market is located at 600 Scott High Drive, Huntsville.
• Saturday: The Bandy Creek Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today ($3, or $2 for ages 6-12). Huntsville Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today ($3). The Oneida Splash Pad is also open.
• Sunday: The Bandy Creek Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today ($3, or $2 for ages 6-12). Huntsville Pool will be open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. today ($3). The Oneida Splash Pad is also open.
• Sunday: Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program designed to help with addiction, co-dependency and domestic abuse, will be hosted by Fire & Purpose Ministries from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 27192 Scott Highway in Winfield. There will be food, fellowship, praise and worship. Childcare is provided.
The Community Calendar is presented by Citizens Gas Utility District. Citizens Gas operates natural gas distribution pipelines in portions of Scott and Morgan counties. Visit citizensgastn.com.
Scenic Sale!
This week’s sale items at Scenic Foods in Huntsville! The sale continues through Tuesday. Sponsored content.
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◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes from the Past (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)