Scott County employees to receive Christmas bonus
Plus: Vacation policy approved for EMS employees, Scott County receives weather station, and Scott County receives $1 million CDBG to fund new Road Department maintenance facility
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 employees to receive Christmas bonus
HUNTSVILLE | Scott County Government employees will receive a $500 Christmas bonus this year, after the measure was approved by County Commission on Monday.
The $500 bonus, similar to past Christmas bonuses, will be for full-time employees. Part-time employees will receive a $250 bonus.
In other business at Monday’s meeting:
• Commissioners approved a new vacation policy for employees of the Scott County Ambulance Service, after learning that the department had been operating under a previous committee recommendation that had never been formally acted upon by County Commission. The new policy, which EMS director Jamie Byrd said his employees were happy with, will allow employees to accumulate up to 240 hours of annual leave before it will stop rolling over past the anniversary of their hire date and must be bought out or forfeited. According to information provided at the meeting, the policy is essentially the same as the existing policy, except for the 240-hour cap. Two employees have currently accumulated more vacation time, which they will not lose.
• The 2026 holiday list was approved.
• It was announced that improvements will be made to the baseball and softball fields at John John Yancey Memorial Park, with the cost to be split between County Commission and the Scott County Board of Education — at a cost of just under $24,000 for the county. The county has gotten a price quote from American Sports Fields LLC.
• Scott County Emergency Management Agency Director David Brewster announced that Scott County will receive a weather station, as will other counties in Tennessee. The station will be a 30-ft. tower that will be placed on a 30-ft. by 30-ft. lot, preferably on state-owned land. The state received a $3.6 million grant for the initial build of the Tennessee Mesonet system, and another $1.3 million in recurring funds for maintenance and upkeep. The new station will be solar-powered, will update every minute with all data being publicly accessible, and will include a webcam.
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Scott County receives $1 million grant for Road Department facility
HUNTSVILLE | During Monday’s meeting of Scott County Commission, County Mayor Jerried Jeffers announced that the county’s application for a $1 million Community Development Block Grant to be used for the construction of a new maintenance facility for the Scott County Road Department has been approved.
The grant will include a local match of only $77,000. The new facility will be built on the same property at Scott High Drive that the Road Department is currently headquartered on.
“This is absolutely a huge win,” Jeffers said, stressing that the grant stipulates that the funding cannot be used for paving roads.
“It has to be spent on something to improve economic development in Scott County,” the mayor said. “When you look at that dilapidated 1969-1970 era building with mold in it, and if you’re going to have economic development in Scott County you’re gonna have to have a place to work on vehicles.”
As a reference point, Jeffers said it cost Scott County more than $500,000 to recently repave 4.2 miles of Coal Hill Road near Glenmary.
“That’s what it costs to pave roads in this modern era,” he said, indicating that even if the $1 million CDBG funding could be spent on road maintenance it would not go far.
Later Monday night, state Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, applauded the awarding of the grant to Scott County.
“Investing in our local infrastructure is essential to the safety and quality of life of the people we serve,” Yager said. “These CDBG grants will help our communities upgrade critical services, strengthen emergency response, and support long-term growth throughout Senate District 12. I’m grateful for TNECD’s partnership and proud to see these funds put to work where they are needed most.”
Gov. Bill Lee also applauded Scott County’s grant application, calling it a “necessary step” towards improving the local community.
“Ensuring that our local infrastructure is equipped to meet the demands of future economic development is a top priority for our administration,” the governor said.
Other nearby CDBG funds included $550,000 to the City of Byrdstown for sewer system improvements, $559,500 to the City of Celina for sewer system improvements, $997,920 to Fentress County for ambulance station improvements, $849,555 to the City of LaFollette for drainage improvements, $420,000 to Pickett County for fire protection improvements, and $550,000 to Red Boiling Springs for sewer system improvements.
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Endangered freshwater species shows signs of thriving in Big South Fork
BANDY CREEK | An endangered freshwater mussel species in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area is showing signs of natural population increases for the first time. The tan riffleshell (Epioblasma walkeri) is an endangered mussel found in only a few locations within the Big South Fork of the Cumberland and the upper Clinch Rivers. The National Park Service has been collaborating with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources to monitor the status of this rare species.
Recently, staff from both agencies have been working together to recover the Big South Fork populations of this species by supplementing their numbers. Male and female tan riffleshell mussels were collected from Big South Fork and used to produce thousands of baby mussels. These small mussels have been added to limited locations where the species is known to exist at Big South Fork over the last few years.
A recent mussel survey at the Big South Fork found the tan riffleshell at sites not previously known to have the species. Most exciting about this discovery was that some of the riffleshells found were juveniles, which suggests that the Big South Fork population is growing and spreading naturally due to the recovery efforts.
“We are delighted that water quality in the Big South Fork is now able to support this species. Because mussels are filter feeders, they are highly sensitive to pollution, and their presence can offer a reliable assessment of the river they inhabit,” said Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas.
The weekend
🌧️ Weather: It’ll be a wet start to the weekend, with rain chances increasing to 100% tonight, and shower activity lingering into Saturday morning before things improve. Above-normal temperatures will continue throughout the weekend, with afternoon highs in the 60s. 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
• Saturday: The First National Bank Hall of Fame Classic will be held at Scott High School Saturday. Scott girls will play Harriman at 11 a.m., followed by Scott boys against Claiborne at 12:20 p.m., Monterey girls against Harriman at 1:50 p.m., Monterey boys against Claiborne at 3:10 p.m., Scott girls against Monterey at 4:40 p.m., and Scott boys against Monterey at 6 p.m.
• Saturday: The Fairview Elementary School Food Pantry will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Straight Fork Community Center (11192 Baker Highway, Pioneer). Parents, grandparents, legal guardians or caregivers of children attending Fairview Elementary School or Fairview Head Start are eligible to pick up food. No proof of income is required.
• Saturday: Fourth Saturday night worship services will be held at Straight Fork Baptist Church (7 p.m.), and Antioch Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.). For more information, see our Church Directory at indherald.com.
• 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.
• Looking Ahead: Boy Scout Troop 333 of Scott County is holding a Thanksgiving fundraiser by cooking turkeys. Deep-fried turkeys are $60 and smoke-fried turkeys are $75. Pickup will be Thanksgiving by 12 p.m. at the American Legion’s War Memorial Building on Alberta Street in Oneida. To order, contact Stephen West at (423) 319-9753.
The Community Calendar is presented by Citizens Gas Utility District. CGUD will be closed November 27 and 28 in observance of Thanksgiving. Have a safe and happy holiday. Call 811 before digging! Visit citizensgastn.com.
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📢 Programming Note: Watch for our weekly E-Edition tomorrow morning! You can always find our E-Editions here. The E-Edition is published on Thursdays (and on Sundays during the high school sports season) and includes all digital content from the week in an easy-to-read, flip book format.
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)