Giles County Highway Committee Meeting Minutes May 13, 2025
Members Present: Tim Risner (chairman), Tracy Wilburn (vice-chairman), Joseph Sutton, Joyce Woodard, Roger Reedy, Matt Rubelsky and Judy Pruett
Members Also Present: Jim Lathrop, Annelle Gutherie, Matthew Hopkins, Shelly Goolsby, Carman Brown, Terry Jones, David Adams, Gayle Jones and David Womble
Also present: Gene Barnickle, Erin, Harmon, Beth Moore-Sumners, Shana Woodard and Graham Stowe
Meeting Called to Order at 9:00 am
Prayer led by Roger Reedy
Pledge of Allegiance by all
Chairman Risner asked for any public comments.
First Order of Business was to approve the agenda. A motion by Tracy Wilburn was made to approve the agenda. A second by Joseph Sutton was made. All were in favor and the motion was approved.
Second Order of Business was the review of minutes from February 11, 2025 committee meeting. Tracy Wilburn made a motion to approve. Joyce Woodard made a second. All were in favor and the motion was approved.
Third Order of Business was a Bridge Dedication for James Robert (Red) Newton. Mr. Newton’s daughter, Jamie (Newton) Davis, requested that the bridge on Pigeon Roost Road over Pigeon Roost Creek be dedicated as a Memorial Bridge. Mrs. Davis addressed the commissioners and told that her father was the Deputy Sheriff from 1958 until being elected sheriff in 1978 and served up until 1986. Mr. Barnickle stated that Mr. Newton met all the criteria and he was in favor of the dedication. Roger Reedy made a motion to approve the dedication. Judy Pruett seconded the motion, and all were in favor. The motion was passed.
Fourth Order of Business is Dillon Ln. Road Superintendent Gene Barnickle stated that back in 2006 Dillon Ln was grandfathered into the County Road List. The first 330ft, coming from Hwy 11, were within the city limits at that time and have since been de-annexed. The Highway Department picks up at the end of the 330 feet and has .95 miles. Gene informed the commissioners that the road is in very poor condition and that the Highway Department needs to be able to access it to make repairs. A picture was sent around that showed a low water bridge that private property owners came together and put in. The water dept ran a water line beside it and used the large rip rap rock from the low water bridge to back fill their lines and over time and caused undermining on the bridge and half the bridge is broken. Mr. Barnickle told the commissioners that the bottom line is the Highway Dept. needs to be able to fix the road. The bridge is already damaged and any big trucks that we might send across it could damage the bridge even more. When the residents purchased property back there, they knew they had to cross a low-water bridge to get there. Many of the residents would like to see a bridge built. As it stands right now, the first 330 ft including the low-water is just a right of way. The Highway Dept could run into issues if heavy equipment and trucks start crossing that bridge. David Womble asks if any grant opportunities could help get a bridge built. Mr. Barnickle says that none are available at this time that he knows about, but the highway department to research that to see if anything. Matthew Hopkins questions how we could get a grant for a bridge that is on private property. The road should be fixed by the county, he says, but he is not in favor of taxpayer dollars to fund a bridge on private property. Matt Rubelsky suggests that we talk to the County Attorney to see what steps the Highway Department can take to be able to obtain the 330ft. Womble also states that we should talk with the property owners to see if they will deed that portion of the property to the Highway Department. Rubelsky made a motion for the Road Superintendent to get with Graham Stowe and Chris Williams to take steps for the county to obtain access/ownership so that the county can legally perform work on their county road. Mr. Sutton seconds the motion. All are in favor. The motion passes.
Fifth Order of Business is Chip Seal Projection for 25-26. Gene addresses the committee to let them know he has a list of roads and the cost that the Highway Department is looking at in order to chip and seal these roads. The highway department has 69.43 miles projected to be resurfaced, totaling $2,139,974.59 in rock and oil prices. Superintendent Barnickle states that the Highway Department will be looking at at least a 7% increase on rock prices and $.10- $.12 on oil. Mr. Barnickle states that he just wants to show where the prices are going and that the highway department needs help. It’s approximately $40,000.00- $50,000.00 for one mile of chip seal roads and about $165,000.00 per mile for hotmix.
The Sixth Order of Business is the discussion of salary schedules. Mr. Barnickle tells the committee that the Highway has been working with Financial Management to create a new salary schedule for employees. Mr. Barnickle has contacted a few different workforces, such as TDOT, MidSouth Concrete, and surrounding county highway departments to ask about their pay rates. The Highway Department has a great group of employees, and Mr. Barnickle feels like he needs to raise the pay rates to be competitive and keep the employees here instead of losing them to someone else. He also states the Highway Department is the last department to step up and make changes like this, and it’s time that they do. Chairman Risner states that the Highway Department hasn’t asked for anything for salaries for several years and that the employees deserve this salary schedule and the raises. The increase after the 3% raise would total $229,175.00 in salaries. Beth stated that importance of the salary schedule is so that you can categorize employees based on their skills and they have room to grow. She also stated you may have someone that is only classed as a laborer and someone that can run equipment and has CDL’s but yet they are categorized the same and have the same pay scale. This is an opportunity for retention. She commended Gene for allowing them to do a salary schedule.
Seventh Order of Business is the proposed budget for 25-26. Gene shares with the committee that he has been working with Beth and Shana to come up with a budget to fit the Highway’s needs. Gayle Jones states that the proposed budget is showing a shortfall of $8,584.00. Her question is how much of the highway funds were carried over? Gene referred Beth to answer her questions. Beth Moore-Sumners, the finance director, states that what the committee is looking at is an actual budget worksheet that they would approve. It’s showing that the Highway Department has used $411,335.00 of their current fund balance. She also wants to point out that every year, the governing body approves a budget with usage of the fund balance by the Highway Department. The reason why it has not typically been frowned upon is because at some point in time if there is a cash flow issue they have the control to stop paving roads, stop using operation cost. They are able to control more than anyone in the whole system. By showing the $411,335, its what is estimated what will be used of their fund balance to get them through June 30th. Beth feels confident about these numbers. The budget is showing a negative balance and cannot be approved by the full commission as is. We will have to have additional revenue to offset it or it will have to have cuts. For the Highway Dept. to have cash flow with this proposed budget they would need an additional $2.3 million. Joyce Woodard makes a motion to send to budget committee without a recommendation. It failed for a lack of a second. Roger Reedy made a motion to reduce the budget by $8584 and pass it on to the budget committee. Joyce Woodard seconds the motion. Chairman Risner does a roll call. The motion passes 6-1.
Old Business: Mr. Barnickle gives an update on the Big Dry Creek Bridge. The structural plans have been completed and it is in the process of getting ready to be bid out. There are no funds available at this time for this bridge. All state aid bridge money has been reallocated to other parts of the state where bridges were completely wiped out due to the massive floods. It will be 26-27 budget year before funds may appear again. He also states that there is really no point in bidding it because prices will change again before it is ready to be reconstructed.
New Business: Mr. Barnickle states that the County has Poling Drive on the road list but there is 1,550 ft of gravel road past where the county stops and it has 16 houses on it. Mr. Poling passed away several years ago and the land has changed hands several times. There has been numerous complaints through the years about this road and who does it belong to and who is responsible for maintaining it. Mr. Barnickle as the committee would they be interested in grandfathering in the 1550 feet of road so that the county can maintain it going forward. He also says the residents have went together and had rock put down several times, graded and tried to keep it up to the best of their ability. Matt Rubelsky made a motion to check with the county attorney and the county executive to find out what requirements are needed for the Highway Department to grandfather the road into the county road system. Joyce Woodard seconds the motion. All are in favor. The motion passes.
Tracy Wilburn makes a motion to adjourn. Joyce Woodard seconds the motion. Meeting is adjourned.