By Scott Pearson

Staff Writer

The Marshall County Commission received some bad news and some good news regarding grant money at their meeting on Monday.

Marshall County Mayor Joe Boyd Liggett reported to the commission that the county had decided to decline a grant from the state.

The county had been awarded the $325,000 Local Parks and Recreation grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development in August.

The funds would have required a 50 percent match from the county with the intention of building a show barn at the county show grounds on Robin Hood Road.

The county planned to attract more events to the show ground, especially smaller animal shows to the county with the improved facility as a boost to the tourist economy.

Liggett said that he still thought the idea was worthy and would be a benefit to the county, but during meetings with the state over the grant, there were concerns about the state's requirements.

The state would mandate that the facility needed to remain open at all times, not unlike a public park, which, given its fairly remote location, left some of the plan's advocates uncomfortable.

There were also issues raised of the state having a say in the facility in perpetuity that raised questions over the county's real control of the facility.

Ultimately, the decision was made to pass on the grant money for the project due to these concerns.

Liggett remained committed to the idea and said that the county would explore different avenues of funding.

The mayor also gave the commission notice of a fast-tracked infrastructure grant application that they would need to address.

The good news is that the funds could help in bringing new business to the county.

The state grant would cover the cost of extending water and sewer lines and other utilities to an industrial site for an as yet unnamed potential industry.

According to Lewisburg Director of Economic Development, this is just one part of the puzzle that will move the process of recruiting this business to the area.

The county and city have agreed to split the 11 percent match that the grant requires but are waiting on the engineering report to provide a final cost number.

The commission could meet in special session in December to vote on the resolution once it is finalized.

Bill Reuter, Director of the Marshall County Emergency Medical Service, told the commission that he had received a check that day for $25,000 from the Justin and Valere Potter Foundation.

The funds will purchase a six-wheel Polaris Ranger ATV fully equipped for medical and rescue use.

It will replace an older, smaller John Deere that , due to the rural nature of much of the county, receives a lot of use in medical emergencies.

Reuter noted that he had not applied for or sought out the grant. It had come about as a "result of the service that EMS provides in the county."

Director of the Marshall County Office of Emergency Management Steve Calahan updated the commission on the status of the burn ban in the county imposed by the Commissioner of Agriculture. As a measure of the severity of the drought, Calahan stated that between October 15 and November 16, the day the ban on open flame burning was issued, county departments had responded to 26 outdoor fires.

Between the November 16 ban and the November 28 commission meeting, they had responded to 36 outdoor fires.

The ban was still in place as of Monday's meeting but was lifted on Wednesday due to the rainfall the county had received in the meantime.

Commissioners also approved a resolution that would allow retiring deputies with ten years of service with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office to retain their service sidearm.

Commissioners voted on several budget resolutions moving funds from one account to another, some to meet grant matching requirements. County Budget Director Malinda White said that it was not unusual at this time of year to fine tune the individual budget accounts.

Added late to the agenda, commissioners approved a resolution introduced by Commissioner Dean Delk to support the naming of a new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation training facility in Madison County after Special Agent De'Greaun Frazier, who was slain in the line of duty earlier this year.