Rogersville BMA recognizes town police officers
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The Rogersville BMA had a special occasion to celebrate at its Tuesday, May 12 meeting, and that meant the meeting had to move to an appropriate venue — a short walk away at Occasions on the Square.
Town officials chose to celebrate National Police Week by recognizing Public Safety Director Travis Fields and the officers of the Rogersville Police Department before and during the meeting. The decision was made to shift the meeting to Occasions on the Square so that all of the officers and their families could be seated and recognized.
Fields received a proclamation and each officer was named and presented with a gift. They were then treated to a meal across the street at the Hale Springs Inn.
National Police Week is May 11 through 17 and law enforcement agencies across the country are being recognized.
Following the ceremony, the chief dismissed the force and then asked them to reconvene at Hale Springs Inn. The board then moved on with committee reports and more than a dozen resolutions and ordinances.
The business started with the approval of a budget amendment for the current Rogersville City School budget, and then unanimous approval of the 2026-27 school and cafeteria budgets which had been enacted by the RCS Board of Education on April 28.
The major item on the agenda following this was an award of a contract to Brown Bros, Inc. of East Ridge for paving services at the city park. Brown was awarded a contract on a bid of $64,185 for the part of the project that was funded by a state grant, and one of $192,347 for the part that is not grant-funded. The grant money needed to be used and the project complete by June 30, and Mayor John Metz encouraged the board to proceed with the project now, which they did.
The board opened sealed bids for new firefighting gear for the Fire Department, but were not satisfied with the bids and decided to table the matter.
The Rogersville Heritage Association received a Special Event Permit for its Spring Festival (Junk & Jam) on Saturday, May 30 at Crockett Springs Park.
The board signed off on an agreement with Morristown architect Sonja Shannon to evaluate the town-owned old Food Lion shopping center on Main Street, which the town wishes to convert into a community center. Shannon, who has been involved in many similar projects in Morristown, made the proposal back in November and it is still in force. She will evaluate the structural condition of the building and propose floor plan layouts for its conversion, at a cost of $22,150.
The town approved a formal Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) policy for town employees.
The board approved a proposal to add an administrative hearing officer for code enforcement, which will give the town some extra teeth when it comes to enforcing compliance with town codes.
A section of North Rogers Street was re-designated as a one-way street.
The board unanimously passed a revised drug and alcohol use policy.
