By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Still grappling with how to deal with its aging government buildings, the Henry County Commission Monday evening heard a dismal report from a local engineer about the courthouse bell tower.
Patrick Smith, President and CEO of the L.I. Smith firm in Paris, told commissioners, “To say it’s in bad shape is an understatement.”
Smith and his staff have inspected the tower and also scanned it and created a 3D model. A drone and aerial photography was used to capture the images and it was prepared in a visual presentation which was shown to the commission. It was similar to the presentation given to the County Buildings and Grounds committee last week.
The drone captures a perspective that is not available from street level, he said, showing close-up photos and videos demonstrating how much deterioration is evident in the cupola and bell tower on top of the courthouse.
“It’s deteriorated in many places,” he said, showing deterioration of the copper covering, the seams, the beams that support the tower, as well as numerous bricks missing from the walls. “You can see there is a tilt to it’ he said. “The dome is leaning toward the north and also crumbling on the north side. So there’s a double-whammy there.”
As for the beams that support the tower, “There are several cracked and rotting”, he said. Water also is collecting on it, causing further deterioration.
When they were up in the tower for one of their inspections, it was a day when the winds were 18 mph “and you could feel it swaying.”
In short, Smith said, the bell tower is deteriorating from the inside out. “There’s not much life to it,” he said.
One of the plans under consideration by the commission is to remove the bell tower from the building and create a replica with modern materials, based on the 3D images captured by Smith and his staff.
“It needs to come down soon,” Commissioner Marty Visser said. Visser is the chairman of the Buildings and Grounds committee.
In other business:
–The commission authorized County Mayor Randy Geiger to fix compensation for outside counsel to represent the county in pending litigation. The lawsuit, filed by Candace Danielle McLynn, just arrived at the commission Monday morning. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in Jackson.
Geiger and County Attorney Rob Whitfield said the complaint does not specify the amount being sought. Whitfield said it was premature to discuss the case. “It’s only four pages long and the allegations are general. We don’t believe they’re meritorious, but we don’t have specifics of what is being claimed.”
The law firm hired is Sellers, Craig and Hayden, which will charge $250 an hour, according to the resolution.
–The commission tabled a decision on whether to enact a mineral severance tax to benefit the county road fund until more details are provided.
Geiger said he was not aware until a recent TSA conference that Henry County was eligible to receive a severance tax on minerals drawn from the ground by local companies.
Highway Superintendent Richie Chilcutt said the tax would be a way for the county to start to offset damage to the roads and it would be paid by whichever companies are mining products from the ground. “It would be a way for us to generate funds without” issuing a tax on taxpayers.
–The Commission approved appointments to the newly-formed codes enforcement study committee: Monte Starks, Dell Carter, David Webb, Lt. Scott Wyrick, Diann McGuire and Ron Watkins.
–The Commission entered into an agreement with Dyersburg State Community College for use of more of the facilities at the Central Services Building on Jones Bend Rd. Extended. The college needs more space for the planned EMT program that is being started there.
Photo: Patrick Smith, standing, making his presentation on the condition of the bell tower to the commission. Shannon McFarlin photo.