Commission ties vote on EDA fund

Loudon County Commissioners tied a vote Monday over funding the Loudon County Economic Development Agency.

Commissioner Van Shaver asked commission to consider suspending all additional funding and payment to the EDA at the end of the year. The county sent a letter to the EDA July 26 stating plans to pull funding in August 2025.

Shaver proposed moving up the timeline to the end of this year with ongoing friction between the two entities.

“We did pass our budget with a two year notice that we’re pulling out of the EDA… and from that point on I think it’s kinda gone downhill from there,” Shaver said. “We had more things taken place by the EDA that’s been detrimental to Loudon County.”

The county provides about 70% of EDA’s funding. After the notice, commission sent a letter to the EDA with expectations for their relationship based on their funding role.

In the fall, Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw was voted from chairman of the EDA to vice chairman. City of Loudon Mayor Jeff Harris was then voted in as chairman.

The switch came as a shock to many commissions with some expressing concern about the lack of county representation on the board given how much funding they provide.

Mayor Harris said Monday the vote to switch chairman isn’t something to be taken personally. EDA officials serve on a year-to-year basis, and there was an equal opportunity to be voted into the position.

“We just followed the bi-laws, or the board did,” Harris explained. “It wasn’t any kind of retaliation or anything like that. Mayor Bradshaw is the vice chair. I was the vice chair last year, he was the chair. A motion was made by the board of directors to change some of that around, we just followed the bi-laws.”

Mayor Bradshaw said he didn’t have an idea or suspicion that he would be voted to vice chairman.

Harris took ownership of the lack of communication to the commission stating he will personally try to make amends and improve if they vote against the de-funding.

“When I was elected chairman the last thing I needed was another title or responsibility by my name,” Harris said. “...I believed in the importance of the EDA, and I (am) committed to trying to improve the relationship between the EDA and the county commission, which represents the largest funding body of the

Shaver insisted he hadn’t discussed the suspension vote with any other commissioners, but he felt it was necessary.

“I’ve not asked anyone behind this table to support this, to not support it I haven’t lobbied for it whatsoever,” he stated. “Many of us have been here for a while. We’ve been watching this for a long time. Even our newest members who’ve been here just over a year, they’ve seen enough to know whether or not they support this sort of thing.”

The commission split the vote 5-5, making it ineffective.

“We have got to figure out a way for everybody to work together for this county,” said Commissioner Gary Whitfield. “I don’t know the solution. I don’t know where we go from here, but I just feel we have to figure out a way eventually.”

In unrelated business, Commissioner Adam Waller requested a stall in building permits at The Grove at Cedar Hills due to excess rainwater draining onto neighboring properties.

Per the current plans, rainwater falls off the newly constructed homes into a ditch between houses and empties into land behind the homes. The homes are currently unoccupied, however, neighboring landowners have raised concern about the issue.

Codes Enforcement Director Jim Jenkins met with the developer and his representatives last week to discuss the issue. Although the property had been grated, or leveled, by county and company, the excess water was unexpected and brought up the question of whose responsibility it is to fix it.

The developer has reached out to his engineering firm to ask if it could be evaluated at this point to show that they have the ability to remedy the property.

Commissioners voted to not approve any more building permits for the Cedar Hills construction until there is a solution brought back to them. This act will not keep individual landowners from building homes.

Commission also approved signing a resolution to support Marsy’s Law and all budget amendments.