From the Director's Desk:
October 31, 2023
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Nearly 80 county highway officials and their staff were a part of this year’s Annual Fall Conference & Trade Show, a gathering that includes highways, county mayors and members of their respective county legislative bodies. In addition to an array of training that included artificial intelligence in road management, state purchasing, personnel management for highway departments, and updates from federal and state partners, a number of those participated in TCHOA’s tour of one of our local vendors, Astec.
All of this would not have happened without the assistance of the Astec family of industries (Astec, Roadtec and Heatec), as well as our vendors who helped with transportation to and from the convention center. In addition to our hosts from Astec, please help me say a special thank you to sponsors: CMI Equipment Sales Inc., PRI (Pavement Restorations Inc.), PRI of East TN Inc., Road Worx Inc., Hudson Materials Company, and Mattern & Craig Engineers Surveyors.
If you are interested in revisiting a speaker’s presentation, or viewing a presentation you were unable to attend, please view those here.
While each of the four highway regions are planning their annual Christmas meetings during the next two months, TCHOA is scheduled to meet February 19-20 for County Government Day in Nashville Davidson County. Hotel and registration information will be forwarded to you as soon as it becomes available. For a full list of calendar events you and your might be interested in, see the Future TCHOA Meetings section at the end of this newsletter.
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3 Highway Departments Recognized for Successful Projects
Blount, Fentress, and Morgan County highway departments were all recognized during the Fall Conference for innovations and outstanding projects that have bettered their communities and citizens. The “County Success Story” awards have been presented by the Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA) and its affiliates for nearly 10 years.
Blount County Highway Department received the award for its CDL training program and testing certification. In early 2019, Blount County Highway Department (BCHD) was experiencing extreme difficulties in getting their employees certified for a Commercial Driver’s License. Blount County Highway Department Supt. Jeff Headrick decided that something needed to be done. So, he created an initiative to start a CDL training and testing certification program in the highway department.
Fentress County Highway Supt. Ryan Reed was recognized for the partnerships and persistence he exemplified while securing state and local funding for a major connector road, Glenobey Road, just outside of Jamestown. Asection spanning about 500 feet near the midway point of the 9-mile route was slowly washing into the stream bank below, leaving Reed with few solutions, either close the road or create some type of reinforced wall to stabilize the road. Relying on the momentum of the Transportation Modernization Act and the $300 million for counties through the State Aid Road program, the solution became an appropriation request of $4 million, with a local match of another $1 million, which included $500,000 of that from the County General Fund and $500,000 from the highway department’s allocation in the State Aid program. The General Assembly agreed to that option based on the local “skin in the game” solution Reed was able to secure. Today, Glenobey Road has an expected completion date of fall 2023, before the holidays.
Morgan County was recognized for its inaugural ‘Highway Administrative Assistants Training’ Day, held in Wartburg, TN. County Highway Supt. Joe Miller, along with partner organizations including the UT County Technical Assistance Service, TCHOA, TCSA, and the Tennessee Emergency Management Association, hosted a networking-meets-informational day for highway administrators across the region. The day was packed with information and the opportunity for county highway departments to find solutions for common issues facing the area.
If you would like to see the projects each county completed, you can view the photos here.
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Upcoming Events
STATEWIDE MEETINGS
- February 19-20, 2024: County Government Day, Nashville Davidson County
- May 21-23, 2024: Legislative Conference, Sevier County
- October 23-25, 2024: TCSA Annual Fall Conference & Trade Show, Rutherford County
- May 20-22, 2025: Legislative Conference, Sevier County
- October 8-10, 2025: TCSA Annual Fall Conference & Trade Show, Knox County Convention Center
REGIONAL MEETINGS
- Region I December 7 at Crockett’s Sevier County (Gatlinburg) (dinner)
- Region II November 30, Cumberland Mountain State Park (Crossville) (lunch)
- Region III December 5 at General Jackson (lunch)
- Region IV December 13 at PRI in Milan (dinner)
MISCELLANEOUS MEETINGS
- April 15-18, 2024: National Association of County Engineers (NACE) Annual Conference, Palm Springs, CA
- July 12 – 15, 2024: National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference, Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL)
- July 11 – 14, 2025: National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference, City & County of Philadelphia, PA
Events subject to change
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Thank you for your continued service and support,
Brett
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