JAMES WOOD
Staff Writer
During the Bedford County Rules and Legislative Committee on Feb. 17 Bedford County Fair President J.D. Turner addressed the committee regarding the $20,000 grants offered by the State in cooperation with the Tennessee Association of Fairs.
According to Turner, any money received will go towards much needed improvements on the fairgrounds particularly with safety related repairs on equipment.
Among some of the repairs mentioned were the replacement of every board on the bleachers used on the fairgrounds, electrical plug replacements, rebuilding the announcer stand on the tractor pull track and other important renovations to make the facility more ADA compliant.
Commissioner Bill Anderson voiced his support of the bleacher repairs.
“It has been a liability, we do the best we can to replace them with what we have got,” Anderson said. “You all are absolutely right, somebody sometime is going to trip and fall.”
Turner responded by informing the committee that the State grant will not cover the board repairs, due to the limited funding. Because of this, Turner floated the idea of the County Government assisting with the project by providing extra funding.
“We currently have eight projects that we have, based on the recommendation of the Ag Board, started the process of getting some idea of what these projects will cost.” Turner stated.
Brandi Smith, another member of the Bedford County Fair Board, spoke on the importance of making the property more ADA compliant.
Smith also mentioned that the year-round usage of the fairground property and the improvements to fairground property would provide better spaces for clients who rent the property throughout the year.
“We have people renting every weekend.” Smith noted.
Vick announces broadband expansion
Commissioner Greg Vick announced new statistics on the county’s broadband infrastructure project, stating that nearly $11 million dollars has been invested into broadband by grants and investments by both the State and County governments, with the community being “85% of the way” to full coverage of broadband, as Vick phrased it.
“We are probably the most advanced rural community with broadband in the state,” Vick said. “We are the showplace for them.”
According to Vick, we also now have an 8 gigabyte per second service in the county as well.
The new goal now for the government and United Communications is to fill the remaining areas of the county that do not have coverage and deliver high-speed internet to the whole community.
For more information about the Rules & Legislative Committee, a livestream archive is available on the Bedford County TN Government YouTube channel and the agenda of the meeting is available on the county government website.
