Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested the currently elected Jackson County Clerk on Wednesday, August 21, after she was indicted by the Jackson County Grand Jury the prior week.

Mary Jo Matthews, 22, of Gainesboro, was indicted on one count of official misconduct and one count of theft over $1,000.

Between December 2011 and April 2013, Matthews allegedly took money from the cash receipts drawer several times. In one week’s time in April 2013, Matthews allegedly stole $1,200 and shortly after when confronted with an auditor from the Comptroller’s Office, she hid the deposit in an effort to conceal the missing money.

She then allegedly returned to the office to retrieve the hidden deposit and replace the missing money, leaving instructions for another clerk in the office to make the deposit the next morning in an effort to hide the discrepancy from the auditor.

The 15th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office requested TBI to investigate the theft in April 2013.

Matthews was booked into Overton County Jail on $2,000 bond.

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Livingston Board of Aldermen unanimously approved to take the next steps toward leasing a portion of the property at Livingston Municipal Airport to an oil exploration company in a call meeting at the airport Monday, August 26.

Airport Board Chairman Johnny Halfacre told the aldermen he was contacted “several months ago” by Stan Sadler, a landman for SDS Land Services, LLC. The firm was interested in drilling for oil on airport property.

“I contacted Carr Drilling, and Chris Farmer came and met with Stan and I,” Halfacre said. “Stan had a lot of questions that Chris was able to answer that I couldn’t.”

“Anyway, we’ve worked on a contract, (but) there’s a lot of things that we have to do, this being a city-owned airport and grant money from the state. And one thing is…if you all decide to do this and enter into a contract with them, we have to get the land appraised.”

Halfacre said the appraisal may cost up to $3,000, which would come out of the money the firm would be paying to lease the property.

“Once we get that done, (City Attorney) John (Meadows) and I have to put a package together and send it to the State of Tennessee for their approval, and then the state sends it to the FAA for their approval,” Halfacre explained.

Meadows said the lessee has agreed to pay the appraisal fee up front in exchange for getting an option to lease the property.

“The purpose of the appraisal–and it has to be by a state certified appraiser–is for us to be able to show and demonstrate that the money that they’re paying us for the lease is actually fair market value,” Meadows said.

“The biggest concern initially, since we’re dealing with the airport, was making sure that it was safe,” Meadows added, pulling out a color-coded map of airport property. He said the potential lessee had agreed not to do any drilling or exploration in areas of the airport that might interfere with day-to-day activities of the airport or create any hazards for any airport users.

Alderman David Sadler II expressed concerns that areas of the airport earmarked for future development–namely a section slated to host a second new set of T-hangers to mirror the Johnny Halfacre Hangers opened in May 2012–would not be leased for exploration.

Engineer Raymond Canady, who works for the engineering firm contracted by the city government for airport development, said those areas would be off limits for the lease.

“We felt like, since you all have got another set of T-hangers in the process of being built, that that’s your future development area,” Canady said, “so why put a drill rig right in your future development.”

“You know, over the next 10 years, that area’s going to develop,” he added.

Alderman David Langford asked, “What’s this got to do with dumping our waste from our sewer truck on this up here? Does this have anything to affect it? Don’t matter if he drills if they continue dumping the waste?”

Mayor Curtis Hayes said, “Well, we’ve got a permit for all that.” Canady confirmed that and said the permit may have to be reconfigured if the lease touches any of the land the city currently uses to dump its sewer truck waste on airport property.

Hayes then asked how much money the airport would make, should the lease be signed.

Stan Stadler said, “It’s almost 183 acres that we’re talking about leasing in eight different tracts, and it’s $30 an acre, which is going to be about $5,700.”

As a theoretical example, he said a 10-barrel-a-day well would pay a royalty owner “about $4,000 a month.” In this case, the Town of Livingston would be the royalty owner. He cautioned that amount would fluctuate based on oil prices and oil production.

Halfacre said he and Stan Sadler had talked about how even a three-barrel-a-day well could be beneficial to the airport’s budget. A well producing three barrels a day would earn the airport about $1,500 per month at current oil price levels, Stan Sadler said.

Langford asked who would be responsible for cleaning up any drilling sites on airport property should the lease be enacted. Stan Sadler indicated his company would be responsible for that.

Alderman Bill Linder said his only concern was what kind of impression oil wells might make on those arriving at the airport. Stan Sadler pointed out that where he’s from in Oklahoma, many airports–even Oklahoma City’s, which he compared to Nashville International Airport in size and traffic–had oil wells over their property. And in those cases, many times, the wells’ rigging was much larger than the equipment that would likely be installed here, he said.

The proposed lease would have an initial term of two years, with an option to extend the lease another two years at a higher rate of $45 per acre if no wells had been tapped at the end of the first two-year term.

Halfacre said there are no oil wells on airports in Tennessee, and that officials in state government had expressed excitement about the possibilities that come with the idea. Hayes said if the city entered into the lease agreement, it could potentially be a sort of pilot program for other airports in Tennessee to study in considering whether to enter into similar agreements.

With Meadows giving his opinion that the city was “adequately protected” in the legal language of the contract, Halfacre formally recommended the aldermen enter into a contract with SDS Land Services, LLC conditional upon the appraisal meeting state approval and the plan being approved by the FAA.

Langford made a motion to that effect, with Alderman Cindy Robbins seconding the motion. All aldermen voted in favor of the motion on a roll call vote. Aldermen then voted unanimously in a voice vote to give Meadows and Halfacre the authority to select a state approved appraiser to start the process.

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Bylaw changes were rescinded and decertification of beds was reaffirmed in the Overton County Nursing Home Board meeting held Thursday, August 22.

Earlier in the year, the board had voted to change the bylaws to add three non-county commissioners to the board. In Thursday’s meeting, the board voted to rescind changing the bylaws until the full County Commission can vote on it.

Discussion then turned to the matter of decertifying beds, which had been put on hold because of a letter to the state disputing the Nursing Home Board’s authority to make that request.

County Attorney Daryl Colson said, “I was asked to give an opinion about the bylaws as it pertains to the authority of voting to take some beds off of the nursing home.”

In a meeting earlier in the year, the board had voted to decertify 35 beds.

“A question arose as to did this board have the authority or did that have to go to the County Commission.

“So I spent quite a bit of time looking at the statute and also looking at the bylaws.

“After doing that, it’s my opinion that this board does have the authority to make that decision.”

According to the sections Colson read to the board, the bylaws give no authority to borrow money or make major capital improvements over $10,000 without County Commission approval.

“Well, you’re not borrowing money, by this decertification or beds, nor are you putting any debt on the nursing home,” Colson said.

“It says, ‘no contracts or agreements shall be made that commits county funds or property to the operation of the nursing home without prior approval of the board of commissioners. Therein lies the dispute.

“From reading the bylaws, I don’t think decertifying the beds amounts to committing county funds, because it does not, or committing county property to the operation of the nursing home. So I don’t think that restriction imposed by the County Commission is impeded by your action.”

He went on to say, “So, it’s my legal opinion that this board has the authority to do that. Now, certainly, there’s nothing wrong if you choose to get the County Commission approval. They have the option of ratifying it. But I don’t’ think that is absolutely necessary.”

Board Member Darwin Clark asked, “How many thousands of dollars are we saving?”

Nursing Home Director Jennifer Bouldin said that in August the nursing home had to pay the bed tax on those rooms because the decertification was put on hold.

“For the month of August, it cost us $7,799.90,” she said.

All OCNH Board members voted to send the legal opinion to the state to once again have the 35 beds decertified.

The board next voted to change the bylaws to reflect a spending cap change from $2,500 to $10,000. Any expenditure in excess of $10,000 requires a vote by the County Commission.

The nursing home’s census as of Thursday’s meeting was 102, with three in the hospital and three pending admissions.

Boulder said OCNH is providing 70 home-delivered meals, and that two more had been added that day.