Gaskins Confirmed as Fire Chief

HUNTINGDON (January 20) — During the January meeting of the Carroll County Commission, McKenzie’s Jonathan Gaskins was confirmed as the new Chief of the Carroll County Rural Fire Department.

Gaskins comes to the Carroll County Fire Department with 23 years of fire service experience along with 20 years in the emergency medical field. Before taking the position with the county, he was with Vanderbilt Adult Emergency Department in Nashville as a Paramedic Shift Leader. He worked as a paramedic for Carroll County EMS for four years. Since 2002, he has served as a team member of the City of McKenzie Fire Department where he held the position of EMS operations chief. Gaskins has fire chief experience, having served as head of the Milan Arsenal Fire Department before its closure in 2019.

In an August 19, 2024 meeting of the Carroll County Rural Fire Committee, Marc Alley, Emergency/Fire Management Consultant with County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) informed members of the Carroll County Commission, Rural Fire Committee members and local firefighters that the current system the county is operating under does not constitute as a rural county-wide fire department. The department was created in the 1980s under Wesley Beal’s administration. To become a county-wide fire department, Carroll County had to pass a resolution creating a department.

Resolution 1-05-2025 – Authorizing a Continuous Five-Year Reappraisal Cycle was tabled at the behest of Commissioner Barry Mac Murphy. It was during these discussions that County Property Assessor Rita Jones announced that she planned to retire at the end of her term August 31, 2026. She will not seek re-election. In the discussion, she recommended moving from a six-year to a five-year reappraisal cycle. She felt that it did not put an increased workload on the staff.

Commission Murphy stated that the TN Comptrollers Officer was pushing for counties to have a four—or three-year cycle. He stated that the heaviest tax burdens should not be placed on residential property and farms. The largest equity of the burden should be placed on commercial and industrial, and more frequent reappraisals would keep the burden where it needs to be.

Several budget amendments were approved. Resolution 1-08-2025 amends the General Purpose School Fund Budget. This is a $6,000 increase to be used towards the cost of substitute teachers. Resolution 1-09-2025 amends the Highway Fund Budget of $11,610 for clerical staff. Resolution 1-10-2025 amends the General Fund Budget for the Sheriff’s Office $14,777 for receiving a TCI Grant. Resolution 1-11-2025 amends the ARPA Fund Budget to a total of $361,253.62 by locating funds to the County Fire Department.

In other business, Marty Hurley was appointed to the Carroll County Indigent Care Board. John Austin, Steve Russell and Luis Salazar were reappointed to the Carroll County Airport Board. Sheriff Andy Dickson, Willie Huffman and Steve Price were reappointed with Joe Walker, Sr. being appointed to the Carroll County E911 Board of Directors.

Resolution 1-06-2025 authorizing the submission of an application(s) for FY 2025 State Community Development Block Grant Funds was approved. As was Resolution 1-07-2025 selecting Community Development Partners, LLC for State Community Development Block Grant Professional Administrative Services.

The following were elected notaries: Greg Blackburn, Ashley Gardner, Rebecca Johnson, Anna M. Mill and Donald Ricketts.