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Aldermen's salaries to depend on attendance
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An ordinance that links the salary of McMinnville aldermen to attendance will go into effect with the passing of the 2013-14 fiscal budget.
Causing controversy during its first successful reading before the board, it passed without discussion unanimously the second time Tuesday night. Mayor Jimmy Haley, Vice Mayor Ben Newman, and Aldermen Mike Neal, Ken Smith, Jimmy Bonner, Rick Barnes and Billy Wood, all voted in favor of it.
The measure links monthly compensation given to aldermen to the board meetings attended to prevent abuse of office by missing meetings and continuing to get paid $400 a month – a situation that occurred with the prior board.
Salary would be linked to attendance in that any official missing more than six board meetings, which amounts to 25 percent, in a fiscal year would begin to forfeit salary for subsequent meetings missed.
A member who accrues the 25 percent absentee rate would forfeit the entire $400 during the following month if one meeting were scheduled and missed. The forfeiture would be pro-rated between meetings if more than one meeting were scheduled in a given month.
Wood, who voiced his objection to the measure on more than one occasion and voted against it on first read, gave up the fight.
“I said my peace and voiced my objection,” Wood said after the meeting. “You pick your battles and let it go. We have more important things to worry about. Not the least of which is condemning us to higher taxes with a runaway spending project.”
During the first read, Wood attempted to amend the measure to reduce aldermen compensation to $1 a year. Wood maintains public servants should work for free, but his motion did not receive a second.
Per state law, changes to an alderman’s salary cannot go into effect before the passing of the budget that year. The mayor’s salary was not included in the change.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community