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City budget passes first read
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Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Jul 26, 2012, 10:37 PM
Published: Jul 26, 2012, 11:37 PM

McMinnville officials had their first look at the city’s budget for fiscal year 2012-13 Tuesday night. It appears it will pass unchanged.
The board voted 6-1 in favor of the budget with Mayor Norman Rone and Aldermen Jimmy Haley, Billy Wood, Rick Barnes, Clair Cochran and Junior Medley voting for it, and Vice Mayor Everett Brock voting against it.
Brock says he voted against the budget, in part, because it did not include a property tax decrease.
“I voted against because I’m not quite happy with the budget,” said Brock. “We should have cut the tax rate. I could see us not doing the whole 19 cents, but I would have been good with 10 cents. Everyone else just blew it off.”
He denies the reduction was politically motivated.
“I’m not doing this because I’m running for election again,” said Brock. “I know people are saying that it is, but it’s not. Some on the board said ‘why cut it when we will have to raise it in two to three years.’ That’s two to three years down the road. We can give people relief until then. A property tax reduction was the right thing to do.”
While the property tax rate will remain the same as last year, the amount donated to nonprofit organizations increased by $100,000. Brock says while his main reason for voting against the budget was the lack of a property tax reduction, he also had problems with the donations.
“I won’t say exactly which ones I had problems with,” he said. “I will say there was under-funding and over-funding when it comes to nonprofit donations. I thought some got far too much. Despite that, the main reason for my vote against the budget was they didn’t cut the tax rate.”
Among the donations was one to Industrial Development Board in the amount of $34,000. While IDB asked for an additional $16,000, they did not get it.
“I know the last meeting was somewhat confusing, but the Finance Committee did not give IDB $50,000,” said Brock. “I was out-voted on that one, too.”
Committee members Aldermen Clair Cochran and Billy Wood voted in favor of $34,000, which is what the city gave the organization last year. Brock voted against it.
The budget must pass one more read before the board. Changes can still be made.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

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