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Making convenience centers ADA compliant has hurdles
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Warren County is looking at making its convenience center at the fairgrounds ADA compliant, meaning handicapped residents will be assisted with trash removal. Pictured is Patrick Pinegar, who visited the facility last week. While he doesn’t need assistance, some residents do. - photo by Lisa Hobbs
Lisa Hobbs
Published: Oct 21, 2018, 1:19 AM

Warren County Convenience Centers offer a handy place for residents to drop off a variety of unwanted items, but they aren’t always easily accessible for individuals with disabilities.


The county Policy and Personnel Committee is discussing how to make its convenience centers ADA compliant.


“I went out today to take some stuff out to the convenience center at the fairgrounds,” said Commissioner Tommy Savage, committee chair. “I’m telling you what, at times that place is a beehive. It is so busy. I think we’ve done all we can do to make it accessible. I think anything else we do will have to come through Policy and Personnel.”


Working at the facility can be thankless. Savage says some visitors are overly harsh when they are dissatisfied with the service provided by sanitation director Steve Hillis and his employees.


“The employees out there are berated,” Savage said. “They are cussed. I was out there today and Steve and I both got cussed. I don’t know why people want to do that. He used a lot of foul language toward us and toward the county.”


Hillis, whose employees do help people when they can, says there is no policy in place that requires it.


“A few months ago we checked with our county attorney about this,” said Hillis. “He said if we didn’t have a policy in place, that there’s nothing anyone can do about it. If you do have policy in place, you had to abide by it. If you miss one person, they can come back and sue you.”


Commissioner Christy Ross, whose father is disabled, was in attendance and insisted the county is liable for failure to offer assistance to persons with disabilities, even if no policy exists that requires it.


County Executive Jimmy Haley says a policy is needed that requires employees to unload the trash of disabled individuals.


“We need something as a policy that if someone with disabilities, whether it’s Christy’s dad or whomever, goes to our convenience center and says ‘I’m disabled and can’t get out of my vehicle will you help me unload my garbage’ the employees will help them.”


Hillis said setting that policy for all the county’s convenience center employees would require him to replace some of his most dependable employees who are also elderly and/ or disabled.


“I’m going to tell you that about two-thirds of my guys are handicapped themselves,” said Hillis. “I’ve got one guys that’s 87 years old. I’ve got some that’s probably 65 on up. They just aren’t able to unload. I don’t know what the answer would be. You’d have to get someone young enough or able enough to do it and who would want to do it. You’ll be opening up a can of worms.”


Hillis added, “My guys are dependable. They know they’re supposed to be there and they show up. They work part-time for minimum wage and without benefits. Not many younger people will do that. I won’t be able to keep employees.”


Savage suggested having one bin for handicapped individuals at the fairground’s convenience center one day per week when community service workers are there to help individuals. Those visitors must have a disabled person’s license plate or placard and ask for assistance.


Hillis stated, “The only problem is we don’t know when community service workers are going to be there. Last Saturday, which is our busiest day and we have vehicles lined up waiting, we didn’t have any community service workers. We just never know when they’ll show up.”


Policy and Personnel Committee members asked Haley to contact Judge Bill Locke about the possibility of guaranteeing the presence of community service workers on a specific day before making a final decision on the policy.


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