Usery Named Fire Chief, New Residential Inspection Program Approved

Article by Steve Corlew

The Henderson County Commission confirmed the appointment of Cody Usery as the new county fire chief during its meeting on Tuesday, February 25^th.

Usery was recommended by the county fire department’s chief’s council, a group made up of the volunteer fire department’s district chiefs. The vote to confirm Usery was unanimous, Commissioner Randal Keen was absent.

The appointment of a new fire chief comes after the sudden death of long time chief Lynn Murphy. Chief Murphy passed away on December 20, 2024, after a brief illness.

Commissioners also approved a new fire station in the Shady Hill community.

Commissioners voted 7-6 in favor of the county Planning Commission’s Residential Home Inspection Program, but the vote was not a majority according to examples given by The University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), however County Mayor Robbie McCready cast a tie breaking vote to approve the program.

With a 14-member commission it would take eight “yes” votes to constitute a majority.  The absent commissioner, Randal Keen, was considered a “no” vote and Mayor McCready voted in favor of the motion breaking the tie. The example given by CTAS on counting commissioner’s votes did not include that scenario, but did give an example of a commissioner abstaining from voting.  If a commissioner abstained it would be considered a “no” vote for the count of a simple majority. Mayor McCready declared the motion approved.

The program would establish the requirement of building permits for new single-family and multi-family homes in the county. Other structures such as barns and storage buildings are excluded. Barry N. Woods was also named to the county planning commission.

The commission also voted to recognize 911 emergency dispatchers as first responders.