County Commission talks soccer fields, West TN Healthcare

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Madison County commissioners met Monday night to discuss a number of topics and vote on a number of hot topics.

The big topic of the night was helping to fund a grant that would build soccer fields at Leeper Lane Park in East Madison County. Commissioners unanimously approved the motion which would put up to $360,000 towards a grant to build three fields and one practice fields.

Parks and Recreation officials said if they received the grant it will fill a big void because the county currently has no soccer fields.

“There are some within the City of Jackson but the demand for more is definitely there,” Madison County Parks and Recreation Director Ed Smith said. “So we wanted to address that and see if we could meet those demands.”

Officials said the county’s chances with the grant depend on how many other applications the state gets.

Another item discussed briefly at Monday night’s meeting was last week’s abrupt resignation of West Tennessee Health Care CEO Bobby Arnold.

At the beginning of the meeting, the health care system’s CFO Jeff Blankenship as well as a member of the board of trustees addressed the commission. They said the hospital is running as normal after the resignation.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News did a little digging of our own requesting Bobby Arnold’s personnel file. Inside there were no red flags as to why he may have resigned. Overall, commissioners said it just came as a big surprise.

“Yeah, it was a shock, I think it was a shock to the whole community,” Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris said. “But things change and lives change and positions change and life goes on.”

James Ross is currently the acting CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare. Officials said they will hold a national search to find Arnold’s permanent replacement.