Chester County residents express concerns regarding $1.3 million project

HENDERSON, Tenn. —The Chester County Commission meeting was held on Monday evening at the Chester County Courthouse to discuss plans on the construction of a new election commission building. Many residents were in attendance to listen in or give their opinion as this $1.3 million project has stirred quite a controversy in the community.

“We had a bunch of citizens here that was interested in it because of the possibility of our taxes being raised,” Mayor Barry Hutcherson said.

The meeting heated up as residents were questioning the breakdown of the budget from the contractor and whether the budget would be made public.

“Do you want to spend the money? How many people here don’t want to spend the money?,” a resident exclaimed.

The Mayor made it clear that he was not on board with the project because the budget was not complete. When asked whether he signed the check to pay the architect to move on with the plan, Mayor Hutcherson stated that he did not physically sign it, it instead was auto-signed without needing his approval.  

“This is a concern of a lot of the people, of all the people,” Hutcherson said. “We’re just trying to decide the best way as far as going forward with the budget; the best way to handle things.”

Residents also questioned if the budget was going to balance and if not, where exactly is it going to…

“Public opinion is different and it needs to be discussed and decide what we need to do going forward,” Hutcherson said.

The budget committee will hold another meeting next week to further discuss the budget and whether the project plans will continue.