CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Montgomery County Commission discussed adding $600,000 to the 2025 fiscal year budget, and the appointment of a county fire chief during their informal commission meeting Tuesday.

The additional $600,000 is needed for construction costs associated with the new Animal Control center and branch library building being built at 435 Jordan Road. Mayor Wes Golden previously said due to soil conditions at the site, construction prices had been driven up for getting the foundation ready for both the buildings.

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Commissioner Rashidah Leverett asked for clarification on the soil conditions.

“Every project like this is going to have a geotechnical report that’s initiated up front before you even start the design,” Chief County Engineer Nicholas Powell said. “We knew a certain amount of the soils were potentially going to be impacted depending on the time of year. If weather is bad … which we had a very bad spring, we did not dry out the site very well, so we’re always going to put what they call a ‘proof-roll’ test, a loaded dump truck on the site to roll over it and verify if it’s going to structurally stand up to the weight that’s going to be put on top of it.”

Powell said when the test was conducted, nearly every parking lot and every building pad had to be undercut, which is the process of removing the compromised soil and replacing it with quality soil or stone. “That is where this cost ran to,” Powell told the commission.

Montgomery County fire chief

Golden said the county fire chief position was created by converting the position of director of emergency services. “We’re not creating new money doing this, and this is separating EMA and County Fire, which most smaller counties even have separate positions for. Both are full-time jobs, and it’s a full-time amount of work that needs to be put into both of those positions.”

Golden said four candidates were interviewed for the county fire chief position and all were qualified, but in the end, Michael Rios was extended the job opportunity. Rios currently works as the assistant chief of administration with Clarksville Fire Rescue.

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