NEWPORT-The Public Safety Committee took the first step toward addressing hazardous and unsafe sites in Cocke County Thursday night.

The committee voted to adopt Tennessee Code Annotated 5-1-118, which would give the county the powers to adopt any ordinances it deems necessary.

Proponents and county officials point out that adopting the code does not require the county to approve anything, but avoids the process of using a private act to adopt ordinances.

"This doesn't mean you follow any other codes," said Cocke County Mayor Iliff McMahan Jr. "What this does is make it non-cumbersome. A private act is usually saved for the big things.

"This is a blanket covenant but does not set the regulations. That's up to you to decide. This gives you a tool to do that."

David Veridal of RID (Remove Illegal Dumpsites) spearheaded the discussions before the committee and started off by answering questions raised during last month's CLB meeting.

"I may have misspoke before," he said. "In the ordinance, there is a list of items you can choose to take action on. You can mark out what you don't want to deal with.

"For instance, high vegetation would not be a high priority here. But there may be other things you would want to address."

"Commissioner Phil Killion agreed.

"I can't see us going after someone with high vegetation," he said. "But, things like old vacant house trailers...no body wants to look at that."

"If it's a health issue, that's a different matter," added committee member Andrew Fowler.

"Another question was about having a paid position. We've struggled with that. We wouldn't have brought up the issue if we thought it would cost extra money. We think it can be handled by a volunteer committee," added Veridal.

Veridal said the committee would try to address complaints in a nice manner.

"If possible, we would try to get the property owner to take care of the problem," he said. "If the person is unable to do it, we would help. The last resort would be to have a sheriff's deputy come out.

"In Greene County, they've only had to use law enforcement two times in several years."

Veridal said the biggest problem would be dealing with abandoned buildings. "We would have a tough time dealing with something like that with volunteers."

Following a motion by David Taylor and a second by Fowler, the Committee approved the adoption of Code 118 to have municipal-like authority.

Committee Chair Love Henderson said the matter will go before the full CLB at its meeting on July 21.

In other business, the committee briefly discussed developing a Civil Service Board. Henderson said three people need to be found to serve on the board.