The Knox County Board formally took the first steps last night toward putting a 2014 lawsuit behind them, as they approved conditional use permits for the sale of land to Hidden Hills Winery.
The Knoxville winery owners sued the county for not granting the permits to operate on 8.8 acres on Fleischer Road off County Highway 10. However, the board announced in August a deal had been reached.
Board Chairman Brian Friedrich says a manufacturing license to sell alcohol is now being drafted and the official sale of the land will follow.
In other news, the board finalized a balanced budget with no tax levy increase. Outgoing finance committee co-chair Greg “Chops” Bacon told the board the balance didn’t come easy.
“It’s an ongoing process that when I’m gone and some of these other board members are gone, you guys are going to have to carry it on,” Bacon says. “I mean, you’ve got to work on it monthly. We get it done, but you can’t get it done without everybody’s help and I want to say thank you to all of the people involved in the budget process.”
Board members also heard a presentation on the recently formed mental health advisory committee who is tasked with recommending whether the county should create a board of mental health.
Friedrich says the committee will likely present their findings in the next two months.
If it received county board approval, the creation of the entity would be placed on the ballot for municipal elections in April of next year.
