It looks like the City of Summerville and the Town of Trion could soon be sharing a building inspector.  Both the Trion Town Council and the Summerville City Council have passed measures authorizing the mayor of Trion and the interim city manager of Summerville to negotiate the particulars of how sharing a joint building inspector would work.

WZQZ News spoke with Trion Mayor Lanny Thomas who said, “The Trion Council approved the joint agreement last week at the regular Council meeting. I believe this can be very beneficial for both Trion and Summerville. I look forward to working with Ms. Andria Surratt (Summerville interim city manager) and the City of Summerville on this joint effort”.

Summerville City Councilman Rickey Hughes says that he thinks the move is in the best interest of both municipalities.  Hughes told WZQZ News this week, ” I believe it will be an improvement to have an inspector during business hours”.  Currently, the part-time Summerville building inspector works a full time job in Floyd County and does building inspections after normal business hours.

Summerville City Councilman Joe Money says that he is in favor of the move, but admits there are still questions that need to be answered as to how the arrangement would work.  Money told WZQZ News that in initial discussions, it has been proposed that Summerville residents would need to go to the Town of Trion to get building permits.  Money said, “Getting permits in one location was the main discussion. Permit intake would be moved to Town of Trion. I voiced my concerns with that. Summerville Citizens aren’t going to want to go to Trion to get a permit. Ms. Surratt is looking at different ways to do this.” While Money does have questions, he added, “I think that will get worked out”.