Commissioners for Sumner County voted to reconstitute the Latimer Brown House ad hoc committee and set its final membership at seven after extended public comment and internal debate.

Public commenters urged the county to accelerate preservation work and to combine the prior ad hoc members with newly proposed representatives. Laura Lager, a resident at 4480 Waite Road, told commissioners, “I just really wanna thank you all sincerely for, living up to that commitment,” and urged merging the old and new memberships to show a “good faith effort.” Jim Ladner, another resident, called the house “a wonderful gift” and said preserving it would be a resource for Sumner County history. Other residents echoed support for preservation and asked the county to move the project forward.

Commissioner Smith moved to add members of the previous Brown House ad hoc committee to the newly proposed membership. After debate, that amendment passed 4–3. Commissioner Wynne then offered a separate amendment to limit the committee to seven members to balance citizen participation and county oversight; that amendment likewise passed 4–3. The main motion adopting the committee composition as amended carried 4–3.

The reconstituted committee, as stated during the meeting, will include a mix of school board representatives, citizens and county officials; the chair read a list that included the mayor, Director Langford, Kathy Stewart (school board representative) and several commissioners and citizens (the finalized list was adopted on the floor). Commissioners who spoke in favor framed the change as a path to move preservation work forward without unnecessary delay; opponents said a smaller committee preserves citizen-led oversight and reduces the potential for politicization.

The vote followed a month of public comment and earlier ad hoc activity: commissioners noted there had been several ad hoc meetings and disagreement at previous General Operations sessions about membership and scope. One commissioner referenced a cost cap in discussion but did not specify a concrete dollar amount during the meeting.

Next steps identified in the meeting: the newly constituted ad hoc committee will meet to review bids and the scope of work, and staff were asked to coordinate logistics and budgeting for the Brown House restoration.