I want to start this column by recognizing a truly outstanding act by one of our local young people. We often hear of the negative acts committed by today's youth but when they do something positive, I believe that it should receive like recognition.
Lashea Kellogg, a sixteen year-old sophomore at Jellico High School, recently found a purse containing a large sum of money. Lashea immediately brought the purse to the municipal building and turned it in to the Police Department.
The owner, Lola Dotson, was called and she quickly came and reclaimed the purse. Not a single penny was missing and all of her important documents were intact.
Lashea is the daughter of Monica Kellogg of Jellico. Her extremely proud grandparents are Bill and Maxine Kellogg, also of Jellico. And they have every right to be proud of her as does our entire community. We can all take great pride in such a display of honesty by Lashea.
I talked with Mr. Carl Branam, Manager, and Jerome Cummins, Park Ranger, Indian Mountain State Park, and they are both surprised and pleased at the number of people who are utilizing the newly blacktopped trail. There have been instances when as many as 20 or more people were on the trail at the same time. Seldom is there a period when no one is walking.
Mr. Branam says that consideration will be given to the possibility of installing lights along the trail for night usage if the walking traffic continues at its current pace.
We are currently debating the best utilization of our new city building (Trammell Replacement Building) and how best to make use of the room at City Hall that will be vacated by the Library.
Several citizens and members of the Library Board have expressed concern that the area provided for the new library is still not large enough. And to solve that problem, we may utilize the back half of the large Community Conference Room as an extension of the Library (reading room, television with video, etc).
The Community Conference Room is large and is designed to serve as a multi-purpose room anyway so no conflict should occur. All equipment in the Library will be permanently placed and anchored but the tables, chairs, and equipment in the Community Conference Room can be easily moved to one side and we will still have the entire area for a large community meeting, dinner, etc.
We will need to spend more time in planning sessions before we decide upon all offices and departments that will be moved within the municipal building. We are especially interested in relocationg the office of Chief of Police to the front lobby - if possible - to make it much more accessible to our citizens.
The newspaper account of our last meeting was incorrect when it stated that the gas poles and lanterns for the new building will be paid for by a grant. As I announced earlier, those will be purchased and furnished by Gasco at no cost to the city. We will be required to pay for the gas but the volume burned will be small.
Gasco has also offered to furnish refreshments of some type when we have "open house" at the new building and we appreciate that firm's interest in our community. But that activity will not take place until we get at least some of the equipment moved to the new facility.
I plan to ask the council at the February meeting to approve purchase of brass lettering for the front of the new building and also three small awnings and the lighted community bulletin board.
Those additions along with the Dogwoods, gas poles/lanterns and waste receptacles (for which non-public funds are already available) placed in front and along side of the building on Fifth Street should give us a very attractive addition to the very center of town.
And as I have said many times before, myself and the council plan to continue to work to renovate and revitalize our downtown area. And once the new building is completed and the improvements become fully visible, we hope that it will serve as an incentive for every downtown property owner and business that is not already participating in our downtown renovation project to get involved. We need the help of everyone in that area to be successful in what we are trying to accomplish.
I recently talked with a representative from the Tennessee Historical Commission. The historical plaque identifying the residence of Grace Moore during her years in Jellico, should be erected on the lawn in front of Jellico Towers "A" within the next few weeks.
I wrote a so called "mini-grant" application (it contained 23 pages of information and documentation) for the plaque that was approved in its entirety with no matching funds required. The erecting of the sign will also be done by the State Highway Department at no cost to the City of Jellico.
I want to thank Mr. Clyde Brown and Mr. Ed Leach for the service that they have provided to our city for many years. Since I have been in office and serving ex-officio on the Beer Regulatory Board, I have had to call on Mr. Brown many times for advice and guidance. He was a calming voice in some very involved discussions and he will be missed on the board.
Mr. Ed Leach has always been very interested in Veterans' affairs and he has helped to maintain our Veterans' Memorial, conduct military funerals for our deceased veterans and serve our deceased veterans and serve our veterans in numerous other ways. Although he has left the Veterans' Committee to make room for "a younger veteran", I know that he will still continue to serve in an unofficial capacity as long as his health will permit.
Councilmen Bill Barton, Jim Dobson and Jerry Neal have suggested that I publish a list of all city boards, commissions, committees, etc. to include meeting dates and times:
Final note:
Some of my friends at the morning "Round-Table" at Hardees have informed me that I am spoiling some of their fun. One of the favorite pasttimes at the meeting is to start a rumor and spread it that day throughout town and check the next day to see just how much it has grown. And that usually is a considerable amount.
Most of it is harmless and just provides a little fun for the morning meeting.
But Mr. Raymond Creekmore has jokingly insisted that my weekly column is now preventing the starting of rumors because I usually discuss the issues pretty thorougly as they arise. In other words, I am confusing the issues with the facts!!!
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