We were able to conduct our City Council meeting last Wednesday night although the weather was very threatening and the snow began falling before we completed the agenda. The main item of business was the annual report of audit of our city's financial records. Although auditor Richard Hill reiterated that we are in good financial condition and that all funds are accounted for, he pointed out that there were many past bookkeeping errors in procedures and recordings of financial transactions. However he again praised new City Recorder Linda Meadors and Assistant City Recorder Betty Hurst for the job they are doing in getting our books back into acceptable condition.
Two specific items included the resignation of former City Administrator Tom Barclay and then his rehiring as City Judge. The legality of the amount paid to Barclay was questioned and the recommendation was made that the matter be referred to the District Attorney or City Attorney for an opinion. (City Attorney Jeff Hall stated that the issue had been checked and cleared before it was accomplished. However Councilman Dwight Osborn said that he had been given three different legal opinions when the amount was being discussed which led him to vote against it when it was actually approved.)
A second major item was the fact that blacktopping awarded to a company on bid by the former City Council had actually been accomplished by another company that later bought the bid-winning company. The check written to the first company had been voided and another check written to the second firm and in the exact amount to the penny of the bid by the first company which is an unusual occurrence. No documentation could be found to support the payment although most agreed that they believed the work had been done. But no report was found from anyone stating that they had actually checked to see that it had all been accomplished. The auditor emphasized that no amount of trying has been able to get the company to furnish a detailed bill for the payment. The legality of the second firm doing the work was also questioned since that firm had never even been mentioned in the original bidding process. The former Council either was not informed of the change or did not act to approve the payment. Following completion of Hill's report, the Council voted to accept the report of audit in its entirety and to follow through on all of its recommendations.
I still receive questions as to which member of City Council is over which department since we have returned to the old Mayor/Council form of city government (with Commissioners heading up the city departments). The Commissioners of the various departments are as follows: Councilman Clarence Gene Beck - Street Department; Councilman Jeff Brown - Sanitation; Councilman John Davenport - Finance; Councilman Jim Dobson - Public Safety (including both police and fire); Councilman Alvin Evans - Parks and Recreation; and Councilman Dwight Osborn - Industrial Development (newly created department).
I want to keep reminding everyone that we are going to make a major push during the month of April to accomplish major improvements in our town. I hope that every individual, family, church, school, hospital, business, organization, club, group, etc. will mark that month on their calendar and begin making plans now to participate along with the City of Jellico and the "Committee for Downtown Revitalization". As I mentioned in my last notes, we have got to get everybody involved if we are going to be successful in accomplishing our goal!
As an out-of-towner recently remarked to me, Jellico has the potential to become a very pretty town and ideal for drawing visitors. But as everyone knows, there are several buildings that so badly need repair and that fact is evident to anyone who lives here or who happens to pass through our town. I have been criticized for continuing to push for their renovation but ignoring them for so many years in the past certainly has not led to any improvements in the situation. And we certainly must have the cooperation and participation of those building owners to get them renovated. As one building owner emphasized to me over two years ago, it doesn't do any good for some to work on their buildings while others just let their buildings go down.
But there are unsightly situations all over town and not just the downtown that need corrective action. Very few of those situations fall under the jurisdiction of the city and those property owners also need to participate in our "Clean-Up, Paint-Up, Fix-Up Month" in April.
I had an opportunity last week to talk by telephone with Mr. David Thomas, owner of "Thomas Pawn Shop" on North Main Street that experienced the devastating fire. He was highly complimentary of the Jellico Fire Department for the job that they did in containing and extinguishing that fire. And he stated his determination to restore the building and to resume that business that had apparently been doing very well. Mr. Thomas is well aware of our desire to renovate and revitalize our downtown this spring and he is in total support of that project. However he doesn't know at this time just when he can start and complete the work on his building and he feels that June will probably be the earliest possible target date. His attitude is very encouraging and although we want to get as much accomplished this spring as possible, if that building is back in good shape by next summer it will certainly be a welcome sight.
Councilman Alvin Evans attended the last meeting of the "Committee for Downtown Revitalization" and he informed the Council of the proceedings at that meeting. He also stated that he has agreed to help with our project to renovate and revitalize our downtown and he confirmed that he has contracted for work to be done on the exterior of his building (the old Central Drug Store). According to Evans, new window casing and windows will be installed and painting accomplished as soon as the weather permits. (Some in attendance requested after the meeting that he replace the metal awning in front of that structure with an awning more in keeping with the fabric awnings that have been placed on downtown structures in recent years. (And the old "Rexall" sign that has been there for so many years certainly adds a lot to the character of that building.) The work should certainly improve the appearance even more..
The following schedule of events to be conducted by different
organizations this year in Jellico was released by Director Jake Bennett
during the last meeting of the Tourism Commission:
(The above list does not include any weekend music, the Carnival to be sponsored by Jellico Elementary, the "old-timers" baseball games, the proposed drama "More Grace", a proposed health "road race" for local and out of town runners, summer recreational activities, etc..)
My last article mentioned the fact that a lot of folks are accessing our Internet sites and leaving comments concerning the fact that they either plan to move here or would love to live here. (The guest books only maintain entries for the past six (6) months or so.)
Typical are Mr. & Mrs. Steven Winkler and their two sons who are from Bryan, Texas (Her mailing address is ladyfirefighter42966 ). Mrs. (Peggy) Winkler states that Steven is currently in the Army stationed in Germany. During the Christmas holidays they visited his folks in Ohio and stopped in Jellico on their way there. According to Mrs. Winkler, they fell in love with our scenery and they are going to seriously consider moving here after his discharge from service. (They sound like the kind of folks that we would love to have in our town. And if her mailing address is indicative of one of her skills, John Perkins and his fire fighters can use her.)
Dave and Robin Roy of Clinton, Indiana ( daverobin98@earthlink.net
J. Carter of Boaz, Alabama (no mailing address) wrote that he was
viewing our sites for information in preparation for relocating to our area.
Missy Rigney of Fairborn, Ohio ( daddygirl@aol.com
And there are many other very favorable comments about our people and
our town. Those of us who were born and reared here or have lived here for
some time, often just take our location, scenery and potential for granted.
But we have been blessed with so many advantages and the development of the
Internet is definitely a big help to us in making our resources known. And
the work of the Tourism Commission is certainly helping in that respect as
well.
We have so many positives going for us right now that there is no
reason that we can not make Jellico what we want it to be - if we all work
for the common good!
I again discussed the possibility of running these articles in the
Jellico Advance-Sentinel with
a representative of that paper. And we decided that we will try it with
this article to insure that we can successfully electronically transmit it
to Lafollette. But some information may have to be cut or eliminated due to
space requirements. (Be sure to check the Advance-Sentinel
each week!)
E-mail me at: mayor@jellico.tn.us
Visit the Archives of the Mayor's Column .
Visit the City of Jellico's Web Site at: www.jellico.tn.us
JOHN CLIFTON, Mayor, City of Jellico