On behalf of the City of Jellico I want to welcome the Church of God Mountain Assembly for its annual Assembly (August 2-6). As I have written many times in the past, the history of that church and the history of our town have been intertwined almost since both were founded.
The CGMA's leadership has had many enticements to move its headquarters from Jellico down through the years. But it has always remained steadfast in its insistence upon remaining here where its roots are so deeply implanted.
Although its main purpose each year in returning to Jellico is to gain spiritual renewal, the Assembly provides an opportunity for old friends living here and in various locations throughout the country to get together in somewhat of a homecoming atmosphere. And delegates and visitors to the Assembly come from not only this country but from several foreign countries where the CGMA now has congregation. And certainly our local economy benefits.
I hope that everyone will go out of their way to make the delegates and visitors welcome. If you don't think friendliness will have a positive impact, just read what the recent article in the New York Times had to say about the way that visitors to Jellico were treated during the recent UROC competition. "We've had more free dinners and friendly conversations here than we've seen in our entire lives", said Dustin Webster, a professional driver from California who said people in Jellico actually pulled him over on the street to thank him for coming.
That article has been read by literally thousands and thousands of folks and who knows what impact it may have upon Jellico in the future? We need to be sure to treat all of our visitors in that same manner.
And if you haven't seen the latest issue of Newsweek Magazine (July 18th) be sure to get a copy! According to an entire page in that publication (page 53), "Four times a year, these multiday United Rockcrawling and Off-Road Challenges turn the small town of Jellico, (two hours from Tellico) into the center of the universe for 100 crawlers and 9,900 spectators who've driven hundreds of miles to watch a sport that combines an elegant downhill slalom with the Demolition Derby "
Who would have ever thought that our small town would receive so much national and international publicity? I again want to thank Robert Cox, Jake Bennett, W.H. Bowlin and everyone that has worked so hard to bring rockcrawling and several other off-road vehicle events to Jellico. I am sure that a lot of local towns are envious of all of those widespread favorable reviews that we are currently receiving from the media.
During our monthly meeting of the City Council last Thursday night, Councilman and Finance Director John Davenport passed out some information concerning Rarity Mountain that is now under development so close to Jellico. According to that information, "Rarity Communities, Incorporated" has "Rarity Bay" on Lake Tellico with homes from the $ 275,000's; "Rarity Pointe" on Lake Tellico with homes from the mid-$200,000's; "Rarity Meadows" in Sweetwater/Athens with homes from the $ 100,000's; and "Rarity Ridge" in Oak Ridge where homes are from the $170,000's.
Compare those with "Rarity Mountain" where just over 1,100 residences will range from the $ 300,000's and you get an idea of the scope of that development. Its eventual effects upon Jellico and our surrounding areas are still to be determined.
During our Council meeting, Davenport also brought us up to date on our current financial condition. According to Davenport, our bank balance of reserve funds on June 30th stood at $ 444,202.00 plus an additional $ 46,000.00 in a community development fund that has accumulated from repayments of loans made in previous years for that purpose. Only $ 9,398.00 short of having one-half million dollars ($500,000.00), we are financially sound for such a very small town.
Several weeks ago, I asked our Homeland Security Director George Deuel to develop some type of alarm to warn our folks of possible severe weather/tornados that might develop. In the past it has been customary to sound the fire alarm/siren but most citizens probably would not distinguish between the two since there has been little notice given to that fact in recent years.
George has been checking with other area towns and says that one does have such weather warning procedures that we may want to adopt. George reported to the Council that he has called a meeting of the Emergency Committee to consider the issue.
George also said that the Committee is looking for a location for a "Command and Control Center" for operations during any serious emergency situations.
And speaking of severe weather, last week I mentioned the efforts of our utilities crews to keep us with electric power during all of the recent storms that we have experienced. But even then I did not realize just what an outstanding job that they have done. After talking with residents of some other areas receiving power from other sources, we have sure been fortunate.
Continuing on the weather, two property owners appeared before the Council to describe a problem with water coming down the street running parallel to the state line and bringing water down onto North Main Street from Kentucky Street. According to those property owners, the collection basin located in that street has not been open in quite some time, causing water to enter their buildings during the recent very heavy rains and doing extensive damage to the interior of those structures. And the water is also running down North Main Street and collecting in a low area of that street as well as crossing the road and creating a potentially dangerous situation.
Apparently previous attempts by the city crews to open the manhole have been unsuccessful and the utilities department was requested to assist in locating the source of the problem.
And still on the weather, a cousin of mine out West where the drought is so severe, e-mailed me to say that if we can figure out some way to pipe some of our more than ample rainfall out there, that we will all become instantly wealthy. According to him, water tables continue to drop and the worsening situation is requiring more and more stringent regulations upon water usage.
Although the storms around here have done some extensive damage in the way of uprooted trees, broken limbs, flash flooding and power outages, we can still count our blessings. It's not just a trite expression when we say, "We don't miss the water until the well runs dry!"
I mentioned earlier that the groups of young people who have come to Jellico through the sponsorship of the Community Church/Good Soil Ministries/World Servants are working on some downtown buildings and one of those is the laundry mat on North Main Street. The group is currently constructing an area in the back section of the second floor to be utilized for church services and related activities.
(Future plans call for the front section of that floor to be developed into a coffee shop that would allow use of the open balcony for tables and seating. That should add a very nice touch. And as someone remarked to me last winter, "Wouldn't that balcony be a great place to sit, sip hot chocolate and watch the Christmas Parade?")
State Line Discount Tobacco and Fuel expects to open sometime on Monday, July 19th.
First State Financial (formerly Town and Country) Bank says that it now plans to move into its new building by September 15th. And I have been assured that the interior and exterior renovations of the old laundry mat at the state line that will serve as the new offices for the Christian Journal will be completed before our Fall Fest. Hopefully we will have the remainder of the front of the old "Bill's Dollar Store" painted by time for the Fest to begin as well. The state of Tennessee and other tourist agency publications are now giving that activity such wide spread advertisement that we can reasonably expect an increased number of folks in town that weekend and we need our town looking as good as possible.
A lady who remembers the "Downtown Night" that we had four or five years ago said that she greatly enjoyed that event and wonders why we have never repeated it. There are actually several reasons that we have never had another such night including the fact that we have so many more activities downtown now than we did then - including the annual "Fall Fest" that is very similar and lasts for two days and nights rather than a single night.
But hopefully we will complete the renovation of our downtown within the next two years and prior to the expiration of our terms. We can have a real "Downtown Night" then in celebration of that fact!
It's almost time for school to begin again which means its also getting closer to football time. There doesn't seem to be as much anticipation this year concerning the Big Orange and I guess that is due to the questions concerning our quarterback and our defensive backs. But a fellow that I know who lives close to South Bend, Indiana has already called me to express his intention to attend the Notre Dame game. The Fighting Irish are not what they once were but they still have that great following and the game is sure to attract a tremendous amount of national attention.
(With our young team this year, it's going to be awfully hard to deal with Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc. But according to the poet, "hope springs eternal in the human breast". And we may do better than expected.)
E-mail me at: mayor@jellico.tn.us
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