Williamsburg may be the next local town to join the trend of authorizing the sale of alcohol in restaurants. According to reports coming out of Williamsburg, petitions are being circulated in an attempt to place the issue on the ballot as a referendum in an upcoming election. Similar referenda have been successfully passed in recent years in both London and Corbin.
According to news reports, some business owners in Williamsburg may be insisting that the legalization of alcohol in those nearby towns has hurt them. And the actions of London and Corbin have certainly reduced the amount of alcohol tax collected here. Our City Council has had to deal with the loss of that revenue in balancing our budget - while at the same time attempting to retain the same level of public services.
According to news reports, that fancy eastern groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil up in Pennsylvania, saw his shadow on Groundhog Day which according to popular legend means six (6) more weeks of bad weather. And following his appearance from his hole in the ground, we did get a good dusting of snow along with colder temps. But we haven't had any really bad weather to continue anyway. If we get any, it will have to be within the next six weeks or so.
I write a lot about folks who -although they may be like me and do not like cold winter weather - would still like to see at least one significant snowfall just to remind us that it actually is the winter season. Raymond and Rosella Petrey ("Pete and Repeat" as they are known by a lot of us) often tell me how much they enjoy these columns. But they also tell me not to include them in that group that would like to see a snowfall.
According to the Petreys, one winter when we were experiencing little or no snow, they went to Dayton, Ohio, got snowed in, and could not return to Jellico for a month. Understandably they want no part of any snow!
I recently talked with Mrs. George Adkins who was being taken for a ride through Indian Mountain State Park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. In reply to my inquiry, she said that she does have a few more of her cook books for sale ($ 10.00) that includes the recipe for her widely renown pound cake.. From a lot of reports, if you like pound cake you will love hers! (Copies of her cookbook can be purchased at Family Drug.)
On an entirely different note:
In talking with one of the very few acquaintances that I have left with connections to the University of Tennessee Athletic Department, it seems to be the feeling that we did not have a bad year in football recruiting - but that we were not nearly as successful as we usually are.. But it is his belief that we did pick up some folks that can help us in some of our weaker areas - especially offensive and defensive linemen and possibly a couple of badly needed wide receivers who can go deep. We have not had the long ball threat for quite a spell and that has hurt us.
Spring practice starts early this year (March 2nd) and an awful lot of local fans are anxious to see what our team is going to look like come April 8th when the annual Orange & White "game" will be held.. I expect a lot of Jellico and Jellico area fans will be there for that scrimmage...
The amazing resurgence of Tennessee basketball has sure changed a lot of things. The greatly increased number in the pep band plus the tremendous support now from the student body has Thompson-Boling Arena rocking these days - especially the "Rocky Top Rowdies" who stand and continuously cheer for the entire games.
I wrote two columns ago how much Bruce Pearl reminds me of Ray Mears. And so help me, Pearl showed up at the Vanderbilt game wearing a bright orange blazer - just as Mears used to drive opposing fans up the wall -especially Vanderbilt and Kentucky - with his bright orange attire.. I will never forget seeing Mears and his assistant Stu Aberdeen circling the opposing teams floors before the start of games in their bright orange blazers and the other teams agitated fans raining oranges down from the stands.. Games sometimes had to be delayed while the mess was cleaned up. But Mears and Aberdeen won and Vol fans sure hope Pearl enjoys their success.
Speaking of the basketball games, some folks see humor in about anything.. Several of those sitting near me have really been giving me a hard time over the recent televised program concerning our animal control problem.
I have had to answer the question what seems like at least a dozen times at the games, "Are you here looking for dogs?" Then the entire crowd around me gives out with a good laugh..
Even Jenny came home from the South Carolina game laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. I was unable to attend that game since Boston Elementary was participating in the Whitley County basketball tournament at Whitley County High School that night. And I of course wanted to be with my students. So Jenny attended the game with a friend.
Charles Hickman, another one of our Jellicoans transplanted to Clinton but who still has relatives here and who still has that dry sense of humor, yelled out to her, "Where's John tonight. Oh no! They probably have him in jail over them dogs!".. And again everybody came out with another big horse laugh. (I may have to start going to the games in disguise!)
The recent vote by the City Council to eliminate the Jellico Utilities Board with the Council assuming the administration of the Utilities Department, sure sparked a lot of interest all around our area. That issue along with some other items of business, led three members of Council to issue a call for a special call meeting for Thursday, February 2nd.. The Council room was virtually full when I called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.. Upon conclusion of the meeting nearly two hours later, members of Council, representatives from the Utilities Department, the Utilities Director, citizens with questions and complaints and interested individuals in attendance all had an opportunity to express their views on the proposal as well as on other matters.
Early on it became evident that the Council did not intend to continue with any attempts to actually abolish the Utilities Board but did want to air some of its concerns. One question quickly answered by Utilities Board attorney Terry Basista concerned the fact that the Utilities Board had not met on its regular schedule. Basista pointed out that a very unusual set of circumstances had led to that situation including having one member to pass away thereby creating a vacancy; another had been hospitalized; a third had moved from Jellico making him ineligible to continue to serve on the Utilities Board; and a fourth had been out of town.
I earlier with Council approval, had appointed Larry Meadows to fill the vacancy created with the passing of James Edward Branam. And following Basista's comments, I nominated Charles Vermillion to fill the second vacancy created when Morris Slagle moved from Jellico. I nominated Vermillion because I had him as a student at Jellico High where he was both a good student and a good school citizen. And I had served with him in the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment including some time assigned to my platoon. He was given several commendations for the administrative work he performed - in addition to an outstanding record as a field soldier.
However the Council felt that in view of the situation, we presently need someone with more direct experience with utilities so the nomination was not approved. I then nominated Jerry Neal who had earlier served on the Utilities Board, and Neal was approved unanimously. The once again full Utilities Board now consists of Charles Allen, Melvin Weaver, Larry Meadows, Jerry Neal and Jim Dobson, the Council's representative to the Utilities Board. They bring a wide range of experience and expertise in a number of fields.
Allen is retired from the US Marines/Army National Guard; has served as a personnel manager for a medical laboratory in a large southern city; and is the former Director of both the Campbell County and the Jellico offices of Human Services. Melvin Weaver is a U.S, Marine Corps veteran and has worked in the insurance and other businesses.. Larry Meadows has several years experience with the Jellico Utilities Department; Jerry Neal is a veteran of the U.S. Army and has worked in sales, management. banking and other fields in addition to previously serving on the Utilities Board; and Jim Dobson is a U.S. Army veteran, former business operator and with years of experience on the Utilities Board under my administration as well as under the administrations of previous mayors.
Councilman Dwight Osborn has pointed out correctly that to everyone's knowledge, there is no job description for the position of Utilities Director. And with the current Director's contract expiring at almost the same time as the terms of the Mayor/Council, one of the first orders of business for the Utilities Board will now be to develop such a job description in preparation for that time and the posting of the position and calling for applications.. Those that have talked with me seem to feel that among those qualifications as a minimum should be training and/or experience in the field of public utilities, business management skills, administration and employee relationship skills, and public relations skills.
The issue was raised during the meeting as to whether the Utilities Board can and should have a representative residing outside the city limits. It has always been my belief that non-residents should have representation on the Utilities Board since the impact of Utility Board actions is the same upon all users regardless of where they reside. In fact we at one time even attempted to place a representative from Whitley County on the Board but could not legally do so.
Vice-Mayor Alvin Evans introduced an Ordinance that would have placed a non-resident restriction upon serving on the Utilities Board.. However after thoroughly discussing the issue to include the fact that six (6) out of ten (10) Jellico Electric customers live outside the city limits, he withdrew the proposed ordinance for the purpose of modifying it to make non-residents who own property within the city limits eligible for appointment.
Now that the air has been cleared concerning several issues, the Council and Utilities Board need to cooperate to the fullest extent for the benefit of our town and to maintain the present excellent financial condition of our utilities. A with the developments presently taking place, both our town and our utilities must be prepared to deal with any crucial issues that arise
And as I pointed out during the meeting, we are facing the possibility of another Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) electric rate hike and our monthly bills can be expected to increase.. We are not yet sure of when the raise will come (probably this spring or summer) and we are not sure of the amount of the proposed hike. But it would be a very good idea for us to publicize the fact that there will be a hike to acquaint the public well in advance of its implementation.. Although we have no say in what the TVA charges for electric power, many users do not understand how electric rates are established and we need to acquaint them to the best of our ability the relationship that exists between the Council and the Utilities Board and the Board with the TVA.
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