Hopefully an issue that has been a topic of discussion for over a month now (actually unofficially for a much longer period of time) was finally laid to rest at our City Council meeting last Thursday night.. At the January meeting of the Council, Councilman Alvin Evans raised the question as to whether or not a non-resident of the city of Jellico could legally serve on the Jellico Utilities Board. I expressed my opinion that non residents who purchase electric power from our utilities are - and should be - eligible for representation on the Board since they comprise something like sixty percent (60%) of all our customers according to Utilities Director John Leach.. (And at one time a proposal was made to include a representative from Kentucky on the Board. But that was ruled illegal since the state boundary cannot be crossed.) Evans then proposed that an ordinance be drawn up to be presented at our February meeting permitting non-residents to serve on the Board - provided that they own property within the city.
When the Utilities Board met for its regular monthly meeting, the issue quickly arose there as well. Board Member Melvin Weaver stated that it was his understanding that an opinion had come down questioning whether or not Charles Allen who lives outside the city but owns property within the city, could serve as Chairman of the Board - and by inference if he was even eligible to serve on the Board at all.. Then Board attorney Terry Basista added his concern in the matter due to an opinion from the Tennessee Municipal League that had apparently been requested by Utilities Director John Leach.. That opinion indicated that non-residents are ineligible to serve.
But in a response to a statement from Allen, Basista agreed that numerous conflicting opinions have been given in the matter and that he would need to research the Act passed many years ago by the Tennessee State Legislature that established the make-up of the Board before he could give any definitive answer as to whether Allen (or any non-resident utilities' customer) could serve. He emphasized that no city ordinance can ever override state law and that the best way to clarify the issue would be through a proposed Private Act passed by the City Council and forwarded to Nashville for State Legislature approval.
With the question in doubt, Allen declined the nomination for Chairman as did Jerry Neal and Larry Meadows was named to the position.
Councilman Dwight Osborn then requested our city attorney Jeff Hall to research the matter and to report his findings back to the Council. In the meantime, Evans placed his proposed ordinance on the agenda for discussion at last week's monthly meeting of the Council.
Once the meeting was underway, I quickly proposed passage of a request for the Tennessee State Private Act suggested by Basista that would have made non-residents who own property within the city eligible to serve, just as Evans had included that stipulation in his proposed ordinance. However attorney Hall immediately reported that his research of the State General Act had clearly indicated that the Jellico Mayor/Council can pass ordinances that are designed to improve the Jellico Electric Systems operation; that the City Council several years ago had already enacted an ordinance permitting non-resident users to serve on the Board providing that they reside within the confines of Campbell County; and that there is no requirement whatsoever that the non-resident users own any property within the city in order to be eligible for such service. According to Hall, that is the last action taken by the Council, is still in affect and clearly establishes that non-resident users can clearly serve on the Board under those stipulations -making Allen's service on the Board for the past six years entirely legal and further clearing him to serve as Chairman of the Board if ever elected to that position.
Hall's statement made my proposed State Act a moot issue and I withdrew it. Later Evans likewise withdrew his proposed ordinance when we reached that item on the agenda.
Engineer Gary McGill with the firm of McGill and Associates appeared before the Utilities Board and made a very impressive presentation concerning the progress being made toward supplying utilities to the Rarity Mountain development. McGill who has had numerous meetings with developer Mike Ross, brought maps and explained where the different phases of the development are to be located along with the plans for supplying the utilities to those areas.. Additionally he answered numerous questions from a good number of citizens in attendance.
McGill explained that Ross wants to get started on Phase I of Rarity Mountain by April 1st.. The first phase will include the Village Center, restaurants, two motels, retail shops and a convenience center for travelers. The initial phase is to also include eighty-four (84) homes of which forty-eight (48) have already tentatively been sold.
Of particular interest to the Board, members of Council in attendance and the audience was the fact that developer Ross will be supplying most if not all of the cost of the installation of the utilities. We are in the process of rehabilitation of our main sewer lines in Jellico but the development possibly also require new lines to carry the waste water to our treatment facility.
As I wrote earlier, the Utilities Board is expected to soon begin development of a Comprehensive Personnel Policy for employees of the department as well as a Job Description for the position of Director of Utilities. As Councilman Evans mentioned following McGill's presentation, he certainly demonstrated many of the skills that could well be incorporated into such a job description.. And at the urging of some members of Council, I have asked Mr. McGill to attend the March or April meeting of the Council and give us a further update on the project..
There's quite a bit going on in Jellico business wise, and I recently talked to Johnny Baird concerning the old Coca-Cola plant. Baird had become very discouraged in his hopes to restore that historic building. But he said recently he has taken heart and now feels that its restoration is at least somewhat of a possibility. I certainly hope that he is able to follow through with that idea. We have lost a big percentage of such historical buildings and with their loss, we have also suffered the loss of a good portion of our towns heritage.
It's good that Johnny Buckner's restaurant is now once again open and serving Sunday dinner. I have not had Sunday dinner there as yet but Jenny and I have eaten in the evening and both the service and the food have been very good.
And the Buck's line of available goods continues to grow and we can now buy items locally that we formerly had to go out of town to purchase. In recent months I have personally purchased floor and deck sealer, a dog house, dog chain, snow sled, American flag, and a variety of such items. (One fellow told me that he was really surprised when he recently was able to find big barn door hinges, hasps, and similar other hard-to-find hardware at Bucks in Jellico..)
The excavation still goes on at the old Somerset Service Station and on the property on Fifth Street. Additionally the Planning Commission is looking at one possible future project..
As I have written many times in the past, former Jellicoan Condy Alley who is now transplanted to Alabama but who still loves Jellico with a passion, reads this article every week on the Internet and sometimes responds by e-mail. I received the following e-mail from Condy almost as soon as my last article was posted on the Net:
You continue to bring fond memories in yet another wonderful column this week. My mother passed away in 1993 and she was buried just days before the Storm of the Century that year. I had just left Jellico to get back to Orlando, Florida where I was living at the time. I got a call from a good friend in Chattanooga telling me he had eighteen inches of snow on his deck and it was still falling.
I spent the year of 1970 at Goose Bay Air Base in Labrador. I had been stationed at the now closed McCoy AFB in Orlando, FL since 1967, and left the 70 degree December weather to fly into Goose Bay in January and find the temperature well below zero. I think our low number
that year was 65 below. That's cold! I am sure it got pretty chilly in upstate New York too.
Thanks for some more wonderful memories. I can almost see Mr. Clyde Brown sitting in his carport. I have a link on my website to help Ms. George Adkins sell some of her cookbooks. Take a look at www.jhs65.com/mgcb.htm.
Keep up the excellent work you do please. Jellico needs you Sir!
Warmest regards. Condy Alley
The two of us writing about some of the cold we experienced in the military brings back some unpleasant memories as well. But they pale in comparison with what many, many veterans have suffered in the service of our country. I will never forget the dedication of our Veterans Memorial and the story I heard about one of the veterans of Korea whose name is on the monument. According to that story, he froze in the terrible cold of "frozen Choson" as the Korean Peninsula was known - as did hundreds and hundreds of others - and his body reportedly had to be chopped from the ice with an ax to recover it and return it home for burial.
Any time that I even start to become complacent about remembering what our veterans have given to keep us a free people, I recall that story and hundreds of others like it.. We can never thank and appreciate them enough.
And speaking of Jellicoans and veterans in the same light, that was great news that Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Danny Douglas has been chosen for assignment to Fort Benning, Georgia to advise on the training of troops. That's both a position of extremely high honor and equally great responsibility. But the fact that he has risen to the highest enlisted rank in the United States Armed Forces is evidence of his abilities and dedication. Lt. Colonel Mike Warren, commander of the3rd Squadron, 397th Calvary Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Reserves is quoted as saying, "I'm and old Vietnam Veteran myself and I'm telling you, he's the best I have ever seen".
That's awfully high praise but those who have worked with him in Veterans Park setting up military displays during some of our special occasions can verify that he is a true professional.. And many years prior to that - and as one of my former students at Jellico High - I remember him as being very serious minded and applying himself fully to whatever he attempted.
I took my basic infantry training at Fort Benning, the "Home of the Infantry", but I can only imagine what basic training is like there now for today's army personnel. However I would bet on one thing! With CSM Danny Douglas in command, when new troops complete the training cycle, they will be much, much more confident and both mentally and physically fit for what ever faces them. And from the media release, they can expect eventual deployment to Iraq!
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