And rather than constantly dwelling on all of the negatives, I was determined to keep our citizens better informed concerning the good things that are always taking place here. And that is why I began writing these articles.

Our town had earlier been placed on notice by the environmental protection agencies that failure to correct our problem with waste water treatment and the health hazards it was creating, would subject us to the possibility of huge fines of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) every day after a certain deadline date. We were also told to improve and expand our water purification facilities. With an awful lot of agonizing, hard work and cooperation on the part of the funding agencies, Mayor and City Council, our Utilities Department and our citizens, we were able to solve those problems and now are in very good shape in both respects. Although we are still in the process of reducing surface water inflow into our waste water collection system, we are nearing the final steps in the rehabilitation of our sewer lines that were originally laid in 1909..

Due to all of the corrective action taken during the past eight years in that respect - along with the recent closing of the open ditch along South Main Street - we no longer have to fear an outbreak of disease from untreated sewage spilling out along our streets during periods of heavy rains - and especially spreading out around our baseball fields and endangering the health of our children as it once did. And we no longer pollute the waters of Elk Creek that occurred over a long period of years and adversely affected the downstream citizens of Whitley County, Kentucky who also threatened legal action against our town to stop the very unhealthy conditions we were creating for them..

Renovating and revitalizing had to be an ongoing project but with the beautiful surroundings that we have, we felt that there was no reason that we could not have one of the prettiest small towns around. And we began to work to make it so! We asked property owners to get involved and when they saw that we were sincere in trying to do something to actually make a change for the better, they willingly joined in. The Tramell Building construction was continued through to completion including a new and adequate library, a community conference room and office of tourism.. A community bulletin board was erected and gas lights were placed on the sidewalk in front of that building. Property owners all up and down both North Main Street and South Main Street got involved and building after building had similar work done to improve their appearances. Plantings of flowering trees certainly brightened up the downtown during their periods of blooming. American flags were purchased for display on special occasions and waste receptacles were purchased and placed to help reduce the amount of litter that was thrown on the sidewalks.

In cooperation with the State of Tennessee, our main streets were paved and we have recently paved a number of secondary streets as far as budget constraints would permit.

And more paving is planned for the future as financing becomes available.

Visitors to our town constantly mention the improvements that they see and I often report their comments in these notes. We now have folks returning to Jellico to live after having resided many years in other areas. And we are constantly receiving inquiries.

We were also concerned at that time that our downtown had become virtually deserted - especially at night. As I have quoted many times, a city worker on the then night shift told me that a person could have fired a cannon ball straight down North Main Street any Friday and Saturday night and not have had to worry about striking anybody or anything. We were determined to change that situation and to bring some life back to the area.

The W. H. Bowlin family upon request, constructed the stage in Veterans Park and several area contractors almost free of charge built that area up with fill dirt. Then the surface was paved. With a lot of negotiations, we were able to obtain the large grassy area from Norfolk Southern Railway for the sum of ten dollars ($ 10.00) and together with the stage area, we created a large space that is ideal for all of the activities that we now have.

After Jake Bennett was hired by the City Council to serve as Director of Tourism, he and the Tourism Commission immediately began looking for new ideas to attract folks back downtown and his Fall Fest is now receiving local, state and even national recognition with attendance increasing each year. His assistance has been invaluable to the success of rock- crawling in this area and the crowds it now attracts to our area. Businesses including some that have located in our downtown within the last eight years now stay open well into the evening due to an increased number of potential shoppers..

Our Fourth of July and other tourism sponsored activities are receiving very good reviews and other activities such as the "Monday Night Jammers" bring folks to the community conference room on a regular basis - as do numerous activities sponsored by the library, community groups, etc..