Volume # 2, Edition # 12 May 8, 2002
May 27
It seems that about everybody has now heard accounts of last Thursday night's meeting of the city council concerning annexation - although the topic was not even on the agenda and was not slated for any type of discussion. And I am sure that all local media will carry full stories this week of what took place.
Most consider the entire affair to have been a very negative one and they are basically correct in their assessment. A lot of misinformation apparently had circulated prior to the meeting. But a law of physics holds that every action is followed by a reaction. And some positive results may have come out of the meeting as well!
The first positive aspect is the publicity given to possible annexation(s). Although development of the Tennessee State Growth Plan for Jellico (and for all counties and municipalities throughout the entire state) was based upon a two and one-half years process and was constantly announced and reported by television stations, radio stations, newspapers, etc., some of those in attendance insisted that they had never even heard of Tennessee Public Law ll01. That certainly is not the case now!
Secondly, I and some members of council, have been contacted since the meeting by other residents of the state approved annexation areas stating that they would either welcome annexation into the city of Jellico or that they do not care either way.
Thirdly, one opponent of annexation who attended the meeting emphasized later that he did not agree with some of the things that were said and done during the meeting; that he heard advantages of annexation of which he was unaware prior to the meeting; and that he now plans to give much more careful consideration to the proposal.
Fourthly, some of the statements made during the meeting by opponents of annexation have not set well with a lot of the citizens of Jellico who consider them to have been very derogatory concerning our town.
Our citizens now expressing an opinion appear to be overwhelmingly in favor of annexation(s).
And fifthly and most importantly, members of the council are now contemplating contracting with the appropriate Tennessee state agency to conduct the required survey to determine the feasibility and cost of providing services to the identified areas. That would insure that all requirements of PL 1101 are met and
would make the results available for a public meeting of property owners in those areas. Following those
steps, a vote of the council majority (four votes) would be required to affect the annexation(s).
It is ironic that last Thursday night's meeting may actually have served to speed up the required process
under PL 1101. The council had only discussed the possibility and there certainly was no sense of urgency before last Thursday night. But the entire situation has now changed and members appear now to be anxious to get on with the process.
It has been suggested that a similar public meeting of all those in favor of annexation be conducted but that will not be necessary. The main thing is that the city council follows all requirements and regulations under the state law. If the process is followed according to the law and the state survey results are favorable for possible annexation, then annexation(s) is certainly a possibility - and for the not too distant future.
I wrote last week of the proposal by Dr. Barton Jennings, Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Professor with the University of Tennessee, concerning the possibility of a passenger train to operate between Oak Ridge and Jellico. Dr. Jennings is out of town and has not been available to talk with me. But I did receive a message from his wife who is also involved with the Southern Appalachian Railway Museum. She stated that she and Dr. Jennings are very interested in working with the city of Jellico concerning that proposal and that Dr. Jennings will get back with us within a few days.
However it appears that the grant that I mentioned that could possibly be used for rebuilding our old railroad passenger depot may have been assigned for a different purpose. But even if that is the case, our
old depot was a simple wooden frame structure that should not be too expensive to reproduce even if we should be forced to use city funds for that purpose. That would certainly appear to be an appropriate and profitable use of taxpayer money if it helps to bring visitors to Jellico.
I have not yet contacted Norfolk Southern Railway concerning the possibility of donating the old depot site to our town. But if necessary, we could rebuild it just a few yards away on property that we already own that sits adjacent to the tracks that would be utilized by the train.
Mike Ross, developer of Rarity Mountain, was unable to be present for the meeting but he does hope to attend our July meeting if at all possible. He expects that the grant application that has been filed to conduct a study of our town's needs for redevelopment will be approved by that time. He also expects the situation with our state budget to be resolved before that meeting.
I questioned him concerning the future of the required interchange off Interstate-75 in light of the state budget crunch. And he is still optimistic that that project will continue. But he is much like everyone else in the fact that no one is exactly sure of what will happen in the legislature.
(The Knoxville News-Sentinel ran a story last Sunday concerning his project in the Oak Ridge area,
"Rarity Ridge". Our project was also cited in the article.)
Our second annual car show was a big success. We had about the same number of vehicles on display as last year. But several downtown merchants including the boys at Bill's Barber Shop indicated that the crowd appeared to be larger this year. Predictions are that it will continue to grow with each passing year.
A member of the Franklin, Ohio city council was in attendance and he was very impressed with the show.
A former mayor and city administrator also told me that the activities regularly carried on in the city of Jellico could be used as a model for towns and communities throughout our area.
I greatly appreciate all of the hard work that went into the show by Carolyn Leach, Jerome and Deborah Smith, Alla Faye Rutherford, Wanda Perkins, John Perkins, Sherry Delk, James Stephens, Jeff Tye, Chet Riley, C. J. McConnaughhay, the Jellico Rescue Squad, our police department, and all who contributed prizes and awards, and certainly everyone who helped in any way. It goes without saying that an awful lot of planning and pure old hard work are required to carry out such activities and we are fortunate that we have citizens willing to meet those requirements.
The council voted to hire Jakie Bennett as our new Director of Tourism. We had several very well qualified individuals to apply for the position and certainly Jakie falls within that category. He has a long record in sales and public relations and he was the very first television voice of the U.T. Lady Vols. He is currently learning the job and has outlined some interesting plans that he has for the future.
I have been extremely pleased with the way that our citizens have responded to my request for individuals who are interested in our community's affairs to voluntarily serve on the Tourism Commission. Several former members resigned for various reasons following our last city election. Only Councilman Alvin Evans, Councilman John Davenport, Shirley Surber and Carolyn Leach were left.
I appointed Alla Faye Rutherford and Wanda Perkins at one council meeting followed by John Blankenship and Marion Ivey at the last meeting. I plan to appoint Janie Ivey during our July meeting. It is an enthusiastic and energetic group and our town is fortunate to have their help. If the work and cooperation that were displayed in preparing for the car show are indicative of the future, we can look forward to some truly outstanding activities in Jellico.
Others have indicated that they might also be interested in serving on the Commission but we now have the full complement of nine (9) members that includes the mayor's position. Expanding the number of members is not out of the question but that would require council approval and of course we would want to confer with Bennett before taking that action. We welcome all of the help that we can get and I am sure that the Commission will gladly accept any and all help in preparing and conducting activities - regardless of whether the volunteering individuals are members or non-members.
The Commission will soon need to make decisions concerning whether or not we will have the Veterans
Day Parade again this year and also the date for this year's Christmas Parade.
Plans are pretty much in place for our Fourth of July weekend celebration although there are still countless details to be worked out. Publicity has been sent to all local media and fliers are being posted in area businesses and other public places.
Everyone is reminded that our fireworks display will be conducted SATURDAY, JULY 6TH (10:00 PM). And I am declaring that Saturday night as "Downtown Night" as well. We hope that our downtown businesses will remain open that evening until time for the fireworks to start.
Current plans call for everything to take place in the downtown area this year. The fireworks will be placed nearer to town than in past years so there will be no need for folks to move to the area of the baseball field (although they can still be easily viewed from that area as well as from most areas throughout town). The "Gospel Fest" will feature some of the top groups in our entire country and publicity has been distributed to a very wide area including several towns and cities. We may easily have one of the largest crowds in our downtown that night that we have had in many, many years. (We know of no other area towns that will have fireworks on Saturday although that could be the case.)
Crowd and traffic control will be major considerations and our Police Department, Fire Department,
Rescue Squad, etc. will be extended to the limit. And parking space will certainly be at a premium.
The council voted to proceed with erecting the decorative fence to separate Veterans Park Annex from the property donated to the city by the Norfolk Southern Railroad. That work will be accomplished shortly after our Fourth of July weekend celebration.
Congratulations to Jellico High School quarterback Josh Sharp who has been listed in one of the pre-season publications as one of the top college prospects in East Tennessee for the upcoming season. Not to be outdone, big brother Brad (that I have previously mentioned in these articles), is listed on the University of Tennessee depth chart at the fullback position.
Similar congratulations to recent JHS graduate Daniel Adam Douglas who will join the "Pride of the Southland Marching Band" percussion section this fall. Daniel is the second Jellicoan to be chosen for the UT band in very recent years. (Paula Centers was the first.)
Nothing makes me prouder than to see our local young people representing our high school, our town and our state university in such an outstanding manner.
All of the valid complaints concerning speeding on Kentucky Street constitute a real threat to the safety of children playing in that area - not to mention the elderly who occupy some of the apartment buildings.
And the council is working to correct the situation. (The speed humps that were there for many years were removed due to insurance coverage considerations.) Declaring it a "No Through Street!" was not very successful so the council has now voted to erect stop signs at critical points along that route. It is a serious situation that must be corrected!
The problem with speeding is a dangerous one and I certainly do not want to diminish the seriousness of the problem in any way. But sometimes we have to see humor in any situation and I am reminded of a story that I saw on the Internet that I may, or may not, have related previously.
It seems that a farmer in a mid-western state was experiencing a problem with motorists speeding on a state route that ran through his farm. And he occasionally lost a cow, pig or chicken that had gotten outside his restraining fences to speeding vehicles. Complaints to the state department of highways led that agency to post a sign near his farm that read, "Slow! Livestock Crossing!" However the sign had absolutely no affect and the speeding continued.
The highway department then changed the sign to read, "Slow! Children at Play!" since there were three or four families with children living in the vicinity. But even that action did not have the desired effect. Frustrated, the farmer asked and was granted permission to erect his own sign. And once his sign was in place, the traffic slowed virtually to a crawl. So what did the farmer's sign say?
"SLOW! NUDIST COLONY!"
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