I realize that I sometimes discuss topics in this column to the point of being repetitive. But there are several major issues facing our town that I feel need to be brought to the attention of our citizens on a regular basis. And those include the four (4) major objectives that we have established for our present terms of office.
There is no way that the waste water problem can be over emphasized due to the gravity of the situation building a new treatment plant acceptable to all authorized agencies while simultaneously rehabilitating virtually the entire sewer system is - by far and away - the largest and most expensive single project that our town has ever been forced to undertake.
If we are successful in accomplishing this one objective, our four years in office will be - by any yardstick - a very successful four years. At the time we were sworn into office, many individuals thoroughly knowledgeable with the situation, predicted that we would have to increase sewer rates for households by as much as $ 35.00 to $ 50.00 monthly in order to fund the mandated and expensive project.
But that has not happened because we have had the cooperation and hard work of a lot of people in obtaining grant funds and low interest loans to be applied to the total cost. More could be required sometime in the future but I have been assured that we can now get the project underway with our present level of funding and hopefully break ground for the new plant by January 1st. (Several modifications in the plant design must still be made by that date. But consulting engineers Barge, Wagner, Sumner and Cannon, tell me that they feel confident that we have cleared the main hurdles that have delayed the start of construction).
The progress that is being made toward achieving this objective is apparent. But we still have a long way to go to bring our downtown back to what we want it to be and to what it can become.
Many of our property owners/business operators have maintained their buildings throughout the years. Others have become involved in doing renovations after we started the current drive to improve the appearance of the downtown.
A few who have buildings badly needing renovations have taken no action at all that is visible to passersby. But some of those have indicated to me that they too will accomplish improvements this fall or next spring.
The plans that Wayne and Deana Barton have for the old Firestone/Begliutti property should eventually make a tremendous improvement in that section of North Main Street.
As more buildings are repaired, painted, etc., the dilapidated structures become even more conspicious. As someone recently remarked concerning those non-renovated buildings, "They are beginning to stand out like sore thumbs". And that is what we had hoped would happen.
And as the buildings are renovated, we need to encourage businesses to occupy every one of them. To give the impression of a town on its way to recovery and to stimulate additional development, we need to eliminate vacant store fronts along our main streets. We do have several prospects for new businesses and we are working on others. Hpefully the time will come when we once again have one-hundred percent occupancy.
And our efforts to draw people back to the downtown should help to provide potential customers for present and future businesses. We want to provide incentives for our citizens to make them once again want to visit and shop in Jellico.
Our new Library/Office of Tourism has helped to bring people back downtown as have the new businesses that have opened during the past several months. The entretainment activies that we are having have been very well received and we have more planned for the future.
Bill and Donna Taylor tell me that they often go to Oak Ridge for dinner on Saturday nights. They return through Clinton, Lake City, Caryville, Jacksboro and Lafollette. According to the Taylors, our downtown now has more Saturday night activity than any of those towns. And we can have a lot more yet.
We presently have the "Saturday Nights in the Park" scheduled for every Saturday night for the next several weeks; the "Wagon Wheel Entertainment" group from Williamsburg has rescheduled for Tuesday, August 31st; and I have asked Bessie Steely to sponsor an "Old Fashioned Night" for the downtown on Saturday, September 11th. And of course we will have the "Swift Silver Mine Weekend", the Jellico High School Homecoming weekend, the holiday activities, etc. (We had not planned to have anything in the downtown on Friday, October 15th other than the alumni parade of classes but the "Twin Rivers Band" has decided to perform on the stage 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM).
The walking trail that has been funded by a grant with matching funds is designed to circle town (a distance of approximately three miles). We would like to start and end that trail in Veterans Park where the Jellico Rescue Squad hpes to construct a permanent concession stand. There would be no better way to end a long walk on a hot day than by having a cold drink there -- or ending a walk on a cold day with some hot coffee or chocolate. And a little ice cream or yogurt on some days might not go badly either.
We are also going to give serious consideration to the proposal to establish a "Citizens/Farmers Market" on the property adjoining Veterans Park Annex that we have obtained from Family Dollar Store and the Norfolk Southern Railway.
And two of the proposed businesses that I mentioned earlier could also draw large crowds to the North Main Street area, if indeed, they do become a reality.
And there are other plans and possibilities for the area that we want to develop over the next thirty-one months.
This is certainly one of our main goals and one that we constantly work to accomplish. But our efforts only become apparent when we are successful.
A great deal of time is spent attemping to identify and/or contact businesses and small industries that might be considering relocating. But we believe that we must accomplish the first two objectives before we will be completely successful in reaching this goal.
Few businesses want to move to a town that is under threats of large fines for a sewage disposal plant that is totally inadequate for its existing demand and would probaly be prohibited from adding on additional large users; a town with a sewer system constructed as early as 1909 that now requires almost total rehabilitation; and a town that continues to pollute the fresh water streams of two states.
And certainly a town with a downtown area with buildings badly needing repairs and store fronts standing empty does not offer great inducement for anyone to locate here.
But I recently talked to a Chief Executive Officer of a small firm that is now taking at least some interest in Jellico because he says that he presently sees real effort being exerted to correct a lot of our problems.
We continue to advertise our advantages on the internet; make phone calls; write letters; and search for every possible lead. The possibilities for the "Reserve on Jellico Mountain" and the proposed industrial development for Southern Whitley County still look promising at this time, and as I stated last week, we have offered to help with both projects in any way possible.
We have had no success in finding an occupant for the vacant building at the Oswego Industrial Park but we constantly search. Jamie Dugger will bring some of her employees to our city owned building that will get "Jamie's Cusrtains and Decor" on its feet and operating. After that she plans to hire Jellico and Jellico area people for future job openings. The two Rocky Top Markets/Arby's/Wendy's will employ well over one-hundred people and there have been "help wanted signs" posted recently at local restaurants and at other businesses.
Barton-Carey Medical Products has hired several employees since moving much of its operation to Jellico from Perrysburg, Ohio. And Barton-Carey pays wages equal to and, in some cases, greater than, those paid at the Ohio facility.
Should the Appalachian United Vision Committee be successful in obtaining funds for hiring a full time professional industrial recruiter for our area, that too would be a big plus in our drive to attract employers.
And we plan to continue to work toward increasing our tourism trade. I recently wrote Tennessee Commissioner of Transportation, Mr. Bruce Saltsman, Sr. and asked him for funds to tear down our old City Hall and to replace it with a single story building utilizing the original material that could be saved. I also asked him for a "soft match" for any grant that would preclude the city of Jellico from having to provide any matching funds. I further requested our State Representatives to contact the Commissioner on our behalf and at least one, Representative William Baird, visited Mr. Saltsman's office for that purpose. We would like to use the proposed facility for a visitor center that could draw literally thousands of tourists from Interstate-75 each year if properly advertised by the state along that highway.
I received a letter from Commissioner Saltsman dated August 2, 1999 that I quote. "Dear Mayor Clifton: Thank you for your recent letter concerning the establishment of a visitor center in Jellico and the use of soft match. Our deadline for accepting applications has passed, but we strongly urge you to submit an application for next year's funding. Those applications will be accepted between March 1 and July 1, 2000. We have recently conducted a lengthy investigation of the use of in-kind match for the referenced projects. I am pleased to advise you that beginning July 1, 1999 we will allow the cost of engineering services to be used as part of the local share of projected costs".
That was certainly good news although we do not yet have a guarantee of the grant funds for the visitor center. But the prospects sure look favorable. And if we do receive the money and construct the center it could easily be the biggest boost to tourism that our town has ever experienced. And we are doing other things that we hope will be an indirect help in our drive to attract prospective employers.
Councilman Jim Dobson, Chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee that oversees the police and fire departments, has often pointed out to the Council the benefits from having a well equiped and well trained Fire Department. Many prospective businesses and employers certainly take that factor into consideration when deciding upon relocation sites.
We presently have a new fire engine on order to replace our worn out engines and we also plan to purchase some related equipment. But more emphasis needs to be placed upon the training aspect and we are working on that area as well.
Dobson, Fire Chief John Queener and Assistant Fire Chief George Deuel are working to establish a fire training station on the city owned property located on the flood plain. They hope to purchase a used trailer for use in conducting smoke training drills and to construct a tower for working on fire fighting techniques.
A dependable Public Utilities Department is a very important factor as well. As I earlier pointed out to our readers and members of City Council, we like all small towns with municipally owned public utilities, can expect to be bombarded with offers to purchase the system and/or merge with a cooperative system. The new deregulation legislation will bring that situation about.
I have not heard anyone express a strong desire to sell our utilities or to even merge with another system. But most do say that they want to be kept informed and I plan to do that. When I receive offers, information, etc. concerning our utilities, I immediately copy the documents and pass them on to all members of the Council and the Utilities Board and Utilities Director for their study and information.
Should we ever reach the point where we would seriously consider making a change in our present system, it would be my recommendation to present the question to our citizens through a referendum and allow them to make the final decision.
This may be the most important of our four objectives because a positive attitude and the belief that we can improve our town can lead to success with the other three.
I occasionally talk to a man who lived in Jellico several years ago. He later moved out-of-state where he is very active in his town's civic affairs. He once called Jellico "The most lethargic place that he had ever seen." According to that individual, when he lived here several years ago, "A lot of people just complained about problems but rarely did anything to correct them."
That may be true but it is also probably true of many other towns. All towns have problems! All businesses have problems! All churches have problems! All schools have problems! All families have problems! All individuals have problems! We just need to acknowledge that we too have our share of problems and then get to work on correcting them. Constantly dwelling on the negative side of things does not help.
We all complain at times and that is only human nature. But I have never known a constant complainer to bring about much positive change. In fact, the constant complainer probably does more harm than good. Optimism is contagious but so is pessimism. And we don't need pessimism.
I once served in a U.S. Army infantry company for a short time and our unit motto was "Can Do". We lived, breathed, ate and slept those two simple but powerful words.
A few years ago our high school football team had graduated most of its players from the previous year and was not expected to win a game that season. But some players showed great leadership and came up with their own slogan, "Yes we can!" and they did - winning three games and being very competitive in two or three others. We need that same kind of positive spirit as a community.
A lot of our problems stem from the fact that we have lost many of our civic clubs and organizations. For many years we had a Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Jaycees Chapter, Garden Club, Masonic Lodge, patriotic organizations including Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts, large scout troops and others. Those orgainzations included many members who had no doubts that Jellico could compete with all surrounding towns.
Most of them are now disbanded or much less active. But we are beginning to develop other civic orgainzations in addition to those that have remained. And that has to help!
Our Jellico Ministerial Association participates in numerous community activities; the Community Health and Development Team is making contributions; Girl and Boy Scout troops have once again been orgainized and are active; our local members serving on the Appalachian United Vision Committee are working toward industrial development; the Tourism Commission works to attract visitors to our town; The Jellico High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and Beta Clubs at both JHS and Jellico Elementary have gotten students involved in community activies; our American Legion post continues many of its functions; Judy Parrott Cooper is working to organize a "Friends of the Library" organization. Of course there are other groups and organizations who have become involved and we have had numerous volunteers and donations for our downtown renovation project.
I think that it is obvious that progress is being made toward achieving our four main objectives. And as I have stated so many times in the past, if we just keep working and maintain a positive attitude, there is no limit as to what we can accomplish in the future.
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