If anyone still harbored any lingering doubts that people can be drawn back to the downtown during the evening hours, then the past weekend surely must have erased every one of those doubts from their minds.
Although the bluegrass and gospel music was presented for the first time on Friday night, few could believe the turnout for that event. Several termed it the largest crowd in the downtown area since the Christmas parade and certainly one of the largest crowds in the downtown at night in many years. And that in spite of the fact that Williamsburg was having its well established "Old Fashioned Days", our high school football team was playing on the road, and the Tennessee Valley A & I Fair opened that day.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the music and the "puppet show". It will be interesting to see how the Friday night activity grows in the weeks to come prior to cold weather.
The size of the Saturday night crowd even shocked me and I am the optimist concerning the revitalization of the downtown area. Unquestionably we more than reached our goal of having the largest crowd downtown during the evening hours that we have had in years. People did walk the sidewalks and some businesses reported good sales although others did not. The concessionaires and exhibitors apparently did well with their sales. Mrs. Judy Parrott Cooper was extremely pleased with the number who visited the library; groups walked the sidewalks and remembered what used to be located in the buildings when they were growing up; and several commented on how long it had been since they had walked in downtown Jellico. One lady stated that it had been over twelve years for her. And if we continue to renovate, clean and brighten our downtown, we can expect even more of the same in the future.
It was great to see the ladies who wore long dresses, bonnets and aprons. That really added a touch to the entire affair. And the horse and buggy brought by the Hacklers certainly grabbed everyone's interest. They took me for a ride that I greatly enjoyed but I could never figure out what gear we were in. But Mr. Hackler explained that it did not have an automatic transmission.
There were a lot of requests to do it again. And I have never received as many compliments for an activity as I received over the entire weekend. But many of those compliments were deserved by others rather than by me including organizers Robert Johnson, Bessie Steely, Ron Dabney, Councilman Jim Dobson, The Jellico Police and Rescue Squad, Charles Marples and family and countless others. I had hoped for a special night but it turned out to be even more than that.
Some enjoyed the Saturday night so much that they have proposed having an open-air barbeque in Veterans Park Annex and to even furnish and roast the pig. Some of us would have to pass the hat and provide the baked beans, potato salad, soft drinks, etc. Others make various proposals as to future activities we can conduct.
And we will follow through with some of those ideas just as soon as we have had a few days to rest from the past weekend. (I especially like the idea of the pig roast). There is a spirit of community and cooperation building among our citizens and it is great to experience it. I hope that it continues to grow.
Our special call meeting of the Council on Tuesday, September 7th resulted in approval of some routine minor expenditures. Indcluded were $1,000.00 for blinds for the new building; $377.00 for some lumber for a bridge over the small creek running through Veterans Park Annex; and $177.00 for rental of portable rest room facilities for Veterans Park for a thirty days period.
The Council also agreed to consider the purchase of tables and chairs for the Community Conference Room during the next regular meeting. And I updated members on cost estimates for blacktopping the Veterans Park Annex parking lot.
I also informed the Council that I am presently talking with a businessman (Mr. Robbie Woodson and his employees, Robbie Rutherford and Renee Smith) about some benches to be donated for the park.
The workshop that followed the meeting was a lively one with a lengthy discussion concerning the position of City Administrator. The only area of consensus was that a full time person is now required if we are going to keep pace with surrounding towns. All agreed that we can not return to doing things as they were formerly done with only a part time Mayor or Administrator.
The Council remains split on the question of hiring a City Administrator although some members state that they are flexible if the situation dictates.
Some still favor bringing in an Administrator from the outside although that option seems to have lost support over the last several months. Others apparently would be willing to consider combining the position of Mayor and city Administrator and make it a full time paid position.
And a third option that was presented would return Jellico to the old Mayor/Council form of government but designate the mayor as a full time paid official.
All agreed that filling the positions of leadership with qualified and capable individuals is far more important than the type of government that is finally chosen.
All members of Council were agreeable to placing the above three options on a referendum and allowing our citizens to make the final decision. And all further agreed to support that decision and to work together to insure its success.
Councilman Allen McClary was asked to pursue the idea of a referendum with the Campbell County Election Commission. Later we were reminded by an official with the Election Commission that Tennessee strongly discourages such referenda and may prohibit our going to the voters with the issue. If so, that would bring us back to square one.
We often have requests for permission to conduct fund-raising roadblocks in the downtown area. All are for worthy organizations and we would like to be able to approve all of them. But the increasing number of requests has led the Council to establish some guide lines in respect to requests for roadblocks.
We presently have the policy that any non-profit organization or any individual(s) acting on behalf of a non-profit organization must submit a written request to the Council for inclusion on the agenda for the regular monthly meeting. And a representative of the organization must attend the Council meeting in order to receive approval. The maximum number allowable is one per month without a waiver/approval by vote of the Council.
Four dates per year will be reserved for the Jellico Rescue Squad. Although the Rescue Squad is not officially associated with the city of Jellico, it does work closely with the Fire Department and other city departments and it provides valuable services for all of our citizens. Consequently it receives priority.
The Council has approved a roadblock for the "Community Health and Development Team" (C.H.D.T.) on Saturday, October 16th - the Jellico High School homecoming weekend. The proceeds will be applied toward the purchase of seasonal banners for placement on the utility poles in the downtown. The banners should add quite a bit of color.
And the homecoming weekend will bring a lot of former residents back to town and many of them are aware of what we are trying to do to improve the appearance of our town. It will give them an opportunity to contribute to our drive to achieve that objective if they desire to do so.
And I hope that our local citizens will contribute since we will all have opportunity to enjoy the banners if the C.H.D.T. is successful in obtaining sufficient funds for the purchase.
The Rescue Squad is scheduled to have its next roadblock on Saturday, December 4th. And it too needs and deserves our help for all of the contributions it makes throughout our area.
A question has been raised as to the painting of the "No Parking" area around the new building. The paint was simply placed over the previous paint and to the best of my knowledge no change has been made in the parking restrictions. We did survey the entire area around the building for handicapped parking. But we could not locate a place that would provide easy access without presenting a potentially dangerous situation for anyone attempting to leave a vehicle with a wheelchair, etc. and needing time to get upon the high curb. There is simply too much traffic. And there are already handicapped spots immediately opposite the building in Veterans Park with a crosswalk conveniently located nearby for crossing North Main Street. We wish that we could get handicapped parking closer but cannot under the situation.
We must now keep the area in front of the book return clear to allow vehicles to pull in for returning books to the library during non-working hours. And we would like to keep the area in front of the community bulletin board clear so that it can be read. Several have already indicated how happy they are that community activities are being announced on the board and they have complained that vehicles have blocked their view of the announcements.
The previous Council authorized erecting street signs, painting and striping of our crosswalks, parking spots, etc. But little of it has been done and we are just now getting started on completing that project. And with $500,00.00 in the black, it would be ridiculous for the city to delay that badly needed action any longer.
In a recent article I stated that one of our four main goals for our four years in office is to build a positive attitude among our citizens that Jellico and the surrounding communities can once again become a thriving area.
A resident of the Lot/Boston community read that article and said that he believes that we are well on our way to developing that much needed outlook. According to that individual, you can now "feel" a growing optimism about the future of our town and our area.
Others have expressed that opinion to me - especially during our "Saturday Nights in the Park". And I sure hope that the "feeling" continues to grow. That is probably the most important thing affecting the future of our town.
I recently received a compliment from Mr. George Hackler, Sr. (or at least I think it was a compliment).
George says that I have now attained a special place among Jellico's long line of Mayors. According to George, I have secured a place in history as the Mayor who created Jellico's first traffic jam. He said that he had difficulty in getting through town the other night due to traffic. And he loved it.
Heavy traffic is not ordinarily considered to be a desirable occurence. But in our case it may be a very good sign. Hopefully it means that we are starting to have success in revitalizing the downtown and making it a place once again where our citizens want to be.
And Mrs. Majorie Johnson sure gave me a compliment. She subscribes to the Jellico Advance-Sentinel but says that she always buys one before that copy arrives. Majorie says that she just can't wait that long to read my column to see what project we are starting next.
The work on the exterior of the Post Office is continuing and making a great improvement to that building. The Post Office is now eighty-five years old and remains one of our most recognizable land marks. It was recently named as one of our country's great post offices - being selected from literally thousands of post office buildings located throughout the Untied States.
The Methodist Church has been giving consideration to a similar type renovation for that building.
Slowly but surely the goal of renovating the entire downtown is being accomplished thanks to the cooperation and efforts of our property owners and business operators.
Our Jellico High School Football Team has had several very good seasons in recent years thanks to some talented and experienced players and a lot of hard work on the part of the team, the coaching staff and the dedicated parents and boosters.
Although the team lost a large number of seniors from last year's squad including some of the best to ever wear the blue and white, they were expected to have enough returning players to be somewhat competitive this year in spite of the higher classification in which they now compete.
But major injuries, transfers to other schools and eligibility problems have depleted the number of players to the lowest level in several years. And the available number is composed basically of talented but young and inexperienced Freshmen and Sophomores who will have to take their lumps for a year or two.
But brighter days are ahead for those young men and they need our support at the present time more than at any other time. Win or lose, they are our team and deserve our complete support, understanding and encouragement as do all of our teams on all levels.
And hopefully the team will be placed back in the correct "A" enrollment class following the 2000 season. Requiring a school our size to compete on any level above class "A" is a gross injustice to our student athletes.
And our Freshmen and Sophomores will be Juniors and Seniors then. We could make some noise in class "A".
The Tennessee-Wyoming game reminded John Mays that a former Jellico High School graduate was once a member of the Cowboy squad. The late Jerry Wayne Willoughby competed for the Tight End spot and was projected as a possible starter when he left school.
According to his sister Josephine Siler, Jerry Wayne was simply so far from Jellico that he could not deal with the homesickness at an early age and most of us can identify with that.
The extremely likeable Willoughby was one of the best athletes ever to attend J.H.S. and was named to the school's all-time football team and all-time basketball team.
Herman Heath reports an additional donation to the Veterans Memorial fund of $20.00 from Mrs. Mary D. Christen and Mrs. Gertie Baird of Newcomb. The gifts honor the late James "Jim" Tidwell. Area veterans are presently developing plans for placing a plaque near the monument honoring Jim for his untiring efforts to erect and dedicate the monument.
As I announced earlier, the Jellico Community Hospital will celebrate twenty-five years of service to our area on Sunday, September 26th.
The Council has approved a proclamation of appreciation to be presented to hospital officials on that day and also the placing of a banner across North Main Street to say "Thank You JCH".
Several seem to be confusing our surplus property sale with the Campbell County Property Sale. The Campbell County sale was conducted earlier and included property with delinquent taxes.
A list of city of Jellico surplus property was listed in the Septmeber 1st and Sepember 8th issues of the Jellico Advance-Sentinel along with terms of the sale and the deadline for submitting sealed bids (this Wednesday, September 15th, 4:00 PM). City Attorney Jeff Hall, Councilman Jim Dobson and Councilman Bill Barton comprise the committee conducting the sale.
The city of Jellico cannot identify any restricitons and those will be the responsibility of the buyer!
Final note:
I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to express their support for me to assume the City Administrator's postion. It is good to know that so many have taken notice of what is currently taking place in Jellico and the progress that is being made. I sincerely appreciate all of the compliments.
But I want to again emphasize that I have not asked for the position of City Administrator and have no plans to do so. Should the Council decide to appoint me, I want to be free to do the things that need to be done to bring our town back to where it should be.
As Mayor I do not have a vote on issues except in case of a tie vote by the Council. But I do have the authority to provide the necessary leadership in getting some things accomplished. And I want to also again point out that I intend to retain that authority whether as Mayor/City Administrator or as Mayor only.
While running for this office, I told our citizens that I had some ideas in mind to improve our town and I committed to work hard for four years to make those improvements a reality. I intend to continue to do my best to fulfill that committment. If any situation should develop with the office of Mayor/City Administrator that would interfere with that authority and committment, I would refuse the job even if it were offered to me by the Council. There are simply too many major problems facing our town to spend hours holding meetings in order to obtain authorization to replace a 75-watts light bulb with a 100-watts light bulb.
The time and situation are right for us to make tremendous progress and I intend to stay the course in realizing that progress whether as Mayor or as Mayor/City Administrator.
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