It was an interesting Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Councilman Gene Beck rendered his letter of resignation on Wednesday citing "inconsistencies in our city government in which he does not wish to be affiliated or a party to."
Then our City Council chamber filled to capacity on Thursday night with citizens from all around wanting to hear exatly what was going to happen concerning the document "An Ordinance to Correct Ordinance 11-1994 (Ordinance No. 11 of 1994) by Changing the Stated Requirements for Members of the Municipal Board of Public Utilities and Setting Their Compensation" that had been passed out earlier by Councilman Dwight Osborn. Although there was a very few there apparently in support of the document, it is an understatement to say that the vast majority were strongly opposed to modifying in any way the current (and historical) relationship existing between the city of Jellico and the Utilities Department.
Utilities Director John Leach addressed the Council and pointed out that his contract has two more years to run and that a buyout of his contract plus the payment of a new director (superintendent) would cost the Utilities Department $ 300,000.00 - a sum that he emphasized would definitely require a raise on monthly utility bills. He received several compliments on his job perfomance following remarks and throughout the entire meeting.
Utilities Board Member Charles Allen questioned if the document was aimed at him personally. He pointed out that he is a user of Jellico utilities, pays taxes on property that he owns within the city and that he is the only representative that non-city residents have on the board. (Residents of Kentucky were in full agreement with Allen and stated that they too need and deserve representation. I reminded everyone in attendance that I have twice attempted in recent years to appoint a representative for Kentucky users but have been prevented from doing so by the present rules and regulations governing the operation of the Utilities Department.)
Local radio station owner Betty Douglas rose to speak and asked a question that has been asked repeatedly by an awful lot of our folks since the document first began circulating, "What is really behind all of this?" And she wanted to know what in the world would make the city of Jellico want to get involved in the operation of the Utilities Department that is working well and is financially sound at the present time. Then Douglas questioned if the issue could have been raised due to the fact that one or more members of Council may not like Councilman Jim Dobson with the possibility that they might indirectly be making personal attacks upon him.
The only speaker who did not seem to be too interested in the document but had a concern, was from Elk Valley. His concern dealt mainly with the trees falling on power lines feeding that area. Leach pointed out that falling trees are a national problem and has even forced the placement of signs in parks and other public places warning of the danger of falling trees killed or greatly weakened by disease. He said that the system is constantly cutting affected trees in the power line right-of-ways before they can fall but that a lot of the most potentially damaging trees are often located on private property and the system must have the property owner's permission before that can do anything about them. He asked for the speaker's help in obtaining such permission from several property owners to enable the crews to cut and remove those trees.
Eventually I asked for any action on the document that might be desired by the Council. None was brought up so I moved on to the next item on the agenda which was the proposed $ 100.00 raise for members of the Utilities Board. But it was quickly voted down 3-1 with only Councilman John Davenport voting in support with Dobson abstaining! Hopefully the issue has been put to rest once and for all - and may it rest in peace! But wonder what can come up next?
I read a letter to the Council from the Office of the Comptroller for the State of Tennessee. That office has selectively reviewed our present budget and placed it on file with apparently no additional action required. I complimented the Council on working out a budget that was acceptable to the Comptroller in spite of all the raises in insurance, cuts in state funding, reduced revenue from several sources, no utilization of reserve funds, etc. It was a job very well done!
City Recorder Linda Meadows passed out a financial statement indicating that we currently have a total of $ 345,000.00 in various reserve funds plus any accrued interest. But although we are in good financial standing at the present time, Finance Director John Davenport pointed out that our projected revenue from alcohol taxes may be reduced by 60% to 80% this year due to the recent legalization of liquor in both Corbin and London - which will in all probability bring about a sizeable shortfall in our budget and possibly create a major financial crisis for us when we attempt to close out the fiscal year on June 30, 2005.
We are getting more and more inquiries concerning exactly what is happening at the 155-mile marker on Interstate-75. And drivers of 18-wheelers from as far away as Canada have e-mailed me at the mayor's office and/or signed on to the "guestbook" on website http://www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm attempting to learn exactly what is going on there.
Lisa at Netlink 2000 recently reprinted a section from one of my earlier articles pertaining to that area in answer to one truck driver's request. And I have been contacted by a writer with the Knoxville News-Sentinel requesting information for a future story in that paper to include Jellico, our past and present economies and the impact that the new Rarity Mountain Development can have upon our economy in the future. I furnished him quite a bit of information!
With all of the unseasonably nice weather that we have enjoyed up into November, it seemed almost strange to be discussing salt for street clearing at the Council meeting. Street Commissioner Alvin Evans says that we will be given one truck load of salt by the state since both state and federal highways pass through our town. But Evans says that he does not know how large the load will be and of course what our eventual requirements will be. Although we know that old man winter is going to eventually make his appearance, we can keep hoping for a continuation of the temperatures that we have been experiencing (although I expect them to drop drastically by next Saturday when Kentucky comes to Knoxville and I am getting out my woolies just in case. I have learned from long years of experience!)
I personally have not yet been able to obtain a flu shot - either through non-availability of the vaccine or an opportunity to leave work during the few times that the inoculations have been available. The good news so far is that to date, the reports of influenza have been relatively light here and throughout most of the country.
But at our school and at other area schools, the number of cases seems to be increasing now and one day last week we had several staff as well as students absent due to possible flu and flu like symptoms. To make matters worse, some of our regular substitutes were ill as well. With the shortage of vaccine, a lot of folks are more susceptible to the virus and we could really experience some problems during the peak months of January and especially February.
Some things just should never disappear from our culture. And the recent announcement that there will be no more Oldsmobile cars manufactured chilled some of us traditionalists to the bone. I have finally lost my prejudice against Japanese made vehicles that dated all the way back to post World War II and I no longer have anything against buying Nissans, Toyotas, Hondas, etc. But in this country there should always be Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, Cadillacs, Pontiacs and yes, Oldsmobiles! Those cars are as American as hotdogs, apple pie and baseball. And for many of the early years, Oldsmobile was the most popular of all - so popular that the entire country was once singing, "Come Away With Me Lucille In My Merry Oldsmobile"
And I will never forget the time as a boy (1950) when we had our old and much larger baseball field completely filled to capacity with an estimated 5,000 folks and with only room for a stage at second base raised high above the crowd. They were there to hear the then popular country music performer and Grand Ole Opry star Hank Snow, sing his hit song, "Golden Rocket". (Oldsmobile "Rocket" models were "the" cars at that time with their revolutionary new automatic transmissions known as hydromatic drives. And does anybody besides me remember the "Rocket 88" with its "Continental Kit" that was all the rage in the early '50's?)
Congratulations to mine and Jenny's good friends and Boston Elementary School neighbors, Paul Hill and his wife Cecil Broyles Hill, who have just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Many local folks will remember Cecil for her work at Jellico Hospital. But some won't remember her although she was one of the first people they saw upon entry into this world. She worked in obstetrics in Jellico and later in Ohio for many, many years and helped with countless deliveries down through those years.
Sometimes you see, hear or read something that you just have to pass on to others. And often times we just have to laugh at ourslves as did a young minister quoted in an issue of Readers Digest. According to that young minister, a homeless man with no relatives and few if any friends, passed away in his community. The funeral director arranging for his burial free of charge, mentioned that situation to the young minister and indicated that a graveside funeral service would certainly be in order - a suggestion that graciously accepted by the minister who immediately set to work to develop an appropriate eulogy for the deceased that emphasized the value of all human life - no matter how downtrodden - as a wonderful creation of God.
The minister left his study in plenty of time to reach the cemetery by the appointed hour but immediately became lodged in a tremendous traffic jam that threw him over 30 minutes late. Upon finally arriving he saw workmen with a backhoe filling an opening in the ground near the edge of the cemetery and they had already completely covered the lid. Rushing up to the workmen, he requested that they stop the filling with the dirt - a request with which they were willing to comply.
He delivered the rather lengthy eulogy although only he and the workmen were there. And the eulogy was followed by an extended prayer. As he was leaving the area for his car and feeling very good about following through on his commitment, he was shocked to hear one of the utterly amazed workmen remark to another, "I have never seen anything like that before and I have been putting in these septic tanks for over twenty years now!"
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