As I have stated on many occasions, I am not in favor of abolishing the Utilities Board. The board was originally put into place many years ago to help insulate the Utilities Department from politics and it has served that purpose well down through the years. Like all other public agencies, and departments, it is not perfect in dealing with a multitude of problems and complaints - problems and complaints common to every utility system in our area. But it has had many dedicated and capable people to serve, and in my opinion, its discontinuance will eventually prove to be a significant loss to our town.
But apparently members of the Council believe that the utilities can be better overseen and policies established cif the council has direct control and I respect their opinions even if I do not agree with them on this one issue. I hope that it proves to be a positive change but only time will determine the wisdom of the council's action if the ordinance eliminating the Utilities Board passes on the second reading. (This article was written prior to the special council meeting on November 27, 1998).
Our recycling program that has been so successful in its first few weeks of operations has already drawn opposition from someone in Jellico.
I was recently contacted by Mrs. Joyce Dunlap, Manager, Financial Assistance Section Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Nashville, stating that a complaint had been made to that office charging that we have assigned City/grant equipment to someone for private use. I was directed to make a full report to that office completely describing our public/private contract for recycling. I compiled the requested information and forwarded it to the Nashville office along with a copy of the lengthy legal contract that had been executed between the city of Jellico and Mr Charles Bruce, Jr. I also invited any State of Tennessee officials to come to Jellico and personally inspect our program.
The report and contract were studied at length by the department's legal staff and I recieved a reply dated November 10, 1998 stating that our "Sub-contract with Bruce's Recycling is acceptable to the division of Community Assistance. We appreciate your continued efforts to recycle in Jellico".
I have also been told off the record by one official that our program shows a lot of initiative and that other communities might want to use it as a model for duplication.
It is hard to understand why anyone would want to oppose our efforts to clean up the environment; lower the amount of refuse taken to an out-of-state landfill; and comply with State and Federal laws requiring us to recycle a large percentage of our garbage.
But myself and the Council were convinced all along that what we were doing was both legally permissable and the right thing to do. The letter from the State only served to confirm our conviction.
Gasco has informed me that three gas lamps/lanterns to be purchased and donated to the city of Jellico for the front of our main entrance to our new building (two) should arrive shortly (if they have not already done so). A third is expected to arrive later that is to be placed at the South Main Street entrance to Veteran's Park.
The pole height will be 8'6" and the lamp will be 3'10" for a overall height of 12'4". They will sit on a concrete foundation on the sidewalk. Gas consumption is projected to be very light (3.17 MCF per month).
I hope everyone has had a chance to see the landscaping currently underway at the new home of Ray and Mary Enix on Florence Ave/Sunset Trail. Mr Enix is in the process of constructing a beautiful rock garden "island" and he has lined the entire length of his driveway with Bradford Pears. He also plans other plantings.
Mr Enix told me that a drive to plant trees similiar to our "Plant Flowering Trees Week" was conducted in Monroe, Michigan where he formerly lived and that it was very successful. He has been extremely supportive of our goal to get flowering trees planted in Jellico.
We will again emphasize the planting of flowering trees next May when we have our "Clean Up, Fix Up, Paint Up Week".
Interstate 2000, Inc., the Internet Service Provider located in the old First National Bank building, has asked for permission to place my weekly column on the Internet.
I am honored that they would want to utilize it for such a purpose and I was happy to grant that permission to Interstate 2000. I hope that it will make a "little bit of Jellico" available to former residents now living all over the country. In the words of the late Tom Siler, former president of the "Sportswriters of America" and former writer for Chicago and Knoxville newspapers, "There is something about Jellico that inspires a life long loyalty that cannot be explained and I have been very few places where I didn't run into someone from Jellico".
At a dinner in his honor, Siler once recounted the time that he was in an Army Air Corps bomber during World War II collecting photographic intellegence. The plane was hit by enemy fire and the pilot killed. The wounded co-pilot was able to land the plane in a potato field and the survivors expected to be executed or taken captive.
But according to Siler, one of the first soldiers to reach them was the late Bill Jones, Sr. of Jellico whose infantry division had captured the territory while the plane was in flight.
Pulitizer Prize winning Journalist Don Whitehead once recounted meeting a squad of soldiers in the field made up of men from all over our country. And of course one of them was from Jellico.