Alex Antoniak is the recipient of this week’s “Classroom Champion” award presented by Smithville Attorney Jim Judkins and WJLE.
The 10 year old 5th grader at DeKalb West School recently received the award and a special gift card from Judkins and Dwayne Page.
Alex is the son of Sean and Jessica Antoniak of Dowelltown. He enjoys playing basketball and his favorite studies are math and science
“Alex is a very good student. A leader among his peers and we are very proud to have him as a student at DeKalb West School,” said Principal Sabrina Farler.
In an effort to recognize achievements of students in the DeKalb County School System, WJLE has partnered with attorney Judkins in featuring a “Classroom Champion” each week for the next several months.
The name of the student selected each week will be announced on WJLE and will be featured on the WJLE website. Each student winning will receive a plaque and a gift certificate.
“This is our way of recognizing and celebrating the achievements of the future citizens and leaders of the community. It can benefit their learning and overall school atmosphere and climate. The students’ selection will be based on academic performance, responsibility and work ethic, leadership abilities, and citizenship and character,” said Judkins.

A Smithville man allegedly driving under the influence was arrested Tuesday in Putnam County after asking a state trooper for directions and then trying to elude officers in a pursuit.
According to the Herald-Citizen, 27 year old Christopher B. Tatrow was charged with driving under the influence, evading arrest, leaving the scene of an accident, registration violation, no insurance, no driver’s license on his person, driving through the median, two counts of not properly stopping, a signal on a hill violation, a turning on a hill violation, following too closely, seatbelt violation, two counts of improper passing, having an open container and possession of drug paraphernalia after a search of his vehicle turned up three pipes used for smoking drugs.
THP Trooper Mark Miller said the incident began when Tatrow stopped him to ask for directions at a bridge crossing Interstate 40 near mile marker 295.
According to the report, Trooper Miller saw that Tatrow had a Mike’s Hard Liquor and observed that his speech was slurred and eyes were red and watery.
After Trooper Miller asked him to stand in front of the patrol car, Tatrow instead got in his vehicle and drove away. Tatrow later crashed at mile marker 294 westbound on I-40 after a tire blew out but he kept going until he ran over a spike strip on Highway 70 in Cookeville near the intersection of Old Kentucky Road and Hudgens Street.
After the vehicle finally was disabled, Tatrow got out and tried to run away behind a row of townhouses.
After a short foot pursuit, he was taken into custody.
Tatrow reportedly told Trooper Miller that he was wanted on charges in DeKalb County and that he needed to go to the hospital.
Tatrow submitted to a blood draw to determine the level of intoxicant in his system at the time of the incident.

DeKalb County High School will receive the “Right Spirit of Sportsmanship” award presented by Rudy Kalis of WSMV on Thursday, February 9th during the final home basketball games of the regular season. DeKalb County will host Macon County that night.
“We were nominated by a referee from one of our ballgames. On February 9th, we want to fill the gym with fans. We are asking all fans to wear black and gold attire. A video of our fans will be made and aired on WSMV. Please come out and support your local Lady Tigers and Tigers. This night is also our Senior Night for all of our senior basketball players, managers, and cheerleaders,” said DCHS Principal Kathy Bryant.
“Also on Monday, February 6th, during the half-time of the boys’ game with Smith County, we will be recognizing all students who are a member of our ACT 21 and up club. Those students will receive free admission to that night’s games and will be awarded with a field trip and certificate,” said Bryant.
Action begins each night at 6 p.m. starting with the girls games. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The DeKalb County Republican Party will be hosting a County Convention on Saturday, January 28, 2017, at 9AM for the purpose of selecting the Officers of the Dekalb County GOP. Positions include Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice-Treasurer.
The Convention will be held in the County Commission Room at the DeKalb County Courthouse.
All Republicans are invited to attend this Convention to select the officers that will represent the county party for the next 2 years. Interested candidates can contact current Republican Party Chair Mingy Bryant at 615-597-2600 or current Vice Chair Clint Hall at 931-201-6962. For more information, go to the Facebook Page at Dekalb County Republican Party.
Current DeKalb County GOP Officers shown here: Treasurer Tom Chandler, Chairman Mingy Colwell Bryant, Secretary Sharon Rhoten, Assistant Treasurer Dustin Estes, and Vice Chairman Clint Hall

Several women from DeKalb County joined the millions of women and men Saturday, January 21 to participate in an international movement by marching in Washington, D. C., Nashville, Tennessee, and Denver, Colorado dedicated to advancing the principle that “women’s rights are human rights” and reminding our newly installed government leaders that protection for families means healthcare, education, jobs and basic respect for individuals and families regardless of political perspective, ethnicity, social class, gender or age is the foundation for civil society.
Amanda Blair, Anna Rachel Blair, Sara Buck Doude, Melinda Buck Brown, Emaline Brown, and Ellie Brown marched in Washington, D.C., Lori Adcock marched in Denver, Colorado. Norene Puckett, Elizabeth Napier, and Donna Davis marched in Nashville, Tennessee.

Flu season is here, with seasonal influenza cases now reported across Tennessee. The DeKalb County Health Department is working to protect the entire community by providing flu vaccinations at no charge to area residents on a first come, first served basis. A small amount of vaccines is still available and to ensure they can be used to protect health will be provided at no charge to patients until vaccine supplies are depleted. Patients may walk in to request a flu vaccine any time during regular clinic hours. OR Appointments must be made to receive flu vaccine, and are now being scheduled at the clinic.
“Anyone, even healthy people, can get the flu and serious problems related to the flu can happen at any age. Vaccination is the best protection against the flu, and the DeKalb County Health Department recommends that everyone six months of age and older get a flu vaccine every year,” said Michael Railling, Director of the Health Department. “It takes about two weeks to be protected after you get the flu vaccine, so we want everyone who hasn’t had their flu shot to get one right away to help keep our community healthy.”
The flu vaccine is especially important for people at high risk for serious illness or death from influenza such as the elderly, pregnant women and young children, as well as healthcare workers and family and friends of anyone at high risk. Expectant mothers should be vaccinated during pregnancy to protect themselves and pass protection on to their unborn babies.
Flu shots will be provided at no charge to patients. Both adults and children may receive flu vaccine at the clinic. Please call the DeKalb County Health Department at 615-597-7599 today to book your appointment. OR Call the DeKalb County Health Department at 615-597-7599 for more information. The clinic is located at 254 Tiger Drive and open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Despite a trend of stagnant revenues, the City of Smithville will dip into its reserve fund to purchase a new fire truck.
By a 3-2 vote, the Smithville Board of Aldermen Monday evening voted to spend $751,575 over a two-year period to purchase a new Pierce Impel PUC Rescue Pumper, a combination fire engine/rescue vehicle to replace the fire department’s oldest truck, a 1992 model, and a 20-year old rescue and service truck. The new vehicle will also come equipped with five air packs and other tools and equipment.
Voting for the new truck were Aldermen Jason Murphy, Gayla Hendrix, and Shawn Jacobs and voting no were Aldermen Josh Miller and Danny Washer. Although not opposed to the fire truck itself, Miller and Washer are concerned about the timing of the purchase given that the city has budgeted a lot of spending projects recently which may negatively impact the city’s surplus reserve fund.
While the city has the money to pay for it now from the surplus, the aldermen voted to spread the payments out over two years through a lease purchase financing plan offered by the manufacturer. The first payment is not due for a year and it will be up to a year before the truck is available for the city to take delivery of it.
Janice Plemmons-Jackson, the city’s financial advisor reminded the mayor and aldermen that city revenues over the last ten years have been largely stagnant while spending has increased and that large projects can have a negative impact on the city’s surplus reserves.
“In 2008 we collected $2.9 million. It has pretty much stayed at $2.7 million to $2.9 million over that time up to the highest year which was in 2016 at $3.2 million but then we budgeted $3.1 million. There has not been a lot of change in revenue. This is regular tax dollars, sales tax, property tax, etc. I backed out grants because when you get those big airport grants it distorts your revenue. We have a flat revenue stream,” said Jackson.
Because of already budgeted spending, the city could end the fiscal year in June with a large deficit, which would have to be funded from the surplus.
“In 2017’s budget we budgeted about an $880,000 deficit or loss this year. Most years we have a surplus. The years that the fire department does their big things is when we go into the deficit. This current fiscal year we’re budgeting at a huge deficit but that is a combination of things. We’re doing the sanitation truck and garbage cans. We’re doing a lot of paving in the city. We’re doing that bridge reconstruction that the state is making us do (Holmes Creek Bridge over Fall Creek) which originally we thought the city’s part would be $60,000 to $100,000 but the cost has gone way up and Hunter (Hendrixson) tells me the city’s part is going to be $200,000. We also put in $100,000 for a rescue vehicle in the fire department. If we take the additional money needed to buy this truck and put it in this year’s fiscal budget you have another $621,000,” said Jackson. (Payment will now actually be spread out over two years).
“Normally you try to balance your budget by either using some surplus that you have accumulated some of those other years or raising tax rates. At the end of the year 2015, we were at $4 million in fund balance (surplus reserves) in the general fund. In 2016 that surplus put it up to $4.6 million. If we do everything we’ve budgeted for this year we’re going back to $3.7 million (surplus) and if we added the whole cost of the fire truck in this year’s budget we would be down to $3 million (surplus). So we’re going from $4 million to $3 million very quickly but we know what that cost is. Where we have overspent is usually a capital project of some kind but the biggest things that we ever do have been related to fire,” said Jackson.
Jackson questioned why the city was not advertising for bids for this truck. “Should we not be advertising for quotes, bids or something on this and get some numbers from more than one place because if we’re spending that much money its typically that you want to look and make sure you’ve got the right equipment but the best price,” she asked?
Chief Charlie Parker said through the city’s affiliation with the HGAC program, the truck is being recommended at a good price.
Chief Parker recommended that the city plan for future expense by establishing a replacement schedule for city fire trucks and other equipment. “Of course (fire truck) is the big capital expense but we also have equipment, fire hose, air packs, and the turnout gear that goes with it which also have to be replaced after their service dates. You could end up $30,000 or $40,000 in that if you do it (replace) all at one time too. They all have set life cycles. The NFBA (National Fire Protection Association) recommendation is that first line trucks be replaced within 15 years of manufacture and 20 years for reserve trucks. We’re currently at 25 years on ours. We could probably run 20 to 25 years on what we’ve got because we’re a smaller department but once it hits the 25 year mark it is considered an antique and that really makes me nervous as chief being responsible for the lives of my men and women to put them in an antique vehicle. There is an ongoing expense. If we could put some money back each year and budget for it because we need some kind of replacement schedule for these things. Everything we have is expensive” he said.
“I don’t see how anybody could vote against you (fire department) having the equipment that you need. That’s a given. In a lot of cases it could be life or death and the same with the police department. You need what you need. I guess the timing bothers me because there has been so much spent this year. I am not against the fire truck. I am just thinking about the timing,” said Alderman Miller.
“How long before we would have to raise taxes to pay for all this,” asked Alderman Washer?
“That is always your ace in the back pocket to keep you from going broke. Somewhere I had something going down to a fund balance of about $3 million depending upon how frequently you spend for these big things. Other years we did have some surplus when we weren’t buying fire equipment. If we’re looking at $750,000 to a million dollars every time we buy one (fire truck) and that’s every five to seven years then the other years really need to be good (financially) or tight. I don’t know that I can give you a number. But we’re good for probably five to ten years ( before tax increase) but that is a guestimate,” said Jackson.
Aldermen Gayla Hendrix and Jason Murphy had initially favored a five year financing plan to pay for the new fire truck with payments spread out over a longer period of time. But Jackson recommended going with the two year plan to save interest payments.
“I looked at what are you paying in interest. What are you earning in interest. My recommendation would be don’t do five years. I would do two years. The lease is set up such that you don’t make a payment on the front end. You make a payment a year after you sign the contract. In January 2018 you would make your first payment which is in next year’s budget, $377,000. In January, 2019 you would make a payment, which is the following year’s budget but then you would be done and would no longer have that cost in your budget. When you take the amortization of those payments the interest rate on those two payments is not even three tenths of a percent. It comes out to 0.268% interest so the money we keep in our bank account that year and the next year we are currently earning a half percent on our checking account. We’ll earn more than we are paying in interest so it would be like we didn’t really pay interest on it at all. If we do the five year payments it comes out to 1.758% interest so you’re paying 1.2 or 1.3% more interest than what we were earning if we kept the money. For five years you would pay $40,087 of interest. For the two years you pay $3,000 of interest and you earn $5,600. The other one, you come out net of $28,000 compared to making $2,600,” said Jackson.
Once a new fire truck is in the fleet, the city plans to sell the 1992 truck along with the rescue truck and service truck.
The fire department has three fire trucks, a 1992 and 2001 model along with a 2012 ladder truck.

The county is turning a portion of the solid waste operation over to a private company.
During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the county commission voted to enter into a three year contract with Southern Central Waste Services, LLC. of McMinnville to operate the new soon to open solid waste transfer station located behind Tenneco Automotive.
The SCWS bid proposal, one of two submitted, was recommended to the county commission by the solid waste committee.
SCWS will provide operation of the transfer station, hauling, and disposal of DeKalb County’s household garbage at the Rhea County Landfill in Dayton, Tennessee, which is operated by Santec Environmental Inc.
“The bid was for SCWS to operate the transfer station; to provide two employees; a scale operator; an equipment operator; to furnish the equipment to load the trucks; to pay all utilities at the transfer station; and to do the transfer station billing. The county will receive all proceeds from tipping fees of other vendors who use the transfer station,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling.
The county will pay the following rates to SCWS based on incoming weights:
*Up to 1,000 tons per month: $55 per ton
*1001 to 1250 tons per month: $54 per ton
*1251 to 1500 tons per month: $53 per ton
1501 or more tons per month: $51 per ton.
Original plans were for the county to operate the transfer station itself and to ship the garbage to Smith County for disposal at $29 per ton but County Mayor Stribling said he and others found that it was cheaper to contract the service to a private company.
“Back in August we asked for two different types of bids. One was for shipping the waste and the other was for operating the transfer station as a whole including loading, shipping, and tipping. We didn’t receive any bids at that time. A few weeks after a couple of companies showed some interest. We rebid it with the intention of one company operating the transfer station, loading the trucks, shipping it, and tipping it,” said County Mayor Stribling.
Two companies submitted bids including SCWS.
Since SCWS will be assuming all operation of the transfer station, the county no longer needs to maintain its disposal contract with Smith County and is expected to exercise its 120 day notice of termination clause in the agreement.
Second District Commissioner Joe Johnson asked County Mayor Stribling when the transfer station will begin operation since the landfill is at or near capacity.
“They could start sometime in February but what we need to do is send notices out to people (vendors) who use our landfill to let them know there is going to be a rate increase. That’s really no surprise. We knew there would be a rate increase when we went to a transfer station because once you dump it you have to handle it again. You have to load it, ship it, and tip it. You can’t operate a transfer station as cheap as a landfill,” said County Mayor Stribling.
The county still has to decide whether or not to open a new Class III landfill for the disposal of construction material, household furniture, and other non-household garbage. “We will still look at the possibility of opening up a Class III Landfill but they (SCWS) will take anything that goes into a Class III cell. They will take mattresses, couches, or anything we put in our landfill. Of course like us they will not accept household hazardous waste, sludge, etc.,” added County Mayor Stribling.

Do you have cattle, sheep, or goats? If so, you could be eligible to receive payment from the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency. According to Donny Green, County Executive Director, signup for the Livestock Forage Program is now underway and will continue through January 30, 2017.
The Livestock Forage Assistance Program (LFP) has been approved for DeKalb and Cannon counties due to recent and extreme drought conditions that have affected livestock grazing during the 2016 normal grazing period. LFP provides compensation to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses for covered livestock on land with permanent vegetative cover, or planted specifically for grazing.
According to the U. S. Drought Monitor, DeKalb and Cannon counties were designated as D3 (Extreme Drought intensity) counties on November 22, 2016. This designation qualifies eligible livestock producers in the county for three monthly payments.
Livestock producers operating in DeKalb and Cannon counties will need to visit the FSA office in Smithville to report their livestock inventory and complete their application. Customers are encouraged to call the office at 615-597-8225, Ext. 2 to provide some preliminary information that will be needed to process the application. Signup for the 2016 LFP will end on January 30, 2017

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce elected its 2017 Executive Board at the January Board Meeting and Planning Session. The elected officers are as follows: Chamber President Isaac Gray, Vice President Rita Bell, Treasurer Sherry Harris, Board Secretary Jane Brown, and Immediate Past President Kathy Hendrixson.
New Chamber Board Members beginning a 3-year term are: Beth Adcock, Smithville Police Dept.; Jane Brown, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas; Dana Scott, Tenneco; Mark Taylor, Edgar Evins State Park; and Lora Webb, The Webb House.
Two-year term board members are Rita Bell, Haven of Hope Counseling; Isaac Gray, Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Steve Johnson, DTC Communications; Connie Tjarks, Knot Enough Thyme; and Sherry Harris, D & S Special-Tees.
Chamber board members with one-year term left on their term are: Shannon Adkins, Calum Farm Décor; Shan Burklow, Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital; Gail Gentry, Appalachian Center for Craft; Kathy Hendrixson, Justin Potter Library; and Reed Vanderpool, Smithville Review.
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams says, “I am looking forward to 2017 and to working with this great group of people. They are energetic, positive, encouraging, creative, and enjoyable to work with. They really love their community!”
Pictured l-r: 2017 Chamber Executive Board Members
Row 1: Chamber Board Secretary Jane Brown, Immediate Past President Kathy Hendrixson, Treasurer Sherry Harris
Row 2: Chamber President Isaac Gray, Vice President Rita Bell, Executive Director Suzanne Williams