The City of Smithville was poised to raise the water rate it assesses the DeKalb Utility District with passage of the new 2016-17 fiscal year budget. But due to an existing Chancery Court order, the city can’t move forward on that proposed increase.
With only a few months remaining before the DUD opens its new water treatment plant, the city had planned to charge the DUD $3.00 per thousand gallons for the water it buys from the municipality starting July 1. That is up from the $2.67 per thousand gallons the city currently charges. Once DUD breaks ties, the city will lose its largest water customer and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. In the budget, the city has reduced projected revenues from the sale of water to the DUD from $765,000 for the year ending June 30, 2016 down to $400,000 for half the year in 2016-17. City officials say such a loss of income may eventually force the city to look at ways of cutting spending or raising new revenues to make up the difference.
The proposed new rate to the DUD was included in the 2016-17 budget ordinance adopted on first reading by the aldermen Monday night, June 6. The vote was 3 to 0. Two aldermen were absent.
But city officials later learned that any increase in the rate without providing proper justification would violate the court’s order. During Monday night’s special meeting (June 28) to adopt the new budget on second and final reading, the aldermen removed the proposed increase to the DUD from the spending plan.
In February, 2014 Chancellor Ronald Thurman ordered the City to reduce its water rate to the DUD from $5.00 down to $2.67 per thousand gallons, which a water study found in 2013 was the city’s actual cost to produce water at the time.
Following a two hour hearing in Cookeville, Chancellor Thurman granted a DUD motion for a temporary injunction barring the city from continuing to impose its $5.00 rate until the city gave proper notice to DUD and justification for raising the rate above $2.67 per thousand gallons.
During that hearing, the Court found that the city violated Section 18-502 of the Smithville City Code, which required the City of Smithville to give the DeKalb Utility District 30 days notice in advance of a rate change. The City of Smithville gave the DUD only 16 days actual notice in advance of the rate change. The Chancellor also found that the city had not given proper justification for arriving at the $5.00 rate.
In an effort to remedy the notification issue in the future, the aldermen voted in March 2014 to abolish the 1980 ordinance, which set the rate to the DUD at that time and also provided that a 30 day notice would be given the DUD if the city were to modify the rate. But the city’s justification for raising the rate based upon an updated water cost study has apparently not been addressed.

County officials here and across the state are getting a pay raise effective July 1.
Compensation for most county officials is governed by state law which establishes the minimum for Assessors of Property, County Clerks, Clerks of Court, Trustees, Registers of Deeds, County Mayors, Sheriffs, and Highway Officials. This law provides for an automatic increase in the minimum salary each year based on the percentage increase given to state employees for the previous fiscal year. The salaries of the county officials are partly based on the population class of the county and the office. Not all office holders earn the same amount of pay.
Under state law:
*The County Mayor’s compensation shall be at least 5% higher than the salary paid to any other county constitutional officer.
*The Sheriff’s salary shall be at least 10% higher than the salary paid to the general officers of the county.
*The Road Supervisor’s compensation shall be at least 10% higher than the salary paid to the general officers of the county
*The salary of the General Sessions Judge is to be increased annually in the same manner as state court judges, which is the actual percentage change in the consumer price index. The CPI change between 2015-16 is an average 0.1%. therefore the salary of the General Sessions Court Judge will increase by 0.1% July 1 for the coming fiscal year.
*The Administrator of Elections salary is 90% of the base salary of the Assessor of Property.
The new salary schedule as set by the state for DeKalb County is as follows:
General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge: $90,975 per year, up by 0.1%
County Mayor: $75,329 , up from $73,738
Road Supervisor: $71,743, up from $70,228
Sheriff: $71,743, up from $70,228
Trustee: $65,221, up from $63,843
County Clerk: $65,221, up from $63,843
Circuit Court Clerk: $65,221, up from $63,843
Clerk and Master: $65,221, up from $63,843
Register of Deeds: $65,221, up from $63,843
Assessor of Property: $65,221, up from $63,843
Administrator of Elections: $58,699, up from $57,459

The budget committee of the county commission put the finishing touches on the proposed 2016-17 spending plan during a meeting Tuesday night at the courthouse.
Copies of the budget will be presented to all other members of the county commission and a workshop will be held soon for them to review it as a group without a vote. A public notice will then be published and a vote to approve the spending plan will be taken at the next regular monthly county commission meeting on July 25.
As WJLE first reported last week, the new budget includes a new pay plan for employees who work for the county general department, except for the sheriff’s department which has its own wage scale.
Under the plan, employees of the offices of Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, and Clerk and Master would get step raises at a percentage of what their employer earns. That doesn’t set well with most of these officials because their employees would not earn the same pay as employees of the county mayor’s office.
For example, Step 1 of the plan calls for the salaries of first year employees of the Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, Circuit Court Clerk, and the Clerk and Master to go from $24,182 (current wage) to $25,436 per year (39% of their employer’s salary). Salaries of the county mayor employees with one year of service would go from $24,182 (current wage) to $29,378 (39% of their employer’s salary).
Step 5, the top end of the plan, would have the salaries of eight year employees of the Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, Circuit Court Clerk, and the Clerk and Master to go from $26,432 (current wage) to $28,697 per year (44% of their employer’s salary). Salaries of the county mayor employees with eight years of service would go from $26,432 (current wage) to $33,144 (44% of their employer’s salary)
Circuit Court Clerk Katherine Pack, who addressed the budget committee Tuesday night, believes the proposal isn’t fair to her employees. “ Just because Tim (Stribling)makes more than I do doesn’t mean his employees work any harder than mine do. Let’s just take a thousand dollars increase. That amounts to between $27 and $30 dollars a pay period. I appreciate and they (employees) appreciate anything that they get but its almost like an insult to say you’re going to get a good pay raise but when you put it down to a pay period, its less than $30 dollars per pay period,” she said.
Pack is also concerned that the budget committee took action on this pay plan without inviting the county officials to the meetings to discuss it. “My feelings have been hurt over this because we weren’t consulted or anything. We had to read it on WJLE as to what you were doing,” said Pack.
Trusee Sean Driver is also upset. “I don’t know what I have done against the budget committee but I would like to have known that this was being discussed about my employees. I will put my employees up against anybody’s. It’s my understanding that Mr. Stribling wanted to discuss this with the elected officials three weeks ago but I don’t know what happened between that time and now. We thought that everything would be transparent. Evidently it’s not. This difference between one office compared to six offices, the majority usually rules but in this case I guess it doesn’t. I disagree with it but I sure would liked to have known this was going to happen and I am disheartened about it,” said Driver in addressing the budget committee.
“I’m sorry we didn’t ask you to at least attend and talk about it,” said Budget Committee member Jack Barton.
Under the existing pay plan adopted four years ago, many employees topped out right away because of their years of service without getting any further raises since. With this new plan, Barton explained that employees of these seven offices would get an increase every time the state gives their bosses (county officials) a pay raise along with the regular step increases. “I’m disheartened that in four years time there has been no opportunity for anybody to get a raise so to me tying to those adjusted increases the state passes on to your office, or Tim’s office, or whatever, makes sense. In the last four years, your associates would have gotten two raises by now that we would not have had to vote on,” Barton said.
“Instead of giving raises on a whim, we wanted to tie it with something that separated us from saying “hey what are we going to do this year? We’ve got a formula now,” added Budget Committee member Larry Summers.
Members of the Budget Committee even mentioned the possibility of adding another step to the plan next year if funding is available.
Clerk and Master Deborah Malone and Assessor of Property Scott Cantrell were also at the meeting Tuesday night in support of their employees.
According to the new scale, the step raises for employees of the Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, and Clerk and Master offices would be as follows:
STEP 1: 39% of their employer’s salary -1 year of service
STEP 2: 40% of their employer’s salary-2 years of service
STEP 3: 41% of their employer’s salary- 3 years of service
STEP 4: 42% of their employer’s salary-4 years of service
STEP 5: 44% of their employer’s salary-8 years of service
Meanwhile the Library Director, Election Commission Office Employee, and Soil Conservation Secretary would be on the same scale (as noted above) with their salaries being a percentage of $65,221 which is what the Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, Circuit Court Clerk, and Clerk and Master earn.
Full time library employees and the Senior Citizens Director would get a percentage of $65,221 based on the following scale for them:
STEP 1: 31% of $65,221- 1 year of service
STEP 2: 32% of $65,221-2 years of service
STEP 3: 34% of $65,221-3 years of service
STEP 4: 35% of $65,221- 4 years of service
STEP 5: 37% of $65,221-8 years of service
All part-time County General Employees would be paid $10.00 per hour.
Custodians would get a 2.158% increase in pay
The director of the Landfill would get a salary of $42,000 per year.
Landfill employees would get the following rates of pay:
Drivers with Commercial Driver Licenses (CDL):
$13.00 per hour for 1 year of service
$14.00 per hour for 3 years of service
$15.00 per hour for 5 years of service
$16.00 per hour for 7 years of service
Laborers would get the following rates of pay:
$12.00 per hour for 1 year of service
$13.00 per hour for 3 years of service
$14.00 per hour for 5 years of service
$15.00 per hour for 7 years of service
Convenience Center employees would get $8.50 per hour
Ambulance service employees would get a 4% raise except for the director.

The county is preparing to take a landowner in the Belk Community to court for blocking a county road with a gate.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission voted to file a lawsuit against the landowner, Grant Manning, seeking an injunction to keep him from having an obstruction (gate) across Sunset Drive which is located off Allen Bend Road in the Belk Community.
Last November, The county commission went on record to direct the Road Supervisor to take the necessary action to have the gate removed.
The gate was later taken down but it has been erected again.
Manning disputes the county’s claim that Sunset Drive is a county road and in an email response to WJLE last fall, Manning said the gate had been up for over four years and that he had maintained the road since 1990.
County Attorney Hilton Conger met with County Mayor Tim Stribling and the county commissioners in closed session last Thursday evening to give them legal advice about what to do in resolving this case going further. During Monday night’s meeting, Stribling said Conger gave three options; to do nothing and let the affected property owner deal with it himself by possibly filing a lawsuit against Manning; for the county to file a lawsuit seeking an injunction for Manning to remove the gate; or for the county to seek a declaratory judgment from the Chancery Court on whether Sunset Drive is a county road and if so the length and width of the road.
Sixth district commissioner Betty Atnip made a motion to exercise the second option for the county to seek a court ordered injunction against Manning. Second district commissioner Joe Johnson offered a second to the motion. Sixth district commissioner Jeff Barnes asked if another solution could be reached to avoid the county having to pay expensive legal fees over this issue. He said the other affected landowner, Bart Lay, has apparently agreed to help develop another road into the area and bypass Sunset Drive if the county would put down the gravel.
But Atnip and Johnson said such action would set a precedent the county might later regret. “Are we going to do that every time somebody blocks a county road? Build another one around it? I think we’d be setting a precedent here. I think we need to go (to court) even if it costs us a little money. We’ve got to stop blocking county roads,” said Johnson.
The county commission adopted Atnip’s motion to take Manning to Court.
In other business, the commission approved the re-appointment of Jane Hobson, Betty Pankey, and Jan Thomas to the DeKalb County Library Board of Trustees and Bobby White to the Regional Library Board. Each appointed term is for three years.
The commission adopted a continuing budget resolution to keep county government operating past July 1 until the new budget is adopted for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
A one year lease renewal was also approved for the Tennessee Opportunity Programs which operates out of one room at the county complex for $200 per month. The program seeks to empower migrant and seasonal farm workers and other disadvantaged persons to achieve economic self sufficiency by providing services that address their individual needs.
The commission will soon have to fill another judicial commissioner vacancy. County Mayor Stribling said Harvey Barnes has announced his resignation effective July 31. Barnes has served since his appointment last September. The judicial committee will review the applications still on file from the last time there was a vacancy and make a recommendation to the county commission. The opening will be re-advertised if necessary.

The cleanup and repairs at the courthouse in the aftermath of the fire earlier this month have proven to be costly.
During Monday night’s County Commission meeting, County Mayor Tim Stribling said SERVPRO’s cost alone to the county’s insurance provider could be as much as $75,000. But there will be other costs as well to replace ceiling tiles and the courthouse fire alarm system.
“SERVPRO came in and stayed for about a week and their initial scope of work to the insurance company was about $115,000 but has been reduced to about $75,000. We still have sheet rock to put in the (first floor) vestibule and ceiling tiles. We’re working with the insurance company on that to find the proper ceiling tiles that are fire rated to put back in. That estimate is going to be somewhere around $15,000 to $20,000,” said Stribling.
“As far as the fire alarm, it was noted that the fire alarm did not work. It is a fire alarm for the building. It does not alert the fire department. I had some fire alarm people to come down Friday. The same people who service our fire alarms at the county complex. They will be giving us some quotes to replace the fire alarms because this one is no longer serviceable. It was put in during 1970 and they can no longer get parts for it. I went back to try and find the last time it was checked or serviced but we don’t have a record of that. The elevator is checked every month. It has smoke detectors tied to it and they did work. But as far as the fire alarm, we’re going to get it repaired,” said Stribling.
The next day after the fire on Tuesday, June 14, Smithville Police charged 52 year old Gary Wayne Ponder of Old Mill Hill Road, Dowelltown with aggravated arson for intentionally setting the fire in the courthouse first floor vestibule. He is is under a $75,000 bond and will appear in General Sessions Court on June 30

The County Commission Monday night voted to make an emergency purchase of a new landfill truck to replace the one involved in an accident on Broad Street at the College Street bridge on Monday.
“The truck is totaled and it also did quite a bit of damage to the bridge. We have contacted our insurance provider. We’ll need to replace that truck. We have insurance and the claim has already been set up. I will be talking with the auditor about making an emergency purchase,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling.
The commission voted to make the emergency purchase and to bypass the regular bid procedure. However bids from the last truck purchase will be reviewed in an effort to shop for the best price. “We had a bid two years ago. Western Star got the bid. I think we had two or three trucks that were bid at that time,” Stribling said.

Two people from DeKalb County who were involved in a White County crash last week remain in the intensive care unit of Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.
61 year Patrick Craig Woodside and 59 year old Susan Reynolds were seriously injured in a rollover accident on the Old Kentucky Road, about 50 feet north of the Smithville Highway intersection according to the Sparta Expositor. Both Woodside and Reynolds were airlifted to Erlanger.
The crash occurred at 4:04 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22
Sergeant Jimmy Jones of the Tennessee Highway Patrol reported that Woodside and Reynolds were in a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe traveling south on Old Kentucky Road. Although Woodside owns the vehicle it wasn’t clear at the time of the crash investigation which of them had been driving. A witness reportedly told troopers that he had been following behind the vehicle for some time and noticed that it was “all over the road.”
The witness reportedly said that just before the crash, the Tahoe crossed over the centerline and narrowly missed hitting another vehicle head on. Woodside’s Tahoe merged back into the proper lane of travel but then began merging right, traveling off the right side of roadway just before the Smithville Highway intersection.
The Tahoe overturned, coming to final rest on its top, and both Woodside and Reynolds were unrestrained. Jones states that while they were not ejected, both were flung into the back of the vehicle, and troopers were unable to tell who was driving the vehicle when it crashed.
According to Jones, he believes that wearing their seat belts would have had a major impact on the severity of the injuries Woodside and Reynolds suffered.
Troopers say they do not know what caused the erratic driving. There were no signs of alcohol involvement, Jones reports.
Troopers are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
Trooper Cody Roberts is the crash investigator.
Along with THP, Cassville Volunteer Fire Department, Sparta-White County Rescue Squad, White County Emergency Medical Services and White County Sheriff Department also responded to the scene to assist, according to the Sparta Expositor.

An inmate at the DeKalb County Jail was charged with vandalism last week after urinating on the floor and wall of a courtroom while waiting to make an appearance before a judge in a separate courtroom.
35 year old Joshua Wayne Goff of R. Arnold Road, Smithville is under a $2,500 bond and he will be back in court on this charge June 30.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, the offense occurred on Thursday, June 23 in a room of the courthouse where prisoners from the jail are kept while waiting to be called into another courtroom for their scheduled appearance before the judge.
Goff allegedly contaminated the room by urinating on the wall and floor. Both the wall and floor had to be sanitized.
Two days before on Tuesday, June 21, Goff was arrested for a fourth offense of driving on a suspended license. His bond is $5,000 in that case and he will be in court on July 21. Sheriff Ray said that during routine patrol, a deputy spotted a white truck traveling in the middle of the roadway. After conducting a traffic stop, the officer found that Goff was the driver. Goff handed the deputy an identification card instead of a driver license. A computer check revealed that Goff’s license were suspended. Goff already has three convictions for driving on a suspended license without reinstatements. He was placed under arrest.
31 year old Sarah Nicole South of Snow Hill Road, Dowelltown is charged with criminal impersonation. She is under a $5,000 bond. Sheriff Ray said that on Tuesday, June 21 a deputy stopped a vehicle for a driving violation. South was a passenger of the automobile. After asking all the occupants to produce a driver license or identification, South gave another name and date of birth, other than her own. During the investigation, central dispatch was notified that South had used a fake name. Dispatch then informed the deputy. He confronted South, calling her by her real name, and she answered. South told the officer that she gave the wrong name fearing that she may have active warrants against her. In fact, she did not.
21 year old Matthew Adam Cubbins of Toad Road, Dowelltown, charged last week with ten counts of forgery, has been charged with two more forgery counts. His bond on these charges is $5,000 and he will make a court appearance on July 21. Sheriff Ray said that on Monday, June 13 Cubbins allegedly passed two checks stolen from a family member in the amounts of $200 each at the Liberty Stop N Buy Market. Cubbins is under a $25,000 bond on the other ten counts of forgery which occurred from May 25 through June 7.
45 year old Johnny Darrell Murphy of Hayes Street, Smithville is charged with theft of property over $1,000 and bringing contraband into a penal institution. His bond is $6,500 and he will be in court June 30. Sheriff Ray said that on May 29 Murphy allegedly stole a 1990 WW two horse trailer valued at $1,200 and sold it. The trailer was later recovered. Meanwhile on Thursday, June 23 while reporting to jail for another offense, a Correctional Officer noticed that Murphy had a lump in his sock. The officer asked Murphy to remove his sock. He complied and handed the sock to the officer. Inside the sock was a small plastic bag containing a substance believed to be marijuana.

The Veterans Memorial Bridge (overpass) on College Street that crosses Broad Street is closed to traffic after a DeKalb County Landfill rollback garbage truck, with the lift up, struck the underneath of the bridge this morning. There was no dumpster on the truck at the time.
The driver of the 2013 Western Star truck, 54 year old Roger Chapman of Sparta, was injured and taken to St. Thomas DeKalb Hospital for treatment. Trooper T.J. Withers of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, told WJLE that Chapman was not seriously hurt. He suffered a few minor bumps, bruises, and cuts.
The accident caused major damage to the underside of the bridge and the truck was totaled. Chunks of concrete from the bridge fell onto the eastbound lanes of Broad Street. Traffic was routed to the other side of the highway during the crash investigation, cleanup, and inspection of the bridge by TDOT. Broad Street is now completely open but College Street at the bridge remains closed.
According to Trooper Withers, Chapman had just dropped off a dumpster prior to the accident but the roll back lift did not come down as he had thought.
In addition to the THP, members of the Smithville Police and Fire Departments were on the scene along with DeKalb EMS and the City of Smithville Public Works Department.
Chapman was cited by Smithville Police for speeding, traveling 57 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone.

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of the 2016 “Project Welcome Mat” in time for the Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival July 1 & 2.
This year’s winners are as follows: People’s Choice – Middle Tennessee Natural Gas; Most Original –Liberty State Bank ; and Best Worded-Wilson Bank & Trust.
“We want to thank all the businesses and churches for participating in the 15th Annual Chamber of Commerce “Jamboree Project Welcome Mat” contest and using your message signs to welcome Jamboree visitors. It’s vitally important to make sure that our guests know how appreciated and important they are,” said Suzanne Williams, Executive Director of the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce.
Middle Tennessee Natural Gas received the Chamber’s “People’s Choice” award for helping to promote the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival with its “Jamboree 45” message and its encouragement for our leaving visitors to “turn around” and head back to the Jamboree.
The Chamber of Commerce presented the Jamboree Project Welcome Mat award for “Most Original” sign to Liberty State Bank for providing imaginative messages on both sides of their sign.
The Chamber of Commerce presented the Project Welcome Mat’s “Best Worded” award to Wilson Bank and Trust as they creatively promote the Jamboree, Fiddler 5K, and WCTE broadcast on their highly visible sign.
Winner of People’s Choice – Middle Tennessee Natural Gas
(TOP PHOTO)
Pictured l-r:
MTNG Employees Becky Thompson & Eugene Adkins, MTNG Chief Executive Officer Mr. James E. Hodges, Chamber President Kathy Hendrixson, and Chamber Director Suzanne Williams
(SECOND PHOTO FROM TOP)
Pictured l-r:
Becky Thompson, Eugene Adkins, Mr. James E. Hodges, Kathy Hendrixson, Suzanne Williams
(THIRD PHOTO FROM TOP)
Winner of Most Original Sign – Liberty State Bank
Pictured l-r:
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams, Chamber Board Member Connie Tjarks, Liberty State Bank employees – Charlene Adcock, Lisa Garrison, Amanda Hasemann, Denise Barrett, Trena Graham, & Chamber President Kathy Hendrixson
(FOURTH PHOTO FROM TOP)
Pictured l-r:
Kathy Hendrixson, Trena Graham, Amanda Hasemann, Denise Barrett, Lisa Garrison, Charlene Adcock, Connie Tjarks, Suzanne Williams
(FIFTH PHOTO FROM TOP)
Winner of Best Worded – Wilson Bank and Trust
Pictured l-r:
Chamber Board Member Connie Tjarks, Wilson Bank & Trust employees – June Keith, Laura Stone, & Christal Pistole, Chamber President Kathy Hendrixson, Chamber Director Suzanne Williams
(BOTTOM PHOTO
Pictured l-r:
Suzanne Williams, Kathy Hendrixson, Laura Stone, June Keith, Christal Pistole, Connie Tjarks