Facing ever increasing burdensome regulations and hassles with the landfill operation, county officials are beginning to think that a transfer station may be the way to go for the future.
During an all-committees meeting of the county commission Thursday night, County Mayor Mike Foster said he and the commissioners are planning a trip to Livingston Tuesday, November 22 to take a look at the solid waste transfer station there.
Foster went into more detail with WJLE in a phone interview Friday. “We’re going to go up to Livingston to look at the transfer station for their solid waste.. They are one of several that do this. They bring their solid waste into a centralized location, dump it and segregate it. They go through it and pick out things that are readily recyclable. The rest of the main garbage they load onto a truck and haul it to a commercial site somewhere and pay a fee for dumping it in there. They don’t have the environmental liability of running a landfill. We’re looking at this option due to the all the environmental rules we have to go by,” said Foster
“Right now (at the landfill) we have to put a 40 mil plastic liner over the entire mound of dirt when you’re through as well as a 60 mil liner underneath it and then you have to put dirt on top of all that. The costs have just gone through the roof in the last three or four years so we’re going to look at the option of doing that (transfer station). We may still want to run a class III/IV cell that doesn’t require that (so many regulations) which would be mainly for construction materials and things like that and not household garbage,” said Foster
“I think the county commission would want to make a decision on this probably within a year so we could start working toward that end because we have about two years left on the landfill that we’re in now. Of course it would take some time to get a building ready and a spot to put the transfer station,” said Foster
“We’re probably going to go to Crossville soon. Crossville has a transfer station but they don’t own it. Its owned by a subsidiary of Waste Management and they built the transfer station. Cumberland County just brings their garbage there and dumps it. They then pay them (Waste Management) a fee to handle it from that point on. We want to look at both scenarios so we can figure out which one best suits us. Depending on the costs involved, I personally would rather do the subsidiary where somebody else builds the facility and we just carry materials to them. That way we would not be out that initial cost. There’s a lot of good benefits to that. They would have more experience in running that than we would so it just seems like a better fit,” said Foster.
“If we had a class III/IV cell for construction materials and that sort of thing, it would just be dumped into a landfill that doesn’t require all the liners because you can’t put anything in there in the way of garbage. It would just have to be construction materials, shingles, and those kinds of things that you can cover and you don’t have to haul the storm water away from it. You don’t need a 60 mil liner under it and you don’t need a 40 mil liner on top of it. Its just for construction material and debris, such as if you tore down a house, you could take that stuff in there provided it was checked and their weren’t any toxic things in it,” said Foster.
Foster speculated that the costs associated with going to a solid waste transfer station and maintaining a class III/IV cell would be about the same amount of money compared to the county continuing to operate its own landfill, but that the potential for environmental liability would be considerably less.
Waste transfer stations are facilities where solid waste is unloaded from collection vehicles and briefly held while it is reloaded onto larger long-distance transport vehicles for shipment to landfills or other treatment or disposal facilities.

Businesses in Smithville and DeKalb County are urged to display messages on their marquees or changeable signs to encourage shoppers to spend their tax dollars at home this holiday season.
Suzanne Williams, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, said that “the busiest shopping time of the year is about to begin. We would like to ask each business with a changeable sign or marquee to post “Shop at Home” or “Shop Local” on your signs. With thousands of our local folks shopping for holiday food and searching for those perfect Christmas gifts, let’s make every effort to encourage them to help support our local merchants as much as possible. Please have your signs in place this week and display throughout the holiday season, if possible,” said Williams.

DeKalb County 4-H Member Elizabeth Sanders has been selected to serve as a state 4-H Health Rocks! teen leader!
In this role Elizabeth will be assisting the state 4-H office in training counties across the state to implement the Health Rocks! program. Health Rocks! is a healthy-living curriculum taught in many counties statewide where the emphasis is on resisting peer pressure to try illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Emphasis is also placed on making wise choices. DeKalb County received funding for this program two years ago and with the assistance of guidance counselors at DeKalb Middle School, Northside Elementary, and DeKalb West Elementary, was provided to all students in 4th – 8th grades. DeKalb County received the grant again for 2012. With the assistance of her Extension Agent April Martin, Elizabeth plans to lead an after-school Health Rocks program at these schools again beginning in February.
4-H is the youth development program of UT Extension. 4-H teaches leadership, citizenship and life skills to more than 300,000 youth in grades 4-12. 4-H also has more than 18,000 adult volunteers statewide.
UT Extension operates in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties as the off-campus division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. An educational and outreach organization funded by federal, state and local governments, UT Extension, in cooperation with Tennessee State University, brings research-based information about agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and youth and community development to the people of Tennessee where they live and work.

The holiday season has finally arrived. Oftentimes, the best part about the holidays is spending time with family … and eating of course! However, even for an experienced chef, cooking a feast for a large group can be quite daunting.
Most home chefs might consider preparing a meal for two, three or even six people a manageable or even easy task. During the holidays, however, guest lists can reach 15, 16 or even 20 people. That makes it even more important that your guests leave with full stomachs and not food poisoning.
According to Tennessee Poison Center, food poisoning is generally a mild illness that most commonly results from poor food handling practices. Food poisoning usually occurs two to six hours after eating the contaminated food and can include nausea, fever, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. Depending on the exact type of food poisoning, how your body reacts to the toxin and the amount of contaminated food that was eaten, symptoms may last from several hours to two or three days. Food poisoning can be serious for people in poor health, for the very young and the elderly.
Practicing basic food safety preparation and storage is the best way to protect against food poisoning. Experts at Tennessee Poison Center offer the following recommendations to prevent food poisonings:
•Wash hands with soap and warm running water for at least 15 to 20 seconds before preparing any foods and especially after handling raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs.
•Keep preparation and storage areas clean; this includes countertops, stovetops and refrigerators.
•Wash utensils between each use. Never reuse utensils; this is a source of contamination.
•Do not defrost meat or poultry on the counter at room temperature. Thaw it in the refrigerator or microwave instead.
•Use a meat thermometer to confirm that meat, pork and poultry are properly cooked; visit www.foodsafety.gov for proper temperatures.
•Do not prepare food if you are sick or have any type of nose or eye infection.
•Store raw food below cooked food in the refrigerator so raw food cannot drip into cooked food and contaminate it.
•When storing leftovers, use shallow containers. Hot food stored in deep containers can take as long as 24 hours to cool down to a safe temperature in the refrigerator.
•Use separate cutting boards for meats, poultry and fish.
And to ensure that the leftovers will be just as good the next day, properly seal and store leftovers in the refrigerator as soon as possible. Leaving perishable foods, including meats and dairy products, at room temperature longer than two hours significantly increases the risk of food poisoning. Throw food away if you are unsure how long it has been sitting out.
Be sure to keep these tips in mind as you cook and entertain family and friends this holiday season. And if you have questions about food poisoning or any other poison exposure, call Tennessee Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222. The USDA’s meat and poultry hotline is another helpful resource when you have questions related to preparing holiday meals. They will be staffed on Thanksgiving Day from 8:00 a.m. until 2 p.m. Eastern Time, but closed on other Federal government holidays. They can be reached at 1-888-674-6854.
For more information related to food safety, nutrition, and other consumer issues, contact the University of Tennessee Extension office in DeKalb County at 597-4945.

DeKalb County has a rule forbidding the storage and sale of beer within 2,000 feet of schools, churches and other places of public gathering.
Opponents of that regulation believe it is too restrictive and some have asked members of the county commission to consider changing it.
The commissioners discussed the issue during an all-committees meeting of the commission Thursday night at the courthouse. Some commissioners said they would be willing to support a measure to change the 2,000 foot rule, possibly reducing it down to as low as 400 feet, the same as the City of Smithville’s distance requirement. Others said such a measure should be placed on the ballot next August for the public to decide.
According to the Smithville Beer Ordinance the minimum distance requirement in the city is 400 feet and “shall be measured in a straight line from the primary entrance of the establishment seeking a permit to sell beer to the primary entrance of a school, church, or other place of public gathering.”
While the county could change the distance requirement to mirror the city’s, it apparently cannot change the manner in which the distance is to be measured. In the city, the measurement must be taken from “primary entrance” to “primary entrance”. But in the county, it must be measured from “nearest point” to nearest point”.
County Attorney Hilton Conger addressed that issue during a recent county beer board meeting. “Under regulations established by the county commission in October 1939, no business can be licensed to sell beer if it is within 2,000 feet of a school, church, or other place of public gathering. That’s been the rule here in the county ever since (1939). The county can change that and make it less than 2,000 feet but DeKalb County has never chosen to do that,” said Conger.
As for how the distance is to be measured, Conger said the state supreme court ruled more than fifty years ago in a Sullivan County case that the distance is to be measured in a direct line from building to building or “as the crow flies” “That was settled by the supreme court in the case of Jones versus the Sullivan County Beer Board. That was decided in 1956. The court said that the measurement is to be made in a direct line, the nearest point to the nearest point. From the building to the building,” said Conger.
During Thursday night’s all-committees meeting, County Mayor Mike Foster asked each commissioner and eight of them said they could support changing the minimum distance down to either 600 or 400 feet. Four of them said no. Two commissioners were not present. The vote was not binding.
Foster said he would consult with County Attorney Conger soon and include the issue on the agenda for the December county commission meeting. If the vote to change the minimum distance requirement should fail on a straight up or down vote by the county commission during a regular meeting, the commissioners could choose to have the issue placed on the ballot for the public to decide next August. Eight votes are required for passage.

The Assessor of Property race may be contested in the March 6th DeKalb County Democratic Primary.
Incumbent Timothy (Fud) Banks, Scott Cantrell, and Jonathan Bryan Keith have picked up qualifying petitions from the DeKalb County Election Commission Office. Candidates for this office and all seven constable positions have to be qualified to run by noon on Thursday, December 8.
The term of each office is four years.
Incumbent fourth district constable Paul Cantrell and fifth district constable Mark Milam have turned in their qualifying petitions to seek re-election. Others who have picked up petitions for constable are Incumbent Johnny King in the seventh district, Incumbent Wayne Vanderpool in the third district, and Richard Bullard in the sixth district.
While the local Democratic Party will be selecting its nominees through the primary process, the DeKalb County Republican Party will choose any nominees it has by convention.
“Petitions can be picked up for all of the local offices on the March ballot,” said Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections. The qualifying deadline is NOON, December 8, 2011. The same
qualifying deadline will apply to the Republican Party nominees (chosen by caucus) and Independent candidates.
Any Republican and Democratic nominees for the offices of Assessor of Property and Constable will face off in the August 2012 DeKalb County General Election.

A man charged with having sex with a fifteen year old girl during a “Read Night” at Smithville Elementary in March received a two year sentence for statutory rape Wednesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
Judge David Patterson presided.
25 year old Roel Celaya Sosa pleaded by information to the offense. He must also register with the state as a sexual offender. Sosa has been given credit for time served
Detective Matt Holmes of the Smithville Police Department, who investigated the case, told WJLE that on the night of the offense, March 7, the fifteen year old girl was at the school to look after her younger brother who was participating in”Read Night”, a teacher supervised program where parents and students come to school after hours and read together. The mother of these two children had apparently dropped them off at the school and then returned later to pick them up.
After arriving at the school that night, the fifteen year old met up with Sosa and they separated themselves from others in the building. The sexual encounter allegedly took place in an unoccupied classroom. According to Detective Holmes, a custodian later saw Sosa and the victim standing in the hallway and told them they were not supposed to be there.
The next day, Detective Holmes said the custodian informed Principal Dr. Bill Tanner of the incident and he contacted the victim’s mother. She then reported it to School Resource Officer Kenneth Whitehead, who contacted the Department of Children Services and Detective Holmes.
45 year old Mark Goodson pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule II controlled substance and received a three year sentence to serve 30% before his release eligibility date. He was fined $2,000. The sentence is to run concurrently with a violation of probation against him in another case. Goodson was given jail credit of 32 days
Goodson was charged in a seal indictment as the result of an undercover drug investigation by the Smithville Police Department. According to Detective Matt Holmes, a confidential source purchased two dilaudid pills from Goodson on March 4 at a location within one thousand feet of Smithville Elementary School.
28 year old Courtney A. Paris pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a schedule II controlled substance for resale to run concurrently. She received a four year sentence with one year on community corrections and the remaining three years on state probation. Paris was fined $2,000.
On Thursday, August 26th, 2010 K-9 Officer Bradley Tatrow arrested Paris for possession of drug paraphernalia. The Smithville Police Department was assisting probation officers on a home visit at a local motel where Ms. Paris gave them consent to search. In a bathroom drawer, police recovered two used hypodermic needles and four cut straws containing residue. Warrants were taken Friday, September 3rd, 2010 against Paris for the drugs found in the room. Upon serving the warrants, Detective Matt Holmes, Corporal Travis Bryant and Officer David Phillips searched Ms. Paris’ apartment and recovered drug paraphernalia and a schedule III drug.
31 year old Nena R. Chapman, charged with theft over $10,000, was granted pre-trial diversion probation for three years under a memorandum of understanding. She must make restitution to the victim in the amount of $3,758 and perform 40 hours of community service work.
Chapman was a co-defendant in the case with 30 year old Joseph Daniel Richardson.
Sheriff Patrick Ray told WJLE that on Monday, April 4th Richardson allegedly entered a residence on Dry Creek Road with the intent to commit a theft. Richardson apparently made entry by pushing on the locked back door with his shoulder. Items taken were twenty five dollar gold pieces on a chain, two and a half dollar gold pieces on a chain, five dollar gold pieces on a chain, approximately one hundred fifty pieces of miscellaneous items, a medicine organizer, and a quilt. All items were valued at $15,070 dollars. Chapman allegedly took some of the jewelry and sold it at a local business.
In May, Richardson pleaded guilty by information to one count of aggravated burglary and one count of theft over $10,000. He received a three year sentence in each case, all suspended to supervised probation except for 180 days to serve. The sentences are to run concurrently with each other and concurrent with a violation of probation case against him. He was given jail credit from April 5th to May 20th.
45 year old Sean William Cavanaugh pleaded by information to a first offense of driving under the influence. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended except for 48 hours to serve and then he will be on supervised probation. Cavanaugh was fined $365 and he will lose his license for one year.
Sheriff Ray reports that on Saturday, June 25 a deputy was called by another officer working a wreck on Sparta Highway to check on a possible intoxicated driver in the area. The officer made contact with the driver, Cavanaugh and detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person. Cavanaugh submitted to several field sobriety tasks and performed poorly on them. He refused to submit to a blood alcohol test.
32 year old Bradley H. Pugh pleaded by information to initiation of a process to manufacture meth. He received an eight year sentence, suspended to probation. He was fined $2,000. Pugh will enter spring 2 life for intensive long term rehab. He was given jail credit of 37 days.
Sheriff Ray said that on October 10 a deputy was called to check out a vehicle parked on the side of Seven Springs Road. When he arrived, the officer found Pugh, unconscious behind the steering wheel. After waking up Pugh, the deputy obtained from him consent to search and found coffee filters and batteries inside the vehicle. In the back of the truck, the officer found a plastic tote and two bags containing chemical products that were altered for the manufacture of methamphetamine. A prescription bottle bearing Pugh’s name was found in the bag with the chemicals. The deputy also discovered a loaded handgun on the drivers side of the truck.
29 year old Bradley S. Redmon pleaded guilty to assault. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days and was given credit for 247 days of time served.

Officials in states across the country including Tennessee will be anxiously awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision next year on the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law, which was passed by Congress last year.
The court said Monday it will consider a challenge to the Obama administration’s health care law next year. The justices agreed to hear the claim by Florida and 25 other states that the health care law violates the Constitution..
The court will consider the primary question of whether Congress went beyond its constitutional authority when it included the “individual mandate” in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Under the individual mandate, nearly all individuals must either be covered by health insurance or pay a fee.
The court also said it would consider whether portions of the law might survive if the individual mandate is struck down. Even if justices eventually strike down part of the law, other parts could remain intact. The court will also be considering a challenge to the law’s expansion of Medicaid coverage.
State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr. speaking at a public forum in Smithville Tuesday evening, said if the law is found to be constitutional it could be costly to Tennessee. One option in implementing the reforms, he said, would be for the state to establish a health insurance exchange program.
Primarily what the health insurance exchange would do is bring together private health insurance companies along with a government health insurance option to compete for business among individuals and small businesses. To be in the health insurance exchange the health insurance policies offered cannot exclude someone for pre-existing conditions. The idea is to provide more competition thus bringing down the price for health insurance. “If it does come out as being constitutional, the whole program, then there are a couple of big things we’ll need to look at in Tennessee,” said Lillard. “One is whether Tennessee will operate an insurance exchange. In that bill, one of the concepts of it is either each state or the federal government, if a state refuses do to it, is operate an insurance exchange for citizens in that state. The concept is that private insurers will offer their products in this exchange making it easy to compare policies, compare coverage, compare strength of companies, etc and buy that. There also is another element to it where if you are below a certain level or certain multiple to poverty rate you can get a refundable tax credit that, in effect, supplements your insurance premium. One thing that is interesting about this for government is that in our local government health insurance plan right now, we have some employees and probably some on the state plan that would qualify for this credit either partially or to a great degree. They might be better off to opt out of the state’s health plan and the state’s local government health plan and go into the exchange to get their credit which they wouldn’t get if they stayed on the state plan. They could get their credit and buy their coverage there. It would end up cheaper in the long run by doing that. So that’s one concept of the whole thing,” said Lillard.
“The other concept is just the cost that the state will have. Under the federal health care legislation, the federal government does not pay for all the costs of the insurance. I wish they would get in the deal to pay for 100% of everything they send down the pike as a state or local government mandate. You can look at the Medicaid program. The TennCare program. That’s a federal/state program and its largely controlled by federal regulations. The federal government pays two thirds of it and Tennessee pays roughly a third of it. The current estimate that we have in state government is that it will increase state expenditures about $1.2 billion between the years 2014-2019. That’s a little more than $200 million a year. So that’s another one of those back of the envelope budget challenges. If the supreme court does uphold the legislation, Tennessee state government is going to have to figure out a way to deal with that cost,” said Lillard.
“Governor Haslam and his people have been going around the state and having meetings with medical providers and stakeholders in Tennessee about whether Tennessee should run an exchange or whether we should let the federal government run it. There is some cost in running an exchange. It’s beneficial perhaps but it does have some requirements to it. My understanding is the feedback from this (meetings) is that most people who are stakeholders, including citizens, providers, and insurance companies, would prefer the state of Tennessee run an exchange in Tennessee rather than have the federal government run it. Again, that decision has not been made at this point,” said Lillard.
The law has been in effect since March, 2010, and has dozens of provisions. Many are already in operation, including federal help for community health centers, tax breaks for small businesses that offer employees health insurance and allowing dependent children up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ policies.
Funding is already being given to states to create the health care exchanges that will help consumers shop for coverage.
Starting in 2014, the law’s individual mandate covers nearly everyone living in the United States except illegal immigrants, prisoners and some people with religious exemption. Those without insurance will pay a penalty on their tax return, pegged to their annual income.
Opponents of the law say the requirement violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution,
The clause grants Congress the authority to “regulate commerce … among the several states.” This also means, though, that the clause withholds power from Congress if something isn’t commerce. The coming Supreme Court fight will revolve around which category the individual insurance mandate falls into.

A fire caused extensive damage to a residence at 450 West Main Street, Smithville Tuesday evening.
Central dispatch received the call at 6:36 p.m.
Smithville Volunteer Firefighters responded to the scene along with the Smithville Police Department and DeKalb EMS.
Fire Chief Charlie Parker told WJLE that the home belongs to Jimbo Pack and the Pack family but that his daughter Misty Wilson lived there. Wilson was not at home at the time of the fire but she returned later.
A passerby spotted the blaze and called 911.
Chief Parker said the fire apparently started in the kitchen area and spread to other rooms of the home. The cause, he said, could have been electrical in nature but has not been determined with certainty. No one was injured.

Smithville Police have arrested a 26 year old man for allegedly stealing an automobile and selling it as scrap.
Clent Shehane is charged with theft over $1,000 and evading arrest. He is under a $7,500 bond and will appear in court December 1.
According to Chief Randy Caplinger police received a report of an auto theft on Wednesday, October 12. Upon further investigation, officers discovered that Shehane allegedly sold the vehicle to a local recycling center for scrap. A warrant was taken for his arrest on Tuesday, October 25. Shehane was spotted by police on Monday, November 7 riding a bike on South College Street. Apparently trying to avoid being arrested, Shehane dropped the bike and ran off into the woods. He later emerged on Short Mountain Street. An off duty Alexandria Police Officer, who was in the area at the time, kept Shehane from escaping and he was taken into custody by Smithville police.
Meanwhile, 26 year old Stephen H. Pugh of Liberty was issued a citation on Friday, November 11 for possession of drug paraphernalia. He will be in court December 11
Chief Caplinger reports that a police officer pulled over Pugh on East Bryant Street. Pugh had an active violation of probation warrant against him. During a search, the officer found on Pugh a hypodermic needle.
55 year old Ricky Alan Braswell is charged with public intoxication. His bond is $1,500 and he will be in court on December 7.
Chief Caplinger reports that on Friday, November 11 a police officer was summoned to 513 South Congress Boulevard to investigate a disturbance. The officer arrived and made contact with Braswell who had a strong odor of alcohol on his person. He submitted to a breath test.
25 year old Candice Deshay Daniels of Lancaster is charged with public intoxication. She is under a $1,000 bond and will be in court on December 7.
According to Chief Caplinger, an officer was called to the Discount Tobacco Outlet on West Broad Street Friday, November 11 to investigate disorderly conduct. Upon arrival, he made contact with Daniels who was unsteady on her feet and had slurred speech. She allegedly told the officer that she had taken four pills.
34 year old Bridget Nicole Vientos is charged with simple possession of a schedule II controlled substance. She is under a $1,500 bond and will be in court on December 1.
Chief Caplinger said that an officer was called to check out a fight in the parking lot of Temple Baptist Church on Miller Road on Wednesday, November 9. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with Vientos and a man in the parking lot but they were not fighting. Vientos consented to a search and pulled out of her pocket a pill believed to be hydrocodone.
28 year old Charles Dwayne Self is charged with driving on a revoked license. He is under a $3,000 bond and will be in court on December 1.
Chief Caplinger reports that a police officer recently observed an automobile traveling at a high rate of speed on Smith Road. He stopped the vehicle and found that Self was driving on a revoked license.
36 year old Karen Lynn Welsh is charged with public intoxication. She is under a $1,500 bond and will be in court on November 17.
According to Chief Caplinger, police were called to Walmart on Saturday, November 5 to check out a person in the store who seemed to be intoxicated. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with Welsh who was unsteady on her feet and she had slurred speech. Welsh allegedly told police that she had earlier taken some prescription medication.
39 year old Anna Claire Byars was issued a citation for shoplifting on Monday, October 31. She will be in court December 11. She was at the Dollar General Store and allegedly tried to steal several items by concealing them in her purse.
20 year old Gregorio Cruz Van Loo is charged with shoplifting and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He will be in court on December 11.
Chief Caplinger said that Van Loo allegedly tried to shoplift items from Walmart on Sunday, October 30 by concealing them on his person. He committed the offense in the presence of a minor who was with him.
58 year old Kathy Ann Taylor is charged with driving under the influence. She is under a $1,500 bond and will be in court on November 17.
Chief Caplinger said that police were called to the Walmart parking lot on Sunday, October 30 to investigate a two vehicle accident. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with Taylor, who was one of the drivers involved in the mishap. She was unsteady on her feet and had slurred speech. Taylor allegedly told the officer that she had taken a valium and hydrocodone. She submitted to field sobriety tasks but was unable to successfully complete them.