The DeKalb County Fire Department has compiled its 2007 Incident Response Summary.
Overall, 2007 fire incident responses in the county were up by 102 calls from 2006. In 2006, the department responded to a total of 288 fire incidents. The department responded to 390 fire incident responses in 2007. This count does not include the 394 rural medical first responder calls that county fire department personnel responded to.
With DeKalb County’s rural population growing at rates higher than the cities’ population growth in DeKalb County, the department continues to experience annual increases in the number of structure fires within the county jurisdiction. Also, for 2007, the extremely dry and hot weather pattern, resulted in the dramatic increase in wildland, grass, and debris fires.
The below chart provides a breakdown of each type of fire incident response that the department responded to in 2007:
Incident Type:
Structure- 66 (Year 2006) 69 (Year 2007)
Wildland/Grass/Debris- 50 (2006) 100 (2007)
Auto Wrecks- 129 (2006) 129 (2007)
Auto Fires 13- (2006) 23 (2007)
Landing Zones- 10 (2006) 11 (2007)
Extrication/Entrapment-19 (2007)
Hazmat 0 0
Alarms 17 (2006) 33 (2007)
Misc. 3 (2006) 6 (2007)
TOTAL 288 (2006) 390 (2007)

Smithville Police Chief Richard Jennings is concerned about a growing traffic congestion problem in the school zone near Smithville Elementary.
Chief Jennings, speaking at Monday night’s city council meeting, said there is a large number of vehicles each day trying to get to the school on Walker Drive, from East Bryant Street and Congress Boulevard and that these automobiles often block eastbound traffic which could cause accidents.
He asked Mayor Taft Hendrixson to appoint a committee to come up with a plan to address the problem. “We’ve received some complaints about the traffic at the elementary school. I’ve been over there for the last couple of weeks in the mornings and afternoons. As you know we widened Walker Drive to accommodate the cars picking up the children in the back of the school. But also, what happens is the vehicles are out on Bryant Street and they go all the way down Bryant Street to Highway 56 and around the corner. Well what happens there is they block the whole eastbound lane of Bryant Street. So when cars are trying to go east, they get over in the westbound lane, and they almost hit head on the cars going west. I’ve seen them have to drive onto the grass of the church to go around and it’s everyday. I think the school zone is actually in the wrong place. There should be lights on Bryant Street and Walker Drive instead of out on Highway 56. That’s where I think the school zone should be. I’d like to ask you to form a committee so we could look at this problem and se if we couldn’t come up with an answer.”
Mayor Hendrixson appointed himself and Chief Jennings to the committee along with Aldermen Jerry Hutchins Sr. and Willie Thomas and Public Works Director Kevin Robinson. The committee will also invite Principal Bill Tanner and Director of Schools Mark Willoughby to join them in the discussions.

The city is making plans to upgrade the forty year old Smithville Water Treatment Plant.
The total project cost is estimated to be $1.4 million dollars, but the city will apply for a half million dollar Community Development Block Grant, which if approved, would help fund part of the costs. The grant program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
All five aldermen voted in favor of the resolution authorizing an application for the grant, following a public hearing during Monday night’s city council meeting. Officials say it may be six to eight months before the city hears back on whether the application is approved.
Vantage Consulting Services will prepare all the necessary documents for the completion of the grant application at no charge to the city and will perform all administrative services for the project, should the grant be approved.
Faye Leonard of Vantage Consulting Services says the city has been fortunate to receive several CDBG grants in the past for improvements to the city’s sewer system but the grant program is much more competitive these days with more applications and fewer dollars to go around. “The city has been fortunate to receive four of these block grants in the past for sewer rehab over the last several years and a lot of work has been done on the sewer system as a result, but it’s getting much more difficult. There’s less and less grant money, and it’s becoming more competitive. Just to let you know how competitive this has gotten, this past fiscal year, 2007, there were 150 applications submitted statewide and there was only enough money to approve about sixty of those. So the grant funds are getting less and less and there’s more and more applications so it’s very competitive. We’ll do the best we can with the application. Due to the age of the plant and the need for the project, we hope that it will score well. I’m guardedly optimistic about it. It’s really a needed project but since it is so competitive and there are such few grant dollars, there’s no guarantee. I just wanted to be clear about that. The last grant that was applied for under this program for sewer rehab here was not successful.”
Mayor Taft Hendrixson says the city proposes to fund the local share of $900,000 over a three year period from the Smithville Water & Sewer Revenue Fund. ” This $900,000 that we have proposed here as the city’s share, that will be in three different budget years. It will be in the 2008-09 budget, the 2009-10 budget, and the 2010-11 budget. I talked with the engineer today and he said it will probably be late in the year 2009 before this would be a viable project ready for bid. So it would be approximately $300,000 per year in each of three years. That way you don’t have to come up with all the money at the same time. This water plant is forty years old. We’re doing some emergency repairs on it this year. It’s something that had to be done. There has been very little repairs done on the water plant. There’s not even a back up generator system down there for the intake or the water plant. That’s something that I think is necessary. At least we’re showing the State of Tennessee that we are willing to put money in to get their money. That plant has been good to us for a long time but it’s going to have to be repaired.”
J.R. Wauford & Company will produce a preliminary engineering report for the proposed project at no charge to the city. Should the grant be approved, Wauford will design plans, inspect the construction, and perform other required engineering services for the project.
The total estimated project cost is $1.4 million dollars broken down as follows:
Renovate Filters with New Underdrains and Media- $250,000
Blower and accessories for Air Scour- $40,000
New 40 HP Backwash Pump, Rebuild Existing Pump for Standby- $90,000
Convert Filter Instrumentation including Water System Telemetry- $300,000
Modifications to Existing 1967 Clearwell- $10,000
New Chemical Bulk Storage and Containment- $60,000
Electrical Work- $200,000
New Standby Generator at Intake and at Plant- $200,000
Engineering: Design- $95,000
Construction Administration and Observation- $80,000
Administrative- $23,500
Environmental- $1,500
Project Contingencies- $50,000

A long time member of the Smithville Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals has resigned.
Jimmy Walls was presented a plaque of appreciation by Mayor Taft Hendrixson during Monday night’s city council meeting. “This plaque is presented to Jimmy Walls in appreciation of twenty five years of loyal and dedicated service to the Smithville Planning Commission and twenty years of the same loyal and dedicated service on the Smithville Board of Zoning Appeals. Mr. Walls has been a valuable asset to both the Smithville Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. His years of service to our city and community have been greatly appreciated. On behalf of the Smithville Mayor and Board of Aldermen, the Smithville Planning Commission, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, we would like to thank you, Mr Walls, for all your hard work and unrelenting dedication. We wish you the best in everything you do. You will be missed.”
Walls served on the Smithville Planning Commission from December, 1982 through December 2007. He also served on the Smithville Board of Zoning Appeals from December 1987 through December 2007.
In his letter of resignation, effective December 21st, 2007, Walls thanked the present and past mayors for their support. “I wish to thank Mayor Waniford Cantrell for appointing me to the commission and Mayor Dewey Love, Mayor Bruce Medley, Mayor Cecil Burger, and Mayor Taft Hendrixson for allowing me to serve my city and community on the planning commission for the past twenty five years. Thanks to the members of the commission, past and present, for electing me your chairman for a total of fourteen years.”
Walls also expressed his thanks for the opportunity to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals for twenty years.
The aldermen voted five to nothing to approve Mayor Hendrixson’s appointment of Sandra Wall to serve out Jimmy’s Walls’ unexpired term on both the Smithville Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals.

The Alexandria Water System is currently experiencing low water pressure.
The supplier that provides water to Alexandria is experiencing system problems and the supply could be limited reducing the amount of water to supply the storage tanks of the Alexandria Water System.
An emergency plan has been put into place.
If you are experiencing a loss of water supply you may bring containers to the Alexandria City Hall and they will be filled during this emergency.
Everyone in Alexandria is asked to conserve the use of water during this crisis.
For more information, please call 615-529-2171.

A 19 year old DeKalb County man died and two others were injured in a one vehicle crash Friday night in Cannon County.
Dead is Chad Jonathon Reeder of Big Hill Road, Smithville.
The accident occurred around 9:09 p.m. on State Route 281.
According to a report filed by Trooper Monty Terry of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Reeder was driving west in a 1991 Nissan pickup truck when he lost control while negotiating a curve. The truck went into a yaw, ran off the left shoulder, overturned, and struck a utility pole, ejecting Reeder and two passengers.
20 year old Zachary D. Turner of Pea Ridge, Liberty and a 17 year old boy were injured in the accident.
Neither of the three was wearing a seatbelt.
Turner has been charged with not wearing a seatbelt, underage consumption of alcohol, and leaving the scene of an accident.