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Archives
07-24-2002 News
Summer Music Festival held on town
square
Summer Music Festival held on town square
Enjoying an impromptu picking and playing session during the Overton County Summer Music Festival are Lola Brown and Clifford G. Martin, both of Crossville, Frank Baker of Sparta, Steve Lloyd of Timothy, Dewey Sherill of Crab Orchard, and, playing the washboard, Nell Langford. The Summer Music Festival was held Friday and Saturday, July 19-20 on the courthouse square in Livingston. Events included gospel music on Friday night, beauty contests on Saturday, and bluegrass music on Saturday, night. The event also featured pony rides, food, and crafts.
Uniform speed limit being considered for county By RACHEL SMITH, OCN staff Due to the growing number of requests for speed limits on county roads, Overton County Legislative Body discussed the feasibility of imposing a uniform speed limit for all county roads during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, July 16. Commissioner David Dorminey was absent. Noting that the Sheriff's Department cannot monitor speed limits on county roads where signs are not posted, County Executive Richard M. "OssieÓ Mitchell stated, "The County Commission does have legal authority to set speed limits on county roads." He recommended the Highway Department meet and come up with a number for the whole county. "You're going to have this every court meeting unless you come up with a uniform speed limit. I suggest you have a meeting and make recommendations to the next county commission meeting for a uniform speed limit." He also advised the county would be financially responsible for buying speed limit signs should this project be undertaken. With this in mind, the legislative body passed a resolution imposing a 20 mph speed limit on the county road in front of Allons Elementary School. Originally written to be in effect "during school hoursÓ, this was amended to "When Children Are PresentÓ in order to include times of ballgames and other special events. At the request of East Fork Road residents in the Hanging Limb Community, commissioners also passed a 30 mph speed limit on that road. Mitchell said, "Billy Sullivan and some other people has gone up there. There's a whole lot of houses down there, and there's a big subdivision being built at the end of it. "What it is, it's a straight stretch, about a mile and a half. When they get on that straight stretch, as the old saying goes, ÔThey let the hammer down.' They want them slowed down I think.Ó Also approved during this meeting was a resolution to make application to Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) for assistance in construction of an industrial access highway for Tennessee Mills Company, who plans to build a building to manufacture wood products. With assistance of TDOT, Overton County will soon be installing guardrails on Jay Bird Road in Monroe. TDOT will pay 100 percent of this project up to a maximum of $50,000. With two firms vying for the job, commissioners voted to allow Mitchell, with the approval of the Budget Committee, to employ an engineering firm to begin the engineering work on the planned industrial park in Rickman. Mitchell said, "We need to get started so we can be eligible to apply for EPA grants. You have to have some engineering work done. All we've done down there so far is to have the plan prepared and the archaeological study done. They told us all the land was usable except one little corner down in the low end, a quarter of an acre. "We've got to get that thing started. If the next administration, if they want to pursue it, then that's that much done. "We can't get these grants unless you have the engineering work done. The reason I said with the approval of the Budget Committee is I want them to look at these two proposals. I want everybody to agree on what's the best price for the county." Approved as Notaries at large were Debbie Reagan, Katherine J. Collins, Vickie Carr, Tracy Eroacher, and Calvin Bilbrey. When it came time for committee reports, County Executive Mitchell said, "We haven't had a whole lot of meetings this month. We've been working on the budget, and that's taken a lot of our time." Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Tom Montooth advised, "We've met and had some bid openings for the wallpaper and carpet here in this building (Overton County Courthouse), the computer for the Ambulance Service, and the insurance for the county. Other than that, we've been working on the budget some." He informed fellow commissioners the income for the Ambulance Service should be about $81,000 more than expected last year, and the insurance bid was around $12,000 higher than last year. Before closing the meeting, Mitchell requested all commissioners read and study the regulations he passed out for zoning an area around the airport to prevent cellular towers from being built within so many feet of the runway. He indicated that a public hearing would have to be held and this issue voted on. "If they don't do that, we'll not be able to get federal money," he said. Commissioner Johnie Webb then addressed the court about his feelings on the planned industrial park in Rickman. "I've seen a lot of county courts, county judges, county executives, come and go. I would hate to see this county have to get a committee outside the county court to find industrial property. "I've seen some letters in the paper saying we've got empty buildings out there in the industrial park. They're owned by people out of this county, and some of them out of state. They own them, we don't. We don't have empty buildings, not one building. "We have to plan ahead. You can't wait until the industries come to look you over. We should recover our initial investment in the property. I've seen this county grow from a one shirt factory town to what it is today. If you have any questions on how I feel about, just ask me. I'll tell you." The meeting adjourned.
Public
hearing set for Hwy. 52 corridor Tennessee Department of Transportation will conduct a highway corridor public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 6 to discuss proposed improvements to State Route 52 in Clay and Overton counties. The hearing will be held in Celina Community Center, located at 145 Cordell Hull Drive in Celina. The plan proposes to reconstruct State Route 52 to four lanes from Celina to State Route 136 in Overton County. Four alternates are under consideration. The project is approximately 7 miles in length. The "open house" style hearing will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. No formal presentation will be made, and citizens may arrive any time within the two-hour period. Representatives of the department will be present to provide information about location, major design features, relocation assistance, the tentative schedules for right-of-way acquisition and construction, and other matters of interest related to the project. The public is invited to ask questions and make comments during the hearing, and will be given the opportunity to make opinions known concerning the need for this project. Written statements and other exhibits may be submitted to Project Comments, Tennessee Department of Trasnportation, Suite 700, James K. Polk Building, 505 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN 37243-0332.
Overton County News
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