The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for parts of Middle
and East Tennessee effective until 9 PM Central time.
A Tornado watch means that conditions are favorable that could lead to severe
thunderstorms that could generate a possible tornado.
TENNESSEE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE
ANDERSON BEDFORD BLEDSOE
CAMPBELL CANNON CHEATHAM
CLAY COFFEE CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON DE KALB DICKSON
FENTRESS FRANKLIN GILES
GRUNDY HAMILTON HICKMAN
JACKSON LAWRENCE LEWIS
LINCOLN MACON MARION
MARSHALL MAURY MEIGS
MOORE MORGAN OVERTON
PICKETT PUTNAM RHEA
ROANE ROBERTSON RUTHERFORD
SCOTT SEQUATCHIE SMITH
SUMNER TROUSDALE VAN BUREN
WARREN WAYNE WHITE
WILLIAMSON WILSON
The Crossville city council reversed
its stance on selling property for use as a shooting sports park and
the controversial project is back moving forward following a special called meeting Tuesday evening.
Discussion on a proposed shooting
sports park first became public 20 months ago and was discussed at
city council meetings as the group trying to build the facility were
seeking property to locate the park on from the city.
Mayor James Mayberry addresses called meeting
That property was a portion of land
purchased over 20 years ago and used for a few years as a city run
landfill. After the landfill closed the land set quietly until this
project cropped up. The project was discussed, received support from
the previous council and occasionally came back for discussion as
funding was committed and new details emerged.
Things began moving at full speed late
last year with work on a contract to sell a portion of the city's
original property to a nonprofit group formed to operate the
facility. A sales contract was approved by council at their February
meeting and a small but vocal group of residents who lived near the
proposed location began to complain about who the proposed park could
effect their homes.
In March, the contract was rescinded by
the council at a special called meeting shortly before the sale was
to close under the original contract and additional meetings were
held along with a shooting demonstration at the property this past
Saturday. Sources say that additional work by new city manager Greg
Wood and changes to the contract by city attorney Will Ridley moved
the project back to council consideration.
Crossville city attorney WIll Ridley
explains contract changes.
One change that was made to the
original deal is that the remaining portion of the property along
Albert Frye Road that will only be used for quiet activities such as
air guns, archery and education programs. This will create a buffer
between the shooting park and the closest property beside the
shooting park.
The city had already planned to retain
an area along Albert Frye Road for possible future development and
possible industrial use. The city also retains the portion of the
property previously used as a landfill and other property along the
southern edge of the original property purchased by the city.
Video of full council meeting
The discussion opened at the special
called meeting Tuesday night and Mayor James Mayberry moved to
approve the new contract prepared by city attorney Will Ridley with
the changes. Mayberry's motion received a second from councilman
Scot Shanks.
Mr. Ridley explained about the changes
to the original agreement that restricted the use of the 13.86 acres
in the Northwest corner of the property bordered on the north by
Albert Frye Rd and on the east by private property that includes a
residential cabin.
Ridley said that the property would
revert to the city if funding is not secured by December 31, 2016 and
that funding must be state of federal money.
Other provisions include that the city
council will have the right to appoint two members of the Crossville
Shooting Park, Inc. board and the city will not charge for any
building or other permits required in the development of the project.
Councilman J. H. Graham said he and
some of the property owners in the area of the park had concerns
about the road into the site and the turn off from Peavine road and
felt the road should be brought up to standards of the Crossville
Regional Planning commission. Graham felt there should be a 50 foot
right of way and a 3 lane mouth on the end of the road.
Councilman J. H. Graham talks about Albert Frye Rd.
Mr. Ridley said the road was a county
road and and he didn't feel the city could force the county to make
such improvements.
In order to hear from shooting park
board representative James Wattenbarger the council had to approve a
motion to waive the rules against public comment as council member
Danny Wyatt had a question for him. The discussion included noise
abatement by putting rubber mulch into the walls separating the
shooting stations and while that was more expensive, it would help
with noise. When asked about the road, Wattenbarger said the road to
the Carroll Co. park was smaller and longer then Albert Frye.
Also discussed was night shooting and
Wattenbarger said generally shooting ranges operate to dusk and that
time varies with the calendar. He pointed out in summer that the
time of dusk was later. The facility will not be set up for night
shooting either.
Property owner Harold Stryker suggested
making the entrance to the range come off of Chestnut Hill Road
saying it was a better road and could handle more traffic but no
action was taken on that suggestion.
The vote on the motion to approve the
new contract was unanimous with a comment from Mr. Graham saying that
he was strongly opposed to approving a contract without road
improvements in it but added, I am for the shooting range and I vote
aye.”
After a winter hiatus, the extremely
popular Friday at the Crossroads will start back this Friday April 7
in Historic Downtown Crossville. The theme is Downtown in Bloom.
Numerous downtown businesses and other supporters will be participating in the event with fun, food, games and activities for all ages. Main Street will be closed during the event that starts at 4 PM and continues to 8 PM. There will be vendors and food available along with music and dancing.
Once again a special called meeting has been set to discuss and possibly take action on the proposed Shooting Sports Park on Albert Frye Rd.
The called meeting will be Tuesday at 4:45 PM immediately prior to The already scheduled monthly work session. The topic was also on the work session agenda set for 5 pm and could be on the council's regular April meeting as well.
A shooting demonstration was held Saturday morning on the property proposed to let those living near the site hear how loud the operation might be.
UPDATE: A new sales contract with a proposed closing date of April 10, 2017 has been released and included a restriction on use of property along Albert Frye Rd. That prohibits anything but archery or air guns next to the road. That appears to be the major change to the contract.
The Crossville/Cumberland County
Chamber of Commerce comprehensive analysis of the local workforce in
the 10 county labor market is underway and local residents and
business are being asked to help.
“The project will position our region
to compete in the global economy for the best economic development
opportunities and jobs,” said Brad Allamong, president/CEO of the
Chamber. In the short term this data will assist existing businesses
in finding qualified available. It will also help workforce agencies
match workers with jobs and training programs. Long-term, this
project will provide planning data to prepare the workforce for the
new economy, which requires higher skills.
This study will include a labor supply
survey, to be conducted among working-age people via brief personal
interviews at numerous local sites. “To achieve the greatest level
of success we need the help of individuals in the community,”
explained Allamong. “We ask people to stop and talk to our
surveyors when they are in the area.”
Survey teams will be in various
locations in Cumberland County Thursday April 6 through Saturday
April 8 conducting brief in-person interviews with area residents.
The survey only takes a couple of minutes to complete but gathers
very important information about workers and job skills available in
the region. Names are not collected and survey responses are
anonymous.
Younger and Associates, a Jackson
Tennessee economic development research firm is conducting the study.
For more information about the study or the survey, contact the
Chamber at (931) 484-8444.
One year ago, I started this news blog page and the facebook page Jim Young Reporterin order to continue bringing my extensive news background,knowledge and experience to the local community.
In the first 12 months over 275,000 individual page views have been counted to this blog while Facebook has counted well over half a million impressions of the stories posted and shared there.
Thanks to our readers for their support and continued interest in quality and accurate reporting on news from Crossville and especially coverage of the Crossville city council. We are the only Crossville news outlet consistently sharing video of city council meetings.
Some of the scoops you read here over the last year included the only story published so far on the recent First Amendment lawsuit filed by a local man against Crossville and a former councilman. Blankenship Lawsuit Story
No other local media has yet to interview J.R. Blankenship, the man who brought the suit after he was targeted by Jesse Kerley for distributing "unsigned fliers" under an ordinance later removed by council vote after it was determined that such an ordinance had been declared unconstitutional in 1960.
We were the only news outlet to share video of the theft of signs from a Mockingbird Drive house by city water department manager Jerry Kerley and the only outlet to discover and share video from the Crossville airport that showed Jerry Kerley and his accomplice just before the theft and immediately after driving his truck onto the Crossville airport where the signs were later recovered. Sign Theft Caught on Video Airport Security Video Raises Questions on sign theft
Jim Young Reporter was the first with complete details of the lawsuit filed against Crossville and Jesse Kerley by former interim police chief Rod Shoap, Also, you read here first about the complaint filed against interim city manager Steve Hill by recreation director Tammy French along with the first release of the instant messages and emails that lead to one city employee being fired. Shoap files $200,000 lawsuit against Crossville and councilman Kerley
Jim Young Reporter was the first to share a copy of the security camera video that showed the incident between councilmen Pete Souza and Jesse Kerley in June 2016 following a work session. The incident later resulted in an assault charge filed against Mr. Kerley. That charge was dismissed following a hearing in General Sessions court. Security video of altercation between Souza and Kerley.
Thanks again for reading if you have any questions or news tips, please email us at jimyoungreporter@gmail.com
The April regular city council work
session set for April 4 and 5 PM will discuss several items that the
council has discussed before including once again the proposed
shooting sports park and rehiring previous city retirees.
Additional revisited topics include the
downtown Crossville sidewalk project, a splash pad for Centennial
Park and the solid waste contract.
One new item was requested for
discussion by councilman Danny Wyatt was forming a committee to
examine the possibility of changes to the city's charter. No
information was provided with the request from Mr. Wyatt about what
those possibly changes might be.
Following Saturday's noise
demonstration of firing weapons on the location of the proposed
shooting sports park for residents who live near the property,
council will discuss the sound issue. As it stands now, the shooting
park project is dead until either council reverses its decision to
rescind the sales agreement with the Crossville Shooting Park, Inc.
group that will operate the park or a new location and new grant is
secured for the project.
Albert Frye Rd. house on right. The edge of the proposed
shooting spots park property is trees on the left.
Albert Frye Rd. in front of city property. The city is keeping
40 acres on the right for future development and the
shooting park will be behind that.
This will be the third time council has
considered the repercussions and costs of rehiring former city
employees who took an early buyout two years ago but want to return
to work for the city. With the hiring back of former Crossville
police Chief David Beaty, the city discovered such employees must be
returned to the much more expensive state retirement program that the
city left because of those high costs. Council has been discussing a
policy that would allow a city manager to hire such an employee if
they felt such an employee was necessary. In addition, council is
looking at a way to offset the additional expense and how to look at
the 6 month salary bonus those employees received.
The city manager will update the
council on the downtown sidewalk project. The city expects to have
the final permit from Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
in a matter of days. Also council will discuss the replacement of
traffic signals at the bottom of Water Tank Hill.
Council has discussed the upcoming
action necessary on the city's solid waste collection contract and a
decision is needed soon of the contract will automatically renew.
Part of the discussion has been over the differentiation between
residential and commercial properties that has caused some issues.
Also, collection of leaves and brush has been another discussion
council is considering.
The city is continuing to pursue the
purchase of a jet fuel truck for the Crossville Memorial Airport.
The city is seeking a grant to pay for 75 percent of the cost leaving
the city to pay $8750 to acquire the $35,000 used truck.
Council will also discuss four
appointments to the Industrial Development Board as the terms of the
four members appointed by the council are expiring.
