Crossville Dragway Signs New Lease--Making Preparations for 2020 Season

Crossville Dragway announces that a five-year lease has been signed between track operator Michael Newcome and property owner Tommy Fitzgerald. 

This agreement allows the local drag strip to continue operation for many years to come. Preparations for the 2020 drag racing season have already begun, with plans to host weekly races and fun events for the whole family to enjoy.

Crossville Dragway Aerial (Courtesy Crossville Dragway)

Michael Newcome and Rick Wetherbee operated the track in 2018 and 2019, but Wetherbee has chosen to pursue other business ventures. Still close friends with his former business partner, Newcome will now have 100 percent control of operations. Newcome and his family are based in Crossville, Tennessee, and have been involved with drag racing for many years. Newcome’s firsthand drag racing experience offers a great benefit to racers and spectators, and his prior experience as track operator allows for a smooth transition into next season.

The racing season will begin in March and last until November, with test and tune every Friday night, and weekly races on Saturday. In addition to weekly bracket racing programs, Crossville Dragway will host a monthly Heads Up race, with outlaw street cars going head to head. There will also be a monthly “Big Money Bracket Race”, offering thousands of dollars to the winners.

Along with the scheduled weekly and monthly races, Crossville Dragway plans to host several special events to draw thousands of people to the drag strip. Included in these plans are guest appearances by stars from the “Street Outlaws” TV show, as well as other special events, such as the Rocky Top Diesel Shootout. The five-year lease agreement allows Newcome to strategically plan the drag strip’s long-term goals, and plan events well in advance.

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In regard to the recent announcement, the Newcome family offers an invitation to all racers and fans to join them when the gates open in March 2020. “We are going to put on some awesome family-friendly drag racing events in 2020, and we invite car enthusiasts of all ages to check out the action”, said Michael Newcome.

Crossville Dragway has a rich history, beginning in 1978, and the track underwent a ground-up renovation in 2016. This enormous investment brought the track to modern standards with a new all-concrete racing surface, up-to-date equipment and many new features to attract racers and fans alike. Since its renovation, Crossville Dragway has proven to be one of the premier drag strips in the Southeast.

Crossville Dragway will remain a family-oriented facility, as the Newcome family will be working at the track to make the 2020 racing season fun for everyone. Crossville Dragway will begin its season in March with Test and Tune sessions and grudge racing, as weather permits. The 2020 racing schedule will be finalized soon. For more information about the new and improved Crossville Dragway, please call 931-335-9837 or check out www.crossvilledragway.com.

Crossville Bondsman files Civil Rights claim against State Investigators and Cumberland Co. Sheriff and deputies.

A Crossville businessman is suing investigators for the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the TBI along with Cumberland County, the Sheriff and several deputies for violation of his Civil Rights over an incident that occurred last year.

Jim Howe Jr., doing business as Big Jim's Bonding filed the suit alleging violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as violations of due process, civil conspiracy, conversion of property and invasion of privacy.

Office of Big Jim's Bail Bonds (Photo by Jim Young)

The lawsuit names as defendants, Ronny Howell and Elizabeth Williams both individually as well as Cumberland County, Sheriff Casey Cox, Jason Elmore, Jon Wirey, and Jeff Slayton, each individually and in their official capacity.

The lawsuit was filed on Mr. Howe's behalf by attorneys Ivy Gardner of Crossville and Robert Brooks of Carthage. Mr. Brooks specializes in Civil Rights actions handling such cases for some 40 years. Mr. Brooks explained that this type of suit can't be filed against the state and that is the reason for filing against the two state employees individually.

According to the suit, Ronny Howell is employed by the State Department of Revenue as an investigator and Elizabeth Williams is a TBI investigator.

The suit alleges that a search warrant was served late in the day of August 29 on the office of Big Jim's Bonding, allegedly over a matter of late payment of taxes due on bonds written. The suit states that Howe had previously made arrangements to have the arrears paid and was working directly with a Cookeville representative of the Department of Revenue to have the tax matters resolved.

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The day before, the warrant was served, defendants Elizabeth Williams and Jeff Slayton questioned Howe about allegations of him writing bonds in exchange for drugs and sex. Howe denied the allegations and knew clients had been questioned about those claims. According to Howe's attorneys, no charges have ever been filed regarding any of those allegations.

The search of Howe's business office took 5 hours and at one point during the search, Howe and his attorney were forced out of the office and locked out of the building. Among the items seized were a bail bond tax return and check completed and ready to mail on Howe's desk along with computers, cell phones, cash, business and financial records. Also seized were personal cell phones of employees and their personal cars were also searched.

A lengthy list of items seized were held for some two months before some of the items were returned. A number of evidence bags were not returned along with some $7,900 cash. Howe's cell phone was broken and there was evidence that the phone had been accessed. Other seized cell phones also had been accessed.

On a recent phone call, Mr. Brooks said that none of the parties involved seemed to be able to say what had happened to the cash.

The suit alleges that Howe has suffered a loss in business and damage to his reputation. An additional loss in business of business is alleged by the sheriff's department changing the phone number in the jail directory for Big Jim's Bonding to the number of one of his competitors. In addition, deputies are alleged to have listed Howe's personal cell number as an office number.

Other damages claimed by the suit include the conversion of property and cash that has not been returned along with physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering. Additional damages claimed include general, special and punitive damages and requesting pre and post-judgment interest, all costs and attorney fees and expenses.

Chilly Halloween Evening and Freeze Warning for Cumberland County Thursday into Friday

A Cold and Blustery Halloween Is On Tap for Middle Tennessee.

After a storm system brings 1 to 2 inches of rainfall tonight, the
system will work off to our northeast by Thursday afternoon. As
the system exits, colder air will begin to spread across the mid
state. Early Thursday morning, temperatures will start out in the
mid 40s far northwest, to the lower to mid 60s Plateau. By late
afternoon, temperatures will fall into the upper 30s to mid 40s.
Making it feel even colder will be the west northwest winds of 10
to 15 mph. This will produce wind chill values of 30 to 35 degrees
during the trick or treating late afternoon and early evening
hours.


If participating in outdoor trick or treating activities, please
dress warmly by wearing layers of clothing, including a hat and
gloves.

Otherwise, overnight lows will reach the upper 20s to lower 30s
area wide by sunrise Friday morning. For that reason, a freeze
watch is currently in effect area wide. The near to just below
freezing overnight low temperatures will continue through the
weekend.

FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CDT
FRIDAY.

* WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 27 expected.

* WHERE...ALL of Middle Tennessee.

* WHEN...From 11 PM this evening to 9 AM CDT Friday.

* IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other
  sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor
  plumbing.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...This Freeze Warning replaces the Freeze
  Watch.
             

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PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent
freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should
be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have
in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-
ground pipes to protect them from freezing.

Crossville Businessman & Drag Racer Takes National Championship and featured in Video Game

Jim Howe Jr., the owner of Big Jims Bail Bonding in Crossville secured the 2019 World Championship in Limited Drag radial with 5 final round appearances with 3 event wins and two runner up finishes, across the country this season.

Howe, a second-generation drag racer, when not running his business he and his family compete all over the United States in Drag Radial Drag racing events. 

Jim's wife Amanda, also a Racer, his son Jimmy, an up and coming racer along with his Father Jim Howe Sr, and Bret Moore of Crossville travel the country campaigning in Limited Drag Radial. These 3000 plus horsepower cars run on a DOT legal street tires and weigh upwards of 3200 lbs.

This season the popular android and IOS based video game Door Slammers 2 added Howe's world-famous HONKY KONG Camaro to its video game alongside racers that are household names, in the popular street outlaws TV show. You can download the car on the game, race it and tune it yourself.

Howe says that never in his life did he think he would get to have one of his cars featured in a video game and is extremely excited about the new partnership with the gaming company and its future. 

"The future is exciting for our sport," says Howe, "TV, video games and social media have been instrumental in building a fan base that's nearly unmatched in all of Motorsports."

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Cumberland Co Receives Grants to Fire Department and South Cumberland Utility District

County Mayor's Notes by Allen Foster

A couple of weeks ago I gave you an update on the broadband grant applications that are being worked on.  I will have more information on those efforts in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and be ready to react if we have more requests for information.

Cumberland Co. Courthouse (Photo by Jim Young)

We have also had great news concerning grants in other areas as well.  The Assistance to Firefighters grant finally came through for our Fire Department.  The grant is for $571,610 and requires a 10% match from the county.  The money will be used to replace our SCBA packs, aka the air packs, used for breathing.  This is great news considering the full amount had been budgeted in case the grant didn’t come through.  The county also received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for South Cumberland Utility District (SCUD) to extend water services to customers in the southern portion of the county.  The grant is for $468,865 with SCUD providing additional funding for the project.  Finally, we were successful in teaming with the City of Crossville in obtaining a $50,000 ThreeStar grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).  This money will be used for branding and creating a cohesive marketing message that will be valuable for tourism as well as retail and industrial development.  Finally, our EMS Department received a grant for additional video laryngoscopes, in the amount of $6,750 from CPRA, Inc.  It should complete the process of adding them to all of our ambulance units.  All told, that is approximately $1.1 million in grants that we just received.

These grants are truly a team effort.  So many are involved I would hate to try and list them all as I would forget someone.  Suffice it to say, it takes county and city employees as well as the public to make these happen.  Thank you to everyone involved.

Finally, I want to mention the work that has been going on at our Animal Shelter.  A little over a year ago, the adoption center was opened.  During the first week of October, the staff was able to get the new intake and quarantine building open.  We have also completed our policies and procedures as well volunteer guidelines.  Check us out at the county website, www.cumberlandcountytn.gov!

The October 21^st meeting of the full County Commission was held with all Commissioners in attendance except Charles Seiber.   Commissioner Seiber was sick and unable to attend.

RESOLUTIONS
The following resolutions were presented to the Board of Commissioners for consideration (resolution sponsor in parenthesis):

RESOLUTION 10-2019-1 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Library $2,997.00 (Lowe).  This resolution was to allow the Art Circle Public Library to accept funds from the State of Tennessee for computer technology.  The matching amount will come from already allocated capital funds.  The resolution was approved 17-0.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-2 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Sheriff’s Department $3,461.00 (Cooper).  This resolution moved funds designated to improve and maintain computer technology at the Sheriff’s Department and was adopted unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-3 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Health Department $3,853.15 (York).  This resolution allocated the last of the tobacco funds for instructional supplies and materials for cessation programs and was approved 17-0.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-4 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, EMS Department $6,750.00 (Hyder).  This resolution approved the funds for the video laryngoscopes mentioned earlier in a unanimous vote.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-5 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, County Clerk $8,550.00 (York).  These funds will be used to scan existing county meeting records into an electronic format making the documents easily searchable.  The amendment was approved 17-0 with the funds coming from the restricted revenue for the County Clerk Office technology.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-6 – Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Bus Driver Incentives, $100,000.00 (Wilson).  This resolution moved funds from the BOE maintenance line item to bus driver incentives.  The resolution was passed unanimously.
         
RESOLUTION 10-2019-7 – Budget Amendment, General Fund, Sheriff’s Department, $109,115.00 (Hyder).  The Sheriff’s Department received a $150,000 grant from the US Department of Justice for sex offender sentencing, monitoring, apprehending, registering and tracking.  It is a 100% federally funding grant with no local match required with the money spent over 3 years.  The resolution was approved 17-0.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-8 – Authorizing Cumberland County Art Circle Public Library & Archives approval to apply for a grant from the State of Tennessee, Department of Library and Archives        (Lowe).  This grant would be for maintenance on the archives building.  The grant is for $100,000 with a required $100,000 match.  The matching funds have already been reserved from Archive &Records Management fees.  The resolution was approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-9 – Authorizing the issuance of interest-bearing General Obligation Capital Outlay notes, series 2019 of Cumberland County in aggregate principal amount of not to exceed Four Hundred Twenty Thousand Five Hundred Twenty-three Dollars ($420,523); making provision for the issuance, sale and a payment of said notes, establishing the terms thereof and the disposition of proceeds therefrom; and providing for the levy of tax for the payment of principal thereof, premium, if any, and interest thereon.  This resolution allocated the final amount of reserve funds for the Crab Orchard building project and was approved 17-0.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-10 – A resolution to accept offer from Lynne and Michael Kapalin to purchase property owned by Cumberland County (Hyder).  The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended an offer of $254.50 plus a $45 advertising fee for the purchase of one parcel.  This will return the property to the tax rolls after it had been removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years.  The resolution was approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-11 – A resolution to accept offer from Lynne and Michael Kapalin to purchase property owned by Cumberland County (Hyder).  The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended an offer of $261.70 plus a $45 advertising fee for the purchase of one parcel.  This will return the property to the tax rolls after it had been removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years.  The resolution was approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-12 – A resolution to accept offer from Kathleen Trevino to purchase property owned by Cumberland County (Hyder).  The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended an offer of $325.70 plus a $45 advertising fee for the purchase of one parcel.  This will return the property to the tax rolls after it had been removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years.  The resolution was approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-13 – Authorizing the Mayor of Cumberland County to approve a proposal with the Tennessee Department of Transportation for State Project No 18008-2227-14 (MacLeod).  This project is a part of the Highway 127N road widening from near Hollow Lane to near Lowe Road.  The resolution was approved 17-0.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-14 – Adopting regulations governing wind energy facilities (MacLeod).  You may recall the wind turbine legislation passed by the General Assembly recently.  Part of that legislation required County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) to provide a model resolution for the process required to apply for wind energy facilities.  This resolution was based off of that CTAS model and was approved unanimously.

RESOLUTION 10-2019-15 – Support for providers applying the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Grant (Foster).  The final resolution of the evening was one in support of all the broadband grants applications that are currently underway.  The resolution in support of the efforts of providers in our area was passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Local option sales tax collections in September came in at $865,871 which is $9,923 above estimated revenue for the second month of the new budget year.  October revenue was approximately 846,000 which is about $16,000 below budget.  Overall, we are approximately $12,000 below the budgeted amount year to date.  Hotel/Motel tax collections are approximately 22% of the $817,283 budget as revised down due to last year’s collection.  So far $181,309 have been collected.  Property taxes are starting to come in and stand at 7.2% of budget.  Prisoner boarding is at 7.6% of budget at $56,823 collected.  EMS collections for the month were $380,500.  This puts year to date collections at $1,002,312 which is $2,313 above budget.

Cumberland Co. Mayor Allen Foster Gives Status Update on Broadband Problems

By Cumberland Co. Mayor Allen Foster

If you are reading this, we likely have something in common – inadequate broadband service.  You are not alone.  In fact, you are likely in the majority of Cumberland Countians.  Inadequate service stretches across all areas of the county including parts of the City of Crossville, Fairfield Glade, and Tansi.  When I took office as your Mayor last year, I began investigating why we have these problems.  I talked to individuals at the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), State and Federal Senators and Representatives, as well as providers including Frontier, Volunteer Electric Cooperative (VEC), Ben Lomand (aka Vol First), Bledsoe Telephone Company (BTC), Charter, Comcast, and Twin Lakes.  I have even talked to the Tennessee Public Utility Commission (PUC) about the issue in our county.

Background
During my research, I discovered we have a couple of problems that are holding us back from better service.  These include our local telephone company (LEC) not making substantial investments in infrastructure to improve service, as well as inaccurate FCC 477 maps that are used to determine eligibility for State and Federal grants.  The Cumberland County FCC 477 maps are flawed and create a barrier to successful provider applications.

Broadband is defined as 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speed.  The FCC 477 maps are created from provider data that is not validated.  In other words, the broadband providers tell the FCC what speed of service they provide and the FCC accepts the data without verifying accuracy.  The maps are also based on census blocks, so if one household in the census block has adequate broadband service, the entire census block is marked as served with that speed.  These factors make the maps here in Cumberland County highly inaccurate.  For instance, the FCC 477 maps indicate that broadband is NOT available to 25,000 of the approximate 59,000 residents in Cumberland County.  In contrast, Microsoft data indicates that 45,000 residents in Cumberland County do NOT use the internet at broadband speeds (https://news.microsoft.com/rural-broadband/).  The Microsoft statistics are based on internal data of actual usage speeds and should be a more reliable indicator of broadband access.  In other words, we have a real problem.

I discussed these problems with the FCC on two occasions.  They recognize there is a problem but have no plan to address it.  I also talked with the TNECD’s Broadband Division about this issue as their grants use this data for eligibility as well.  They informed me they would accept alternate data that proved service did not meet what is indicated in the FCC 477 maps.  That is when I decided to do the online broadband survey you may have heard about that is discussed in more detail below.

The TNECD Broadband Division has also changed the minimum threshold to apply for grants from 10 Mbps download speed to 25 Mbps.  This was extremely important for Cumberland County as it made many more areas in Cumberland County grant eligible.  You may have noticed that no grants were applied for in the previous cycle.  That is the main reason. 

Grants are awarded based on points accumulated on an application.  Now that Cumberland County is eligible to apply for larger areas, we need to score as high as possible in order to receive grant funding.  Additional grant points are awarded for areas with 10 Mbps service or less, and surveys can be used to offset the FCC 477 maps.  Gaining these grant points matters.

With a plan to improve grant eligibility, I wanted to increase provider interest in Cumberland County, so I began to meet with them.  The reaction was a bit guarded at first, as is to be expected.  After several meetings throughout the past year, some providers see the need and want to help.  I have been told that Cumberland County is unique in Tennessee with our type of broadband problem.  During a recent meeting, one of the providers stated that everywhere he goes he hears complaints about broadband.  After learning of our issues, talking with many individuals, and seeing survey responses, he then stated that the people in Cumberland County are fed up.  He gets it.  He understands.

Broadband Survey
I was compelled to conduct my online broadband survey due to the volume of service complaints received by my office and the inaccuracy of the FCC 477 maps.  Participants were instructed to test their speeds online via a webpage and to enter the results on the county website. 

Figure 1 shows the GIS mapped results from the online survey. The data clearly indicates we have a county-wide problem.  My thanks go out to Rob Harrison for his assistance in getting the survey results mapped!

Approximately 1,500 households, a statistically significant number, responded to the online survey.  As mentioned earlier, broadband is defined as 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds.  Of those respondents claiming service provided by Frontier, approximately 99% reported less than 25 Mbps download speed, 85% reported less than 10 Mbps, 52% reported less than 5 Mbps, and 28% reported less than 3 Mbps download speed.  Speed tests rely on many factors and can sometimes be inaccurate, but the data received seemed very consistent among those choosing to respond.

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Grant Applications
It can take $20,000 - $30,000 per mile or more to run fiber optic cable.  That cost is one reason that grant funding is needed.  Without grant funding we will continue to have poor service here in Cumberland County.  One grant application has already been submitted by Ben Lomand to the USDA for a ReConnect grant in the eastern portion of Cumberland County near Crab Orchard.  Ben Lomand worked hard on this grant but it is very competitive. 

Currently, Ben Lomand and BTC are actively working on grant applications for TNECD Broadband Grant funds.  The BTC grant is for the southern portion of Cumberland County in the Vandever/Breckenridge area.  There are up to 836 homes that would be served.  Ben Lomand is working on a grant in the northern portion of Cumberland County on Highway 127.  This grant would serve over 1,500 homes.

Conclusion
People often ask me why I’m not forcing providers to service to their home with broadband, or why their area is not in one of the grant areas.  The truth is, I have no input in the decisions of where the providers wish to extend service.  In fact, my home is not located in any of the grant application areas.  Cumberland County is the fourth largest county by land mass in the state of Tennessee at 681 square miles, and the 23^rd largest by population.  We didn’t get into this situation overnight, and we won’t get out of it overnight, but we finally have providers that are interested in expanding their services here! 

These grants are just the beginning, but we must do all we can to make sure they are awarded.  If the grants are not funded, the work to expand will not get done.  Public support is a large part of the grant points.  Your support matters, so if you received a survey in the mail, fill it out.  If there is a community meeting in your area, be sure to attend.  Let’s work to get this problem fixed!

I am not the only one working on this issue for Cumberland County.  I want to thank Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and State Senator Paul Bailey for working on this issue, as well.  US Senators Marsha Blackburn and Lamar Alexander, and US Congressman John Rose have supported the USDA ReConnect grant application.  It will take everyone to ensure Cumberland County gets the broadband service we deserve.

City Council to consider Next Steps in raising Meadow Park Dam during October meeting

Crossville City Council meets Tuesday October 8 for their regular monthly meeting at Crossville City Hall.

The council will meet as the Audit Committee at 5:15 in room 317, followed by a 5:50 PM public hearing on annexation progress and the regular agenda at 6 PM in the council Chamber. All the meetings are open to the public.

Council will take up the Habitat Conservation Plan after the County Commission voted to end their participation in the program. The council discussed the matter briefly at their work session and must decide if they want to continue the program in the city's jurisdiction or end the program all together.

Also, a decision on moving forward with the permitting required for raising Meadow Park Lake Dam is also under consideration on the October agenda. Greg Davenport with J.R. Wauford & Company gave a presentation on the Raw Water Capacity Master Plan at the most recent work session. The presentation gave an overview of the work the firm has been doing to discuss a path forward including raising the Meadow Park Lake Dam.

Greg Davenport of Wauford Engineers goes over

plans to increase the city's raw water supply

with City Council members at their work session.  

(Photo by Jim Young)

With a moderate growth forecast, the total raw water demand for 2037 will be 8.06 MGD and 10.98 MGD in 2067. With a high growth forecast, the total raw water demand for 2037 will be 9.19 MGD and 12.05 MGD in 2067. The firm has suggested the following improvements:

Phase 1 Raise Meadow Park Lake Dam

             Relocate Meadow Park Lake Raw Water Intake

Completion target 2026

Phase 2 Expand Meadow Park Lake WTP to 7.0 MGD

Completion target 2031

Phase 1 and 2 total estimated cost $39,200,000

Phase 3 (Alt 1) Expand Meadow Park Lake WTP to 12.25 MGD

                         Holiday Hill Lake Raw Water Intake Improvements

                         New Treated Water Distribution Line

                         Demolition of Holiday Hills WTP

Estimated cost $30.8 million

Phase 3 (Alt 2) Construct New 5.5 MGD Holiday Hills WTP

Estimated cost $26.8 million but requires staffing for two water plants.

Phase 3 Completion target 2040

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The with estimated financing costs, according to the engineers, the project is expected to add between $7.55 and $9.54 per month per customer.