Not Saying No, Just Not Yet

October 22, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Not saying no, just not yet!

The county commission is still not prepared to authorize the purchase of a new outdoor self-service kiosk at the county clerk’s office using funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act although a kiosk qualifies for the grant program.

During a committee meeting of the whole Thursday night, members of the county commission asked County Mayor Tim Stribling to not include this issue as an agenda item for discussion during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting even though County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss had requested that it be on the agenda.

Members of the commission say the matter should be considered at a later time when a wish list is made of all projects they want to see funded under the ARP Act. There is also a matter of a $5,000 annual fee to keep the kiosk machine maintained. Commissioners want to know if the county will have to come up with that extra money every year or if Poss can pay it from his allotment of earmarked fees meant for specific office needs

During last month’s regular meeting, County Clerk Poss asked the county commission to approve the expenditure of $26,000 from American Rescue Plan ACT funds to purchase a kiosk to be placed on the sidewalk outside his office at the county complex where citizens may renew their standard registration anytime. Although it would not lighten the workload of the office, Poss said the kiosk would be an added convenience to the public. But sensing that members of the commission wanted more time and possibly a workshop to consider it, Poss withdrew his request from the agenda.

“I have asked for your consideration. I think it’s a great thing for the community. If you want more time to look at it I am good with withdrawing it from the agenda. This is for the people. This is for the convenience of the service of what I am trying to give the people,” he said.

Poss recently decided to revisit the issue with the county commission and asked County Mayor Stribling to include it on the agenda for Monday night’s regular monthly meeting. Poss was unable to attend Thursday night’s committee meeting due to a prior commitment.

“I think what this commission needs to decide is whether you want to have it as an agenda item Monday night. It does qualify for American Rescue Plan money,” said Mayor Stribling Thursday night.

Five of the ten county commissioners present for the meeting spoke on the issue but only one expressed outright opposition to the funding request.

“Should we not put that off until we find out what all we need? My feeling about this is if a thousand people use that in a year that’s about 80 a month. That’s going to cost us $5,000 or $5.00 a piece. He (Poss) even said when I asked him if we get two of them (kiosks) can you let a couple of people (employees) go. He said no it will not take any work load off them. Why spend $5,000 a year for something that is not going to ease his work load and its probably not going to get used that much anyway?. The taxpayers are the ones who will pay for it and over a 12 year period that will amount to (equivalent) a one cent tax increase. People say one cent is not much but it adds up over time,” said fifth district commissioner Jerry Adcock.

“I know a concern after the last meeting was where is the $5,000 going to come from every year. I know we discussed that and I thought that was why we were going to do a workshop but there has never been a workshop called or maybe I missed it,” added second district commissioner Myron Rhody.

“I think we need to discuss if he (Poss) is going to be using his funds to cover that $5,000 or will he be asking for additional fees from us,” said second district commissioner Sabrina Farler.

“Or will it cover itself,” Rhody asked.

“This commission (at some point) will come together to discuss the American Rescue Plan. In my opinion that would be a good time for him (Poss) to come. I have asked if this ARP money will pay the annual $5,000 (kiosk maintenance fees) through December 31, 2024. I don’t yet have an answer for that. He (Poss) can come and talk to us about where the $5,000 would come from including possibly his earmarked fees,” said County Mayor Stribling.

“We could make it (Kiosk) part of our list (for ARP funded projects),” said seventh district commissioner Bruce Malone.

“I feel we need to take it off the agenda (for Monday night) until we discuss how all this ARP money is going to be spent. This could be part of the wish list but I don’t think it should be addressed yet because we haven’t dove into what we are going to do,” said fifth district commissioner Anita Puckett.

“I totally agree. That’s not saying I oppose it,” added commissioner Rhody.

Last Tuesday night, the county commission and county mayor met during a workshop with Mark Farley, Executive Director of the Upper Cumberland Development District and Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency on how the county may spend its $3.9 million allocation in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to mitigate the community’s challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under ARP guidelines, the county is allowed to draw down half the money this year for projects or programs occurring after March 3, 2021 when the ARP Act was signed into law.

“The money has to be obligated by December 31, 2024 and completely expended by the end of 2026,” said Farley.

In addition to the county’s allocation, the school district and the municipalities are getting their own share of ARP funding.

“There are really three or four ways to spend this money and those have a lot of flexibility. Money can be spent on things regarding economic or safety aspects affected by COVID-19. In some cases building projects may be allowed that expands distancing. Money can be used to reward essential employees who have worked throughout this period of time when there was a lot of uncertainty. They can be rewarded for their due diligence in coming to work. Funds may be directed to address mental health issues and high rates of suicide or other health care concerns. Money could be put toward benefitting senior citizens and non-profit groups. Broadband along with water and sewer projects could be funded which would be very beneficial to DeKalb County,” he said.

Farley admonished the county mayor and commission to identify priorities and levels of funding each should receive.

“You have a unique opportunity to make a huge impact on the future of DeKalb County with how you spend this money if you are strategic about it. Most communities will be able to put in place two or three different projects that will be talked about 30, 40, 50 years down the road. This is what you need to be thinking about. How do we impact future generations,” said Farley.

October 22, 2021
By:

Although the “Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour” is officially canceled this year due to the pandemic some artists on the tour will be open with their own individual guidelines.

The dates, unless otherwise noted are: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 29, 30, & 31.

The artists that are open are listed as follows:
#4 Susan DeMay (hours 10AM-3PM) (face masks please)
#5 Louis and Christine Colombarini Cosmic Clay (face masks please)
#8 Bare Glass Studio Damon McNaught /Jonathan Griffin
#10 David Sharp Woodcarving Studio (Closed Sunday)
#13 Amy Potter Architectural Ceramics
#14 Kathe Reed-Nelson’s Beads & Maggie Sunsera (face masks please)

Hours are 10am-5pm unless otherwise noted.

If you have ANY questions, PLEASE reach out to the artists themselves so that they may answer any questions that you have. You can find their contact information via the website at www.offthebeatenpathtour.com.

We really missed seeing you all last year. Come see us!

October 22, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Tigers will step outside the region tonight (Friday) to host the Goodpasture Cougars in Smithville. Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

https://www.wjle.com/tiger-talk/

DeKalb County will be hoping to shake off a heartbreaking 24-14 loss to the visiting Upperman Bees last week who claimed the regular season region championship with that victory over the Tigers.

Coach Steve Trapp said while he was disappointed in the loss he is proud of the way his team battled in that game with the Bees.

“We talked to them all week long about what type of football game that was going to be. We knew it would be close and a physical battle. I told our players that the difference in the game would be three or four plays and who could best overcome mistakes. I don’t know which team made the most mistakes but when we made ours it was more toward the end of the game and we didn’t have a chance to recover. For the fans it was a great football game but for us it was a region game and a second loss this season so although we have already qualified for the state play-offs we will have to travel so now its only a matter of whether we will be the third or fourth place team,” said Coach Trapp.

The Tigers enter tonight’s game with an overall record of 5-3 while Goodpasture is 2-4 with wins over the University School of Jackson 29-28 and John Overton 29-12 and losses to Nashville Christian 31-21, Christ Presbyterian Academy 49-10, Battle Ground Academy 52-21, and Davidson Academy 46-28.

Coach Trapp said in some ways the Cougars resemble the Tigers in the style of play.

“If you look at their offense and ours you will see a lot of the same thing. They will run a lot of trips and spread formations. They will come in there with a two by one with a sniffer when they have that fullback up close to the line. There are a lot of the same x’s and o’s that we see on both sides of the ball so its something that is very familiar to us. One thing about that is when we have a team that runs a lot of the same stuff and formations that we do it makes it easier for our scout team through the week unlike a wing-t or something so that has been one of the positives. A negative is we get a lot of film on our opponents but we don’t have a lot on them (Goodpasture) and the few films we do have it seems they have a game plan for a particular week so in the films we have seen they have done something different each week. We will have to keep our focus and attention on how we need to get lined up defensively and the same for offense,” added Coach Trapp.

WJLE’s pre-game shows begin with “Murphy’s Matchups” at 6 p.m. featuring the Guru of Tennessee High School Football Murphy Fair.

“Tiger Talk” begins at 6:30 p.m. featuring DCHS Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger Football Players Ty Webb, Axel Aranda, and John Ellis.

WJLE’s “LIVE” play by play coverage starts at 7 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor and Luke Willoughby.

Region Standings:
Upperman: 7-1 (4-0)
Macon County: 6-2 (3-1)
DeKalb County: 5-3 (2-2)
Stone Memorial: 5-3 (2-2)
Cumberland County: 4-4 (1-3)
Livingston Academy: 0-8 (0-4)

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