County Commission Denies Board of Education Request of $48 Million for New School Construction

February 25, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A change of plans

Fearing that the Board of Education’s latest proposal for a multi pre-K to 8 school construction project was something the county could not afford long term and still be able to fund other future needs, the DeKalb County Commission Monday night followed the budget committee’s recommendation to deny the Board’s request for a minimum of $48,685,000. The move will force the school board to change its plans for new school construction to something that won’t be quite as costly.

Ten commissioners voted to turn down the school board’s request including Dennis Slager, Sabrina Farler, Myron Rhody, Bobby Johnson, Jenny Trapp, Anita Puckett, Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, Beth Pafford, and Bruce Malone. Two commissioners, Scott Little and Janice Fish Stewart voted against following the budget committee’s recommendation. Two other commissioners, Julie Young and Matt Adcock were absent.

Prior to the vote, County Mayor Tim Stribling asked Dennis Slager of the budget committee to give a report to the commission on the recommendation.

“The budget committee met Wednesday, February 19 to consider the request by the Board of Education for funding of a minimum of $48,685,000. Steve Bates, the financial advisor was present. After much discussion the committee voted 5 to 0 to not recommend funding and instructed the county mayor to notify the board of education,” said Slager.

Sixth district member Jeff Barnes moved to follow the budget committee’s recommendation and deny the funding request. Slager offered a second to the motion.

Third district commissioner Jenny Trapp said while she would vote to deny the school board’s request, renewed efforts should be made to address immediate and long range school construction needs.

“I will vote to concur with the budget committee’s recommendation but it has not been an easy decision for me. I am committed to funding a new school while also being mindful of the taxpayers. I am disappointed that the conversations continue to happen between the county commission and the board of education but yet no progress is ever made. I personally would like to see a long term plan from the board of education about our immediate and forthcoming building needs and then ask that the budget committee to create a long term financial plan that meets those needs. We are elected to make those tough decisions and as a commissioner, not on the budget committee, a lack of information presented to the rest of the commission has been frustrating. I would ask that the budget committee members be mindful of this as we continue our important work,” said Commissioner Trapp.

“We are going to have to build a school but we have to consider the taxpayers. What we are trying to do now is to hammer out how much (cost), how long (time table) and what kind of school (to build). The school (plan) that was presented was to make (expand) Northside for 650 students and about 700 students (capacity) for the other two new schools proposed. What we need is to see what we can do to make Northside and the second school (new school) a little bit larger than what we wanted to handle this crisis because we may soon be busting at the seams. If we made them at 900 (capacity) that would be a heck of a job for a principal and staff but we have to reach some happy medium so that we can divide this up and not break the county and taxpayers,” said Commissioner Jerry Adcock.

In January Director of Schools Patrick Cripps delivered a letter on behalf of the school board to County Mayor Tim Stribling and the County Commission making a request for funding of at least a minimum of $48,685,000 to build 2 Pre K-8 schools and to make renovations to Northside Elementary converting it a Pre K-8. “ We are seeking your approval of funding to proceed with land purchase and the school building project,” said Cripps in the letter.

During the January regular monthly meeting, the County Commission voted unanimously to send a letter to the Board asking for more details on their latest proposal before granting a request for funding.

Steve Bates, the county’s financial advisor, told the budget committee last Wednesday that while the county could issue bonds of $55 million to cover the school board’s request the annual debt payment to the county would be $3 million a year for up to 25 years and new revenue would be needed to fund it. Such a long term obligation would also hamper the county’s efforts to fund other needed projects in the coming years, such as perhaps another new school or jail.

“If you do $55 million at $3 million a year you’re looking at a minimum of a 60 cent property tax increase,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling during the budget committee meeting.

When asked about a possible wheel tax to help fund it, Stribling said last week that a $50 wheel tax would only generate about one million dollars a year and the property tax rate would still need to be raised by probably 40 cents.

The county commission could take action on its own to implement a wheel tax but passage requires at least a two thirds vote (10 out of 14) in support on two separate readings at least a month apart. Residents opposed to a wheel tax could mount a petition drive between the first and second readings to force a public referendum on the question.

Even if the county were to act now on tax increases, Bates said last week that sufficient funding would not be in place for a school project until at least next spring.

“We can’t issue bonds right now, meet cash flow requirements, and take on that kind of debt right now. You don’t have the revenue in place and even if you adopted a revenue source now it probably won’t hit until next March anyway when taxes come in. Even with a wheel tax, February, March, and April are the biggest months for license registration and renewals so you are months behind even if we start now,” Bates continued.

“What is the long range vision is what I would ask the committee on what you want to do and how you want to get there in order to maintain a low tax rate and cash balances. I don’t care what you build. My job is to help you do it at the lowest cost and tax rate but $55 million will strap the county down for a long time because you have to worry about what comes after in 10 years if you need a jail. What happens if you need another school? That is where the long range planning will have to come in. You have to address how much revenue are you willing to raise and are you going to be okay with that for the next 25 years because if anything comes after that then its only to the extent you have paid off some debt that you have any debt capacity left,” said Bates

Should the county choose to fund a less expensive school construction plan, Bates said the payment schedule would be the same but for a shorter and more manageable term.

“I think the revenue stream that is required to keep you where you need to be financially will stay the same. If you do a $30 million bond issue the payment will still be $3 million to help you get to where you need to be but you can do it for 10 years rather than 25 years and pave the way for something else in 9 to 11 years and whether we take some out of the local purpose fund plus a wheel tax and property tax all that can be hashed out later. In 10 years you can knock it out pretty quickly and do something else but if you stretch it out to 25 years it ties you down a long time,” added Bates.

“In DeKalb County you have a debt management policy that says you will keep debt at 9% of assessed value which means about $42 million and debt per capita at $2,200. If you issue $55 million debt per capita it is probably going to be over $3,000 and 12% of assessed value which means you will have to amend your debt management policy,” said Bates.

“This county has been good over the years in managing debt . There have been people prior to this commission and budget committee who have managed debt well in the county and I think it is our duty to do that going forward,” said County Mayor Stribling during last Wednesday’s budget committee meeting.

February 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A Smithville man who pulled a handgun and fired six rounds into his victim’s truck during an argument is facing charges of reckless endangerment, vandalism over $1,000, and failure to appear in court.

23 year old Jeffery William Rigsby of 732 Gentry Avenue is under a $19,500 bond and he will be in court on the charges March 5.

Smithville Police were called to 620 Highland Street on February 16 due to a shooting. Upon arrival officers discovered that Rigsby and another person had gotten into an argument and that Rigsby had fired six rounds from a 9 millimeter handgun into the victim’s truck causing damage to the driver’s side door, front fender, headlight, tire, and components to the engine. There were apparently no injuries. A computer check with central dispatch revealed that Rigsby failed to appear in court on February 6 for a theft charge.

A 63 year old man was arrested twice within eleven days this month by Smithville Police for public intoxication.

Johnny Wayne Trapp of 8264 Holmes Creek Road was first taken into custody on February 2 after police were called to the BP Station on West Broad Street where a man had reportedly fallen. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with the man, Trapp who smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.

Eleven days later on February 13 police were summoned to Food Lion where they found Trapp asleep on a bench by the front door. Trapp had also spilled cereal all over the bench and the floor. The officer awoke Trapp, who smelled of alcohol and he was unsteady on his feet. Trapp’s court date for the second offense is February 27.

Michael Andrew Snyders of 739 West Main Street was cited for simple possession on February 3. After being arrested on a DeKalb County warrant, Snyders was found to have in his front right coin pocket 3 blue bar pills believed to be Xanax for which he couldn’t provide a prescription. His court date is February 27.

38 year old David Allen Cobb Jr. of 857 Luttrell Avenue was cited on February 5 for theft of services. Police learned that Cobb had removed the front portion of his electric meter and installed metal pieces to bypass the meter to steal electricity.

35 year old Mateo Perez-Hernandez of Watertown was arrested on February 6 for DUI. Police were called to the Dollar Tree where a vehicle got stuck in the landscaped area near the store. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with the driver, Hernandez who had an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person. Hernandez consented to field sobriety tests but he failed one task and refused to finish the rest.  Hernandez was placed under arrest and a warrant for a blood alcohol content test was obtained. Bond for Hernandez is $2,500.

26 year old Josie Danielle Culwell of 381 Eagle Creek Road was cited for trespassing at Walmart on February 15. Police learned that Culwell was in the Smithville Walmart after being barred from all Walmart stores due to a previous shoplifting offense at Cookeville Walmart. Her court date is March 5.

Two days later on February 17, Culwell was cited for driving on a suspended license, violation of a traffic control device/signal, and three counts of simple possession. Police spotted Culwell running a stop sign at Hayes Street and Morgan Drive and conducted a traffic stop. A computer check through central dispatch revealed that Culwell’s license were suspended for failure to make a court appearance in October 2019. The officer received consent to search Culwell’s vehicle and he found 2 round green pills believed to be Diazepam, 1 round blue pill thought to be Alprazolam, a syringe loaded with 6 milliliters of a brownish substance, and a small baggie with 2 clear crystal rocks that weighed approximately .02 ounces which tested positive for Methamphetamine. She will appear in General Sessions Court March 12.

27 year old Chad Stephen Taylor of 145 Cleveland Way was cited on February 15 for trespassing and theft of property. Police learned that Taylor, who had been barred from Walmart in October, was back in the store and had in his pockets merchandise belonging to the store that he had not purchased. His court date is March 12.

February 24, 2020
By:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District has received approval to return Center Hill Lake to normal operations, which means that lake levels will be on the rise for the upcoming recreation season.

The Nashville District has operated Center Hill Lake since 2008 within a targeted pool elevation between 618 and 630 feet as an interim risk reduction measure during the dam safety rehabilitation project. A return to normal operations means the summer pool elevation will be managed between 640 and 648 feet and the winter pool between 625 and 630 feet.

Project Manager Jill Kelley said repair actions involved three major construction contracts. The first project involved a significant foundation grouting effort at the main dam embankment and left rim. The Corps then installed a concrete barrier as deep as 307 feet into the foundation to stop seepage. The project is culminating with the soon to be completed roller compacted concrete berm at the saddle dam to reduce risk of foundation failure and potential back-cutting of the saddle dam.

“Returning to normal operations will give the Nashville District the ability to manage the additional water within the reservoir to best balance all Congressionally-authorized project purposes and support downstream water management operating objectives,” Kelley said. “Returning to normal operations will allow more of the late winter and spring project inflows to be stored in the reservoir.”

Water supply users downstream will likely see reductions in taste and odor issues, improved water treatment, and reduced treatments costs due to increased flows in the Cumberland River during the summer and fall. These increased flows will improve water quality conditions at the lock and dam projects on the Cumberland River, in particular temperature and dissolved oxygen, and will benefit aquatic life downstream of the reservoir.

Kelley added that operations will reduce off-peak hydropower generation during the spring filling period. Subsequently, the water in storage will be available for hydropower production during peak demand periods later in the year, she said.

Recreation on Center Hill Lake will benefit from higher pool elevations during the peak recreation season. Recreation downstream will also benefit from improved water quality conditions and a more consistent flow pattern.

Efforts to lift the restricted operating criteria were coordinated with the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Water Management, TVA River Operations, Southeastern Power Administration, National Weather Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

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