City Hires New Animal Shelter Employee

September 10, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Animal Shelter has a new employee.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the aldermen voted to hire Emmaly Bennett as a full time employee to replace James Wilkerson who recently resigned to take another job.

Bennett comes to the shelter from the DeKalb Animal Clinic where she has been employed.

“Last Thursday I went to the DeKalb Animal Coalition meeting and there were 134 applicants who had applied for this job. The director, Megan Moore and the Coalition narrowed the applicants down to three and the recommendation they have given to the Council is Emmaly Bennett,” said Mayor Josh Miller.

The city funds two full time positions at the shelter held by Bennett and Director Moore. Another part time position, held by Laura Parsley is funded by the Coalition.

In other business the city’s building codes inspector Lewis Bryant addressed the mayor and aldermen asking that they consider establishing fees for a plans review of any commercial development before building permits are issued. Such fees would be separate from the standard building permit fees.

Bryant said other cities in the Upper Cumberland including Algood and Cookeville require a plans review fee and Smithville should too as part of the city’s planning process.

“I recommend instituting some kind of plans review fee. The idea is to make sure a building is built according to code and done properly and to eliminate any problems or headaches before the building is already constructed,” said Bryant.

“In the building code book part of the process is for a developer or contractor of commercial projects to submit those documents with the application for a commercial building permit and they are to get reviewed to make sure they comply with the code requirements before a permit is issued,” Bryant continued.

According to Bryant, a plans review fee would only be required for commercial development including churches and schools but would not apply to residential construction.

Plans for some commercial developments can also be quite detailed and complex requiring a lot of time and effort to ensure their compliance which is another reason for implementing the fee.

“Whether it be a gymnastics building, restaurants, or any commercial project, I have to review the plans and after I do the inspections, I need those plans to look at to make sure the contractor is building according to the way the plans were drawn and engineered. It takes a lot of work and several hours to review some of those plans to make sure they meet the code requirements but it also helps the contractor or owner of the property by having a review process to catch any potential problems on the front end. If there is no plans review process and they get the building framed up and something doesn’t meet the code and hasn’t been done right there would be a lot more costs involved to fix it,” added Bryant.

Fees for building permits are based on square footage, and Bryant said new fees for a plans review could be half the cost of a building permit or whatever the city chooses.

The aldermen took no action Monday night.

The city has taken the next step in the process toward qualifying for a Multi Modal Access Grant.

This program is a 95/5% match for construction of up to $1 million for proposed sidewalk projects on East Broad and South Congress Boulevard.

“We sent a letter of intent into the state for a Multi Modal Access Grant and they have come back and asked for a full application. We have to get that submitted by October 15,” said Mayor Miller.

September 10, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

For several years the DeKalb County School District has maintained a closed door policy to any students from other counties wishing to enroll in either of the five schools here except for those whose parents are employed by the school system

But that closed door policy may soon change.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting, the Board of Education is expected to adopt on second and final reading an amendment to the existing policy to allow non-resident students to apply for admission to DeKalb County Schools subject to approval of the Director of Schools and payment of a $750 per semester tuition per student. The board approved the amendment on first reading in August.

Under the policy amendment out-of-district students with parents who are employees of the system would still be allowed to attend DeKalb County Schools without having to pay the tuition.

Students who transfer to another school district or who become residents of the school system shall be refunded any unused portion of the tuition on a pro-rata basis.

When payment is not made on all or any part of the required tuition for a previous year, the student(s) shall be excluded from future attendance until all prior and current tuition is paid.

The Board of Education will meet Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m. at the Ernest Ray Education Center. A work session will be held prior to the regular meeting at 6 p.m.

The agenda for the regular meeting is as follows:

*Re-organization of the Board, electing a chairman, vice chairman, and assistant secretary.
*Consider and act on 2nd reading of School Board Policy (above)
*Consider and act on Surplus Property
*School updates and or Committee Reports
*Personnel Report from the Director of Schools
*Any other business that may properly come before the Board

The consent agenda is as follows:
*Approval to utilize the electronic check signing and present signatures until update
*Approval of the Contract for Audit of Activity and Cafeteria Funds for the Fiscal Year ending June 30,2019
*Consider and act on 2019-20 21st Century Grant/LEAPs approved funding
*Consider and act on 2019-20 budget amendments to the Federal Programs Consolidated Funding Applications
*Consider and act on DCHS Band trip to Foothills Classic Marching Band Competition, Seymour, TN October 26-27
*Consider and act on a General Purpose budget amendment
*Consider and act on a request from DeKalb Middle School to participate in two (2) day 12 noon) basketball games with Warren County.
*Consider and act on a request from DeKalb West School to attend the Annual Junior Beta State Convention, Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville
*Consider and act on approval of a Northside Elementary School fundraiser request
Consider and act on approval of a DCHS fundraiser request
*Consider and act on DeKalb County School Board members attending the 2019 Leadership Conference and Annual Convention, Gaylord Opryland Resort, November 14-17

September 9, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A Smithville man charged with aggravated statutory rape for having sex with a minor was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Monday, September 9.

Judge Wesley Bray presided.

36 year old Greg Alan Fox of Big Hurricane Road entered a plea to the charge and received a four year sentence suspended to supervised probation and time served. He must register with the state as a sex offender. He was given jail credit of 49 days.

According to the offense, on May 5, 2018 Fox did unlawfully have sex with a 15 year old female and that he is more than 10 years older than the female victim.

The case was investigated by the Sheriff’s Department.

31 year old Toni Michelle Lloyd of Old Bildad Road, Smithville entered a plea to burglary other than a habitation. She received a four year sentence on TDOC probation. Lloyd must make restitution of $1,000 to the victim. She was given jail credit from July 10 to September 9

22 year old Dylan Allen Crook of Alexandria was arrested earlier in the case and charged with the same offense. His case remains pending in court.

Sheriff Ray said that on June 29, Lloyd and Crook broke into a garage on Ferrell Road and stole several items including tools, luggage, emergency vehicle lighting, and a dirt bike stand with a total value of $11,501. They also destroyed ignition switches trying to steal a John Deere 5103 tractor, Polaris Outlaw 90 ATV, Bobcat lawnmower, and a Ranger Crew 1,000 XP UTV. Damage to the ignition switches and to the door frame of the garage where this equipment was stored came to $1,120.

41 year old Kevin Jay Dotson of Lee Braswell Road, Smithville entered a plea to violation of the sex offender registry. He received a two year sentence with 90 days to serve and the balance on supervised probation. He was given jail credit from June 17 to September 9.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 28, 2018 Dotson failed to report to the sex offender registry within the 14 day window for an annual review, which is a violation of the sex offender registry law.

46 year old Johnny Reb Williams entered a plea to assault and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to serve. The term is to run concurrently with a Smith County sentence against him. Williams must make restitution of $331.96 to the victim. He was given jail credit of 41 days

57 year old Carl Euter Martin entered a plea to driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to serve 48 hours with the balance on CPS probation. He was fined $350 and his license will be suspended for one year. Martin must attend DUI school and undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow the recommendations. He will report to jail September 17.

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