Students and teachers were evacuated from DCHS and DeKalb Middle School Tuesday after a fire started in a rooftop air conditioning unit at the high school.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said no one was injured and the students and teachers later returned to class.

“We had an air conditioner unit to catch on fire but the fire was pretty much contained to it,” said Cripps

Aaron Young, a school system maintenance employee, grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the blaze as the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was enroute.

Although the fire was in an AC unit on the high school building, Cripps said both the high school and middle school were evacuated as a precaution.

“Our first priority is to our students and Mr. (Randy) Jennings (DCHS Principal), the teachers, and administration did an excellent job of evacuating the students to make sure they were secure,” he said.

According to Director Cripps, the fire caused minor damage to the school roof and very little smoke penetrated into the building. “After making sure the students and teachers are safe then you have to start looking at your facilities to make sure they are okay. Our maintenance staff, Aaron Young, Earl Jared, and Dillon Hicks, along with Mr. Jennings and myself got up on the roof and checked it out. We discovered that the fire had melted the top membrane of the roof but there was no structural damage or anything of that nature. It was confined a very small section. The fire put out a little bit of smoke in the building but not too much. You could smell the scent of smoke a little but it never filled the building,” he said.

In addition to the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department, the Smithville Police Department, and DeKalb EMS responded.

“I want to thank the fire department, police department, EMS, and the utility companies for their quick response,” added Director Cripps.

DeKalb County voters will be heading to the polls today to nominate Democrats for six county offices and fourteen county commission seats.

Voting at all 15 precincts in the county will be from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.

WJLE will have exclusive LIVE coverage of the local election returns starting at 7 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com. You may also follow the precinct results by clicking a link at www.wjle.com in local news once the polls close.

Voters will make their choices as to who will represent the Democratic party as nominees in the August General Election for the offices of Road Supervisor, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, Sheriff, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, and for the county commission in each of the seven districts. There is no Democratic candidate for Trustee.

The primary will feature two county wide contested races for County Mayor and Circuit Court Clerk. There are four contested county commission district primary races including in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th districts.

The candidates for County Mayor are first term incumbent Tim Stribling, former three term incumbent Mike Foster, and two term incumbent 3rd District County Commissioner Bradley Hendrix. The winner will face Independent candidate Randy Paris in the August 2 County General Election. There is no Republican candidate for County Mayor.

Meanwhile Nicole Wright and Mark Milam are looking to become the party nominee for Circuit Court Clerk, a position Incumbent Katherine Pack, a democrat, has held since 2002. Pack is not seeking re-election to a fifth term. Wright works for Pack in the Circuit Court Clerk office. Milam has served as Constable of the 5th district for over 25 years. The winner of the primary will face Republican Susan Martin in the County General Election on August 2.

Other candidates in the May 1 DeKalb County Democratic Primary and the Republican and Independent opponents in the August 2 DeKalb County General Election are as follows:

COUNTY CLERK:
James L. (Jimmy) Poss—(Incumbent): Unopposed in May and August

SHERIFF:
Michael Agee-Unopposed in May. Agee will face Republican Incumbent Sheriff Patrick Ray on August 2

ROAD SUPERVISOR:
Jimmy Sprague- Unopposed in May. Sprague will face Republican Danny Hale on August 2

REGISTER OF DEEDS:
Jeff McMillen (Incumbent): Unopposed in May and August

TRUSTEE:
Republican Incumbent Sean Driver to be unopposed on August 2

COUNTY COMMISSION-FIRST DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Julie Young (Incumbent)-Unopposed in May
Dennis Slager-Unopposed in May
Republican Tom Chandler to be on the ballot with Slager and Young in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SECOND DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Joe Johnson (Incumbent)
Nora Harvey
Myron Rhody
Republican Sabrina Farler to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-THIRD DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Jack Barton (Incumbent)
Jenny Trapp
Bobby Johnson
Republican Renee Steff to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-FOURTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Jonathan Norris (Incumbent)
Wayne Cantrell (Incumbent)
Dr. Scott Little
Bobby Taylor
Janice Fish-Stewart
Republican Greg Matthews to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-FIFTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Anita Puckett (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Lloyd Emmons Unopposed in May
Republican Incumbent Jerry Adcock and Independent candidate William Rutherford to be on the ballot with Puckett and Emmons in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SIXTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Betty Atnip (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Jeff Barnes (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Republican candidate Matt Adcock to be on the ballot with Atnip and Barnes in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SEVENTH DISTRICT(Two to be nominated in May)
Kevin Robinson (Incumbent)
Larry Summers (Incumbent
Beth Pafford
Republican candidate Bruce Malone to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

Many DeKalb County landowners may see a change in their property assessments this year.

Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell said “Change of Assessment” letters are being sent to those affected.

“Change of assessment letters are going out in May because the assessment on your property, whether it be real property or personal property, has either gone up or down. There has been a change so you will get a “change of assessment” notice,” Cantrell told WJLE.

If you don’t agree with your property assessments, Cantrell said you should not wait until you get your tax bill in the fall to try and do something about it. The time to raise concerns is when the DeKalb County Board of Equalization meets in June. Cantrell will be taking appointments for those appeals starting May 21. The Board of Equalization will meet starting Friday, June 1 from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Assessor of Property Office at the county complex building.

“Remember once the county board has met then you can no longer appeal locally for the 2018 taxes. I think that’s what catches a lot of people by surprise. They get their tax notice October 1 and that’s what really gets their attention if their taxes have gone up. Then they want to appeal it. But by that time the appeal for 2018 has already passed. We’re in the appeal season now,” said Cantrell.

“What is important to remember is that the county board of equalization normally meets the first week in June and if you would like to appeal your assessment now is the time to do that. Beginning May 21 call our office and make an appointment to meet with the county board of equalization to discuss the assessment on your appraisal,” Cantrell continued.

“It doesn’t have to be that you had a change of assessment this spring. Maybe nothing changed from last year but maybe you weren’t pleased with your assessment last year. Anybody can come and see the county board of equalization,” Cantrell added.

The county commission, during last Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, reappointed Russell Watson, Carl Dwayne Webb, Doyle Evans, Jimmy Goad, and Jim Davies to serve on the five member board and Joel Hooker will be an alternate. The commission also adopted a resolution requiring members of the equalization board to attend training in Cookeville on May 16 before they begin meeting in June.

Until 2014, the equalization board was made up of seven members, one from each district of the county. But under state law, there can be no more than five members. According to Tennessee Code Annotated (state law) “The county legislative body of each county shall, at the April session of each even year, from the different sections of the county, elect, for a term of two (2) years, five (5) freeholders and taxpayers who shall constitute a county board of equalization.”

Based on population, the City of Smithville can have one member on the board. Russell Watson has been serving in that position.

According to state law, county equalization boards across the state are to meet each year on June 1 (or the next business day if the 1st falls on Saturday or Sunday). The county board is authorized by law to receive and hear appeals of current year property tax assessments as fixed by the county assessor of property. Generally an assessment must be appealed to the county board of equalization to preserve the taxpayer’s right to further appeal.