Mayor Seeks New Benefit for City Employees

March 13, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Smithville Mayor Josh Miller wants the city to offer a new benefit to employees.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, Mayor Miller proposed providing a long-term disability insurance policy for city employees. Such a policy protects an employee from loss of income in the event that he or she is unable to work due to illness, injury, or accident for a long period of time.

“Our city employees do not have anything with long term disability. If they get hurt on the job workers comp will cover them but if they get hurt off the job and run out of sick time or vacation time they are not getting a check,” said Mayor Miller.

“There is a 30 day, a 60 day, and a 90 day option here. If we did the 60 day option where if you got hurt it would pick up after 60 days and it would cover 60% of your income. That would cost the city almost $8,500 a year (total),” said Mayor Miller.

“I am not going to ask for a motion tonight but it is something I want you to look at. I don’t know if you want to do it before our new budget but definitely for our new budget. I think If you take care of your employees then they will take care of you. I think this is just another perk for working for the City of Smithville.,” Mayor Miller added.

March 12, 2019
By:

Years of research tell us that even when we think teens aren’t listening to us, that they really are. Parents are their child’s first teacher and have the greatest influence on their physical, emotional, and sexual development. But, how do you grow a meaningful relationship with your teen? Join us to learn how! We’re starting a new series, called “Girl Talk, TOO” on….

April 4, 11, and 25 in the auditorium at the DeKalb County Complex.

 During this multi-week program, teen girls ages 12 – 16, will join their mother, or other trusted female adult, to learn about their changing bodies, behaviors, and beliefs. Fun and engaging activities will help grow relationships, setting a strong foundation for healthy and trusted communication so that teen girls will grow into women who are able to have healthy relationships. A light meal will be provided each night of the class.

The “Girl Talk, Too” classes are sponsored by UT DeKalb County Extension Service in cooperation with the DeKalb County Health Department and the DeKalb County Coordinator of School Health. The classes will be held on Thursday from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Instructors include UT Extension Agent Dr. April Martin, Coordinator of School Health Elise Driver, Nurse Practitioner Dr. Gianna Owens, and Health Educator Megan Kinslow. Mothers and teens need to attend all sessions together. The class is limited to 11 adult/ youth pairs and pre-registration is required. Please call 615-597-4945 to pre-register.

March 12, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville is embarking on a plan to eventually build new sidewalks and improve pedestrian crossings but it will need some financial help to make it happen.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, Mayor Josh Miller asked the aldermen to take the first step in the process by authorizing an application for a $75,000  Community Transportation Planning Grant through the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The program is a 90/10 match grant that facilitates a study to create a plan for specific projects. Mayor Miller said he would like to build sidewalks on East Broad Street and South Congress Boulevard and to add and improve sidewalks and pedestrian crossings in the downtown area.

The city is hoping to use funds from a health department grant to cover the 10% match which would be $7,500.

Should the grant be approved, the city would then take the next step in the process by seeking a federally funded TDOT Transportation Alternatives grant to cover construction costs for the specified downtown projects up to $1 million. This is an 80/20 match grant and all engineering and design work would have to be completed or funded by the city.

For the proposed sidewalk projects on East Broad and South Congress Boulevard, the city would need to apply for a Multi Modal Access Grant. This program is a 95/5 match for construction up to $1 million.

Mayor Miller said the city needs these improvements but they won’t come overnight. “I need to get the study done and plans drawn so that hopefully by fall we can apply for the grants including the Multi Modal Grant.”

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