City Seeks CDBG Grant to offer Substance Abuse Recovery Transitional Housing

March 9, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville is seeking a grant to fund a transitional housing program for people in recovery from substance abuse.

The Upper Cumberland Development District will apply for the Community Development Block Grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development on behalf of the city to be administered by the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency if approved.

UCDD and UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley informed the Mayor and Aldermen Monday night during their regular monthly meeting that Smithville has a good chance of getting this grant because of the need.

“When we looked across the 14 county Upper Cumberland region, we assessed that DeKalb County would probably score highest. Unfortunately that is based on percentage of overdoses that DeKalb County has compared to other counties across the state. Sometimes grants come to you because of good things and sometimes grants come because things are not going so good. For whatever reason, DeKalb County had the highest percentage of overdose deaths in 2019 which is the base year they are looking at (for grant eligibility). We feel like DeKalb would be the best among the upper Cumberland counties to apply for this grant. The reason I am coming to you (City of Smithville) first is that for recovery housing opportunities it would probably make sense to put that (transitional housing) inside the city limits. There are not a lot of these grants to be funded. The state only has $1.8 million to go all the way across the state and the maximum grant award can be $750,000 so there will probably only be a couple of awards across the state,” said Farley.

If approved, Farley said the city will partner with UCHRA under terms of the grant program to manage the transitional housing facility to serve from 8-12 people in recovery who would be charged rent to live there.

“In this grant application the city would have to partner with an agency to oversee this recovery housing and that’s where UCHRA would come into that. We run a substance abuse program that we have had for a couple of years where we work with individuals to get them into recovery and once they get out of recovery we try to place them into housing, put them in jobs, and make sure they have all the supports they need to be successful coming back into society. We (UCHRA) would offer to be that partnering agency. There is no grant match required from the city. We (UCHRA) would take care of all costs. It would not cost the City of Smithville anything. UCDD would oversee the grant writing and UCHRA would manage it. Rent would be charged to the residents. We are talking about a facility for 8-12 individuals and they would pay a monthly rate to cover the operation of it,” said Farley.

The location of the facility has not yet been identified

“You could take an existing apartment unit and rehab it. You can do new construction or you can acquire existing property. We would lay out who would be in this housing and how long they would be there and I assume you could put some other stipulations on that as well from the community level. We have done some housing grant programs like this in the past where you (local governments) apply for the funds, get it awarded, oversee the grant contract, and then deed the property over to say the UCDD or UCHRA and from there we take it and maintain it. If you (city) wanted to retain ownership you could do that to where we (UCHRA) would only be overseeing it so that while its under the grant contract we (UCHRA) would manage it as transitional housing and if it ever ceased to be that then it would revert back to the city,” said Farley.

During Monday night’s meeting, the aldermen voted to authorize UCDD to make application for the grant which must be filed by April 29.

“It requires a resolution to apply,” said Farley. “I suggest that we (UCHRA) put together a proposal for you and bring it back at your next city council meeting and then go through all the details and explain exactly what we would propose. If you (city) have stipulations you would also like to impose as well we would be open to hear that and then see where this project goes. The application is due April 29. There are some reporting and public hearing deadlines so we would need to go ahead and start that process as soon as possible,” Farley added.

March 8, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Seventeen persons have been issued qualifying petitions by the DeKalb County Election Commission for municipal elections on Thursday, August 4 in DeKalb County.

(Click links below to view updates on other 2022 races)

13th Judicial District

County Commission and School Board

County Wide Races

City elections will be held in Smithville, Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown.

Persons may now pick up a petition for the municipal elections as well as the state and federal primaries also to be held on Thursday, August 4.

Petitions have been issued to the following persons for August 4, 2022 Municipal Elections:

City of Smithville:
Josh Miller-Mayor (Incumbent) (petition filed)
Beth Chandler-Alderman (Incumbent) (petition filed)
Don Crook-Alderman (petition filed)
Rhonda Tiefenauer-Alderman (petition filed)

City of Alexandria:
Lloyd D. Dyer-Mayor
Jana Beth Tripp-Mayor(petition filed)
Allen Lawson-Alderman

City of Liberty:
Audrey M. Martin-Mayor
Jason Hayes Ray (Incumbent)-Mayor (petition filed)
Darrell W. Johnson-Mayor
William H. Reynolds-Alderman (Incumbent)
Kendra Stanford Alderman
Derek Johnson-Alderman (Incumbent)
Joe D. Bratten-Alderman (Incumbent)
James Ryan Dodd-Alderman
Kevin R. Mullinax-Alderman

City of Dowelltown
Greg Fish-Alderman

Tennessee Republican Primary for State Representative 40th District (August 4th)
Michael Hale- (picked up petition in home county of DeKalb)
Terri Lynn Weaver (Incumbent)- (picked up petition in home county of Smith)

A mayor and two aldermen will be elected in Smithville on Thursday, August 4th. Each term is for four years.

In Alexandria, voters will elect a Mayor to a full four-year term, three Aldermen each to a full four-year term; and two Aldermen to fill unexpired terms.

Liberty voters will elect a Mayor to a full four-year term and five Aldermen each to a four-year term.

In Dowelltown, two Aldermen will be elected each to a full four-year term.

State primary elections will be held on Thursday, August 4 for Governor, U.S. House of Representatives, and Tennessee House of Representatives. General elections will also be held for state judicial offices and applicable county offices.

The qualifying deadline for municipal and state primary elections is Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 12:00 Noon including for Independent candidates and the withdrawal deadline is Thursday, April 14, 2022, at 12:00 Noon

March 8, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Local businessman Glynn Merriman wants to become a member of the County Commission and will be seeking the Republican nomination in the DeKalb County GOP Primary on May 3.

Merriman’s formal announcement is as follows:

“My name is Glynn Merriman and I am seeking election for 5th District County Commissioner on Tuesday, May 3rd. I have been married to Rhonda Merriman for 39 years. We have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. I am a conservative and lifelong resident of DeKalb County; a local small business owner of Glynn’s Auto Sales, an active member of Smithville First Free Will Baptist Church and I am active in my community”.

“I believe that the role as a county commissioner is to listen to the needs of our community members and translate that into reality. If elected, I will serve as the voice for our community; both transparency and honesty are qualities that will represent our district. By listening to your concerns, identifying where issues lie, and problem solving cooperatively with the board of commissioners, I will strive to make continuing progress for DeKalb County. These values and qualities are vital to serving in this role for commissioner. I am prepared to stand up for what is best for our community, county, and our future. I would appreciate your vote and support in the upcoming election on Tuesday, May 3rd,” said Merriman.

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