News
September 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
After being on the back burner for the last couple of years, a project to build a new Pre-K to 2 elementary school to replace the existing Smithville Elementary School could be about to take center stage again.
(Click link below to view plan)
Prior to Tuesday night’s regular monthly meeting, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps unveiled for the Board of Education in a workshop, a rendering of what a new Smithville Elementary School campus would look like in an updated schematic site plan by Upland Design Group, the architect for the project.
More than two years ago the school board voted to allocate funds from its own budget to purchase 24.5 acres of property on North Congress Boulevard adjacent to Northside Elementary School for construction of a new pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school. The price paid was $18,000 per acre for a total of $441,000. The purchase was made after a favorable core drill assessment of the property and TDOT approval of a traffic plan into the proposed new school off Highway 56 north.
Director of Schools Cripps said one reason for the long delay in the board’s request to proceed with the project has been the dramatic increase in the cost of construction. Over the last two years, the estimated cost of this project has gone from $30 to $46 million. With no sign of costs coming down anytime soon and the need still there and growing, the Board has decided to renew its efforts to build a new school and he (Cripps) will be asking County Mayor Matt Adcock to arrange a meeting between the new county commission and school board to discuss it.
According to Upland Design Group, the proposed new Pre-K to 2 Smithville Elementary School would be 124,207 square feet in size and would be designed to accommodate 800 students with room for future expansion to house up to 300 additional students (1,100) total. The school would be built with 11 classrooms for each grade level of kindergarten, first, and second grade (33 classrooms for 20 students each) along with seven Pre-K classrooms for 20 students each plus four CDC/SPED classrooms as needed. The future expansion would accommodate 15 new classrooms at 20 students each.
In September 2020 the School Board adopted a traffic plan as proposed by T-Square Engineering based in Franklin on how best to get traffic entering the schools off of Highway 56 to reduce congestion.
Under the plan each school (The proposed new Smithville Elementary School and Northside Elementary) would have its own entrance for car traffic off of Highway 56 (North Congress Boulevard) but there would also be a lane connecting the two schools should parents have to pick up and drop off children at both places.
Buses would enter the Northside campus from Smith Road for student pickup/drop off and then would follow a bus (only) lane to the new elementary school for pickup/drop off to be located at the rear of both schools. After making a turnaround at the new school, buses would then exit the same way they entered via the bus lane and then back onto Smith Road.
“It would get the parents that bring their children to school off the road (Highway 56) both at the new school and at Northside. T-Square Engineering says two lanes looping through the campus will get up to 109 cars off of the highway at the new school and we will be adding an extra loop (lane) at Northside which will get up to 90 cars off the road there,” said Director Cripps.
“Each school will have its own car entrance. If you have children at the new school, you will enter below where the Family Medical Center is located but if you have children at both the new school and Northside, we will hook it up where parents will not have to re-enter the highway. We will have a lane connecting the two schools that parents can travel directly from the new school to Northside for a smoother transition. We are looking at adding a third traffic or bypass lane at the new school so that if someone gets in the wrong lane and needs to get out, they can. Buses will drop off at Northside and then route behind Northside to the new school for drop off and then the buses will come back out the same way they entered. There will be no access points where cars and buses will enter at the same area,” Director Cripps added.
No construction or alterations will be needed on Highway 56 to accommodate the school traffic plan according to T-Square Engineering.
If a new school is built, it will be up to the county commission to decide on the funding mechanism for the project.
Dates and Times set for November Election Early Voting (View Sample Ballot Here)
September 14, 2022
By:
The early voting and election day hours for the November election have been set by the DeKalb County Election Commission.
Early voting begins October 19 and runs through November 3 at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville and will be held on one day at the Fairgrounds in Alexandria.
Times for early voting are as follows: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. until Noon.
The early voting date at the Fairgrounds is Thursday, Oct., 27 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m..
“The election commission has again set the times to accommodate various voter schedules and we encourage voters to take advantage of the early voting,” said Administrator of Elections Dennis Stanley.
The hours for voting at the 12 precincts on Election Day are 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Voters will be making their selections for Governor, Congressman and State Representative and voters in the 4th district only will have a candidate for Constable to fill an unexpired term. In addition, voters will be making their choices on four constitutional amendments.
Candidates for Governor are: Republican incumbent Bill Lee, Democratic nominee Jason Brantley Martin and Independents Constance M. Every, John Gentry, Basil Marceaux, Charles Van Morgan, Alfred O’Neil, Deborah Rouse, Michael E. Scantland and Rick Tyler.
Candidates for U.S House of Representatives District 6 are Republican incumbent John Rose and Democratic challenger Randal Cooper.
Candidates for Tennessee House of Representatives District 40 are Republican Michael Hale and Democrat Tom Cook, both from DeKalb County.
The lone candidate for Constable in the 4th District is Republican Lane Ball.
The amendments deal with issues ranging from employment rights to a process for the temporary exercise of power of the governor to forever prohibiting slavery to deleting a section which prohibits ministers from holding a seat in the legislature.
In general terms, Constitutional Amendment #1 would add a new section to article X1 to make it illegal for any person, corporation, association or the State of Tennessee or its political subdivisions to deny or attempt to deny employment to any person because of the person’s membership in, affiliation with, resignation from, or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization.
Constitutional Amendment #2 would add to Article III, Section 12 of the current constitution a process for the temporary exercise of powers and duties of the governor by the Speaker of the Senate (or the Speaker of the House if there is no Speaker of the Senate in office) when the governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Constitutional Amendment #3 would change the language in article I, section 33 of the current constitution with “slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an inmate from working when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime.”
Constitutional Amendment #4 simply deletes article IX, section I of the current constitution which prohibits ministers of the gospel and priests of any denomination from holding a seat in either House of the legislature.
“Voters should note that the Amendments will be placed on the ballot directly after the Governor’s race,” Stanley said. “Amendments are presented as yes or no questions. A “yes” vote is a vote to amend the Constitution and adopt the proposed language in the amendment. A “no” vote is a vote to NOT amend the constitution and keep the current language in the Constitution unchanged,” he added.
For any amendment to pass, it must get more “yes” votes than “no” votes; and the number of “yes” votes must be a majority of the total votes in the gubernatorial election.
The hours for voting at the 12 precincts on Election Day, November 8, are 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.
DeKalb Soil Conservation District Plants Tree in Memory of Longtime Employee Anita Houk
September 13, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Soil Conservation District paid tribute to the late Anita Houk Wednesday morning by planting a Sunset Maple tree in her memory at Green Brook Park.
Family and friends of Mrs. Houk joined in the observance.
Houk was a 17-year office manager of the local Soil Conservation District Office until her retirement. She passed away in July.
“We are planting this tree in honor of her (Anita) because trees represent things that are big, straight, and tall and that is the way her life was. It stood out to me,” said Jimmy Herndon, President of the DeKalb Soil Conservation District Board of Directors prior to the tree planting.
“Anita really loved her job. It was a huge part of her life. She was always cheerful and had a happy attitude,” said Herndon.
“Anita and I attended high school together and I always felt comfortable being around her. She and her husband Bernard were our neighbors in the Blue Springs Community. She and I talked frequently over the years about things other than soil conservation business and in doing so she shared her faith in God and her belief in the power of prayer. We often talked about people who needed our prayers. That’s the way she thought about things. She was genuinely concerned about others and their needs,” added Herndon.
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