Soddy Daisy Distinguished Young Woman Paige Bureau is shown with her mother, Julie Kilpatrick
photo by Gail Perry
At the Soddy Daisy Commission meeting on April 14, a plan was discussed for cleaning up the city, and, as a result of that dialogue, a procedure has been put in place to clean up the town when citizens will not do it voluntarily, City Manager Arnold Stulce said.
He said a workable solution was created jointly by the city judge, the city attorney and the police department.
A complaint form is now available which specifies the date and has check boxes for city code violations. Mr. Stulce said these codes have been on the books for years, but with uneven enforcement, abuse of them has become a problem. It is not fair to the citizens that maintain their property to live beside those that do not, he said.
The new procedure to deal with these problem properties is for the complaint form to be completed, which can be done anonymously. It will then go the police department which will issue a city warrant and assign a complaint number. This will require a hearing before the city judge. The maximum fine that the city court can issue is $50; however, a separate fine can be issued for each day the violation persists. Mr. Stulce added that anyone who receives a citation will be given ample time to correct the problem before going in front of the judge. Every case will be documented and tracked. It will be up to the discretion of the judge to decide how to deal with each case. This procedure will put everybody on the same page, he said.
Soddy Daisy has received a significant award from the Tennessee Historical Commission, the board was told. Poe’s Tavern is a replica of the original building from 1817 that functioned as the first Hamilton County courthouse as well as a way-station for the Trail of Tears and as a hospital during the Civil War. The recognition has been given for the building’s contribution to preservation issues in Tennessee, and was bestowed partially due to the fact that it was built using techniques from the second decade of the nineteenth century. City Attorney Sam Elliott will make a presentation of the certificate from the Historical Commission at the first commission meeting in June for those who are interested.
The board of commissioners voted to accept a bid for protective clothing for the fire department at a cost of $17,324. Twelve sets will be bought for this amount which was a budgeted expense. Four more will be paid for with money saved this year from the capital budget.
Approval was also given for the police department to purchase 15 new radar units for $13,290. This amount will be reimbursed to the city by the Governors Highway Safety Office.
Mr. Stulce announced that a budget workshop is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. It is planned that a preliminary budget will be ready for the first reading at the May 16 commission meeting.
Mayor Janice Cagle gave recognition to Paige Bureau who has recently been named the Soddy Daisy Distinguished Young Woman (formerly Junior Miss). She will represent the city at the state level in July at a competition which will be held in Cleveland.
gailaperry@comcast.net