Soddy Daisy Sprucing Up The City, City Hall

Soddy Daisy is preparing to spruce up the city hall building and clean up the city. A new codes enforcement person has been designated to crack down on eyesores such as over-grown yards and junk cars. Police Officer Mike Brown has been charged with that responsibility, and has begun by scrutinizing the streets for violations of the city codes. When one is found, Officer Brown will notify the owner of the property and a reasonable time will be allowed to make corrections.

If they are not made, the offender will be cited to court.

 

The commissioners voted to approve a low bid of $13,600 to replace all the carpet in the city hall building. Chairs in the courtroom, which also functions as the council chambers, will either be replaced or re-upholstered. The cost of new furniture is prohibitive, so City Manager Janice Cagle said she is in the process of getting bids to re-upholster the existing chairs. The lowest bid so far for re-upholstering eight large arm chairs and 78 small, armless chairs is $12,300 for the labor and $8,840 for the fabric. More proposals are being sought so the vote was tabled until the next meeting in two weeks.

 

The three-year contract Soddy Daisy has with Waste Connections for garbage pick-up has a clause for renewal at the same price of $7.50 per house per pickup. Commissioner Gene Shipley suggesting putting it out to bid versus letting it automatically renew, hoping that the city might get a better price with other companies competing.

 

Police Chief Philip Hamrick reported that at year end, the police department had received 15,000 calls. The department handles the calls with 29 certified officers. Fire Chief Mike Guffey and his department dealt with 1,439 calls during 2014, including both medical and fire calls. The city has purchased a $15,000 heavy rescue fire truck which is outfitted with medical and extraction equipment that is now in Glendale, Ariz. The truck will be ready for pickup in mid-February. Chief Guffey received permission from the commissioners to send four employees to drive it back to Tennessee. The estimated cost of transporting it that way is estimated to be $4,850.

 

Commissioner Jim Adams clarified actions taken by the commission regarding alcohol sales. The commissioners are not creating ordinances in support of selling alcohol because that was already approved by a referendum. What they are charged with doing is creating ordinances to regulate the business the same way other businesses are controlled. Thursday night a vote approved an ordinance that will put in place a state-authorized fee that can be charged to package stores. This fee is paid to the distributor by the package store, and the distributor then pays the city. Soddy Daisy will start with a three percent fee that will go up to five percent in July 2016. It was said that this fee will be good revenue for the city, as it is over and above the sales tax and is paid monthly.

 

A second application has been made for a certificate of compliance to open a retail package store in the city. Rameshkumar Patel was given approval for his store at 8425 Dayton Pike, which is currently under construction, with a finish date expected to be in around four weeks.

 

A resolution was passed amending classification and a new pay plan for city employees for fiscal year 2014-2015. Recorder Burt Johnson said existing personnel have been reorganized and this resolution reflects those changes.

 

Also approved was a motion by Commissioner Shipley to give up to $2,500 to the group of veterans that have been raising money to locate a military vehicle in the Veterans Park. That is the estimated cost to load, move and unload it. The Soddy Daisy Vietnam Veterans of America were also given approval to hold a car show in the park on the first Saturday in April. Proceeds will be split between the Vietnam Veterans organization and a local church.

 

Awards were given to winners of the Soddy Daisy Christmas Parade. The Soddy Daisy High School Jr. ROTC won the school category, Green Pond Baptist Church won the church category and Alicia’s All-Star Dance won for best entry for an organization. In the business category, Carrie’s Bonding Company won first place and the judge’s choice was Christ Family Church.