The city of Soddy Daisy is following the lead of other towns in Tennessee by amending the city code to reduce the distance requirements for the sale of alcoholic beverages. Currently, an establishment selling alcohol must be 500 feet from a church, a school or a place of public gathering, such as a park. Thursday night, after a public meeting on the matter with no comments either for or against from citizens, the commissioners voted to change the distance to a minimum of 250 feet.
The state of Tennessee has no distance requirements, said City Manager Burt Johnson.
The phone system at city hall was out of service for a couple of weeks in August, prompting the city manager to research phone systems. He told the commissioners that an IT company which consults with the city recommended the same system that his own research determined was best. Currently, all the servers and hardware that the phone system utilizes are physically on site. The commissioners approved the recommendation to use a cloud-based system. The company that will be used will be responsible for maintenance and repairs, said Mr. Johnson. A contract for five years will be required and the cost for that time will be the same as the city currently would pay for the same five-year period.
Mr. Johnson also told the board that city resident and volunteer Jim Stewart has met with him about forming a tree board in Soddy Daisy. He would like to meet with each commissioner for a presentation of his proposal. Gene Hyde, the retired forester for the city of Chattanooga, is assisting Mr. Stewart.
The Soddy Daisy Christmas Parade will take place on Dec. 5, starting at 2 p.m. Christmas in the Park, however, has been cancelled this year, said Commissioner Gene Shipley.
“Everywhere you go, cities and counties have a Veterans Memorial Drive,” said Vice Mayor Robert Cothran. He proposed and the other commissioners approved adding signs from city limits to city limits along Dayton Pike, designating the road as “Veterans Memorial Pike.” This would not officially change the name, but would be an honorary thing, he said.
Public Works Director Steve Grant was the first at the meeting to thank the volunteer group Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful. Cindy and Nate Sanden organized the group this year to help clean up the city after noticing how much litter had accumulated along the streets. Their most recent work was cleaning up in and around Soddy Lake where 17 bags of litter were removed, along with tires, fence posts and old signs. In their individual reports, Mayor Rick Nunley and each commissioner also thanked the group, telling them that the work they have done for the city is impressive.
Typically, Soddy Daisy’s commission meetings around the Christmas and New Year holidays are cancelled, said the mayor. The commissioners’ consensus was to cancel two upcoming meetings. Both the Dec. 16 meeting and the meeting scheduled for Jan. 6, 2022 will not be held.
The next regularly scheduled meeting for Dec. 2 will take place.