Some Bowman Road Leaving Soddy Daisy; Commissioner Shipley To Run For County Commission

  • Friday, December 3, 2021
  • Gail Perry

An ordinance was passed on Thursday night on first reading by the Soddy Daisy commissioners that will grant the requested deannexation of certain tracts of property adjacent to Bowman Road. On one side of the road, property is in the Soddy Daisy city limits and the other side is in Hamilton County. In 2013, Soddy Daisy deannexed Bowman Road and afterward considered that it was Hamilton County’s responsibility to maintain it. The citizens who spoke at the public hearing, believed that after surrendering the road, the city should have reduced taxes, since a service was taken away.

Instead, taxes were raised for an unrelated issue, leading to the request for the property to leave the city. The commission followed City Attorney Sam Elliott’s recommendation to specify Dec. 31, 2022 as the effective date for the deannexation to take effect. The measure will require a second reading.

 

Also at the meeting, Commissioner Gene Shipley announced that he will be running for the Hamilton County Commission seat for District 1. He said that he also will continue to serve on the Soddy Daisy Commission.

 

On the second and final reading Soddy Daisy reduced the distance required from schools, churches and a place of public gathering such as a park from 500 feet to 250 feet from a business that sells alcoholic beverages. At a public meeting held earlier, no residents spoke for or against the change.

 

The procedural manual for police was deemed to be outdated and Thursday night the commissioners adopted changes to bring it up to current standards with the addition of de-escalation practices.

 

A new classification and pay plan for city employees for fiscal year 2021-2022 was also adopted. City Manager Burt Johnson told the commissioners that two new positions have been added - a full-time dispatcher and an additional position in the public works department.

 

Jim Stewart, one of the community volunteers working to make improvements in the city, gave an update on his efforts to create a Soddy Daisy Tree Board. UTC had carried out a tree canopy assessment for the city and it will be repeated in several years to measure the success of efforts to protect trees. This study shows that Soddy Daisy is 46 percent forest, 33 percent developed, 14 percent agricultural/grassland and seven percent water.

 

He said that Ivy Academy administrators are excited to partner with the new board, and discussions are also taking place with other nonprofit, volunteer partners - Kelcurt Foundation and Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful. Plans have been made with the Chattanooga Tree Commission to offer four citizen forestry classes in February. And, Gene Hyde, retired forester for the city of Chattanooga, has visited three city parks and provided recommendations for tree planting and invasive species removal. Work is on-going for creating a charter for the Tree Board. Commissioner Gene Shipley recommended that actions of the board not hinder developers or private property. That will be an issue up for discussion, said Mr. Stewart.

 

Several residents of Pine Street made a return visit to the commission meeting to press for a solution to flooding problems they have experienced after a new Dollar General was built where Pine meets Dayton Pike. During periods of heavy rain, these residents have experienced water gathering on their property that was not a problem before the building was constructed, it was stated. The city relies on engineers that are hired by developers to create stormwater plans. The goal was to keep Dollar General’s water on their own property. The plan, however, did not work, the commission was told. A retention pond was built to contain excess water and an overflow pipe was installed that emptied onto Pine Street, which has no infrastructure to handle extra water so it has ended up in residents’ yards.

 

After requests for help were made at previous meetings, the city asked the developers to remediate the problem. Public Works Director Steve Grant told the residents that it is too soon to tell if the remediation methods are effective. That will only be known after an unusually heavy rain event. The work done was bonded and the city will have to see if the plan works before giving the money back, said Mr. Grant.

 

City Manager Johnson received approval from the board to give city employees a Christmas bonus of $75, as has been done in the past.

 

Mayor Rick Nunley announced the Soddy Daisy Love Run that will take place this Saturday at 11 a.m. This yearly motorcycle ride and auction will be held by the Soddy Daisy Volunteer Fire Department to raise money for “Christmas for Kids.”

 

 

 

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