Residents of Soddy Daisy who are concerned about the amount of trash they see along roads have been attending recent commission meetings and they are taking it upon themselves to help the problem. Mayor Rick Nunley told them that there has been an enforcement issue since much of the litter is thrown out of car windows during the night making it difficult for police to catch them in the act. The city has even looked through garbage bags in an attempt to find addresses, he said.
Much of the debris is litter from fast food restaurants, but old TVs and mattresses have also been seen sitting on the sides of the roads.
A volunteer group has been formed by Nate Sanden, a resident of the city who has lived in Soddy Daisy just one year. One of the first projects that the Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful group helped work on was cleaning up a section of Dayton Pike where they picked up over 1,800 pounds of trash in a two-day period.
Concerns about safety for the volunteers and their liability put a temporary halt to the work they have been doing. The group is in the process of becoming a non-profit organization and in discussions with the city are now ready to resume cleaning up Soddy Daisy. The next scheduled clean-up day is April 17. Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. at Sequoyah Access Road where parking is available at the high school. That day, work will be done to clean up South Access and Lovell Roads. Mr. Sanden said he was aware of another group which was picking up litter recently along Tsati Terrace.
Members from the Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful group and City Manager Burt Johnson have exchanged ideas and discussed how the group and the city can work together. One idea that has emerged is to encourage local businesses to join the mission to clean areas around their buildings and keep it that way. Another is to use the city’s Facebook page to communicate with residents and posting before and after photos. Flyers will be available at the front desk at City Hall with information about how to sign up to help.
Another couple of residents at the commission meeting joined in with other ideas for cleaning up the city. One resident is planning to research trucks outfitted with vacuums to clean ditches. He will also look for grants that may be available for the city to use for purchasing the truck. The commissioners will be glad to listen, said Mayor Nunley. Another speaker suggested placing trash cans at certain fishing spots around the lake. He said he would clean up those areas if there was somewhere to put the trash.
A contract for fire protection services at the Sequoyah Nuclear plant is on-going, said City Manager Burt Johnson, and a new contract is now needed. The mayor was authorized to sign the contract for renewal.
The ceremony to add names to the Wall of Honor at Veterans Park will be held on the first Saturday in May. The wall holds plaques in honor of those who have given service to the country and the community going back to the Civil War. Any veteran, police officer or firefighter from the Soddy Daisy area is eligible, said Vice Mayor Robert Cothran. He also said that the Fourth of July celebration is optimistically being planned. The car show that day will be one of the biggest ever held in Soddy Daisy and he is looking for food vendors.
At the meeting, two ordinances passed on second and final reading. Approval was given to update the occupational safety and health program plan setting rules and regulations and providing for a safety director. The second ordinance that passed amended the zoning ordinance to provide rules to give the board of zoning appeals some guidance when making decisions. This will help the Board of Zoning Appeals in making decisions.