Gene-O Shipley will stay on the Soddy Daisy Commission, while also serving District 1 on the County Commission
Actions taken by the Soddy Daisy Commission has made it a little easier for residential developers in the city. On the final reading to amend the zoning ordinance, the requirement to have a preliminary plat approved will no longer be necessary as part of the rezoning process for R-T/Z, Residential Town House Zero Lot Line District. This will make the process of rezoning for all districts the same.
Before Thursday, the city’s planning staff had the authority to subdivide property into two lots without it having to first go to the municipal planning commission. Until now, if property was being divided into more lots than two, state laws required that the request had to go before the Soddy Daisy Planning Commission for a recommendation before commission would approve or disapprove the change.
The state’s position has changed, which will allow Soddy Daisy’s staff to approve subdivisions of up to five lots without the planning commission needing to hear the request and make a recommendation.
Some American Rescue Funds that were received by municipalities have been dedicated to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for utilities. Since Soddy Daisy does not own any utilities, the $1,724,122 that the city received in ARP funds will be dedicated to the Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA ) for work to be done in the city limits of Soddy Daisy.
Commissioner Gene-O Shipley, the city’s representative to the WWTA, told the board that the money can now be used to fix water issues, which will help maintain the roads since the leaking water pipes can also cause roads to crack and shift.
At the commission meeting, Community Volunteer Nate Sandin, who started “Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful” to pick up litter around town, gave the commissioners an update for the next clean-up day that will be at the Big Soddy Creek Gulf on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 9 a.m. until noon. This will be a joint project with Water Ways, which organizes the yearly River Rescue in the Chattanooga area.
He requested for the city to pick up the bags as the volunteers fill them with trash that day. Public Works Director Steve Grant said a city truck will be provided. The groups will photograph all the bags that are filled to document the amount that was found.
Police Chief Mike Sneed told the commissioners that Officer Garrett Bull, the city’s K9 handler, will be changing jobs and leaving the police department. He has worked with K9 Officer Janga, the Belgian Malinois, since the city acquired her seven and a half years ago. He would like to keep the dog and it would be hard for the dog to change owners, he said. Being told that police dogs lose some of their drive at nine years old, Chief Sneed and the council decided it would make more sense to consider Janga as surplus property, give her to Officer Bull and then invest in a younger dog.
The cost to train a K9 handler is $3,500. The cost of a new dog is $8,000, which includes the cost of training both the dog and the handler. Chief Sneed also received approval from the council to create a chaplain program for the police department. A chaplain would not carry a firearm and would sign a waiver so the city will have no liability.
Commissioner Steve Everett said the city has made so many gains and improvements on Soddy Daisy parks, and now he has seen some vandalism. He asked for preventative measures including adding trail cameras to identify those responsible. Public Works Director Grant said there are cameras that have caught two sets of vandals. The cameras film a lot but there are gaps in the areas that they cover.
Longtime Soddy Daisy Commissioner and past mayor Geno-O Shipley was congratulated by each member of the commission for becoming the District 1 representative to the Hamilton County Commission. He was sworn in Thursday and now will be serving in the capacity of both city and county commissioner. Commissioner Shipley said that this had been an eventful day and he views the new job as interesting and as a challenge. After thanking the other commissioners for their support through the years, he said that his goal will be to represent the city and District 1 well, and wants to be a good partner for the whole of Hamilton County.