Patty and George Wright with Commissioner Gene-o Shipley
The city commissioners of Soddy Daisy on Thursday night discussed the zoning ordinance regarding permitted uses and decided to return the matter to the planning commission with a suggested change of language. At their last meeting, additional criteria were added to the code that regulates the placement of outdoor storage facilities. That language from the planning commission included a condition that if a new outdoor storage facility is within three miles of another like storage facility which is less than 80 percent full, and both are in a commercial zone, the new one could be built.
Commissioner Mark Penney recommended removing the 80 percent/three-mile rule. Eliminating it would help limit the number of storage lots allowed. "We do not want storage yards to fill up the city," said Commissioner Gene-o Shipley. Commissioner Mark Penney, who is also on the planning commission, said an over-abundance of the storage areas could take up property that would be valuable for commercial buildings. The ordinance will be sent back to the planning commission with a request to revise the wording. The commission will vote on the ordinance once the planning commission reviews and makes any changes. The planning commission is appointed and can make recommendations and advise but the commissioners, an elected board, can accept that recommendation or not, noted Mayor Everett.
The last time that Soddy Daisy’s personnel policy was revised was Dec. 3, 2009, and it was overdue for an overhaul, said City Manager Burt Johnson. Changes being made now include adding several policies and adding three floating holidays, as well as the policy for retirement ages for first responders. Commissioners will still have the ability to make alterations to the policy. Another change being talked about is adding sick days for employees.
An amendment was approved for the city’s 2023-2024 budget due to unknown expenses when the budget was made. Some of the changes are because of having to purchase a chassis for a truck and the expense of hiring SRO’s and vehicles for them. A resurfacing project was delayed and ended up being billed after the beginning of the next fiscal year, and a new concession stand was built for the ball parks.
Fire Chief Dusty Morgan told the commissioners that an agreement with a company to paint the city’s ladder truck had been made in August. It still has not been done and no time has been given to the city. The chief received permission from the commissioners to move forward with the second lowest bid that the city had received.
City Manager Johnson announced that the groundbreaking for the Kelcurt Foundation Farms will break ground for Minerva’s Meadow Community Garden on Monday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m. The location of the garden is on the old Soddy Daisy High School property at 10848 Dayton Pike. The foundation has a five-year land lease agreement with the city for the garden. This is one way that Kelcurt is addressing its food security programs. Another way is with hoop houses built this past summer in cooperation with private land owners. Some of the food produced there was donated to the local food bank. A grant from the KFC Foundation provided the necessary funding to begin phase one of this new garden.
A special presentation was made to honor George Wright who grew up in Soddy Daisy and graduated from Soddy Daisy High School. He became a general contractor and his company George Wright Construction has built many houses, commercial buildings, subdivisions and municipal buildings in Soddy Daisy. It has also sponsored many causes in the city. Nov. 16, 2023 was declared to be George Wright day in Soddy Daisy. Mr. Wright, along with his wife Patty, was also asked to be the grand Marshall of the Soddy Daisy Christmas parade this year.
The Soddy Daisy Commission meetings scheduled for Dec. 21 and Jan. 4 have been cancelled because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.