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Dwayne Page
Alexandria Mayor and Aldermen May Consider Sales Tax Agreement Extension Thursday Night
Will they, or won’t they?
The Alexandria Mayor and Aldermen are scheduled to meet Thursday night, January 30 at city hall and on the agenda is the “local sales tax” issue.
A decision was expected December 17 by the mayor and aldermen on whether they would extend the town’s local option sales tax agreement with the county through the year 2055 to help support long term debt payment on new school construction as the other three municipalities have done but there was no vote, because there was no meeting due to the lack of a quorum.
This month’s meeting, set for Tuesday, January 28, was also postponed until Thursday night, January 30 at 7 p.m.
Alexandria has not yet publicly signaled whether it will or won’t extend its sales tax agreement. The county’s self-imposed January 1 deadline to hear from Alexandria was extended to February 1, 2025.
Under the existing sales tax agreements with the county, which are set to expire in 12 years on July 16, 2037, the four cities, Smithville, Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown turn over to the county for schools a greater percentage of their local option sales tax collections than they would otherwise be required to do. By law, the municipalities must contribute 50% of their sales tax money to the county for schools but by agreement, since 1968, the towns give basically two thirds of their share and all that sales tax money goes into what is called the Local Purpose Tax Fund for Schools to help fund school operation and debt. Officials say the county must be able to count on that extra sales tax money coming in from the cities over the life of a 30-year bond up to $55 million in order to cover the costs of a new school without having to use or raise property taxes to fund it.
All five county schools have benefitted over the years from this local purpose sales tax fund which has helped support various school construction and renovation projects including at DeKalb West School. In fact the debt has apparently yet to be retired on the Tornado Safe classroom addition project which was completed over 10 years ago. The construction debt on Northside Elementary School was paid off only recently, within the last two or three years.
Meanwhile the Alexandria city meeting agenda for January also includes the following:
*Mayor Beth Tripp opening the meeting
*Roll Call
*Prayer and Pledge
*Approval of previous meeting minutes
*Zoning-second and final reading
*County Mayor Matt Adcock (scheduled to speak)
*Open floor for residents (public comment)
*Local Sales Tax
*Department monthly reports (mayor, fire, police, streets, financial, attorney)
*Unfinished business
*New business- Seay Church, Senior Citizens Center
*Any other business properly submitted by board members
*Adjourn
Car Wash Confrontation Lands One Man In Trouble with Law
A car wash confrontation has landed one man in trouble with the law.
19-year-old Izayah Young of Smithville is charged with aggravated assault, vandalism, and possession of a weapon. His bond is $13,500. According to Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins, officers were called to a report of an altercation January 13 between Young and a victim at the car wash on West Broad Street where Young allegedly busted the driver’s side window of the victim’s car and then pulled up his shirt to expose a gun in his waistband in a move to allegedly intimidate the victim. Young was taken into custody.
38-year-old Justin Murphy of Smithville is charged with violation of an order of protection. He is under a $2,500 bond. Chief Collins said that officers were summoned to Highland Drive on January 11 because of an unwanted person and upon arrival found Murphy, a respondent to an order of protection. The protected person in the order was also there. Murphy was placed under arrest.
32-year-old Sonny Smith of Smithville is charged with domestic assault and interference with an emergency call. His bond is $6,000. Officers were called to Wade Street on January 12 due to a domestic incident in progress and upon arrival they spoke with Smith and the complainant. Chief Collins said police found evidence of an assault and determined Smith to be the primary aggressor. They learned that the complainant had tried to call 911 but Smith disabled use of the phone. Smith was placed in custody.
Jerry Rackley of Smithville is cited for aggravated criminal trespass and will be in court on February 6. Chief Collins said that on January 14 police were called to Village Place due to a possible burglary in progress and upon arrival they found Rackley on the property. Police learned that the house was vacant but that Rackley was living there inside without consent of the owner.
Two people accused of property theft were cited by police on January 15. 43-year-old Eric Fish and 44-year-old Janet Fish of Smithville will make a court appearance on February 6. Chief Collins said that police were summoned to Kwik-N-Ezy and upon arrival learned that Eric and Janet Fish had allegedly electronically deposited their payroll checks in amount of $413 and $ 465 and then cashed the checks at Kwik-N-Ezy.
33-year-old Stephen Babich of Smithville is charged with public intoxication, violation of the open container law, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting arrest. His bond is $10,000 and he will be in court on January 30. Chief Collins said that on January 17 police were called to check out a suspicious vehicle at a business on South Congress Boulevard and upon arrival found Babich in the automobile. According to police, Babich became aggressive, appeared to be impaired, and he refused to cooperate. Officers also spotted an open alcoholic beverage in the center console and a large glass pipe with white residue. When officers told Babich that he was under arrest, he physically pulled away but was subsequently placed in custody.
33-year-old NithunNag Kardi-Giridhar of Nashville is charged with DUI. His bond is $2,500 and he will be in court January 30. Chief Collins said that on January 18 police pulled over a vehicle on East Broad Street for failure to maintain lane of travel. While talking with the driver, Giridhar, the officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol. Gridhar said that he had just come from Midnight Express and had been drinking. Giridhar submitted to but performed poorly on all field sobriety tasks and he was placed in custody.
31-year-old Dalton Moore of Smithville is charged with public intoxication. He is under a $1,500 bond and will be in court on February 6. Chief Collins said that on January 19 police were summoned to South Congress Boulevard due to a suspicious person and upon arrival found Moore who was acting very erratically and showed signs of impairment. He was placed in custody.
49-year-old Anthony Lewis of McMinnville is charged with DUI and cited for driving on roadways laned for traffic. He is under a $5,000 bond and will be in court on February 6. According to Chief Collins, police conducted a traffic stop January 25 on Short Mountain Highway for failing to maintain lane of travel. While speaking with the driver, Lewis, officers noticed he showed signs of impairment. Lewis submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks and said he had been drinking. Lewis was placed in custody.
42-year-old Hollie Michels of Smithville is charged with domestic assault. Her bond is $5,000 bond and she will appear in court on February 6. Chief Collins said that on January 26 police were called to Jennings Lane due to domestic incident in progress and upon arrival they learned that one of the parties had been assaulted and injured. Police determined that Michels had been the primary aggressor. She was placed in custody.
Brandon Donnell Appointed to Fill Third District Vacancy on County Commission
The third district has a new county commissioner.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission appointed Brandon Donnell to succeed Susannah Cripps as a member from the third district. Donnell was sworn into office by County Mayor Matt Adcock after the meeting. He will serve out Cripps’ term which expires August 31, 2026.
Six people had sought the appointment along with Donnell including Johnny Croom, Eden Nokes, Tim Perricone, Stuart Colwell, and Len Dickens.
The appointee had to get at least seven votes from the remaining 13-member commission in order to fill the vacancy. Donnell received 10 votes from the commission.
The names of Croom, Donnell, and Colwell were placed in nomination from the commission and the vote on each was taken in that order. Commissioners were allowed to vote for more than one candidate.
Croom, nominated by Commissioner Tony Luna, received five votes including from Luna, Larry Green, Beth Pafford, Myron Rhody, and Mathias Anderson.
Commissioner Tom Chandler nominated Donnell and his 10 votes came from Chandler, Larry Green, Greg Matthews, Andy Pack, Mathias Anderson, Glynn Merriman, Daniel Cripps, Jeff Barnes, Sabrina Farler, and Tony (Cully) Culwell.
Colwell was nominated by Commissioner Andy Pack and he received votes from Pack, Tony Luna, Larry Green, Myron Rhody, Mathias Anderson, and Tony (Cully) Culwell.
Donnell, a Smithville Police Department Detective, formally introduced himself to the county commission on Thursday night, as did the other five candidates, during a committee of the whole workshop meeting.
“I am a Christian and attend the Smithville First Freewill Baptist Church. I align myself with conservative values. I am a Republican and a lifelong resident of DeKalb County. I graduated high school here in 2005. I currently work at the Smithville Police Department as a detective. I have been with the department for 14 years. Before that I worked at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department for a little over four years. I started working there when I was 19 years old. I have been serving the people of DeKalb County pretty much all of my adult life. My wife is Kaylah. We have been married over 18 years. She is an assistant manager at Wilson Bank & Trust in Smithville. She has worked there over 18 years. I have two children. My son Carson graduated high school last year. He is now a student at Tennessee Tech. My youngest son Collin is an eighth grader at DeKalb Middle School. My whole family lives here. I am going to retire here. I care deeply about this county. I want this county to thrive. I want my kids to graduate here, go off to college and get a good education, come back, start their families here, raise their kids here and be proud of DeKalb County just like I am. I don’t know everything there is to know about all the issues this county is facing but that’s the reason why I would like to serve, to learn more and do more for the betterment of this county,” said Donnell.
The 14-member county commission (two from each district) is made up of nine Republicans, Tom Chandler, Sabrina Farler, Brandon Donnell, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Greg Matthews, Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, Andy Pack, and Mathias Anderson; three Democrats, Jeff Barnes, Beth Pafford, and Myron Rhody; and two Independents, Tony Luna and Daniel Cripps.ere
StormReady! (View Video Here)
StormReady!
The National Weather Service has recognized DeKalb County for earning accreditation as a StormReady community.
Caleb Cravens, Nashville Incident Meteorologist of the NWS presented the county with a plaque in recognition of the accomplishment during Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting.
County Mayor Matt Adcock asked Commission Chairman Pro Temp Jeff Barnes, who is also a 911 Board member, to accept the award.
“I am here to present DeKalb County with an accreditation that we do with the National Weather Service called StormReady,” said Cravens.
“The National Weather Service is a government weather service agency. We fall under the Department of Commerce and NOAA. There are 122 offices across the US that are in charge of forecasting the weather for the US and issuing all of your watches, warnings, and advisories. When you are at home and you hear a tornado warning or a flood warning that is us issuing those,” explained Cravens. “ Our mission is that we provide weather, water, and climate data forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property. We also work with local public officials and local emergency managers toward becoming more prepared for all weather extremes”.
“StormReady is a nationwide program that helps build a weather ready nation essentially focused on preparedness,” Cravens continued. “ It’s a grassroots effort across the US to help communities develop and plan to handle all types of weather from tornadoes to winter storms. Its voluntary. It is not required. Its completely up to each county, emergency managers, communities, and schools to participate. There is a standard set of guidelines, and they are not easy to maintain so being able to receive this accreditation is quite an accomplishment,” he said.
“Across the US there are around 3,500 StormReady communities. Before you can become a StormReady community you must have a 24-hour warning point with someone present at all times that can receive our warnings to alert the public. They also have to agree to promote the importance of public readiness through community outreach; have a formal hazardous weather plan; have multiple ways to receive, monitor, and send weather information; have an emergency operations plan and an emergency operations center; and they must also partner with the National Weather Service for safety and preparedness,” explained Cravens.
“DeKalb County has met all those requirements. We have been working with the county for the past several months to reach the ultimate goal of strengthening our relationship between the National Weather Service and the county itself to better prepare for hazardous weather to protect the community”.
“On behalf of the StormReady Advisory Board, I would like to congratulate DeKalb County for being certified as a StormReady community. The leadership and the progressive measures taken by the DeKalb Emergency Management Agency has really been outstanding through the whole process. They are really dedicated to preparedness and protecting this community. DeKalb EMA has put into place redundant methods of monitoring weather, receiving watches and warnings from the National Weather Service and disseminating severe weather warnings throughout the community. DeKalb EMA has also grown and strengthened its relationships with us through this process helping foster that relationship and that collaborative communication. They have dedicated themselves to participating in educational outreach programs and have written severe weather preparedness plans and conducted severe weather exercises. I want to say a special thank you to your Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker. He played a key role in pushing this forward for the county. I also want to thank your 911 Director Brad Mullinax. He also played a key role. I congratulate you for your willingness and hard work in earning this accreditation,” said Cravens.
Rental Rates Going Up at Seven County Community Centers (View Video Here)
If you want to rent one of the seven community centers in DeKalb County going forward, you’ll have to pay more.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission voted to increase the daily rental rate from $50 to $100 at the Johnson Chapel, Belk, Keltonburg, Blue Springs, Midway, Snow Hill, and Temperance Hall Community Centers. The Cherry Hill Community Center is currently under lease. This does not apply to the rental rates at the county complex.
Community center rentals have declined in recent years and so has the condition of some of the centers. The decision by the county to increase the rate is intended to help recoup costs of utilities and upkeep of the centers.
The county received only $6,500 in rental fees from all seven community centers combined in 2024 (140 rentals) and most of that came from the Snow Hill Community Center, which is rented one day each week on weekends by a church group for worship services.
Commissioners have entertained the possibility of selling the centers but are not sure if they can because most of them were funded under the federal model cities program decades ago. Five of them are also used by the election commission as polling locations.
Before the vote to raise the fee, Commissioner Jeff Barnes asked why do that when there is not a demand for rentals now anyway.
“If some of them are not being rented, people may think they are paying too much at $50. I don’t see how $100 is going to make a big improvement in it,” said Commissioner Barnes.
Commissioner Tom Chandler said the county is losing money on the community centers.
“The big reason for doing this is that we have already spent a great deal of money on these community centers in the last year,” said Commissioner Chandler. “We still have a great deal of money to be spent on these community centers in order to bring them up to just basic repair. Even at $50 it is not even half of the estimated cost and at $100 it is still below the estimated expense that sets in front of us. We have eight community centers. One of them is Cherry Hill which we have leased out and we have seven others. Five of them are used as voting precincts. The elephant in the room is that they (community centers) are old. They are in much need of repair. If it wasn’t for the church that is using Snow Hill, collectively these are not getting very much usage. We probably need to be thinking about getting rid of them. Either leasing them out to someone or selling them. The one that might not have an encumbrance on it is Temperance Hall. The encumbrance on the others is that they were built under a federal program that we are probably way beyond the statute of limitations on needing to have it. I don’t understand why we would not at least try to help ourselves in keeping up the maintenance and repairs of these buildings. The alternative to me is to have five other places to have a voting precinct and try to lease or sell them. We have had lots of complaints about the community centers being in bad shape, not cleaned up, etc. To me this is just a stop gap taking this to $100 to help keep these things up but it’s a losing battle,” said Commissioner Chandler.
County Funds Plans to Relocate Election Commission Office to County Complex
The election commission will soon have a new home.
The county commission, during its regular monthly meeting Monday night, voted to relocate the election commission headquarters from the first floor of the courthouse to the unused office space at the county complex. A budget amendment in the amount of $110,000 was also adopted. The money will be appropriated from the fund balance of the capital projects fund. The commission had previously considered taking the money from the general fund balance but Commissioner Larry Green said capital projects is a better alternative.
“The general fund balance should be used for year to year expenses. This (relocating the election commission office) is not a year to year expense,” said Green.
Bids will be accepted to make proposed election commission office renovations at the new location along with the purchase of new office furniture, and setup of the IT network, etc. It could take months before the move is complete but election officials want to have the headquarters relocated in plenty of time before the start of the 2026 election cycle.
The reasons behind the move of the election commission office to the county complex are to tighten security at the courthouse while providing more office and storage space for the election commission. Even though the county complex has been in operation for 12 years, this particular location, originally intended for use by the county mayor’s office was never finished and remains unused.
This issue was on the agenda in December but it was postponed after some members of the county commission questioned whether the county might be acting too hastily without considering other factors. There was a discussion at one point about possibly relocating the election commission to the vacant arcade room and history room at the county complex. Others suggested making the history room, where the county commission holds monthly workshop meetings, an actual history room which is what the new county Historian Freddy Curtis has suggested.
Since the December meeting, the county commission has discovered that the arcade room and the history room, in particular, are frequently used by senior citizens and other groups.
Jan Thomas, speaking on behalf of the senior citizens Monday night, asked that the history room continue to be used by seniors and others.
“The history room is used every day by the DeKalb County Senior Citizens,” said Thomas.” We play volleyball three days a week and on Tuesdays we have a cardio upper body strengthening drumming class. On Thursdays we have a Tai Chi and yoga class. The age range that we are currently serving is from age 62 to 99. Today we have over 30 people come to play volleyball. In addition to the activities that I mentioned, the following uses of the history room have happened in the last 12 months: weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, receptions, meetings of the DeKalb Telephone Cooperative, and even the county commission has met there on Thursday nights. The DeKalb County Board of Education has held teacher in-services. Our DeKalb County Senior Citizens are very active in supporting our veterans. The history room has also been used from time to time as an auxiliary lunch area where we have fed the band and chorus on Veterans Day,” Thomas explained.
“I understand that Mr. Curtis is wanting to honor the history of DeKalb County,” Thomas continued. “When I spoke before the public works committee on January 16 I had the suggestion of the following: Cannon County many years ago formed a Cannon County Historical Society. From there they were able to purchase display cases in which they held the treasured items from families in Cannon County. It is my personal opinion that Mr. Curtis would benefit greatly if he would allow a DeKalb County Historical Society be formed to support him and that it be looked into that display cases be placed in the hallway where the current county offices are starting near Mr. Poss (County Clerk Office) and Mr. Seber (Register of Deeds Office) and down the direction toward Mr. Sean Driver (Trustee’s Office) and Mr. Shannon Cantrell’s Office (Assessor of Property). If you have ever been to the DeKalb County Fair in Alexandria you know that many families are very comfortable bringing their precious family items because they are locked in display cases,” said Thomas.
The arcade room and history room will not be used by the election commission
Monday night basketball!
Monday night basketball!
The DCHS basketball teams will step outside the district as they travel to McMinnville tonight (Monday, January 27) to take on Warren County. The girls game tips off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. WJLE will have LIVE coverage of both.
DeKalb County will be looking to bounce back from losses at Stone Memorial Friday night, January 24. The Lady Tigers were defeated 70 to 56 and the Tigers fell to the Panthers 70 to 45.
In the girls game, DC trailed 17 to 15 after the 1st period, 31 to 28 at halftime, and 50 to 39 after the 3rd period before losing 70 to 56.
Chloe VanVranken scored 18, Allie Melton 15, Camille Barton 9, Brooklyn Fuson 8, and Avery Agee 6.
The Tigers found themselves behind 20 to 6 after the 1st period of the boys game. DC trailed 49 to 18 by halftime and were behind 74 to 35 after the 3rd period before losing to the Panthers 79 to 45.
Dallas Kirby scored 10, Elliot Barnes 9, Jon Hendrix 6, Seth Fuson, Chase Young, and Logan Duke each with 5, David Wheeler 3, and Jordan Parker 2.
The Lady Tigers drop to 5-17 and the Tigers are 8-14. Both teams are 0-5 in the district.
Lady Tigers Snap Losing Streak
The DeKalb County High School Lady Tigers snapped their losing streak with a 43 to 35 victory at Warren County Monday night but the Tigers’ slide continued with a 56 to 40 loss to the Pioneers.
In the girls game DC trailed 8 to 3 after the 1st period but grabbed a 17 to 10 lead at halftime and a 30 to 24 advantage by the end of the 3rd period before notching a 43 to 35 win.
Jordyn Agee scored 18 followed by Lillie Young with 12, Avery Agee 5, Brooklyn Fuson 4, and Allie Melton and Chloe VanVranken each with 2.
The Pioneers led 16 to 11 after the 1st period, 27 to 19 at halftime, and 39 to 32 after the 3rd period before claiming a 56 to 40 victory over the Tigers.
Dallas Kirby scored 14, Logan Duke 8, Seth Fuson and Jon Hendrix each with 6, Elliot Barnes 3, Chase Young 2 and Jordan Parker with 1.
The Lady Tigers improve to 6-17 and the Tigers drop to 8-15. DeKalb County will host White County Friday night, January 31 starting with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Tigers and Lady Tigers John Pryor.
County Seeking School Traffic Officer
The county needs a school traffic officer to fill a vacancy.
Through a longstanding agreement, the City of Smithville, DeKalb County Government, and the DeKalb School District, share in the annual cost of paying two traffic control officers in the school zones mornings and afternoons (during the school year) at Northside Elementary School and at DeKalb Middle School/DCHS. The positions pay $20 per hour. The county makes the hires.
According to County Mayor Matt Adcock, the schedule is approximately an hour and half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon during school traffic hours. It is approximately 25 hours every two weeks. Payment is received bi-weekly. “The county is looking to fill the position immediately. If someone is not hired we will have one school without an officer,” said County Mayor Adcock.