News

Residents trying to stop Smyrna Ready Mix (SRM) from proceeding with its limestone quarry on North Driver Road at Snow Hill are being afforded a public hearing to speak out against the state’s issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit and the potential impact on human health and the environment from treated mine wastewater and storm water on the 30-acre site. The receiving stream for the proposed discharge is Drivers Branch.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Mineral and Geologic Resources has announced that a public hearing will be held Thursday, March 27 regarding the proposed issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. The hearing will be held at the DeKalb County Complex, 712 South Congress Boulevard, Smithville starting at 5 p.m. with an information session to allow participants to ask questions formally and receive input from the TDEC staff. The formal hearing will begin at 6 p.m. Once the formal public hearing begins, the question-and-answer format will end, and all public comments will be collected for the hearing record without response from TDEC during the hearing. The public may also join the hearing by computer or phone conference at 1-629-209-4396. Written comments may be submitted by mail or emailed to DMGR.Publicnotice@tn.gov. The last day to submit comments for the hearing is April 7, 2025. If you have questions related to the draft NPDES permit: TN0070737 contact Daniel Lawrence at 865-803-1206 or Daniel.Lawrence@tn.gov

The purpose of the hearing is to gather information from the public relevant to a final decision on the permit application. Comments not related to water quality, or the information contained in the permit application will not be considered in the decision-making process. Issues such as air quality, zoning, blasting, noise, dust, and traffic are not related to water quality and are not regulated by the Division of Mineral and Geologic Resources or the NPDES program; therefore, consideration of these issues would not contribute relevant information for the proposed permit.

Neighbors in the Snow Hill area first became aware of SRM last summer after being shaken by a blast during the company’s prep work for the quarry at the site. Complaints were filed with the state and county.  In August the state found that SRM had been crushing without issuance of an NPDES permit.  (Inspection in response to a citizen concern regarding blasting debris and mining activities. Mining staff confirmed the presence of rock processing equipment on site and newly blasted limestone without permit coverage).

SRM submitted an application in September after which the site was determined to be inactive.(Inspection for HD Report received on September 12, 2024. Staff present included Daniel Lawrence, Bryan Epperson, Emily Bonts, and Rebecca Drennan. HD submittal was confirmed, though additional features further within the property were also identified and subsequently noted to the applicant. Site was not active at the time of inspection. Processing equipment was on site, as were several piles of crushed stone. All drainage was properly controlled. No discharge was occurring, and no condition of pollution was noted. Facility was out of compliance because a NPDES permit is not in place)

By November SRM was again found by the state to be in non-compliance for operating without a permit and halted activity at the site. (Processing rock without permit coverage. Mining activities on site have expanded since the last inspection via land clearing, and site entrances have been made accessible for construction and mine traffic).

According to the state, the permit application was deemed to be complete December 2 but SRM must wait until a permit is approved and in place before proceeding. SRM must also control drainage from the disturbed area.

Locally, neighbors in recent months have complained to the county commission because a cease-and-desist order has not been sent by the county to SRM regarding the quarry on Snow Hill due to the fact that SRM had apparently been operating illegally without a permit prior to passage of the county powers act in October.

County property for sale?

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission may consider a recommendation from the Revenue Research Committee on whether to sell two pieces of county owned property.

Larry Green, Chairman of the committee, reported on the recommendation during Tuesday night’s workshop meeting of the full commission. Other members of that committee are Vice Chairman Andy Pack and member Mathias Anderson.

The proposal is for the county to sell property behind the Smithville City Police Department and land on Four Seasons Road where the Pine Creek Saddle Club was once located. In a separate recommendation, Green said the committee wants the county to begin the process of establishing a building permit system through which the county could collect fees on inspections of new construction rather than the state.

“We have talked to a certified building inspector, and he has volunteered his time to help us put in a building permit system,” said Commissioner Green. “His emphasis is on contractors rather than homeowners. If we approve this then we will get into more details on building permits later,” he said.

By selling county owned properties, Green said the county could take revenue from the sales and apply it to other county needs.

“We (committee) are recommending and asking permission for the county to sell two pieces of property, the Pine Creek Saddle Club and the East Walnut Street property directly behind the Smithville Police Department. Some of the other (county owned) lots like at Holiday Haven and Lakeview Mountain Estates, we have to figure out a way to group those together and try to sell them later,” said Chairman Green.

County Mayor Matt Adcock said there is interest in both properties. He added that the City of Smithville perhaps would like to purchase the land behind the police station. Unlike selling county property to the public, Mayor Adcock said the county would not be bound by competitive bidding laws in selling directly to another government entity.

“These two properties we are recommending selling seem to be very viable pieces of property and we could put the money back into the reserve fund. If for instance, Wolf Creek comes on board and we get approval to build that public safety building down there, we don’t have a fire truck for it. We could take the money from the sale of these two pieces of property and probably buy a fire truck,” said Green.

Questions were raised about whether selling those properties, particularly the lot behind the city police department is a good idea.

“They are not making any more land, and we are rapidly running out of space,” said Commissioner Tony Luna. “That (property behind the police department) would be a perfect place for a welcome center, mayor’s office, or chamber office. You sell them (properties) to buy a fire truck in five years we will be replacing that fire truck,” said Luna.

“We don’t replace fire trucks every five years,” replied Commissioner Green.

“We also have other places we could move the chamber of commerce,” Green continued.” We haven’t figured out yet what to do with the old jail when we move out of it. Or if we do wind up building courtrooms, at some point where we build the jail, then we could move the chamber of commerce back into the courthouse where she was before,” said Green.

“I thought the whole point of moving all that out (of courthouse) was for (courthouse) security,” Luna responded.

“If we move the courtrooms out (of courthouse) then there is not that need for courtroom security,” Green said.

Commissioner Jeff Barnes then asked, “What if the jail goes back where it’s at?’

“Then we will leave the chamber where they are at”, replied Green. “I don’t think we can afford to build another building in the next five years,” he added.

“If you’re going to hire a building inspector, where are they going to go? And If we ever go to centralized accounting, where are they going to go,” asked Commissioner Barnes.

“The piece of property behind the police department is not big enough to build a building to house everything,” said Commissioner Green.

“We figured it would house three offices when it was purchased,” Barnes responded.

“I have to agree with Tony they just don’t produce land every day and its (land) not going to get any cheaper anytime soon either,” said Commissioner Greg Matthews.

“We have struggled particularly over the last year with funding things at the courthouse and with the jail. The idea that anybody thinks that there is going to be money for building something else in this county at any time in the foreseeable future to me, I don’t see it. That piece of property is just going to set there,” said Commissioner Tom Chandler.

“And we could use the revenue,” added Commissioner Green.

“I don’t think we need to get into whether it (funds from property sale) would be used for a fire engine or whatever it is. The question to me is could the county use that piece of property and if it were worth a half million dollars could the county use that money. Do we have any viable near-term use for that piece of property,” said Commissioner Chandler.

If the county votes to sell one or both properties, as recommended by the committee, County Mayor Adcock said funds will first be used to conduct appraisals of the sites.

Meanwhile Commissioner Mathias Anderson discussed what a building inspection fee system might look like based on the recommendation of the revenue research committee.

“My fear was that this might be taken as we would be implementing a bunch of new rules for something that has to be inspected. That is not the case,” said Commissioner Anderson. “In 2008 we decided not to have a building inspector but now we have a lot of new construction, and we will continue to. The idea was to look into it more, get more numbers on how many new homes and businesses are being built and instead of those builders having to reach out to the state for all the different inspections we would have someone here do that. Instead of the money (for inspections) going to the state it would stay here. We could calculate and see if the revenue would be more than the salary (for the inspector). If so, it might be worth doing. We’re talking about permits for like electrical inspection, plumbing inspections, etc.,” he said.

“We have discussed building permits in the past but after a certain year if your county did not have a building permit structure set up you were not allowed to have it unless your county has a (certain) percent growth year over year for three years in a row then you could implement a building permit fee structure but I checked last spring and as of right now we are not quite there,” said Commissioner Anderson.

The county commission meeting will be Monday night, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

The DCHS Tigers will advance in the District 7AAA basketball tournament after eliminating White County (#3 seed) Friday night 55 to 50 at Cumberland County High School in Crossville. The season ended for the Lady Tigers (6-23) as they lost to the Cumberland County Lady Jets 60 to 26.

The Tigers (#6 seed) will meet Stone Memorial (#2 seed) tonight (Saturday, February 22) in the second round of the District Tournament starting at 5:30 p.m. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

In the boys game Friday night White County led 13 to 7 after the 1st period. The game was tied at 24 by halftime. The Tigers pulled ahead 35 to 31 after the 3rd period and went onto upset the Warriors 55 to 50.

Trip Pinion for White County, the district’s Defensive MVP, left the game in the 4th period with an injury.

For the Tigers, Dallas Kirby scored 16, Jordan Parker 11. Seth Fuson 10, Porter Hancock and Jon Hendrix each with 6, Elliot Barnes 4, and Logan Duke 2.

The Tigers improve to 10-19

The Lady Tigers proved no match for Cumberland County trailing 18 to 3 after the 1st period, 41 to 11 at halftime, and 55 to 21 after the 3rd period before losing 60 to 26.

For DC, Avery Agee 9, Jordyn Agee 6, Chloe VanVranken 5, Allie Melton 3, Camille Barton 2, and Lillie Young 1.

A man who allegedly broke into four vehicles and tried to steal a 2012 Bobcat T-750 and Caterpillar bucket from a local automotive dealer more than two years ago was sentenced Tuesday, February 18 in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

55-year-old Burnette Bernie Jones entered a plea to two counts of auto burglary and one count of theft over $10,000. He received a six-year sentence in the theft case and one year in each of the auto burglary offenses to run concurrently and all suspended to probation. Jones was given jail credit of 212 days.

The incident occurred Sunday, October 2, 2022.

According to the complaint, Jones was observed on the auto dealer’s surveillance camera entering and driving a 2012 Bobcat T-750 in the back of the business. Jones was also observed trying to strap down a Caterpillar bucket to the 2012 Bobcat T-750. The total value of the 2012 Bobcat T-750 and Caterpillar bucket was $54,500.

While at the same business, Jones allegedly broke into a 2004 Black Nissan Maximum, a 2014 Black Chevrolet Silverado, a 2003 Red Chevrolet Tahoe, and 2008 Black Chrysler Sebring all parked at the car lot with the intent to deprive the owners of their belongings within these vehicles.

Meanwhile, 47-year-old Jessica Jo Bates entered a plea to misdemeanor theft and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to probation, supervised for six months and then she will be on good behavior probation if there are no further issues and provided costs are paid.

The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree has announced The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are the recipients of the 2025 Blue Blaze Award. The announcement was officially made at The Harvester Event Center in Downtown Smithville, February 20, 2025, during their concert at Bluegrass Nights. James Kee, of East Nash Grass and former Blue Blaze Award winner, made the announcement with Board member Tammy Judkins, presenting an award for the announcement and Board Member Alex Woodward representing the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree.

Formed ten years ago in the Smoky Mountains in 2014, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys have made a significant impact on the bluegrass music scene. They are known for their authenticity and straightforward honesty, which resonates deeply with their audience. The group has successfully brought their music from rural bluegrass festival stages to the rock clubs of Europe, showcasing their versatility and dedication to the genre.

“When I hear The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys I’m taken back to when I first fell in love with this music. Each is a master of their craft, but it’s the special joy they take in playing it “the old way” that commands your attention. This music hails from a time before people saw bluegrass and country music as separate things, and the band accomplishes that most difficult of musical tasks by capturing the manic energy of their live shows in the studio.” – John Lawless, Bluegrass Today

Po’ Ramblin Boys will be presented their official award on Saturday, July 5, 2025 @5pm at this year’s festival followed by a one-hour concert. The Jamboree is free to the public so that we can continue our mission of preserving bluegrass music, Appalachian craft & dance. This year’s Jamboree will be July 4-5, 2025, on the square in Smithville, Tennessee. For more information, visit smithvillejamboree.com or email smithvillejamboree@gmail.com; phone 615-597-8500.

DeKalb County proudly announces the formation of its new Parks and Recreation Committee. On February 18, 2025, the committee held its inaugural meeting to establish its structure and elect officers. Tony Luna was appointed as Chair, Josh Miller as Vice Chair, and Chad Driver as Secretary.

The committee’s mission is to assess the recreational needs of DeKalb County and pursue state grants to fund the development of new ballfields, soccer fields, hiking and biking trails, and improvements to existing parks. Committee members in attendance included Tony Culwell, Jimmy Lewis, Casey Midget, Cody Atnip, Jesse Sutton, and Suzanne Williams.

“We are thrilled about the potential this committee brings to DeKalb County,” said Committee Chair Luna. “By establishing this group, we can now access a wide range of grant opportunities that were previously unavailable to us. These funds will help us enhance our community’s parks and recreational facilities for everyone to enjoy.”

The committee is already planning its next meeting to finalize details and prioritize grant applications that will deliver the greatest benefit to the community. Additional information about the meeting schedule and upcoming projects will be announced soon.

For more information, please contact Tony Luna at Sligomarina@gmail.com.

The rules for public comments at the formal monthly county commission meetings and workshops would change effective July 1, 2025 if recommendations of the government services committee are adopted by the full county commission Monday night.

During Tuesday night’s county commission workshop meeting, a report was presented by Chairman Sabrina Farler on behalf of the government services committee who recently studied the existing policy and voted to propose some amendments. Members of that committee in addition to Farler are Larry Green (Secretary), Greg Matthews, Daniel Cripps(Vice Chair), and Tom Chandler.

Since 2019, the county commission has conducted meetings based on a set of rules regulating the procedures of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. Any amendments to these regulations require adoption by a two thirds majority vote of the 14-member commission.

Currently during the formal monthly county commission meeting, any member of the public wishing to address the chairman of the county commission is given three minutes to speak on any topic at the beginning of the meeting. The speaker must give his or her name, address or their district of residence.

Under the proposed changes, members of the public wishing to speak at the formal monthly meeting must first sign up 30 minutes prior to the meeting and may speak for up to three minutes only on agenda items at the beginning of the meeting.

During workshop or committee meetings, any member of the public wishing to address the chair is given three minutes at the end of the meeting for public comments and may speak on any issue without having to sign up as is the current policy.

The proposed new rule for the formal monthly meeting states as follows:” Anyone desiring to speak must sign up and list the item they wish to address. The item must be on the agenda. A signup sheet will be at the door by 6 p.m. and given to the chairman at 6:30 p.m. No one will be allowed to speak without signing up”.

The chairman will be required to read aloud the following previously established rules before the public comments period at both monthly meetings and workshops “All comments shall be directed to the chair. The chair may address questions to individual commissioners, but in no event will the citizen be permitted to call names, question the integrity or motive of any individual or make personal or derogatory comments”

Another proposed new requirement would be that “no applause or unnecessary noise will be allowed during public comments” at both formal monthly meetings and workshops.

According to Chairman Farler, the committee began a review of the county’s public comment rules last month as well as a state statute in an effort to bring more clarity to the policy. “The County Mayor provided a copy of the TCA 8-44-112 (provision of state law) to the government service committee in a January committee meeting to review. After the committee reviewed the public comment section in the current Policy and Procedure Manual, the committee felt that the manual needed clearer guidelines for committees, the workshop, and the monthly formal county commission meeting after reviewing TCA 8-44-112. These recommendations came after a committee meeting in February,” said Farler.

(TCA 8-44-112) states (in part) as follows: “Applicability (a) A governing body shall, for each public meeting, reserve a period for public comment to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting”.

Meanwhile the government services committee is also recommending that the term “committee of the whole” referring to meetings of the full county commission in a workshop or informative session be renamed “workshops”. The committee is further recommending that the chairman of any standing committee no longer be allowed to make a motion or a second to a motion.

Again, any amendments to the rules takes a two thirds majority vote of the county commission for passage. Farler said the commission could chose to bundle the recommendations in a single vote or vote on each recommendation separately.

During Tuesday night’s commission workshop, Commissioner Beth Pafford said she is opposed to the proposed section prohibiting applause during public comments.

“I think sometimes people want to clap and that can be done in a respectful way. To say the public can’t even show emotion about something in a respectful way is not a road I want to go down,” said Pafford,

“I don’t think that is the intent. Its unnecessary noise and when their motive is in the wrong area,” said Commissioner Farler.

Commissioner Greg Matthews said the “applause” rule, if adopted should apply to all.

“So now we are getting into its okay for one (to applaud) but not another. It needs to be all yes or all no,” said Commissioner Matthews.

“How are you going to stop them,” asked Commissioner Myron Rhody

“When they start it’ll be the chairman to ask for them to be removed,” said Commissioner Matthews.

“In Rutherford and other counties, they do not allow anybody to clap or shout anything to the court during a court proceeding”, said County Mayor Matt Adcock.

“But this is not a court”, answered Commissioner Pafford.

The county commission will meet Monday, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

A new religious program is making its debut Sunday, February 23 on WJLE

The Commerce Church of Christ at Watertown joins the WJLE programming lineup every Sunday at 7 a.m. featuring minister Joe Puckett.

WJLE is proud of our partner sponsors of religious programs each week and hopes you will tune in often and let them know you listen.

The weekday religious programs are as follows:

•Cross Connection sponsored by the Upper Helton Baptist Church featuring Jimmy Arms: Monday-Friday at 11:55 a.m. each week

•Morning Devotion: A 5-minute daily devotional by a different minister each week Monday-Saturday at 7:25 a.m.

The following are weekly sponsored Sunday programs:

*7:00 a.m.: The Commerce Church of Christ with speaker Joe Puckett

•7:30 a.m.: Amazing Facts featuring Joe Crews presented by the Smithville Seventh Day Adventist Church

•8:00 a.m. Elder Ricky Arnold of the Mount View Primitive Baptist Church (The Firm Foundation)

•8:30 a.m. Outreach Baptist Church with Nathan Thomason (The Outreach Pulpit)

•9:00 a.m. The Keltonburg Missionary Baptist Church (Only Through the Blood)

•9:30 a.m. LOCAL NEWS

•9:35 a.m. Abram Edwards of the Calvary Baptist Church

•10:30 a.m. Bobby Thomason of the Covenant Baptist Church (Fountain of Faith Ministries)

•11:00 a.m. Worship Services from the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian (Isaac Gray)

•12:00 NOON: LOCAL NEWS

*12:30 p.m.: The Preaching Ministry of Toy Lawson

*1:00 p.m.: Truth that Transforms with Aaron Wright

•1:30 p.m. The House of Prayer with Zachariah Murphy

*2:00 p.m. The Way the Truth and the Life with Billy Hale

•2:30 p.m. Joe Jones of the Christ Pentecostal Church of Brush Creek (The King is Coming)

•3:00 p.m. Prophet James Ferrell of the Church of Jesus Christ (The Word of the Lord)

•4:00 p.m. LOCAL NEWS

•4:15 p.m. Royce Curtis of the People’s Missionary Baptist Church

•6:05 p.m. Gospel music sponsored by Cantrell’s Furniture and Appliances

•9:05 p.m. LOCAL NEWS

Listen each week on WJLE AM 1480 and WJLE FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.

God’s Food Pantry has rescheduled this week’s General Pantry from Friday, February 21, 9:00AM to 12:00 Noon to Saturday, February 22 from 11:00AM to 2:00 PM due to temperatures and icy roads. This change will also impact some deliveries scheduled Thursday and Friday which include locations south to the Warren County line and west to the Alexandria area. For these routes, you can anticipate a Saturday delivery of your food boxes.

The district 7AAA Basketball Tournament schedule at Crossville (Cumberland County High School) has been revised due to the weather.

The new schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 21:
Game 1: Cumberland County vs DeKalb County girls: 4 p.m.
Game 2: DeKalb County vs White County boys: 5:30 p.m.
Game 3: Livingston Academy vs Stone Memorial girls: 7 p.m.
Game 4: Livingston Academy vs Cumberland County boys: 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 22:
Game 1 winner vs Upperman girls: 4 p.m.
Game 4 winner vs Upperman boys: 5:30 p.m.
Game 3 winner vs White County girls: 7 p.m.
Game 2 winner vs Stone Memorial boys : 8:30 p.m.

Monday, February 24:
Girls consolation: 6 p.m.
Girls championship: 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 25:
Boys consolation: 6 p.m.
Boys championship: 7:30 p.m.