Norris council OKs April 7, 1949, as city’s official birthday
The mystery of Norris’ birth has been solved – at least for the coming 75th birthday celebration.
On the recommendation of former Councilman Larry Beeman, who is heading up the birthday party committee, the City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to accept April 7, 1949, as the city’s official birthdate.
This move came after Councilman Chuck Nicholson reported that he had researched the state archives and found that then-Gov. Gordon Downing had signed the legislation establishing Norris as a city on that date, two days after the bill had been passed by the legislature.
Also on Monday night, the council heard from the Norris Water Commission that Covenant Life Church had indeed extended its city waterline from its sanctuary to the church’s allegedly illegal campground behind the church off Norris Freeway (U.S. 441).
The Water Commission made no comment about the legality of the waterline extension, but did say that the church sanctuary is protected from potentially polluting backflow from the campground.
The church’s main waterline also has a device in place to protect the city’s water supply from backflow, the water superintendent said.
Norris has begun planning for a big 75th birthday celebration for the city in early 2024, but had been grappling with the exact date.
Beeman said Monday night that after Nicholson’s research, he felt comfortable with the April 7 date, which had also been used for the city’s 50th birthday party. Beeman brought up the issue during the March council meeting. He is chairman of the 75th Year Birthday Recognition Steering Committee, of the Norris Historical Society.
According to what he has found, he said, the state legislature passed the bill giving Norris a city charter on April 5, 1949, which some people have considered to be the official establishment of the city.
But Beeman said in March that the governor most likely signed the legislation on April 7, which would have made the legislature’s bill final.
“The lady in charge of Norris archives found where her father-in-law, R.G. Crossno, was in Nashville when all of this was being done in 1949. He was the first mayor of Norris.
“He had written notes that the House passed the bill on April 5, then on April 7, the governor signed the legislation. April 7 date was the date we used for the 50th birthday celebration. I probably would stay with that date,” he said in March.
Beeman noted that April 9 was mentioned in an executive action signed by then-President Harry Truman in October 1949 that allowed Tennessee Valley Authority employees to hold positions in the Norris city government.
In other action Monday night, the council:
• Approved on second and final reading an ordinance adopting the “2018 International Fire Code,” which was in response to a recent fire at a local drug abuse treatment facility. The Norris Fire Department learned after the fire – during which there were some issues with emergency egress from the building – that the city actually had never adopted a fire safety code.
Mitchell said he favored the adoption of the fire code, but would want to make sure the city could enforce it equally and effectively.
• Approved, on a unanimous vote, an agreement presented by the Water Commission that will result in the payment of about $30,000 in unused vacation and compensatory time off hours that water Superintendent Wilkerson had been accumulating since 2018.
The money will be paid in annual installments for the next six years.
• Agreed, on the request of Mayor Chris Mitchell, to authorize up to $75,000 in park improvements to be put out for bid, including upgrades to pavilions and other projects.
The city already has the money in the budget, except for some that has already been spent on the pickleball courts.
• Approved on first reading a comprehensive new city personnel policy that would, among other things, prevent employees from accumulating large banks of vacation and overtime hours that the city would eventually wind up having to pay.
The city is working on enforcement of its zoning and building ordinances against the church for its unauthorized construction of the campground about five years ago. That may eventually lead to a shutdown and removal of the campground.
