Mayor: County can’t issue burn ban
While the cities in Anderson County can have burn permits and burn bans, the county cannot.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank explained this issue at Anderson County Commission’s meeting Monday, Nov. 20. She was answering concerns from Anderson County Commissioner Tracy Wandell.
“I sit at home listening to the radio, and there’s fires across the county,” he said.
Frank said she could, however, talk to District Forester Darren Bailey with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture about actions his department could take to prevent fires.
“We’re giving the strong messaging,” Frank said.
She also said she hoped for rain which she said was predicted to occur soon, so that the risk of fire would not be as strong.
Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager said the recent drought had also caused trouble for Anderson County’s farmers.
The County Commission voted unanimously among the members present to have him write a resolution asking for help for the farmers hit by the drought from Tennessee and federal authorities. (Commissioner Steven Verran was not present for any of the night’s votes.)
New animal shelter
Anderson County plans to build a new animal shelter that Frank has said will have room to expand.
The County Commission took a step toward this new shelter at its Nov. 20 meeting.
Wandell made the motion, and Commissioner Ken Yager seconded to have Yeager represent the county during transactions related to a USDA loan for that shelter. It passed unanimously.
Anderson County Commissioner Bob Smallridge, who recently toured the shelter, said he looked forward to this new shelter.
The animal shelter has had its share of controversy, surrounding its former director Brian Porter who retired after accusations that he performed euthanasia
with an expired
license.
Smallridge said the shelter at present “appeared to be very well run and a great improvement.”
“Their biggest problem is space,” he added, a problem the new shelter will fix.
Traffic study
The commission unanimously voted to request the Tennessee Department of Transportation do a traffic study and provide a safety plan for the Brookstone Ridge subdivision in Andersonville adjacent to State Route 71.
Commissioners requested that the plan include turn lanes, deceleration and acceleration lanes, signage, traffic lights and a school bus stop “with the overall goal of protecting the traveling public and
residents of the Brookstone Ridge subdivision.”
A memo in an Operations Committee agenda stated these measures came after a discussion between residents of that subdivision and Anderson county Commissioners Joshua Anderson and Shelly Vandagriff, who represent the
area.
MOU approved
Commissioners agreed to a memorandum of understanding to let the Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team park an equipment trailer on county Emergency Medical Services property at 150 Arcadia Lane in Oak Ridge.
AMRT is a not-for-profit organization involved in technical rescues in the Appalachian mountains.