Market Street, the heart of Clinton’s historic downtown shopping district, will undergo major upgrades and improvements to sidewalks, utility lines, and landscaping over the next year-and-a-half under a $9.9 million project that began on Monday (Feb. 24). - G. Chambers Williams III
There will be major work underway over the next year-and-a-half in the historic area of downtown Clinton as new water and sewer lines are installed, sidewalks are replaced and improved, and landscaping is added.
The $9.9 million project, which City Manager Roger Houck said will take a projected 510 days to complete, began on Monday with preliminary work on the replacement of the utility lines.
Boundaries of the project are nearly all of Market Street, from Cullom to Main streets; Main Street from Market to Broad streets; and Broad Street, from Main Street to Lakefront Park across Charles G. Seivers Boulevard. Pearl Alley off Market Street will also be included.
“It’s going to be a mess during the construction, but we want people to know it’s going to be built back great,” Houck said.
“We’ve been working with our downtown merchants to help limit the impact on them, and we’ve encouraged them to plan on using their rear doors, if they have them,” he said. “Businesses with no rear access might be closed for a day or two while work is going on in front.”
The downtown businesses have been kept informed about the project all along, said Kathie Creasey, owner of Granny’s Attic at 370 Market St.
“I’m excited about it,” she said. “All I’ve seen (of the plans), it looks nice. We will have new sidewalks, and they will be doing benches and nice greenery after they get the utility work done.
The old Martin Funeral Home property in downtown Rocky Top will soon become a city-owned parking lot to serve customers of downtown businesses. - G. Chambers Williams III
Rocky Top will soon have its first public parking lot in the downtown area.
More than a year after the parking lot was proposed by Mayor Kerry Templin, the City Council voted last Thursday evening (Feb. 20) to pay up to $175,000 to complete the purchase of the old Martin Funeral Home building at 225. S. Main St. to create the lot.
It was most recently used for a business called the Tool Shack, but that has been closed for several years.
“We will never see development until we have dedicated parking downtown,” Templin said last March when the council initially approved an offer of up to $125,000 to the owners of the property.
“There is no public parking now; all parking is privately owned,” he said.
On Thursday, City Manager Mike Ellis said the attorneys were ready to close on the sale, and that up to $175,000 might be needed to cover the $125,000 purchase price plus $15,000 in back county taxes, and associated closing costs.
The council approved the amount unanimously to complete the purchase. It includes the building, which the city intends to remove, along with the vacant lot next to it that has been used as a parking lot for the funeral home and a barbecue restaurant next door.
For the second time in less than a year, the Anderson County Commission has voted against an oversight committee for the Anderson County Animal Shelter.
A resolution to set up the committee, presented during Monday night’s commission meeting, was the same one the commission rejected last March.
But the commissioners rejected the move on a 9-5 vote, with one abstention and one member absent.
Commissioner Tracy Wandell, who voted in favor of the new committee, said the Operations Committee approved bringing it back up because the previous time it had been decided on a voice vote. He said it would be more helpful to see who voted which way this time.
The vote also gave a chance for citizens to voice their criticisms of the shelter’s management and their hopes that an oversight committee would help imrove conditions and persuade the shelter to work better with volunteers.
Commissioner Steven Verran made the motion to pass the measure, and Wandell seconded.
In addition to them, Commissioners Ebony Capshaw, Joshua Anderson and Jerry White voted for the Oversight Committee. Robert McKamey abstained.
Commissioners Shain Vowell, Tim Isbel, Sabra Beauchamp, Phil Yager, Shelly Vandagriff, Tyler Mayes, Michael Foster, Robert Smallridge and Anthony Allen voted against the committee’s formation. Denise Palmer was not present.
The committee as described in the resolution would have included two members appointed by the commission, two appointed by the county mayor and five nominated by the nominating committee and confirmed by the commission.
Owners of commercial properties served by Rocky Top utilities will be allowed to purchase the same kind of water- and sewer-line breakage and leak insurance that was provided beginning Feb. 1 to residential customers, the City Council agreed last Thursday evening (Feb. 20).
Fees for commercial leak insurance will be $6.50 each for water and sewer for smaller properties, including restaurants, for a total of $13 a month.
Larger properties – which includes hotels – will pay $13 each for water and sewer leak coverage, for a total of $26 a month added to their utility bills.
As with residential customers, the leak insurance will be added automatically unless the customer goes to City Hall and opts out of the program.
Beginning this month, residential utility customers began paying a monthly fee of $2.35 for water leak coverage, and an additional $2.35 for sewer coverage, unless they had chosen to opt out.
City Manager Mike Ellis, left, watches as the Rocky Top City Council discusses business during last Thursday evening’s meeting at City Hall. - G. Chambers Williams III
Rocky Top could soon begin identifying and cleaning up derelict commercial and residential properties within the city limits – and billing their owners for the costs – under an ordinance the City Council passed on first reading last Thursday evening (Feb. 20).
Called the “Slum Clearance and Redevelopment Act,” Ordinance 600 would technically be an update to Title 13 of the city’s municipal code, adding the legal mechanism to allow for such cleanups.
“This city needs this ordinance,” Mayor Kerry Templin said. “It gives us the tools to deal with these decrepit properties. We can hire contractors to do it, or we can do it ourselves.”
Under the policy, the city would be able to remove decrepit buildings and clean up lots, and then bill their owners for the associated costs while also placing liens on the properties in the amounts of the cleanups.
If any such bills aren’t paid to the city, Rocky Top could eventually foreclose on the properties and take ownership of them, the mayor said.
Heavy rain and winter weather have left numerous potholes along Tennessee’s interstates and state routes. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has launched a statewide effort to repair damaged roads as quickly as possible.
“Each year, we anticipate severe weather will impact our roads, and we proactively plan for pothole repairs while also addressing winter conditions,” said Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley.
Multiple crews will be patching potholes in the coming days and weeks. Temporary repairs are being made with cold mix asphalt, while permanent repairs will be completed in the spring and early summer.
Motorists should expect short-term traffic delays in some areas during repairs. Crews will attempt to work during off-peak hours—9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays—but some lane closures may extend into the late afternoon, evening, and weekends. TDOT urges drivers to be patient and to watch for crews on interstates and state highways.
Inclement weather, emergency repairs or other incidents may disrupt scheduled work.
Drivers can report potholes by calling the TDOTFIX Hotline at 833-TDOTFIX or by submitting an online maintenance request.
This section of Park Road at the entrance to Anderson County Park slid down the bank toward Norris Lake last Friday, forcing closure of the road and park by the county.
A partial collapse of Park Lane along the bank of Norris Lake near the entrance to Anderson County Park last Friday has prompted the county to barricade the road, cutting off all visitor access to the main areas of the park until the roadway can be rebuilt.
On Saturday, barrels and rails stretched completely across Park Lane just past the entrance to the park’s campground, cutting off access to the boat ramps and picnic areas.
Access to the campground was not affected by the road collapse, but it has not yet opened for the summer, and its entrance was still blocked by a locked gate.
“We are assessing the situation and constructing an alternative access route [into the park],” said a post Monday on the Anderson County Park Facebook page. “We will post updates on Facebook and on our website at andersoncountypark.com.
“We know that you are curious, but for your own safety, please do not go around the barricades,” the post continued. “Thank you for your patience as we work to fix the road.”
