Damon McKenna, Anderson County’s animal-control officer and shelter manager, holds cat Tippy at the animal shelter on Blockhouse Valley Road. - G. Chambers Williams III
Residents are being invited to apply to the county mayor’s office to serve on two Anderson County boards – one dealing with parks and the other with the animal shelter.
The office of Mayor Terry Frank said in an announcement that there is one opening on the Conservation Board, which oversees operations of the county parks.
Additionally, Frank is seeking applications for six people to serve on the new Animal CRE nd Control Control Advisory Board, which was created by the County Commission recently.
There are openings on the committee for a veterinarian or professional with an advanced degree in animal science; a person representing an animal welfare nonprofit; and four citizens to serve as at-large members.
This committee will work with the mayor to advance the goals of sheltering lost, abandoned and forgotten animals.
Applications for both boards will be accepted through Friday, February 6.
An application may be obtained by calling or emailing the mayor’s office or visiting online at andersoncountytn.gov, where the applications are posted to the website’s homepage.
Completed applications must be emailed to tfrank@andersoncountytn.gov.
As New Years Eve approaches, Anderson County is keeping the same policy, banning firework sales outside of its cities as before, despite an attempt at change.
The Operations Committee passed a motion to rescind the private act on fireworks, which the county has had since 1947.
However, at the full Anderson County Commission meeting on Dec. 15, it failed to pass.
Commissioner Michael Foster made the motion and Commissioner Phil Yager seconded. Rescinding the ordinance would have required a two-thirds vote. It failed to reach that level, getting seven “no” votes and eight “yes” votes.
Commissioners Steven Verran, Ebony Capshaw, Shain Vowell, Tim Isbel, Tracy Wandell, Chad McNabb and Jerry White voted “no.”
Commission Chairman Denise Palmer and commissioners Yager, Foster, Shelly Vandagriff, Robert Smallridge, Joshua Anderson, Robert McKamey and Anthony Allen voted “yes.”
Palmer told The Courier News that Tracy Parker-Foust with Parker Family Fireworks Inc. wanted to sell fireworks from temporary tents in Anderson County as her business already does in other counties.
Parker-Foust, Palmer said, had wanted the rules to change back in 2021, and the county’s committees and departments had been discussing the issue this year.
Palmer said the surrounding counties don’t ban fireworks sales.
City reports steady progress, eyes spring reopening for Market Street
by G. Chambers Williams III
Work continues on Market Street to build new sidewalks, planters and benches, as well as to install new utility lines. The city hopes to have the street reopened in time for the Spring Antique Festival in early May. Businesses remain open for customers, however. - G. Chambers Williams III
Downtown Clinton merchants are remaining optimistic about their future in the coming year, as work continues on improvements to Market Street, which has been closed to traffic for extensive reconstruction since last March.
Clinton City Manager Roger Houck said last week that he believes the street and its all-new sidewalks will be ready and open in time for the Spring Antique Festival, scheduled for the first weekend in May.
“We’re at Day 335 of 546 days of construction, Houck said on Tuesday (Dec. 23). “That’s a little over 60% done. After the first of the year, weather permitting, we will begin drilling to install bases for new light posts.
“We’re already pouring new sidewalks and steps into the buildings, and we hope to have that completed by first of February. Then in February, we will be working on the planters for the street, and beginning March 1 we should begin planting the 200 or so trees and plants that will go on Market Street.
“On Main Street, the waterline replacement is almost complete, and for the sewer lines on Main and Broad streets, we still must hook up 38 laterals from the main to each business,” he said. “Those streets will be closed a block at a time for that, starting in the latter part of January.
“It will be spring before we see Market Street reopened, weather permitting,” Houck said.
Neal Weegans, president of Noble Metals, and John Johnson, owner of the former Hitching Post property, look at a map showing the site of their new venture, a center for sorting recyclable material from construction sites. It will be at 1495 Clinton Highway. They presented the plans to the Anderson County Commission recently to request a zoning change for the new business. - Ben Pounds
Developers are one step closer to operating a construction materials recycling center at 1495 Clinton Highway.
The Anderson County Commission approved changing the property from a General Commercial District zone to a Heavy Industrial District at its Dec. 15 meeting.
John Johnson, the property owner, described the center as handling “no garbage, only construction material.” He said it was at the former site of The Hitching Post a bar and local hangout. The property would be close to but not adjacent to Peaks Station Road.
Neal Weegans, president of Noble Metals, which already operates out of Oak Ridge, told the commission it was a new venture for him, even though he’d been working in recycling for about 30 years.
He said the site will sort through debris for concrete, dirt, brush, steel and cardboard, putting anything that can be recycled “into the recycling stream” while putting other material into a landfill afterwards.
He said he anticipated 25% of the materials through which the center sorted would be recoverable and recyclable.
“It’s a good center point for where we need to be,” he told The Courier News regarding the location.
