Efforts Stall in County Commission’s Attempt to Enact Property Health and Safety Regulations (View Video Here)

August 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Proponents of new regulations to keep landowners in DeKalb County from creating health and safety concerns for their neighbors suffered a setback Monday night as the county commission voted 8-6 to remove the issue from the agenda. Proposed standards may be revised or revisited by the commission in a later workshop or perhaps by the government services committee from where the proposals originated, or they may not resurface at all in the foreseeable future.

(VIEW THE ACTUAL RESOLUTION AT LINK BELOW)

Resolution County powers Act

During the regular monthly meeting Monday night, the commission was expected to consider passage of a resolution adopting the State’s “County Powers Act” which authorizes a county to enact a resolution establishing, in this case, regulatory standards regarding health and safety conditions of residential and non-residential properties within the confines of DeKalb County outside the boundaries of the municipalities which already have codes and ordinances. In order to establish the health and safety regulations, the commission must first adopt a County Powers Act resolution.

The Government Services Committee of the County Commission met last Tuesday night and voted to recommend passage of both resolutions to the full commission. A two thirds vote of the 14-member commission was required had the commission voted to pass either or both resolutions.

The commissioners were clearly divided on whether the county should move forward on this controversial issue and a large public gathering attended Monday night’s meeting with differing views and a keen interest in how the commission would act.

The concept of the resolutions was to primarily address neighbor complaints of dangerous and or unsanitary conditions on private properties next to them caused by overgrown vegetation, accumulation of debris, trash, litter, and garbage, or the presence of vacant dilapidated buildings or structures.

Had both resolutions been approved, a five-member hearing board with staggered terms (consisting of county commissioners) would have been established as well as an enforcement officer position, all appointed by the county mayor with the concurrence of the full commission. DeKalb County’s Safety Officer, which is a paid position and already established, would most likely have been assigned to take on this new Enforcement Officer responsibility along with his regular duties. When a resident filed a complaint, the enforcement officer would have investigated and if he found a violation, he would have been required to notify the landowner in person or by certified mail. The property owner would then have had 30 days to remedy the issue or request a hearing before the hearing board which would have had to meet and act within 30 days. If the board were to uphold the enforcement officer’s findings, the violator would have been fined $50 per day per occurrence. Violators could also have been taken to General Sessions Court if they didn’t comply.

The hearing board would also have had the authority to recruit or coordinate efforts of community organizations, neighbors, religious institutions, and or other agencies to provide assistance to persons not financially or physically able to comply on their own with the requirements of these regulations.

At the beginning of each monthly meeting, one of the commission’s first actions is to adopt the agenda for the night and then proceed to discuss and take action on each issue on the agenda. Normally the agenda is approved without dissent but not this time.

Commissioner Myron Rhody, who is opposed to these proposed regulations, made a motion Monday night to remove from the agenda consideration of both the “County Powers Act” resolution and the resolution governing the “Health and Safety” standards for residential and non-residential properties. Rhody’s thinking was that by taking the issue off the agenda, it would effectively kill it. “I just want to remove it and be done with it,” said Rhody. Others insisted that the issue might still be resurrected at some later meeting.

Commissioner Tom Chandler, who is also opposed to establishing these regulations, initially offered a second to Rhody’s motion but later withdrew his second, preferring instead to let the resolutions come to the floor for a vote where they were apparently doomed to fail without the needed two thirds support of the full commission for passage. “I would rather be part of a commission that said no to this than be part of a commission that kicks it down the road or part of a commission that’s party to enacting this and unleashing the enforcement,” said Chandler. That was the view of several others on the commission, like Tim Reynolds and Glynn Merriman who were among the six who voted against Rhody’s motion after it ultimately received a second from Commissioner Tony (Cully) Culwell.

“Do we really want to kick this can down the road and push it back to a committee again because we will be back in the same boat again later. We all know that. We are just wasting time kicking it back to a committee,” said Commissioner Reynolds who added “After raising taxes on folks this year, I have a real problem with us potentially telling them what they can and can’t do and I am not going to,” he said.

Commissioner Chandler, who recently returned from a trip, said constituents have been very vocal with him about their feelings on this issue.

“My phone has been going crazy, text messages, emails, not a single one supports either one of these resolutions,” said Chandler. “The (public) input I have gotten is not only “no” but a hard “no” and that’s not the “H” word they used. Not a single person wants to see the landscaping and property beautification (enforcement officer) coming around telling them what they can and cannot put in their front yard. We should kill this and put this to bed. If this were to pass in my opinion this would cause a fury of controversy like this county has not seen in a long time. I’m prepared to kill this, “said Commissioner Chandler.

Commissioner Larry Green, a supporter of the regulations, said a lot of misinformation has spread throughout the community in recent days about the proposed health and safety standards and many who do understand them are in favor.

“We had a group of people here Thursday night (during a county commission workshop) who were overwhelmingly in favor of this. The phone calls I got Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all in favor of it. The phone calls I got today (Monday) were totally negative. I think a lot of misinformation has been put out there about it. Tom (Chandler) just referred to some misinformation about it. It is not about landscaping. Its not about beautification. It’s about health and safety. So let’s just refer it back to committee and clean up some things some of you don’t agree with,” said Commissioner Green.

“I don’t think there is any misinformation in what I said,” Chandler replied. “I looked at the second resolution and its pretty clear the enforcement officer with his five-person committee can determine what you can and cannot have in your front yard. That is the interpretation people have of this and that is why they are opposed to it,” Chandler continued.

Commissioner Tony Luna, another supporter of the standards, said the public view of this proposal is not all negative.

“I have had the opposite of what Tom has had,” said Luna. “I have had multiple calls and emails from people who are for this. I do think it needs to be fine-tuned but I think it’s a good idea that needs to be worked on,” he added.

Commissioner Justin Adcock is vehemently opposed to the standards and said he believes outsiders moving into DeKalb County around the lake are the ones making the strongest push for this.

“From the phone calls I have got, its the people who live on the lake in my district who want it. The farmers don’t want it. Its mainly people around the lake. I even had people from Holmes Creek calling me. Its everybody around the lake that has a problem with this. They want it cleaned up. They need to go back to Nashville,” said Commissioner Adcock.

Commissioner Luna said that he has not had the same public response as Commissioner Adcock.

“The majority of the people who called me (who support this) do not live on the lake. They live close to the lake but live here full time,” said Luna.

Commissioner Chandler said he believes the County Powers Act and the health and safety standards that follow could cause problems for landowners, not only now, but also in the future should later county commissions add to the regulations.

“This opens a Pandora’s Box”, said Commissioner Chandler. “That box is closed at the moment. If we open that box now we’re going to be the ones tagged as having opened it for other commissions later. I know people came to this commission recently who had issues with a neighbor that had a bunch of trash in their yard. I sympathize with those people and I would like to be able to prevent that but it appears we cannot do that without opening this Pandora’s Box and once you do, it also opens it up to not just stopping trash but possibly from stopping me from parking my old blue tractor in my front yard as a symbol of the loved one I’ve lost,” said Chandler.

County Mayor Matt Adcock reminded the commissioners that while county commissions, now or later could make changes by either adding to or removing regulations outlined in the proposed health and safety resolution, it could not change the County Powers Act because it was enacted by the Tennessee Legislature for all counties who wish to adopt it.

Commissioner Greg Matthews asked if the issue could be put before the voters to let them decide in the form of a referendum next year during the elections.

“I don’t think we can do that,” answered County Mayor Adcock.

“So that decision has to be made by 14 people (county commission) for everyone in the county,” asked Commissioner Matthews.

“I think it would be fine for our commission to talk about this again at our next workshop. That’s what our workshops are for to discuss what we want to do with certain topics and whether they get on the agenda or not at the formal meetings,” added County Mayor Adcock.

August 27, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A man accused of nearly starving a dog to death was in General Sessions Court Thursday on a criminal summons for cruelty to animals.

34-year-old Richard Smith Wade of Frosty Point, Dowelltown entered a plea to the offense and received a sentence from Judge Brandon Cox of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to CPS supervised probation. He must pay a $10 fine and court costs.

The affidavit of complaint alleged that “On or about July 27, 2023 the DeKalb Animal Shelter responded with deputies from the Sheriff’s Department to a dog being neglected. Upon making contact with the animal at 171 Frosty Point, Dowelltown, they found a dog that was severely emaciated, no food, and yellow discharge coming from the dog’s eyes. The dog was very unstable when she tried to walk. The owner could not be contacted at that time. The dog was removed from the property”.

Emmaly Bennett, Shelter Director and Animal Control Officer, explained for WJLE how this story unfolded.

“I was contacted by a deputy stating that he had gotten a welfare call at 171 Frosty Point for a dog and he responded to the call. He then immediately let me know that the dog he found there that night was in poor condition and he sent me some photos,” said Bennett.

“I followed up the following morning and some deputies went with me, but the owner was not there. We checked on the dog and found it was a pretty bad situation, and we left a note before leaving. Later in the day after receiving no response from the owner, I asked an officer to go out with me again to this property and again we could not make contact with the owner. I then asked the officer if we could remove the dog from the property because the animal could not walk very well and was very unstable. There was no food or water present and I know the dog needed medical attention right away. The officer reached out to someone who gave approval for me to take the dog from the property. I took the dog to a veterinarian to get a professional evaluation and then placed her at the shelter,” Bennett explained.

“The following day I heard from the owner who said he had been on vacation for a week but had left the dog unattended. I informed him that he would face charges because of the neglect. I asked him if he had reached out for help with the dog. He said he had not done so,” Bennett continued.

“The man said he was a single dad with children and explained that the dog had been given to him several months prior by his brother and that his children liked the dog. I asked him why the dog had not been fed. He said he fed her when he thought about it, maybe three times a week. He claims he would throw out scraps or chicken bones and that the kids would throw out scraps here and there, but he wasn’t feeding the dog regularly. He said the dog didn’t really like him,” said Bennett.

According to Bennett, it was obvious that this dog had not been fed regularly for a long period of time, perhaps months, because of its emaciated condition.

Bennett said the dog is getting healthier each day now thanks to the antibiotics and the strict feeding schedule she is on.

“She is making a huge turnaround. She weighs 37 pounds today. She weighed 20 pounds upon intake. She is playing with toys and getting stronger every day. We want her to put on a little more weight and gain more strength. Probably in about two more weeks we will take her back to the vet and get a good checkup done on her and then schedule her surgery so she can be spayed, get her up on vaccines, the whole works so we can prepare her for adoption,” said Bennett.

The dog will not be returned to Wade.

“I want to express my thanks to all the law enforcement officers who went out there with me to the Wade property and especially to the deputy who called me after hours to let me know of this dog’s condition otherwise we would have never known about it. They were very helpful through all of this especially with advice on how I needed to go about pressing charges,” added Bennett.

August 27, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Should DeKalb County establish regulations to keep landowners from creating health and safety concerns for their neighbors?

Resolution County powers Act

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission is expected to consider passage of a “County Powers Act” resolution as well as one to establish and enforce regulatory standards regarding health and safety conditions of residential and non-residential properties within the confines of DeKalb County outside the boundaries of the municipalities which already have codes and ordinances.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center (County Complex).

The idea is to prevent or eliminate dangerous and or unsanitary conditions resulting from overgrown vegetation, accumulation of debris, trash, litter, and garbage, or the presence of vacant dilapidated buildings or structures. Although DeKalb County currently has no zoning regulations in place, the “County Powers Act” gives counties, without establishing zoning, the authority to set and enforce standards for county property owners with respect to nuisances and other practices deemed detrimental to their neighbors.

The recommendation for passage of the “County Powers Act” resolution is being made by the Government Services Committee of the County Commission which met last Tuesday night and voted to send it on to the full commission for consideration.   A two thirds vote of the 14-member commission is required to pass either or both resolutions.

In order to establish the regulations for compliance, the commission must first adopt the County Powers Act resolution which authorizes the standards. If approved, a five-member hearing board with staggered terms (consisting of county commissioners) would be established as well as an enforcement officer position, all appointed by the county mayor with the concurrence of the full commission. DeKalb County’s Safety Officer, which is a paid position and already established, would most likely be assigned to take on this new Enforcement Officer responsibility along with his regular duties. When a resident files a complaint, the enforcement officer would investigate and if he finds a violation, he must notify the landowner in person or by certified mail. The property owner then has 30 days to remedy the issue or request a hearing before the hearing board which must meet and act within 30 days. If the board upholds the enforcement officer’s findings, the violator is fined $50 per day per occurrence. Violators can also be taken to General Sessions Court if they don’t comply.

The hearing board also has the authority to recruit or coordinate efforts of community organizations, neighbors, religious institutions, and or other agencies to provide assistance to persons who are not financially or physically able to comply on their own with the requirements of these regulations.

The issue is already stirring debate among proponents and opponents.

During Thursday night’s county commission’s committee meeting of the whole, several residents showed up to express their opinions during the public comment period and one member of the commission, Justin Adcock expressed his opposition to the county moving forward on this initiative.

“One reason why this got brought up is because we had some people come to us to say they had a neighbor who was devaluing their property and that rodents or trash were coming over onto their property causing a health and safety hazard,” said County Mayor Matt Adcock.

“It looks like volunteerism is going to be part of this Act,” said Kathy Bottomly, a resident of Clear View Drive who was the first to address the county commission. “I want to know if any of you have looked at this and can let us know where we can sign up because I know a lot of people would want to volunteer and help the elderly, handicapped, or someone who doesn’t have the means (to clean up their property). That is one of my concerns. That is an important addition to this. Another point is incentives for doing this. Is anyone aware of the incentives we have included in this Act from the State of Tennessee,” asked Bottomly.

Mike Bottomly, also a resident of Clear View Drive, said adopting the County Powers Act appears to be a good move, but he admonished the commissioners to study the issue thoroughly first.

“I suggest all commissioners really read it and understand what is in it. To me this is really a good thing. The county will get incentives back, money for the schools, and people will have to clean up their property a little bit. The county will look better than it does now. If there are landowners that cannot clean up their property for health reasons, they will have volunteers to do that for these people. I have a whole lot of volunteers sitting here, who would like to do that,” said Bottomly.

Bottomly’s reference to “money back for schools” was apparently from a passage in the County Powers Act law which gives counties that qualify the authority to enact under a separate resolution a tax levy on the privilege of residential developments known as a school facilities tax. The revenue is required by law to be used exclusively for funding growth-related capital expenditures for education. However in order to be able to assess such a tax the county must have experienced population growth over a period of time at a rate that qualifies it as a growth county and it is not clear if DeKalb County meets those conditions. In any event, the measure up for consideration Monday night does not include such a tax levy provision.

“What is the time frame once this person (violator) is given a notice? Eighteen of us are on Backbone Road so we have a concern,” asked Rick Carr, a resident of Back Bone Road.

Again, County Mayor Adcock explained that when a resident files a complaint, the enforcement officer investigates and if he finds a violation, he must notify the landowner in person or by certified mail. The property owner then has 30 days to remedy the issue or request a hearing before the hearing board which must meet and act within 30 days.

Jennifer Bright, a resident of Clear View Drive, said she has reservations about the regulations. “I feel like I am against it currently. I feel like its not put together well. You don’t have the regulations figured out. You’re opening it up to be anything. Anybody can go against their neighbor. If they don’t like their neighbor, they could see something they don’t like and say I am going to report them. Is there a way you could have the board draw it up more clearly so that this board could vote on it?. I feel like its pitting neighbors against neighbors in a sense. I understand sanitary things. I was raised in the country, but I have only been in this area for five years. I have also lived in Nashville. I feel pretty blessed and privileged with the life I have. I also realize other people don’t have that privilege and I realize that I wouldn’t want to be a judge as to what they should or should not do on their properties. There is a place close to our road that most of our neighbors do not appreciate the way the people live. I feel like I have some compassion for them because they are doing the best they can with what they have. They don’t know better, not to say somebody couldn’t help them to do better but is someone going to build them a better house, or store the things they have sitting around? Unlikely. It’s a lot of power to take on for this board. I don’t want my neighbor to be nasty but do you have the full community’s backing with this would be my question,” said Bright.

John Pace, a resident of Opal Pointe Drive asked the commission if definitions of the regulatory “health and safety” standards would be made clear to the public.

“Will there be definitions so that people will know what health and safety means on their property or could it be so broad that it could be chickens in the yard or too much grass growing or a couple of junk cars,” asked Pace.

Commissioner Larry Green explained that the regulations have already been established, modeled after Putnam County’s standards, should they be adopted by the DeKalb County Commission.

“There are detailed regulations, nine pages that define what needs to be enforced, needs to be cleaned up,” said Commissioner Green.

Commissioner Beth Pafford also pointed out that the proposed regulations specify who can make a complaint.

“The petition (complaint) has to be filed by at least one owner of property that’s within 500 yards of the boundary of whatever property they are saying is a violation. It can’t just be from somebody driving by. It needs to be somebody who owns property,” said Commissioner Pafford.

The proposed standards specifically state that “Whenever a petition is filed with the Enforcement Officer by at least one (1) owner or occupant of property that lies within five hundred (500) yards of the boundary of the property in question alleging that violation(s) of any of these regulations exist; or whenever the Enforcement Officer can visibly observe a violation from a public road, the Enforcement Officer shall, after making a preliminary investigation which discloses a basis for such violation, issue and cause to be served upon the owner of record of such properties a notice, stating the violations and request the condition to be remedied within 30 days of the service of the notice”.

Although he supports the concept, Commissioner Greg Matthews asked why the rush to take action now when he tried to get something done when he came into office after noticing a home with piles of garbage around it in the Shiney Rock area.

“My question is what’s changed from last year to now? I brought this up last year about a house on the Old Smithville Highway by a gas station but it was shot down. Now we are here anxious to push this through. I am for it, don’t get me wrong but what has changed,” asked Commissioner Matthews.

“I think more properties have since been brought to our attention by you (Commissioner Matthews) doing that, which had not been done before,” said Commissioner Myron Rhody.

Commissioner Green added that the issue became even more of a concern after a resident on Nikki Lane off Highway 70 east in the Midway Community came before the county commission during a workshop in June to complain about the stinky, unsightly and unsanitary condition of a neighbor’s unkempt property, a problem that had persisted for months up until that time.

“I think what has changed is when the lady came and talked to us at a commission meeting in June about the situation on Nikki Lane. Several of us went out there and looked at that situation and decided we need to figure out what we can do,” said Commissioner Green.

Commissioner Matthews also raised questions about the proposed regulatory standards for junk vehicles specifically a passage in the proposed regulations which states” the accumulation of two or more junk motor vehicles on the property”.

“Some of this stuff like vehicles in yards, two vehicles in a yard, I know people who buy a junk car to fix their car because its cheaper. We have to be very careful what we vote on,” he said.

Commissioner Matthews had questions about another passage of the standards which states “Should the Enforcement Officer be denied access to a property to inspect for violations, the enforcement officer can petition for an administrative search warrant”.

“Lets say this board starts issuing citations, search warrants, warrants, I would assume that would involve the Sheriff’s office. How does that affect Patrick (Ray),” asked Commissioner Matthews.

“The enforcement officer would be able to go onto the property. Normally if its causing an issue to neighbors you don’t even have to step foot on the property. You could be outside the property and examine it enough to get the details you need. I don’t think it would put any more work on the sheriff’s department,” replied County Mayor Adcock.

Commissioner Matthews further advised that the hearing board and enforcement officer get the proper training in what safety and health are as defined by the resolution in order to carry out their responsibilities properly.

County Mayor Adcock asked if the commissioners had received any public feedback on the proposed standards.

“The only calls I have had have been positive,” said Commissioner Rhody.

“I’ve had both,” added Commissioner Matthews. “Some agree while others say I pay my taxes and you don’t need to worry about my property. I see both sides,” he said.

Commissioner Justin Adcock said he is opposed to the proposed regulations.

“Its going to stir up a lot of stuff against people who have truly been farmers here for many years. People buy stuff in the county for a reason to live in the county and not be told what to do”.

Commissioner Adcock questioned why the issue is of concern now and suggested that outsiders moving to DeKalb County and Center Hill Lake may be behind the move.

“Did any of this get brought up before all these people started moving around Center Hill Lake and building these nice fancy homes? Has this ever been brought up” asked Commissioner Adcock.

“I have had a property owner for years complain about property across the road from them,” replied Commissioner Rhody. “He said I don’t even want it cleaned up just build a fence, like a privacy fence so he couldn’t see it”.

“Seems like we are getting a lot of these people from out of state moving to around Center Hill Lake that has problems with old farmers and some that let their yards grow up. That’s why we live out in the county. Its our property,” said Commissioner Adcock.

In response, Commissioner Susannah Cripps Daughtry said the purpose of the proposed standards is not to dictate to property owners but to ensure neighborhoods are kept safe and sanitary if there is a complaint.

“I don’t think anybody is trying to decide what everybody can do specifically with their property but its specifically health and safety standards. Its when it impacts other people. You have things that cause rats and bugs, and infestations that impact health and safety of other people and that infringes on their rights too. We have to consider that,” she said.

“With people who move in here, everything is health and safety,” Commissioner Adcock continued. “ I have had six cars. I have tractors, junk. Its my junk. So does everybody else. Its these people that keep moving in that have problems. You never did hear about this before, maybe once or twice. When they see this (regulations) they are going to start calling in on everybody” he said.

“I don’t think we want to enforce something to make it harder on somebody,” said County Mayor Adcock. “I don’t think we’re going to get mad because somebody has two or three junk cars outside their house they are getting parts off of. We have some property owners that may not be able to take care of their property. It may be spilling over to somebody else’s property causing a health and safety hazard. We have the best intentions”.

Resolution County powers Act