Blood Assurance Drive Set for August 27

August 13, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A DeKalb County Blood Assurance Drive will be Thursday, August 27 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the DeKalb County Health Department inside the Bloodmobile.

All donors will be given a “Team Blood Donor 2020” beach towel. All donors will also be entered for a chance to win a “Big Green Egg+ Eggcessories Grill”

Donors may download “bloodassurancequicksreen” and answer the health questions the day of the drive prior to coming to the mobile unit to donate. This will save 10 minutes on the bus.

Blood Assurance will also be doing the Antibodies Screening for COVID-19 to donors who wish to have this done the day of the drive during their donation.

To schedule an appointment, go to Bloodassurance.org/dekalbhealth or contact Ashby Woodward at 615-597-7599 or Ashby.Woodward@tn.gov

Please remember to EAT A GOOD MEAL and drink additional water and bring a photo ID. Blood Assurance is the SOLE blood provider for our local hospitals.

August 12, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville is looking to hold spending for the new police department building to no more than $2.5 million.

The architect for the project, Wayne Oakley of Oakley Architects, LLC of Lebanon met with the Mayor and Aldermen Monday night to report that the contractor, Boyce Ballard Construction Company of Murfreesboro, has cut the cost to $2,395,749, a savings of almost $290,000 from the awarded bid price.

The aldermen had previously authorized the issuance of up to $2.7 million in bonds but Mayor Josh Miller said that can now be held to $2.5 million. That still leaves enough funds available to furnish the building after construction.

Should there be change orders, Oakley said the aldermen could authorize the mayor to approve them up to some amount, possibly not exceeding $10,000. Beyond that the aldermen would have to give their blessing. The mayor and aldermen will meet in special session Thursday, August 27 at 5 p.m. at city hall to consider making that official.

The new police department will be built on the north side of the city hall/fire department complex at Don Cantrell Street on land donated to the city.

The proposed facility will have a total roofed area of 12,800 square feet which includes a 1,400 square foot sally port. It is to encompass a front lobby, records clerk office, hallways, three holding cells, armory, conference and training rooms, offices for the chief, captain, detectives, and other officers, rooms for records, evidence, investigations, filing reports, locker room, electrical room, closets, restrooms, break room, and a sally port.

Groundbreaking is tentatively set for August 31. The contractor has 300 days to complete the project.

August 12, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A lightning strike may have been the cause of a fire Tuesday morning that destroyed a home near Center Hill Lake.

DeKalb County Fire Chief Donny Green said firefighters were summoned to a home at 265 Hope Cove Road off Coconut Ridge Road belonging to Stephen Smith of Cottontown. No one was home at the time. The fire was well underway by the time it was discovered and it could not be saved.

Video from dwayne page on Vimeo.

Heat from the fire caused some exterior damage to a neighbor’s home only 12 feet away.

Members of the Cookeville Highway, Short Mountain Highway, Midway, and Main Stations of the DeKalb County Fire Department responded along with other county firefighters who provided extra manpower and the fire department’s rehab team.

No one was injured.