Chamber Seeks More Funding from City and County

April 30, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce is asking for more financial support from the City of Smithville and the County.

Chamber Director Suzanne Williams addressed the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen Monday night, April 24 at a budget workshop asking for a $10,000 increase in the city’s annual contribution to the Chamber, which if approved would go from $15,000 to $25,000. Williams also addressed the county budget committee on Monday, April 3 asking for a $35,000 increase. The county currently contributes $25,000 annually to the Chamber. If the request is approved, the funding would go to $60,000. The Chamber, a non-profit organization, was established to promote local economic development and tourism and it is governed by a board of directors and officers. Three years ago, the county raised its annual contribution to the Chamber from $17,500 to $25,000. The Chamber is also supported by membership dues and fundraisers.

Chamber Director Williams said DeKalb County’s Chamber remains one of the lowest funded in the state and could use the extra money to support its budget and mission. In addition to promoting DeKalb County and raising funds for the Chamber Williams said she also spends much of her time writing and administering grants for the county among other tasks. She also added that tourism in DeKalb County grew by 30% in 2021 and ranks third among the 14 Upper Cumberland Counties behind Putnam and Cumberland.

The following is a summary of her remarks to the Mayor and Aldermen last week.

“I spend a lot of time and effort into grants. The grants are on a 2-year cycle, but these grant dollars have a huge impact on our tourism dollars. Some of the grant examples include the billboards on Interstate 40 promoting the Fiddlers Jamboree and Center Hill Lake, $7,000 grant for a PBS National Show for the Jamboree last year, 3 downtown murals, hanging lights in the alley, printed materials, etc. These are just some of the things funded by the grants. I focus on projects that positively impact our local people and attract visitors. The grants have an impact on Smithville as well as the additional funds I had to raise in grant matches and the city contributed $1,000 for the mural match. With the grant matches, the Chamber was able to bring over $200,000 to projects within the city,” said Williams.

“The 2023 grants already awarded this year amount to $33,400. Other grants I will be applying for in 2023 include $150,000 for the downtown Smithville revitalization. I will be reapplying for the $7,000 Jamboree national program, and $3,600 Jamboree billboard which will be for next year. I will also be adding other (grants) as they become available. I focus on projects that positively impact our local people and attract visitors,” she said.

Developed in 1980, the state’s Three-Star Program is designed to help communities take full advantage of economic development opportunities.

“Three Star is hugely important,” said Williams. “The Chamber has kept the City of Smithville and the whole county Three Star certified for 25 years and it is a lot of work. You could have a part time person just doing that job. Without certification, the city could not apply for most of the grants including the Community Development Block Grants. Having Three Star certification means you also get bonuses and discounts when you are awarded a grant. For example, the City of Smithville paid $51,645 less on its CDBG sewer grant match because Smithville is a Three Star community made possible through the Chamber,” Williams continued.

“I actively serve on 19 boards and committees including 5 workforce development committees, so I have a lot of meetings. The Chamber organizes industry round table meetings with our local industries and state partners, and we have been working closely with our newest industry coming to town which will be located in the former Foutch Industries building and is scheduled to be up and going around the first of June. Annually I attend several conferences on training. The Governor’s Conference on Economic and Community Development is one of the requirements for being a Three Star community. You have to go to that or else you won’t be certified for Three Star and the Chamber covers the cost of that conference. We do all the things you would expect the chamber to do. We also oversee the Leadership DeKalb program which starts back up in September, and we organize several events,” Williams said.

“DeKalb County has the 3rd highest tourism dollars in the 14 county Upper Cumberland region behind the much larger Cumberland and Putnam counties. The latest figures show $32 million in direct spending from our tourists and that is a 30% increase from the previous year. Overnight tourists paid $1.1 million in local taxes and since I have served as Chamber Director, we have never gone backward in tourism dollars. Even in 2020, DeKalb tourism dollars were up 3.7% from the previous year and out of the 95 Tennessee counties only 15 increased in tourism dollars and DeKalb County was one of them. Out of the 15 counties in the Upper Cumberland region, only 2 had an increase in tourism numbers and DeKalb County was one of the two. Compared to what a neighboring county (Chamber) receives from their city, the City of Sparta contributes $30,000 to the White County Chamber and White County’s tourism dollars are about one third of ours in DeKalb County. Smith County has $10 million in tourism dollars, and they (county) give their Chamber $42,500. Clay County gets $4.76 million in tourism dollars and their Chamber gets from them (county) over $140,000. The Clay County Chamber gets all the county’s hotel/motel tax including a tax on houseboat rentals. Our Chamber this year will be getting some ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds but those are going for tourism projects,” said Williams.

In her remarks to both City and County, Williams said “Based on what I have submitted, I would humbly request that you (city) consider investing $25,000 annually to the Chamber and that you (county) invest $60,000. I am not asking for a donation. This is an investment. Any more you put toward the Chamber, you get it back in grants alone or Three Star savings. This (request) is not for my salary. My salary will not change by one penny. This increase would go straight to the budget to better serve you and the City of Smithville and DeKalb County,” said Williams.

April 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Time for a new city fire truck?

Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker said the City of Smithville should be making a commitment now to purchase a new fire engine to replace the oldest truck in the fleet, a 2001 model (Engine 2).

Chief Parker made his request during Monday night’s city budget workshop of the mayor and aldermen.

Aside from the fact that the 2001 fire truck is 22 years old, Chief Parker said it is beginning to have performance issues.

“Since January, we have documented 10 times that the pump on Engine 2 would not engage. They have worked on this issue 2 times this year and once last year,” he said.

Chief Parker is asking that the city purchase a Pierce PUC Pumper currently priced at $1,299,822 which includes loose equipment and that payments be made for it under a 5-year lease purchase plan. According to Chief Parker, the city’s first payment of $281,575 could be made upon placing the order, with 4 following annual payments. By acting now, Chief Parker said the purchase price would be locked in and the city could qualify for prepayment discounts since it would be up to 3 years before delivery of the new fire truck.

Another reason for acting now, Chief Parker said is because the cost of a new fire truck is going to be even higher later.

“The price has gone up over $300,000 just since last year and it is not looking like it is going down anytime soon,” he said.

In addition to the 2001 fire truck, the Smithville Fire Department has in its fleet a 2018 rescue pumper and a 2012 ladder truck.

Along with the factors of safety, liability, and reliability, Chief Parker said part of the reason for keeping city fire department equipment and apparatus up to date is to maintain a good Insurance Service Organization (ISO) rating so that residents are able to take advantage of lower homeowner insurance premiums.

“ISO is an organization that gathers information about a community and gives a rating that most insurance companies use to base their annual insurance premiums on for Smithville,” said Chief Parker.

“We strive to attain the lowest IS0 rating and to follow as many of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) rules, standards, and guidelines we can. Following these standards keeps our firefighters and citizens safer and these rules are what we would be held accountable to if things were to go wrong concerning liability issues,” said Chief Parker.

“As per our last ISO audit on May 21, 2012, Smithville has a 5/5x rating which is based on several things from hydrants, water flow, personnel, dispatch, training, and needed fire flow,” he said.

According to the ISO classifications, in order to have a sufficient water delivery rate for a fire, we have a needed fire flow of 3,000 gallons per minute. Currently, our fire engines are rated at 1,750 and 1,250 gallons per minute, which means we need 2 engines to reach and maintain this needed fire flow”.

Citing NFPA (advisory) guidelines for first line and reserve fire apparatus, Chief Parker said “to maximize firefighter capabilities and minimize risk of injuries, it is important that fire apparatus be equipped with the latest safety features and capabilities. Apparatus more than 15 years old may not contain all of the safety upgrades as the current NFPA standards. Because the changes, upgrades, and fine tuning to NFPA (1901) standards have been truly significant, especially in the area of safety, fire departments should seriously consider the value (or risk) to firefighters of keeping fire apparatus more than 15 years old in first line service”.

“Under NFPA 1901 standards it is recommended that apparatus more than 15 years old that have been properly maintained and are still in good condition be placed in reserve status, and be upgraded in accordance to NFPA 1912 standards,” said Chief Parker.

“Apparatus that were not manufactured to the applicable NFPA fire apparatus standards or that are over 25 years old should be replaced according to NFPA 1901 standards,” Parker said.

As for the 2023-24 operating budget, Chief Parker has made the following requests for increases:

•$10,000 increase for vehicle parts and repairs. A jump from $5,000 to $15,000 (due to anticipated repairs of aging vehicles and to replace tires on Engine 2)

•$12,000 for extra fire hose & equipment to better serve areas of the city that either do not have sufficient hydrant coverage or where the hydrants are too far apart.

•$10,000 for fire hall building paint and repair

•$2,500 for finishing the outfitting of the 2022 F-150 pickup

•$10,000 to add a hydrant on the fire department training ground site

The mayor and aldermen have not yet acted on Chief Parker’s request.

April 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

If you have ever wanted to adopt a cat or kitten now is the time to do it!

The DeKalb Animal Coalition is hosting a “Sip Coffee, Help Cats” event on Saturday, April 29 from 10 a.m. until 12 noon at the shelter on Transfer Station Road behind Tenneco Automotive. Get a cup of coffee and an adoptable cat. Coffee and donuts will be available. Limited edition coffee cups will be on sale for $10 each.

“Come out Saturday to meet all our cats and kittens including our newest litters. We have 6 kittens here and they are only about 6 weeks old,” said shelter director Emmaly Bennett. “They can be adopted and claimed, they just can’t go home with you quite yet. We want to have them spayed and neutered before they leave the shelter but they are all super cute. Check out our website to see their pictures individually as well as their information, sex, age, and name. They are all playful with beautiful markings and coloring. These are just all around good kittens,” said Bennett.

“We also have 6 newborn kittens but it’ll be 4 months before they are available for adoption. Come out and see them and their mommies Saturday from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. Enjoy coffee and donuts and purchase a coffee cup. All the proceeds will benefit the cats and kittens of our community and at the shelter,” said Bennett.

“If you are interested in adopting please check out the adoptable pet’s link on our website to fill out an application at https://www.dekalbanimalsheltertn.com/ and we will call you to come in,” said Bennett.

The shelter is open Monday-Friday from 8 to 4 and Saturday from 8 to 12 at 186 Transfer Station Road. Phone 615-597-3647.