On Politics

Assumptions - Despite reports to the contrary in other media, County Planner David Taylor has said from the first community meeting until the last that the report of surveys from the community planning meetings would be presented with his zoning plan proposal towards the end of this year. There was no official notice received nor any suggestion to this paper that the report would be made at the June Planning Commission meeting. However it was announced that the Annual Report would be given, which Colin McLeod did present to that body last week. Quarters and dollars - Several County Commissioners were amused, and some were irritated by a package that each commission member received from the Friends of Kodak Library. The package contained one fourth of a book, to indicate that was how much of a book each county resident received from library funding last year, along with a letter from the organization stating their case for a higher appropriation for the Sevier County Library System that operates the libraries in Sevierville, Kodak and Seymour. The resentment was triggered by the statement, “The money that County Commission appropriated to its public library system equaled $6.42 per person living in Sevier County.” The group reached that conclusion by taking the $420,000 the county spends on the library system last year and dividing it by the county population which is just over 73,000 according to the latest census numbers. The irritated members believe the citizen group should have factored in the large amounts given by the individual cities to their libraries. Figures hashed out by one commissioner show that the combination of monies spent by the various cities and the county on public libraries equals out to be over $16 per county resident instead of the $6 figure. The averages provided in the letter say, “The state average is $10.79. The national average is $21.97.” Blind sided – A citizen address to the County Commission regarding the activities of Geneva Myers who runs the county Senior Center and has directed the Council on Aging left Commissioners who serve on both the Senior Committee and the council a bit wide eyed. The report was a bit blindsiding as complaints had never been mentioned at the council meetings. It did not help that neither body has issued a committee report to the County Commission since the new Senior Center opened. The Thursday night Budget Committee meeting at the center may provide a chance for commissioners to ask questions. Nick of time – Villa Francesca, the new Italian restaurant in the Kroger’s Shopping Center, had their beer license approved by the County Beer Board Thursday night. Luckily for the owners they filed their application on May 8, three weeks later the Faith in the Word Church moved into the vacant church building across Chapman Highway. Since the church moved in after the legal date of application, the 2000-foot distance requirement did not apply. Kudos – This week’s kudos go to Sevier County Schools Finance Director Karen King. King’s hard work found KUB overcharges to the Seymour schools geothermal heating and cooling pilot system. Costs for the system should be lower than a regular electric heat/ac, but the system meter was determined to be at fault. She then refused to accept a three-year settlement rebate and got the five-year rebate worth over $400,000. More water – Road Superintendent Jonas Smelcer promised to investigate the situation after complaints before the County Commission in May alleged his crews had fixed a water problem for a county commissioner but neglected other residents in the High Chaparral subdivision in Seymour. Smelcer presented a documented report from Gary McGill about the area and cleared the record about the work in question. The crew installed drainage pipes and resurfaced Macon Lane to accommodate the increased traffic from the Macon’s Crossing traffic light. The report from McGill and Associates also concluded that the road work and county drainage was not a contributing factor to the problem on private property. Though it was again stated at the June commission meeting that the Roads Dept does not stop in the neighborhood, pictures included in the report show Smelcer present.