County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – June 2008

Dear Constituents – The long awaited “roll out” for the AIA project in Kingston Springs is upcoming, I hope to see all of the participants this coming Tuesday, June 24, at the Jean Downey Theater at Harpeth High School. The program will begin promptly at 7:00PM, should last for about an hour and then Purity Dairies is furnishing ice cream and lemonade while we hang around and discuss and sign up to volunteer for this wonderful opportunity for Kingston Springs. Now for Commission business, sales tax collections for May 2008 – for the County, are up slightly by $469.85, for Kingston Springs, down $537.11, and for Pegram, up $571.19. Residential permits issued were 2 for District 5 and 4 for Kingston Springs (6th District) in May. Along with the rest of the County, this resulted in a decline of approximately $103,125 in Development Taxes for May 08, and at this rate, the total loss for the year could be almost a million dollars. The Adequate Facilities Tax report for the County shows a decline of $28,794 for the month of May, and at this rate the total for the year will equal approximately a $400,000 decline. Work continues on the Budget for July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. The County Commission will probably adopt the same tax rate of $2.78 as last year. As most of you remember, the tax rate for the 2007-08 was $2.78. For that year, each penny in the $2.78 was worth $64,000.00. The same tax rate for 2008-09 ($2.78), with the growth of the penny to $65,800.00, a 3.5% growth, means each penny will be worth $1800 over last year. The next step in the budget is to divide the $2.78 among all departments, savings funds for major expenditures and capital improvements. At this point, the Mayor proposed spending the “pennies” as follows: for County General operations 0.85 (up 3 pennies from last year); for Roads 0.07 (down 1 penny); for Education Debt 0.50 (same as last year); for General Debt 0.03 (same as last year); for Solid Waste 0.135 (1/2 cent more than last year); for the schools 1.13 (up one penny from last year); and finally, for Capitol Improvements (including vehicles) 06.5 (down .03.5 cents). At this point, the Mayor explained that this was an unusual budget that addresses the increase in fuel costs for the schools, opening the Sams Creek Convenience Center on Sundays (times will be announced soon,) along with all increased (especially di esel) fuel costs and give steps plus 1% cost of living raises to county employees. He further explained that with the growth of the penny, this proposal would be possible. A motion to adopt the Mayor’s proposal of a $2.78 tax rate was made by Commissioner Wood and seconded by Commissioner Crouch. Then Commissioner Anderson made a motion to amend the Mayor’s proposal with the following changes: add 2 pennies to the County general fund, add 1 penny to roads, and to pay for this without raising the tax rate by deleting those 3 pennies from the schools, reducing the Education funds to $1.10. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Burton and it passed 7 to 5. Commissioners voting to reduce the school budget were: Jack McCanless; Ann Jarreau; Bill Anderson; Brenda Montgomery; Ricky Burton; LuAnn Engelman; and David. Davidson. Voting to keep the 3 pennies in the schools were: Ray Crouch; W. R. Baker; John-Paul Wood; David McCullough and myself. This set the tax rate and the budget will be voted on at the July meeting. In my opinion, the n atural increase of the penny by $1800.00, will not nearly cover the increased costs of fuel for the next school year and that is the reason I voted against the cutting of their funds. In the beginning of the budget process, all departments, including the schools were told to cut their budgets by 5% because of the lower revenue and they did that. I would love to hear from you and how you feel about the budget with this amendment, I depend on your comments to help in my consideration of every issue, especially the schools that I know we all care so much about. The other major topic on the agenda for discussion was FEMA. Of the $200,000.00 set aside (from the sale of the nursing home,) for the expenses incurred to clear up the violations cited by FEMA, we approved an expenditure of $25,000 of this money for attorney fees (to date the County has filed 3 lawsuits), engineering fees and office supplies. I question the “office supplies” and was told that Mr. Armstrong needed a computer with GIS capabilities. I noted that he had requested that same money in his regular budget for next year. I will ask that this item in his budget be deleted before voted on. The Commission then requested that a written monthly update of “forward motion” (a favorite FEMA phrase) with each of the 38 violations listed, be furnished to Commissioners at each Commission meeting.


Keep you comments and calls coming! Adair Schippers,
952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – May 2008

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – May 2008

First things first – A review of the flood plain zoning! On Thursday, May 15th, I attended the “Special Called Meeting” of the County Commission. Mayor Orange called the meeting for the purpose of hearing from FEMA Mitigation Specialist Janice Mitchell about the building violations of residents within Cheatham County, (not including the four cities) all located in the flood plain or floodway

. After Chairman McCullough called the meeting to order, Mayor Orange spoke first at this meeting by introducing representatives from US Senator Alexander’s and US Representative Blackburn and Cooper’s offices and advised us that they were there to answer questions if we had any. He then told the Commission why he called the meeting and expressed his concern that although some of the Commissioners do have a grasp of the seriousness of the FEMA violations and the resulting
consequences; some do not understand, as evidenced by the Commissioner’s April vote (that failed 6-6); to require that the Flood Plain Administrator forward a completed MT2 application for a John Rankin subdivision to the Atlanta FEMA office for review. (This would not be necessary if we had a qualified engineer on retainer or staff.) Mayor Orange then called on Mrs. Mitchell to explain the steps to loosing our flood insurance and the consequences of this to the Commissioners again.

Before listing the steps, Mrs. Mitchell started by explaining to the group that FEMA had become aware of problems in our County because of numerous phone calls from citizens, administration and US Senator and Representative offices. After that explanation, Mrs. Mitchell also expressed her concern that the Cheatham County Commission does not understand that FEMA is “not the enemy”, then she gave a very thorough, step by step review of the process of loosing federal flood insurance “NFIP” if the 38 cited violations (for a two year period of 2006-07,) in the County are not addressed. The steps are as follows:

- Violations found by FEMA were listed and 3 letters sent to Mayor Orange from FEMA stating these violator(s) of both homeowners and paperwork in the Codes office. The first letter to Mayor Orange, dated August 9, 2007 and written by Prasad Inmula, Acting Chief, Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch in the Mitigation Division, pointed out “several deficiencies in your administration and enforcement of the County’s floodplain management program”. This letter also contained a list of violators and explanations and suggested steps to take for correction. The second letter, signed by Mrs. Mitchell and dated September 28, 2007, stated that she had been informed that variances had been requested and that they should not be waived “as these sited remedial actions would place the County in danger of being placed on Probation from NFIP”.
Letter 3, again signed by Mrs. Mitchell and dated April 18, 2008, stated that “it was brought to her attention that someone is proposing to remove Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Caton from their positions”. She then praised both of them highly and stated that in each case “this would be a step backwards and very unfortunate if changes were allowed that could have such a large impact on the County as a whole”. These are the only letters made available to us by the Mayor.

- Administration advises violator? (This was not made clear but I gather that was the next step.)
- If no “forward motion” or steps being taken towards corrections are seen then FEMA will place the County on “probation” for 6 months; resulting in a $50 penalty on all NFIP policyholders.
- After that time, if still no action is taken by the Administration to make sure the violators are “served” with further notice; at the end of the 6 months the County NFIP insurance will be “suspended”.
- Major penalties for the FEMA suspension are: loss of flood insurance for the 210 homes in the County that are required to have it; home loans that require this insurance will not be refinanced and may be called; Cheatham County will no longer be eligible for home loans from FHA, VA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or any other FDIC lender; and no federal grants or Small Business Loans for the county; and no disaster relief for the violators.
- NOTE again, none of this impacts the cities within our County unless they are found with violations and their administration does not act on them.

Mrs. Mitchell was careful to explain that FEMA wishes to work with the Administration and not suspend our insurance but will have to do so since we adopted their codes for the floodplain/floodway in order to receive the flood insurance. She also stated that they will be looking at records and buildings, back to 2005 (for now) before they complete their review.

Now that the rules in lengthy detail are explained, from my take on this thing, I am glad that Commissioners Crouch and Baker were able to speak so eloquently on behalf of the Commission by pointing out that as legislators, administration is not our responsibility. They also asked Mrs. Mitchell to tell the assembly how far the County is expected to go to pursue correcting the violations in order to maintain our flood insurance and her response was all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary.

Until Thursday’s meeting I had no idea what, or how many, violations FEMA had found. Copies of the letters FEMA wrote to Mayor Orange were given out that evening. We were not given copies of any corrective action letters. All the time Mrs. Mitchell talked, she carefully thanked and praised Ms. Caton and Mr. Armstrong for all they had done to “help get the paperwork in the codes officials offices” straight and that this was a good sign of “forward motion”. My concern with this was, who is granting permits to those waiting to pay the big fees to build? Obviously this is a major area of trouble, we are loosing money not granting these permits, especially the commercial ones, for instance Trinity Marine in Ashland City who is in great need of expansion in order to fill their customers orders. I know they have another plant in Louisiana that is capable of building barges, and with the looming deficit in the budget for next year, do we want to lose them?

So sorry to take so much time with this issue, but it is the Number 2 issue that I hear from the 6th district residents about and it is critically important to the businesses that pay such huge heavy industry taxes in Ashland City and to the County.

Now on to my regular Commission report.

From the Commission – May 19, 2008

Dear Constituents –

Tax collections for April 2008 - sales tax collections up slightly by $1,217.00, over March. Ten new residential permits were issued, five of these were issued in the 5th District and 3 issued in the 6th District A total of ten for the entire county, resulting in approximately an $1800 decline in Development Taxes for April 08 , and again, approximately $4000 decline in adequate facilities tax for April 08.

Work continues on the Budget for July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 and the next workshop/meeting is planned for Tuesday, May 20th, 1PM, General Session Courtroom in Ashland City. The public is invited to attend.

In other business before the Commission Monday night, resolutions to appoint Mrs. Pat Dannemiller of Kingston Springs and Mrs. Joan Evans of Pegram, to the Cheatham County Public Library Board were approved and we thank them for their willingness to serve. These ladies were added to replace long serving members, Priscilla Dorris and Robert Newman. Both Mr. Newman and Mrs. Dorris have served as Kingston Springs representatives on this Board beginning with the establishment of our South Cheatham library in the late 80’s, and their expertise will be missed. Though words are not adequate, I will take this opportunity to thank and applaud them for their dedicated service, they are two of the folks that made the library here happen! Another resolution reappointing David Risner of Kingston Springs to the Cheatham Development Association Board was also approved.

No other business before us, just the usual end of the year budget amendments, and we adjourned in record time at 8:00PM.

Keep you comments and calls coming! Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – April 2008

Dear Constituents – The good news is – for March, 2008, sales tax collections were up over March of last year, for a total of about $48,000 countywide! (This is about $6,400 over February of 08). Kingston Springs was up 35%, and Pegram increased by 11%. The bad news – for April 07 through March 08, development tax was down $15,000, adequate facilities tax down $30,195. These declining taxes/fees are new building fees, with only 16 new home permits issued (county wide) last month. In other business before the Commission Monday night, we approved a new funding mechanism for our County indebtedness of $7,894,500. This agreement, with a lower variable rate, contains an “interest rate collar” and is with the understanding of gaining a savings in the range of $600,000 to $800,000 over the life of the loan, approximately 15 years. The State of Tennessee has finally approved lighting for Exit 31 at New Hope Road and I-24 in Joelton. This is the only exit located solely in the County (outside a city) and the only one that the County can directly collect the sales tax from. In the long run this should be very helpful to us for the tax revenues. The money to pay for this project was set aside and approved in last year’s budget. Elke McLeroy of Kingston Springs, District 6, was newly appointed to the Cheatham County Board of Equalization. We appreciate her willingness to serve and know that she will do so with distinction. An update on the School Growth Plan – The School Growth Planning Committee did present what is now called “Plan B” to the Education Committee; it includes purchasing land for a new high school this July and completing the construction of this school for the 2011-12 school years. At the same time the plan includes construction of a vocational addition at Harpeth High. No dollar amounts were mentioned since the first estimate of $38+ million for the high school. A majority of the Commissioners on the Education Committee, including your two from the 6th District, have expressly asked for an “option C for rezoning” in order to look at the possibility of rezoning some students when/where overcrowding may happen. We want facts ! To this end, a “rezoning study committee” has been established and we hope to get a real look at what rezoning means, how does it work, how many students will be effected, how much does it cost, etc. I will keep you posted. With revenues down for this year, along with the fact that there are 98 fewer students in our system this school year, I don’t see the County Commission approving the expenditure at this time. The “rezoning committee” members are Diane Proffitt and Kurt Scott from the School Board, and the Commission members are Bill Anderson, Brenda Montgomery, W.R. Baker and yours truly. The Leadership Cheatham Class of 2008 presented the Commission with a very thorough and well researched plan for a Cheatham County Community Center. My congratulations to this organized group, they really did their homework on this and you will be hearing more about it in the near future. The AIA 150 Project for the Future planning meeting in March at Harpeth High School was a complete success and so many wonderful ideas were put forth for our future! The next step will be the architects putting our ideas on paper and returning with “a plan” that should be very exciting. This meeting is scheduled for June 24, at Harpeth High School Auditorium at 7PM. This is where we find out what we all want for Kingston Springs and how to make it work. Hope to see your there! A huge thank you again to Marian Fowlkes who was the catalyst that brought this to us, we are all so very grateful to you! Another big thank you to Tom Cullen who has worked so diligently with his neighbors in the Ranchettes to have natural gas brought there; and to Dale Graham for keeping everyone informed of the meetings. It is still not too late to sign on for this, give Tom a call. Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – March 2008 Dear Constituents – LEAP FEST was so much fun I hope we get to do it every year. If you were not able to attend, don’t miss the next one. Thanks so much to everyone that contributed their time and talents to create such fun for everyone. The AIA 150 Planning meeting March 14 and 15 at Harpeth High School was also a complete success and so many wonderful ideas were put forth for out future! The next step will be all of the architects putting our ideas on paper and returning with “a plan” that should be very exciting. A huge thank you to Marian Fowlkes who was the catalyst that brought this to us, we are all so very grateful to you. At the County Commissioner meeting Monday night the first order of business was a presentation/explanation by David Conners of Tennessee County Commissioners Association, regarding the State of Tennessee Property Tax Freeze Program that was approved by the voters of Tennessee in November of 2006. Many of you have asked about this and we have finally been given some information to look at. Some of the basics are: Each legislative body, county and/or municipality is authorized to adopt the property tax freeze program; and some of the restrictions are as follows: Qualified homeowners must file an application annually and must be 65 years or older; income from all sources not exceed to the county income limit (now set by the State at $34,750); income must be verified with proper forms on file, unlike the existing county tax “relief” that only requires an affidavit, as well as others. The Budget Committee will be looking at this proposal and after gathering all the facts about the cost and how to pay for it will make a report to the full Commission for action, or not. We were reminded that “Clean Sweep” will be April 14-19 and volunteers are needed. “Clean Sweep” is the opportunity to get rid of large items at or near your home. Call Codes at 792-7915 and volunteer in your neighborhood or to let them know where their attention is needed. In other action, we spent 3 hours on a zoning problem at the river in Ashland City. It was a heated debate between the Planning and Codes Department and a request from John Rankin, the builder of Harpeth Shoals Marina. Updating the School Growth Plan - As promised, I asked for the Committee to look specifically at “rezoning” as an option and Education Committee Chairman Wood asked for volunteers to serve on a study committee for that purpose. I volunteered and I will keep you updated when we meet. In the meantime, no action was taken and this committee will consist of three County Commissioners and at least 2 school board members and others with access to information. And finally, as anticipated, tax revenue for the month of February for all of Cheatham County was down for a total loss of $30,005. of that Kingston Springs was down about $3600 and Pegram a little over $5,000. Have a Happy and Blessed Easter Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – February 2008 Dear Constituents –

Will I see you at LEAP FEST? It should be a fun and exciting time for Kingston Springs and I hope you plan to attend some or all of the festivities.

Hopefully by now each of you have received a letter or read about the upcoming AIA 150 Planning meeting March 14 and 15 at Harpeth High School. If you did not receive a letter and want to attend, just call me and I will make sure that your name and reservations are turned in. This is your chance to tell us how you see Kingston Springs and the growth area in the future. Your input is valuable and your chance is now!

At the Kingston Springs City Commission last week, City Commissioner Pam Lorenz ask either myself or Commissioner McCullough why the proceeds from the sale of the Nursing Home, a Cheatham County property, were not being shared with Kingston Springs in the form of loaning money to them in case of major infrastructure needs. Without prior knowledge of the question, Commissioner McCullough addressed the question by saying that the County had not been asked this question before nor would it normally consider sharing this revenue with Kingston Springs or any other of our three cities in the County. He further explained that a decision of the County Budget Committee was to set aside the $1+ million dollars for: 1) possible FEMA expenditures to pay attorney fees and/or the costs of bringing into code many of the properties on the Cumberland (there is no way to guess what these expenses will be); and 2) to invest in taking sewer lines to Exit 31, New Hope Road, in order to give the County a real opportunity to at least have one area from which to collect 100% of the sales tax revenue. Without an opportunity to give some thought to this question I added that this was the only chance that the County would probably ever have to invest this money to earn more sales tax for our budget. I would like to add here that without a sales tax base for the County we are totally reliant on property taxes, fees and very little sales tax that we share with the schools. I fail to see why we would even consider sharing this money with any of the cities because none of the cities were ever asked by the County to help with the tremendous expenses of running a nursing home; I also cannot see the County in the business of loaning the cities money when we are not in the banking business, any more than I can see us in the nursing home business. A further question was asked by Mr. Craig, City Attorney, “could any of the money the County invests in the sewer project be recouped at some point in the future”? Commissioner McCullough will take these two questions to the Budget Committee for consideration.

At the Commission meeting Monday night, one of the important things that happened was a replacement on the School Board for the District 1 seat (Ashland City) that was held by Jackie Kemp before she resigned. There were three persons seeking the appointment, they were: Michelle Collins, nominated by the two 1st District Commissioners, a Vanderbilt graduate with a law degree, 52 years old and presently serves in a volunteer capacity on the school boards policy committee. Ms. Collins received 5 votes as follows: Bill Baker, Ray Crouch, Jr., John Paul Wood; David McCullough and Schippers. Tracy Potts, a Cheatham Central High School graduate (1988), a former substitute teacher and presently a Payroll Administrator and Human Resource Manager. Ms. Potts did not receive any votes. Kurt M. Scott, no age or graduation from Cheatham Schools listed, presently a student at Austin Peay and substitute teacher in the Cheatham County schools; received 7 votes as follows: Mrs. Jarreau, Mr. McCanless, Mr. Burton, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Engelman, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Anderson. Mr. Scott will serve until the August election and will have to run for the seat at that time.

Other votes before the Commission were as follows: approved new school buses, 1 big and three smaller ones, that were already funded in the budget and will actually save money because of requests for smaller buses; approved the funds for enclosing the court house annex entrance, $23,000.; approved a request from Judge Maxey to seek a Private Act from the State Legislature to ask the State to transfer responsibility of courthouse security from the Sheriff to the General Session Judge and that a position of director of security be established and appointed by same, (Sheriff Holder concurred with this request); appointed former Librarian Glenda Jacoway of Ashland City to a vacant seat on the Library Board; and finally, sales tax collections rose again for January, $10,000 over last year.

Mike Armstrong, who has successfully led the way in the Clean Sweep campaigns in our County, announced that there will be another “Clean Sweep” April 14-19 and asked for volunteers. You will hear more about this in the near future. “Clean Sweep” is the opportunity to get rid of large items at or near your home. Call Codes at 792-7915 and let them know where their attention is needed.

Regarding the School Growth, or 5-Year Plan - What I have learned about the 5-Year School Growth Plan. Here are the facts presented at the School Board meeting this month by Commissioner John Paul Wood, from the Cheatham County Schools 5-year Planning Committee.

Over the last 10 years, 1998 to 2007-08, enrollment in the Northern Cluster of schools has increased by 21%, from 2,125 to 2,713. The growth is expected to continue in this percentage even though not everyone agrees with this, including our County Planner, Sharon Caton, for one, who thinks that growth will slow down considerably. Pleasant View Elementary with a capacity of 600, now has 603 students; Sycamore Middle School with a capacity of 800, now has 847 students; and Sycamore High School with a capacity of 850, now has 840. Using these figures the committee studied the rezoning plan of Robertson County and as a result of that study they do not recommend rezoning. (I plan to dig further into this recommendation since it was based on a Robertson County suggestion.) There are 39 students at Sycamore High School out of zone (this number has continued to decline by the year), 7 students at Sycamore Middle School and 8 students at Pleasant View Elementary. The committee reported that most out of zone students are due to “grandfathering” when rezoning was done for the new Sycamore schools and those students will be graduating from high school this year and next. This growth is accounted for as follows: Pleasant View has led the County in residential building permits, mostly two to one for the last 5 years, i.e., in 2003 – 23% or 50 permits; in 2004 – 28% or 62 permits; in 2005 – 41% or 116 permits; in 2006 – 39% or 121 permits; and in 2007 – 40% or 78 permits. By comparison, Pegram and Kingston Springs combined residential permit numbers only match Pleasant View one year (in 2003) and most of the years following are less than half their numbers.

The 5-year building plan includes: a new 1200 student Sycamore High School with vocational; existing high school becomes Middle School; existing Middle School become Elementary School; and Pleasant View Elementary will be PreK – 2 year school; renovations to existing schools; and adding a vocational school at Harpeth High School. A preliminary budget of $38,650,000 was given for all of this. The price of land is not included in this figure. The next figure given was the cost increases by the year if this project is put off. They (the prices) range from a growth of 5% to 27% per year. The options for payment for these projects are 1) monies from the lottery surplus, and 2) County Government Capitol Improvements. I have not heard from any of you about whether or not we want/need a vocational school at Harpeth? It would be extremely helpful to me to hear from each of you about your thoughts/wishes/questions about this plan. This is a lot of money and with the schools having never ending requests, it is important that we use the right approach on this question. It is also important to remember that this is a document in process.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS - As promised in my last letter, regarding the idea of School Resource Officers, or SRO’s; Commissioner Ray Crouch, Jr., put together a joint meeting of The Emergency Services and Education Committees in the form of a Symposium with speakers Special Agent Joe Craig of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Chief Rich Hatfield of the Greenbrier Police Department, (Greenbrier has an SRO program in progress.) Along with the members of the two committees, others present were: Sheriff Holder, Judge Larry Wallace, School Board Director Lynn Seifert and several school board members. After hearing from Chief Hatfield and Special Agent Craig about the importance and influence this could have on the safety of our schools, they graciously opened the floor for questions and t here were many. All in all, it was my impression that this is something that is very important and timely and if we have the funds available it should be put in place.

The joint committee adopted a motion to send a recommendation to the Budget Committee that supports 3 SRO’s, one for each of the three clusters (for the Middle and High Schools); to be put in process for funding with the 2008-09 budget. The resolution also stated that the Sheriff would be the responsible department for these officers and their special training. It was noted that there is an estimated cost of approximately $42,000.00, per officer. You will be hearing more about this in the coming months, especially around budget hearing time and of course, I want to hear what you think about it.

See you at LEAP FEST!

Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – December 2007 Dear Constituents – Cheatham County has several Committees’ that operate according to Tennessee Code Annotated for specific purposes and are handled by the Cheatham County Commission Calendar & Rules Committee, the one which I serve as Chairman. These committee’s are mostly volunteer and are appointed by either the County Mayor or the County Commission. The following is a list: Agricultural Extension Committee; Construction Board of Adjustments & Appeals; Beer Board; Cheatham Development Board (formerly Industrial Development); 911 Emergency Communications Board; Board of Equalization; Planning and Zoning; Parks & Recreation; Port Authority; Public Library Board; Public Records Commission; Rail Authority; Water/Wastewater Committee; Work Release Board and Zoning Appeals Board.

I am writing about this because we need volunteers for most of these as appointments expire. If you have an interest in one of these Cheatham County Boards please let me know. I will be glad to guide you in the right direction for an appointment. Appointments that were confirmed at the December Commission meeting from the south end of the County were: Wade Reed to another term on the Agricultural Extension Committee, and Tony Campbell to a second term on the Planning and Zoning Board. Thank you both for your willingness to serve.

In my last letter I told you about the funds for the Harpeth Wrestling Team. Glad to report that all is taken care of, the School Boards members will be receiving their pay and are welcome to donate it, or not, their choice!

The Education Committee had an interesting meeting with Sharon Caton, Community Planner; to look at the growth (affecting schools) in Cheatham County. This is an important subject for planning purposes so that we may consider whether or not we will need more new schools in the future and if so, when and where? Mrs. Caton stressed that all of the slight growth to date has been in the north and south parts of Cheatham County, no surprise, and she does not see this changing anytime. She further stated that older age groups moving in are increasing faster than the young folks and that for now; only the northern cluster has a school that is at maximum capacity and is land locked. She suggested that we look at rezoning alternatives along with building another school.

Also in the Education Committee the subject of School Resource Officers, 1 (one) for each of the three high schools, was discussed. The pros and cons were presented along with the options for management of this staff, i.e., would it be under the Sheriff, or could it be the local cities? This subject will come before us next year and I would like to hear from you if you have an opinion on this.

For the month of November: sales tax collections were up $14,000 (most of that increase was from the Kingston Springs area), for a cumulative County total of approximately 5.8% increase for the year; only 12 new residential permits were issued in the County; and we collected $31,875 in development taxes, a figure that is less than ½ that of for the same time last year.

The Planning Commission brought to the full Commission some “administration” changes proposed in the Zoning book. As it is the business of the County Commission to approve these changes, some of the Commissioners had not had a chance to review them and a vote was deferred until the next meeting. If you are interested in these changes, I have a copy of them, give me a call.

The full Commission approved a budget amendment to disperse the $1,947,429.00 in proceeds generated from the sale of the nursing home as follows: $947,429 to retire the debt for the home; $800,000 to put in reserve to build a sewer at Exit 31 (the only County controlled expressway exit) at New Hope Road in Joelton; and the remaining $200,000 put into a reserve fund to pay for FEMA related expenses.

If you have been dying to attend a County Commission meeting and just could not because you are already committed on the 3rd Monday of each month, January and February of 2008 are your chances to attend. The meetings are moved to the 4th Monday because of the holidays occurring in those months. See you there!

Another year has gone by and I cannot believe how fast it seems to pass. I enjoy being your Commissioner and spending the time to learn the process. I will continue to do my best and with your continued interest and comments we can make it the best county in Tennessee.

My very best wishes to each of you during the holidays for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – November 2007

Dear Constituents –

November has been a very busy month for all of us and there are a couple of things that I want to share with everyone. A tremendous thank you to Jerry Carney for the work on the Ranchettes entrance on Jackson’s Cabin Road. I have heard many positive comments from you and I agree, I think that this will solve the problem. And while I am saying thanks; another well deserved expression goes to Julia Warren and her “cleanup” team for the thorough neighborhood cleanup in that area. If you see Julia, be sure and thank her, I know it was very hard work and so successful. AND, congratulations to Harpeth High School for being above average in all phases of TCAP achievement and a “Blue Ribbon School”; to Harpeth Middle and Kingston Springs Elementary for all “A’s” in value added scores. I don’t remember tests like this when I was in school but I am so very proud of our three schools and their continued advancement in academic achievement.

In the Education Committee of the Commission meeting last Monday night, a budget amendment was presented to us by the school board that had passed at their meeting the week before and I want to share this information with you. A little background first! Several meetings ago, our elected members on the School Board voted not to take their salary of $30 per meeting, but to put it back in the School Budget General Funds. Their thought was that they were trying to help fund the 07-08 school budget, if allowed. (I say “if” because one of our lawyer/commissioners says that this is against the law, so it is being researched by our County Attorney for a final opinion.) The amendment by a School Board member was to give $1163,00, of this (their returned salari es) money to the Harpeth Wrestling Team to help build their own building on the Harpeth campus.

In the past, the School Budget does not allow for athletic expenditures like this. I know that first hand, as you do, because I worked with most of you through the years to raise outside funds for many of these projects for our schools and I fail to see why Wrestling should be different. I also believe that this would start a precedent for every athletic association asking the Commission for their specific projects and where do we stop? Both Commissioner McCullough and I voted to send this budget amendment back to the School Board for further consideration. When the Budget Committee met the next day, they concurred and the amendment is now officially back in the hands of the School Board. Someone commented to me that I was “against” Harpeth, but I think you know that is not the case. Feedback on this would be helpful.

Now some County Commission business! Tonight the Commission finally elected a Chairman and new Chairman Pro Tempore. Commissioner McCullough was elected to serve until next year and the new Chairman Pro Tempore is Bill Anderson. If you recall, he was also running for Chairman and in a surprise move tonight he withdrew his name from consideration and voted for McCullough.

For 6th District farmers with livestock (cattle, sheep and goats), Mr. Ronnie Barron of the Agricultural Extension Service explained the “Hay Relief Fund” to Commissioners; while asking for a one time donation of up do $50,000. from the County Commission General Fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide cost-share (with five other counties) assistance for livestock producers because of the very large increase in the cost of hay, as a result of spring freeze and the drought this summer and fall. The budget committee voted to give them $30,000 to add to the other funds from many sources, and if you are a farmer and would like to apply for some of these funds, please contact the Cheatham County Extension office in Ashland City, 792-4420.

Other good news is….. sales tax collections are up $114,000. countywide over this time last year; with the new equipment furnished and shared with the courts, we have moved into the 21st Century with a proper recording device for Commission minutes; Cheatham County has received $30,000 in a grant for purchase of equipment to upgrade Count House Security. i.e., a x-ray machines; and our own Paige McVity was appointed to the Cheatham Development Association (formerly the Industrial Development Board), thank you Paige for your willingness to serve!

From our family to yours, we wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings!

Keep you comments and/or calls coming and thank you for your interest, Adair Schippers, 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

Dear Constituents – Another marathon meeting last night, and silly me thought they were over! The first real item on the Agenda was another attempt at electing a Chairman, the same two persons were nominated, Commissioners McCullough and Anderson, and the vote was the same as last month; voting for Bill Anderson were: Commissioners Jarreau, Anderson, Burton, Montgomery, Davidson and Engelman. Voting for Mr. McCullough were: Commissioners Crouch, Baker, Wood, McCanless, Schippers and McCullough. Until there is a majority (7 votes) to unseat Chairman McCullough, we could be doing this each meeting for the next three years, or until someone changes their mind. My hat is off to Chairman McCullough for his continued fairness during this trying process, he continues to act like a Statesman at all times. I sure hope we are able to keep him in this position. Next there was a very lengthy discussion regarding a $750,000 item for asbestos removal from Cheatham Central High School if any was found during the renovation process. The architects now know that this is not the case; no asbestos was found at Cheatham Central. Mr. McCanless, Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Montgomery expressed concern that this money would be spent on “other school projects” not in the original bid, instead of being returned to the General Fund for the County. Following debate, a motion was made to refer any and all changes to the original scope and “footprint” of the plans, back to the Capitol Improvements Committee for review. The motion passed, even thou gh it is already the procedure that is followed with all buildings. With the recent appointment of Mike Armstrong as Director of the Office of Codes Enforcement, it was necessary to approve an amendment to the budget to fund this new position. The motion passed with a few questions about who would be hired to take his former position. Mayor Orange responded that he is looking into this. He further explained that Mr. Armstrong will be trained as a Flood Plain Director by FEMA, within one year. Mike Armstrong reminded the Commissioners that Operation Clean Sweep will be held October 22nd to 27th. If you haven’t already volunteered in your neighborhood, now is the time to call and get involved to help clean some of our nearly 700 streets in the County. This is also the perfect time to have large items for discard picked up at your home if you are like me and need help lifting and/or delivery to the dump. If this is the case, give the office a call for pickup at 792-7915. Congratulations to Harpeth High School for being selected as the only “Blue Ribbon High School” in Tennessee. This honor is given by the “No Child Left Behind” program for making progress in student achievement. For my friends in the Ranchette’s and at Cliff View, Road Commissioner Jerry Carney told me that the work on the entrance on Jackson’s Cabin Road will begin this week. The plan is to make the curved road one-way into the neighborhood, with a stop sign at the end of the triangle and a warning sign as you turn into the curve. Additionally, there will be rumble strips to stop exiting traffic. The straight road in and out will remain the same as it does not create a blind corner for anyone. I know we all hope that this will be the answer to the threatening situation of trying to turn into Jackson’s Cabin Road off Bluebird. I hope everyone got at least a little rain today! Sure will be glad when we get back in the “normal” range. Have a great weekend and hope to see you all Saturday at the “Fall Festival” at the TSU farm on River Road, sure to be a delight to our little trick or treaters. As always, send me your feedback, I love hearing from all of you! 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

Dear Constituents, I promised to keep in touch about the budget so here goes with my September 6 update! Please remember that this is my first budget process to follow, I am not a member of the Budget Committee, just an intrested attendee. You have probably already heard that the entire Commission had a 4 hour marathon Tuesday night and accomplished absolutely nothing, except to find out that the full Commission is very split on the main issues of 7 1/2 cents for school funding and the 10% employee raises along with other less expensive issues such as: deleting some contributions for: Imagination Library, $3,000, Leadership Cheatham County $1,000, Animal Awareness Foundation $1,000 and not giving the Chamber of Commerce its 1/3rd share of the hotel/motel tax, about $14,000. Following the marathon Tuesday night, there was another budget meeting (I also attended) Wednesday morning to discuss the Highway Department budget. No other subject was allowed at that meeting. Before I go to the next step, some Budget basics are: with the new certified tax rate set by the State of $2.64, (suppose to be the same as the $3.13 from the last several years), and in the language of "government budgets" that makes each penny of the tax rate worth $64,000. Now, about the school funding. I have never made any bones about how I feel about the schools getting the 7 ½ cent raise (an additional $480,000 for a total of approxinately $7.2 million) from last year, (bringing their total to $1.14 cents). This would be a part of the new tax increase of 25 cents. (The 25 cents is proposed to make us not have to raise property taxes again until the next appraisal barring any unforeseen catastrophes.). Some of the other Commissioners do not want to give the schools any more than they had last year ($1.06 1/2), some want to give them 5 cents for “debt service” and no additional pennies for spending on regular reoccurring budget items. Several other creative ideas were mentioned regarding funding the schools but no action was taken. With this basis of information, add to that the State gave Cheatham County Schools $2+ million this year and mandated that they have to spend approximately $1.3 of that to adding several new Assistant Principals. That leaves almost a million that they could add to their re-occurring budget items. I tell you this because with those additional dollars, I would look at (consider) reducing the 7 ½ cents in their reoccurring budget and placing some of this money instead in their debt service budget for future building(s). Your feedback here would be invaluable. Next is the subject of the 10% employee raises! I believe that I told you the cost of this would be $770,000.00, or about 12 cents. I wondered why this was so high, as others Commissioners did. The sum of $770,000.00, turns out, is 10% for everyone! I certainly never meant, nor did some others, for the 10% to be for elected officials, the original thought being that this amount was for those working below the poverty level to bring them up. Additionally I did not mean that 10% was to be in addition to cost of living and/or step raises (a plan put in place by the last Commission meant to bring salaries in line with today’s rates). However, that is the way it was figured. Tuesday night I ask in the public forum why we could not give everyone the raises that were already planned, i.e., step and cost of living, and then the difference that made the total raise (adjustment) come up to 10% for the non-elected employees. The answer from the Mayor was twofold, one was “that would be very difficult”, the other was “that would throw the steps off”. Can anyone out there explain this to me? Another suggestion was - do we really have to give a cost of living increase with a 10% raise? Without many other questions, the rest of the 25 cent increase was disbursed as follows: 3 additional cents to County General; ½ cent more to Solid Waste; 2 cents to capitol projects and 1 cent to the vehicle fund. This 25 cents would increase the tax rate from $2.56 to $2.81. I appreciate, so very much, all of the constituents that were there for this workshop. Thank you for caring. I hope even more of you can join us for the September 17th regular Commission meeting to hear the final outcome. Others speculated that we will probably have several more emergency called meetings to iron out the differences before the end of the month. Some of you have asked, "what if we don't settle and vote on a budget by the end of the month of September", I was told that the State takes over if we don't. Thank you again for letting this novice serve you. The budget process is totally new to me so I have attended each meeting (missing only one) in the process and tried to learn as much as possible. I have also asked Mayor Orange to be added to the committee next year, as he is the one that appoints it. Most of all, please don't hesitate to call or email with your concerns, I will do my best to give you the straight answer. Adair Schippers 235 E. Kingston Springs Rd. Kingston Springs, TN 37082

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – August 2007

Still no word on the County budget! At the Commission meeting last night (Monday) there were many, many folks speaking at the public forum regarding the 7 ½ cent increase for the schools and the 10% raises for County employees. There did not seem to be a consensus among the Commissioners and I think that if we had voted on the budget it may have failed. In that light, the Mayor decided to have more meetings and bring the Budget back in September for a vote by the full Commission. The Budget Workshop for the Commissioners to ask questions will be Tuesday, September 4, 6:00PM, in the General Sessions Courtroom at the Courthouse in Ashland City. The Budget Committee will then meet on September 5th, 9:00AM, location to be announced, when it will hopefully adopt something to present to the full Commission on September 17th.

 

Regarding the FEMA report, there will be a FEMA meeting (this time with someone from FEMA,) and since it is happening this Thursday at 5:30PM, also in the General Sessions Courtroom in Ashland City, I hope those of you who receive this in e-mail form will be able to attend if you are interested in this subject.  Hopefully FEMA will explain just exactly what the role of the County is when/if they find issues with building(s) in the floodplain. It occurs to me that this could be a very costly item for the County if we have to become the agency that makes folks “fix” any wrongs.

Last Saturday about 50 homeowners from the Ranchettes gathered to talk about possible solutions to the life threatening entrance into their neighborhood via Jackson’s Cabin Road. The meeting was long, informative and productive! Look for the curve to be made into a one way entrance with a stop sign at the end of the triangle, the straight road will be left alone for now. Repair work has now been done on Bluebird to help exiting from there. Kudos to Mr. Carney for being there and helping us try to fix the problem.  Several others suggested a three way stop at the straight road and the need for a traffic study for the entire area became very apparent. Obviously this can not be done overnight and we will have to search for a funding mechanism for this.  In the meantime, Mr. Carney will continue to look for ways to improve and will always welcome your kind input.  I thank each of you who took your Saturday morning to be there, we made a lot of progress!

 

Congratulations – or should it be condolences – to Tom Cullen for his appointment to the Planning & Zoning Board. His engineering experience will serve us well on that Board and we thank him for his willingness to serve.

 

Once the Budget hearing was deferred, the meeting was shortened considerably and that is all the news I have for now. Stay tuned! As always, send me your feedback, I love hearing from all of you! 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

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From the Commission, August 6, Budget update!

Well, I promised I would pass the word on – when there was one, and finally, here it is!  Following a “workshop” on August 1, that replaced the announced one for the 31st, the Budget Committee voted to recommend a budget to the full commission! Highlights of this budget – that are subject to change at the County Commission meeting on the 20th, the vote was 3 ayes, 1 nay. Voting aye were: Mayor Orange, Commissioners McCullough and Crouch, Commissioner Montgomery voted Nay. Here are the highlights:

The tax rate was set at $2.56. The Budget Committee voted to up this to $2.81, which if I had a vote, it would have been Aye. If it passes the full commission, that would mean that you will multiply this figure by your new appraisal to find your new taxes. This is about 10 cents less than I think I told you two months ago. You could also look at this as a decrease, down from $3.13 as charged last year.

Some of the reasons for going down from $2.91 are: growth in property taxes, in the business tax fund, growing sales tax, growing investment income and a decrease in the nursing home expenditures.

It is important however, to keep in mind that the price of doing “everything” has gone up and the County is no exception.  Did you know that all petroleum products have climbed 700% in the last few years? The 10% employee raise that you have heard about is not a “raise” but an adjustment in salaries to take our employees out of the “poverty level”. NOTE: this is for employees, not elected officials! All elected officials, except the sheriff and Mayor, will get regular COLA raises, not 10%. As I told you earlier, the Sheriff will get an extra $10,000 for running a “workhouse” and the Mayor will have to be paid 5% more than the sheriff, both according to state law, making their salaries increase to $76,959. for the sheriff, $80,807. for the Mayor.

It is my hope that we can pass this budget in August. Thank you for your input and comments,

Adair Schippers, 952-3430, email Adair

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County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – July 2007

Still no final word on the County budget but the latest word is $2.56 on the tax rate that we will adopt and then increase.  The information that I have at this time is that a Budget Workshop is scheduled for July 31st, 9:00AM, at the Library in Ashland City. Please try to make this meeting; it should be informative for all who attend.

Again last month the sales tax revenues increased. I have to keep remembering that the greater portion of this is collected by the incorporated cities and distributed the same way. Next, the full Commission voted to sell the Christian Care Nursing Home in Ashland City to the only bidder, Christian Care, for a net profit of $1,037,441.00, and we keep approximately 35 acres of land. The vote was ten for the sale, one against and one Commissioner was absent. I voted for the sale because I have long felt that we do not need to be in the medical care or nursing home business and Christian Care has proven that they run a very good and caring home. There was an attempt by yours truly to use the proceeds from the sale of the nursing home to put sewer at New Hope Road Exit on I-24 to help with proper development of that exit. My attempt did not get on the resolution but the idea is still out there. I will vote for it when/if it makes it to the table because I feel that since this is the ONLY exit from which Cheatham County (as mentioned in my last letter) will receive all the sales tax dollars, it is critical to make sure that we develop it with the best possible growth.  Too much of the burden of tax at this time is placed directly on the homeowner because of our low sales tax base in the county.

Nothing new on the FEMA report! I read with interest the articles that Mayor Orange keeps writing about their audit. Perhaps we will hear more at the upcoming “FEMA Workshop” to be held on Monday, July 30th, 7:00PM, Cheatham Central High School, in the Auditorium. I will be there and for those of you who live near either river, you will have the opportunity to ask your questions at this time, so please try to be there and hear it “first hand”.

Attorney Bob Perry gave his opinion on whether or not the County has the right to suspend permit fees to build a home for Sgt. Kevin Downs here in Kingston Springs. He told us that State law does not permit waiving the fees for anyone or anything and therefore we will not be able to do so in this case.

Speaking of Sgt. Kevin Downs! I hope you all were at the “Home For A Hero” concert Tuesday night! If not, you really missed a show that will never be forgotten by so many of us.  Yes, the music and entertainment were spectacular – mostly local big name talent – but the citizen input from the crowd was so alive that I found myself reflecting on how wonderful our community is when we are called upon. We are such a caring and giving community, may it never change!  I would also like to thank Dale Graham for coming up with the idea of a home for Kevin and Patze and Roddy Fischer who gave their all to put on this incredible event. There are not enough words to thank them properly.

And further kudos to Tom Salter for his wonderful photos, to Pastor Sam Creed for helping us get the word and reminders out through the Ministerial Alliance, and to our very generous neighbors who donated food for the press, talent and volunteers, and “goodies" for the talent. These generous folks were: Arby’s of Kingston Springs; B & B Gatherings; Birdsong Marina & Resort; Cheatham County and the Chamber of Commerce; Community Bank & Trust; Heritage Bank Kentucky; Hog Heaven of White Bluff; Jim & Nick’s Bar-B-Q; City of Kingston Springs; Jackson’s Liquors; MacK & Kate’s; Mapco of Kingston Springs; Publix of Bellevue; Purity Dairies (Steve Stewart); Randstad of Springfield; Sargent’s Fine Catering of Franklin; Mary Jo Smith (her fabulous cookies); Tennessee State Parks (Jane Polansky); Wal-Mart of Ashland City; and Wrightrac Designs of Pleasant View.  Each of these donors gave whatever we asked and I, in turn, ask that you patronize their businesses and thank them again for their generosity. 

I could not have put all this together without a volunteer team to “end all” volunteer teams and my heartfelt thanks go out to each of you, my husband Jim, John McLeroy, Larry and Mary Dalton, Bob & Janice Keast, Bruce Shindler, Marie Smith, Ron and Linda Prater, Troy and Dawn Scott, Donna Boggs, Mike & Valerie Breedlove, Sean, Lauren and Zane Schippers and Leslie Maxwell and Ralph Allen.

As always, send me your feedback,
I love hearing from all of you! 952-3430,
or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – July 2007

Still no final word on the County budget but the latest word is $2.56 on the tax rate that we will adopt and then increase. The information that I have at this time is that a Budget Workshop is scheduled for July 31st, 9:00AM, at the Library in Ashland City. Please try to make this meeting; it should be informative for all who attend. Again last month the sales tax revenues increased. I have to keep remembering that the greater portion of this is collected by the incorporated cities and distributed the same way. Next, the full Commission voted to sell the Christian Care Nursing Home in Ashland City to the only bidder, Christian Care, for a net profit of $1,037,441.00, and we keep approximately 35 acres of land. The vote was ten for the sale, one against and one Commissioner was absent. I voted for the sale because I have long felt that we do not need to be in the medical care or nursing home business and Christian Care has proven that they run a very good and caring home. There was an attempt by yours truly to use the proceeds from the sale of the nursing home to put sewer at New Hope Road Exit on I-24 to help with proper development of that exit. My attempt did not get on the resolution but the idea is still out there. I will vote for it when/if it makes it to the table because I feel that since this is the ONLY exit from which Cheatham County (as mentioned in my last letter) will receive all the sales tax dollars, it is critical to make sure that we develop it with the best possible growth. Too much of the burden of tax at this time is placed directly on the homeowner because of our low sales tax base in the county. Nothing new on the FEMA report! I read with interest the articles that Mayor Orange keeps writing about their audit. Perhaps we will hear more at the upcoming “FEMA Workshop” to be held on Monday, July 30th, 7:00PM, Cheatham Central High School, in the Auditorium. I will be there and for those of you who live near either river, you will have the opportunity to ask your questions at this time, so please try to be there and hear it “first hand”. Attorney Bob Perry gave his opinion on whether or not the County has the right to suspend permit fees to build a home for Sgt. Kevin Downs here in Kingston Springs. He told us that State law does not permit waiving the fees for anyone or anything and therefore we will not be able to do so in this case. Speaking of Sgt. Kevin Downs! I hope you all were at the “Home For A Hero” concert Tuesday night! If not, you really missed a show that will never be forgotten by so many of us. Yes, the music and entertainment were spectacular – mostly local big name talent – but the citizen input from the crowd was so alive that I found myself reflecting on how wonderful our community is when we are called upon. We are such a caring and giving community, may it never change! I would also like to thank Dale Graham for coming up with the idea of a home for Kevin and Patze and Roddy Fischer who gave their all to put on this incredible event. There are not enough words to thank them properly. And further kudos to Tom Salter for his wonderful photos, to Pastor Sam Creed for helping us get the word and reminders out through the Ministerial Alliance, and to our very generous neighbors who donated food for the press, talent and volunteers, and “goodies" for the talent. These generous folks were: Arby’s of Kingston Springs; B & B Gatherings; Birdsong Marina & Resort; Cheatham County and the Chamber of Commerce; Community Bank & Trust; Heritage Bank Kentucky; Hog Heaven of White Bluff; Jim & Nick’s Bar-B-Q; City of Kingston Springs; Jackson’s Liquors; MacK & Kate’s; Mapco of Kingston Springs; Publix of Bellevue; Purity Dairies (Steve Stewart); Randstad of Springfield; Sargent’s Fine Catering of Franklin; Mary Jo Smith (her fabulous cookies); Tennessee State Parks (Jane Polansky); Wal-Mart of Ashland City; and Wrightrac Designs of Pleasant View. Each of these donors gave whatever we asked and I, in turn, ask that you patronize their businesses and thank them again for their generosity. I could not have put all this together without a volunteer team to “end all” volunteer teams and my heartfelt thanks go out to each of you, my husband Jim, John McLeroy, Larry and Mary Dalton, Bob & Janice Keast, Bruce Shindler, Marie Smith, Ron and Linda Prater, Troy and Dawn Scott, Donna Boggs, Mike & Valerie Breedlove, Sean, Lauren and Zane Schippers and Leslie Maxwell and Ralph Allen. As always, send me your feedback, I love hearing from all of you! 952-3430, or aschippers2@yahoo.com.

County Commission Highlights by Adair Schippers – June 2007

Last month I reported that the tax rate has been set at $2.56, replacing this year’s rate of $3.13. In the last budget meeting we were told that the tax rate, and the dollar amount for each penny is not yet final and we may not know until mid July what the actual figure will be. Hence, we may not vote on the budget until August. And while I am on the subject of budget, I want to thank so many of you for your feedback. I appreciate it all very, very much and hope you will keep the calls and emails coming, it makes me a better representative for you. I will be a prudent watchdog for our property taxes and the dollars they supply for the operations of Cheatham County, and for our seniors who live on fixed incomes. I will keep you informed about the new state proposed “tax freeze for the elderly” as we know more about it. In other business Monday night, Economic & Community Development Director announced that Homax in Ashland City will be moving all of its operations here and will add 14 new manufacturing jobs to our economy; that TVA will be facilitating a retail analysis of Cheatham County in July and August to help us with planning for the future of our County. If you are a business person and would like to volunteer for this project, please give James Fenton a call (792-2379), he needs a few good citizen volunteers to help with this (three afternoons required, July 16, 30 and August 13). Tax collections were down (very slightly) for the month of May and this is not anticipated to be repeated; County Clerk W. J. Hall collected $540,766.84 in revenue for the month of May (very high); the Cheatham County Industrial Development Board has changed their name to Cheatham Development Association; passed a resolution declaring July 17th, 2007, as Sgt. Kevin Downs Day and praised Patze Fischer and Dale Graham for all they have done to put together the upcoming “Home for A Hero” Benefit Concert* for Kevin on that day (hope to see you there, it will be a spectacular event); voted yes to declare certain property surplus at the Christian Care Home in Ashland City for the purpose of looking at selling it; a motion was approved to give the Mayor permission to ask the State Department of Transportation to proceed with an engineering study for placement of lights at the New Hope Road Exit off I-24, and finally, it was announced that the Federal Emergency Management staff (FEMA ) will be in Cheatham County beginning next week to inspect and audit our zoning permits/laws and buildings in the flood areas in Cheatham County. Back to the New Hope Road Exit on I-24, it is the only exit that exists in the County that is not part of one of our cities. There is no sewer there and for that reason a large chain restaurant decided not to locate there in the past. When the motion came before the Commission, I voted against it because I believe that we should put some infrastructure there, before the lighting, that will allow us to recruit hotels, chain restaurants, etc. In other words, large sales tax producing companies! I was the only no vote on this issue. *In case you have not bought your tickets, they are $20 advanced purchase at Community Bank in Kingston Springs. Gates open at 5PM for a “Heavy Metal” pre show event honoring all branches of the Armed Forces. The show begins at 7PM, with names such as Joe Diffie, Lonestar, John Berry and more. Fireworks will be the finale. All proceeds will go to the Kevin Downs Benefit

    State Representative Phillip Johnson announced that the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) has sent letters to homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages in the 78th Legislative District. Persons receiving the letters have a mortgage with a interest rate change occurring between April 1 and June 30, 2008. “"Adjustable rate mortgages can be a risky method for purchasing a home,” said State Representative Phillip Johnson. “Many people are attracted to the low initial interest rates, not realizing the dramatic increase in payments that can occur when the rate goes up. The prepayment penalties can also make refinancing very expensive. I would encourage home owners with an adjustable rate mortgage to take advantage of the THDA guidance and available assistance. I would also advise those considering a home purchase to avoid a potential financial crisis by acquiring a loan with a fixed interest rate and a payment that does not threaten the family budget." THDA makes mortgages to first-time homebuyers, but offers only fixed rates. It is working as a facilitator to help those facing unaffordable mortgage payments. THDA identified homeowners who made adjustable rate mortgages within the affordable sales price limits of its programs. Each quarter, THDA is writing to those homeowners urging them to review their mortgage documents, confirm they can afford the new interest rate or to call a national information line that will provide the name of a local foreclosure prevention counselor, 1-888-995 HOPE. THDA is a political subdivision of the State of Tennessee. THDA is the state’s housing finance agency, responsible for selling tax exempt mortgage revenue bonds to offer affordable mortgage funds to homebuyers of low and moderate incomes through local lenders, and to administer various housing programs targeted to very low-, low- and moderate-income households. THDA was established in 1973, making its first mortgage in 1974. It has provided affordable fixed rate mortgages to over 96,000 households without using state tax dollars. THDA issues between $250 and $300 million in mortgage revenue bonds annually for its first-time homebuyer program. In the year 2007, THDA created the Tennessee Housing Trust Fund using state, THDA and locally-generated match to support programs for the very-low income, elderly and special needs populations. More information about THDA is available on-line at www.thda.org. Rep. Johnson serves the 78th District of the Tennessee General Assembly, which includes Cheatham, Williamson and Montgomery Counties.

I recently joined with Kiwanis President John Mayfield to introduce Girl Scout CEO Agenia Clark to the Cheatham County Kiwanis Club.  I met Ms. Clark at an Austin Peay State University breakfast for Montgomery County State Legislators and the Tennessee Board of Regents.  Finding out I was from Cheatham County, she began telling me about the proposed renovations for Sycamore Hills Girl Scout Camp.  It was hard to tell who was more excited about the potential for the camp located in the center of our community.  The great news for the camp will also be great news for Cheatham County.

I thought the Kiwanis Club would be a good first step to sharing the information with others in our area. I appreciate John Mayfield for making this meeting happen.  Ms. Clark, along with several officials from the Girl Scouts Organization and Camp Sycamore Hills made a presentation of the details for improvements and additions to the existing facility.   Plans include a new equestrian facility, an olympic-size pool, along with significant renovations and improvements to the "Red Barn."  The organization is expected to spend approx. $5.5 million for the improvements.  The Girl Scout property already has a high and low ropes course, cabins, walking trails and, of course, the John E. Mayfield Swinging Bridge. 

I couldn't help thinking of all the possibilities to increase tourism revenue for our county.  Tourism is an industry that has no "smoke stacks," yet can provide a great source of tax dollars from people that visit our county, eat in our restaurants, buy goods at our stores, but live somewhere else.  This outside source of revenue can help businesses thrive and lessen pressure on property tax as the main source of funding for our local governments.  While the focus and priority of the camp will be the development of young ladies through the Girl Scout program, the property and facilities have the potential to become a premier multi-purpose site.  Corporate retreats and training, equestrian events, field trips for our schools, and swim team training are just a few of the possibilities.  A nice gathering facility would also enable organizations to stay in-county for large events such as the Cumberland Ball and the Lions Club Gala. No longer would we need to go out of county for an appropriate venue.  Having such a gem located in Cheatham County would enhance our economic and community development; maintain the beautiful environment of our county, while protecting the quality of life in our communities.  To coordinate the effort with our state government, I invited Lee Curtis and Sue Ann Bone of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to join us for the meeting.  Ms. Curtis actually attended Camp Sycamore Hills as a young girl.  She shared the great potential benefits for our county by working together with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
It is my hope that everyone in Cheatham County will join in my excitement and support the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee in the effort to make the Sycamore Hills Girl Scout Camp the outstanding facility and property it can be. For more information on how you can help, contact Girl Scouts of Tennessee, 4522 Granny White Pike, Nashville, TN 37204.  Telephone 615-460-0207 or 1-800-395-5318

State Representative Phillip Johnson serves the 78th District which consists of Cheatham, Williamson and Montgomery Counties.

Pictured is Cheatham County Mayor Bill Orange, Theresa Carl, Vice President of Development  Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee,  Agenia Clark, CEO Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee,  State Representative Phillip Johnson, Sue Ann Bone of the TN Dept. of Tourist Development,  Lee Curtis of the TN Dept. of Tourist Development,  and John E. Mayfield, President Cheatham County Kiwanis

November 13, 2007 Contact: Kara Watkins Phone: 615-741-1975

Representative Phillip Johnson announces Cheatham, Montgomery, and Williamson Counties to receive grant for security equipment

NASHVILLE –
Representative Phillip Johnson (R-Pegram) announced today that Cheatham County, Montgomery County, and Williamson County will receive security Enhancement grants. The money was granted by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The counties will have to provide funds as well, matching 10% of the grant.

Cheatham County will be receiving a $30,230 grant for security enhancements, specifically for handheld metal detectors, walk-through magnetometer, an x-ray machine, and new audio/visual equipment.

Montgomery County will be receiving a $24,999 grant for security enhancements, specifically cameras that will serve as a surveillance system, and new audio/visual equipment.

Williamson County will be receiving a $17,999.20 grant for security enhancements, specifically cameras, a new surveillance system, and new audio/visual equipment.

“I want to thank the AOC for awarding grants to the three counties I represent,” stated Representative Johnson. “The grant money will ensure our citizens additional safety at our courthouses. I believe this will help bring long-term benefits to the citizens of the 78th District.”

Rep. Johnson serves the 78th District of the Tennessee General Assembly, which includes Cheatham, Williamson and Montgomery Counties.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE;
Contact: Rachel Woods
October 3, 2007 Phone: 615.253.1960

Rep. Phillip Johnson announces Harpeth High School
Named 2007 Blue Ribbon School

Nashville, TN – Four Tennessee schools received Blue Ribbon Schools awards from the U.S. Department of Education. This national award recognizes schools that dramatically improved student achievement or performed in the top percent in the state on annual tests. Tennessee’s 2007 Blue Ribbon Schools are Jacks Creek Elementary in Chester County; Holstein View Elementary in Bristol City, Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge City; and Harpeth High School in Cheatham County.
“These schools have implemented the best educational practices and resources to increase the academic achievement of their students,” Education Commissioner Lana Seivers said. “I congratulate these schools on modeling the best of what public education is about – helping all students reach their greatest potential.”
“I am very proud of every school in the 78th district, and especially proud of Harpeth High School for excelling as a top performer.  An outstanding principal and quality teachers have guided hard-working students to attain this distinction,” said Rep. Johnson.
Schools may be nominated based on two types of performance. The first category recognizes schools with at least 40 percent disadvantaged students that make exceptional progress on annual achievement tests. The second category honors schools whose students perform in the top 10 percent of all the state’s schools. Two Tennessee schools serving at least 40 percent disadvantaged students also performed in the top 10 percent in the state.

School	Principal	System	Category
Jacks Creek Elementary	LaTasha Phillips	Chester County Schools	In top 10 percent in the state with at least 40 percent disadvantaged students
Holstein View Elementary	Tom Parker	Bristol City Schools	In top 10 percent in the state with at least 40 percent disadvantaged students
Jefferson Middle School	Bruce Lay	Oak Ridge City Schools	In top 10 percent in the state
Harpeth High School	Jenny Simpkins	Cheatham County Schools	In top 10 percent in the state

“The criteria for this award are not easily met. Blue Ribbon status represents a tremendous amount of work on the part of both staff and students at each school,” Federal Programs Director Julie McCargar said. “This is a notable honor for everyone involved.”
The Blue Ribbon Schools award program was created by the No Child Left Behind legislation in 2002. The principal and one teacher from each 2007 Blue Ribbon School will be invited to an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. November 12-13.

For more information, contact
Rachel Woods at (615) 253-1960 or Rachel.Woods@state.tn.us

      Rep. Johnson serves the 78th District of the Tennessee General Assembly, which includes Cheatham, Williamson and Montgomery Counties.

 

REP. PHILLIP JOHNSON LEARNS MORE ABOUT ETHANOL AND BIOFUELS
March 27, 2007 Contact: Kara Simpkins, 615-741-1975
Ladies and Gentlemen - start your ethanol-powered engines. Representative Phillip Johnson (Pegram) is pictured with a vehicle powered by ethanol – a fuel made from cellulosic plant materials, including switchgrass and corn. The vehicle was on display as part of “Ag Day on Capitol Hill” - Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at the Legislative Plaza in Nashville. The car is a 2005 Dodge Stratus from the University of Tennessee motor pool. It is an FFV or Flexible Fuel Vehicle which can run on a mixture of gasoline and up to 85% ethanol. Lawmakers were able to learn more about ethanol and other biofuels as part of this event. Leaders from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture also made a presentation to the House Ag Committee on biofuels that day. UT is teaming with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of its new Biofuels Initiative. Here researchers will look for ways to lessen our dependance on foreign oil, and increase markets for Tennessee farmers who could grow some of the plant materials for biofuels. UT experts estimate the Biofuels Initiative will create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in ag revenue. Rep. Johnson serves the 78th District of the Tennessee General Assembly, which includes Cheatham, Williamson and Montgomery Counties.