Correspondent

With Mayor Charles "Bud" Chadwell presiding, the New Tazewell Board of Mayor and Aldermen met in regular session on Tuesday, Oct. 11th. After review and approval of the minutes of the September meeting, the board heard a presentation by the Ed Street Company who are seeking to add a new retail facility on several parcels of land that corner on Broad Street and Main Street. The new development would require closing part of Old Jacksboro Road and rezoning several residential lots for commercial use.

After hearing the presentation, the mayor explained that the proposal would have to go through the city planning commission for their review and referral. City Recorder Herschel Beeler accepted the company's request to be placed on the next planning commission agenda.

The board also passed Resolution 165 which adopts the National Incident Management System for the city. The resolution requires training for city officials in emergency management and requires the city to adopt standardized procedures (established by the federal government) for managing incidents. Adopting the system also allows the city to apply for any grants that may become available to support the city's emergency response capabilities. The resolution passed without dissent.

The police report for the month of September included 113 arrests and citations, and response to 18 accidents (five with injury). Chief Johnny Johnson also reported that the city had conducted a "beer sting" at six local establishments, but that all beer permit holders had carded the individual and refused to make an improper sale.

The fire report for the month included 11 incidents. Most of the incidents turned out to be false alarms. This led to a discussion of the city ordinance that allows the fire department to charge a business or residence if a second false alarm occurs. False alarms have decreased since the ordinance was established and several businesses have been charged for the call-out.

The board also approved a 120 day moratorium on issuing a business license for any adult oriented business (to include drug treatment clinics) to allow the city time to develop zoning and control procedures for such establishments.

The final topic discussed by the board was codes enforcement. Chadwell stated that the board needed to sit down and take a hard look about actions they should take concerning code enforcement. Several members of the board voiced their support since they had received calls requesting enforcement of city signage and animal control ordinances.