By: Summer Kelley, Staff Reporter

   The first meeting of 2010 for the Trenton City Commission began with the swearing in of City Clerk Lucretia Houts and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Chuck Cannon.

Houts, Cannon and Police Commissioner Sandra Gray, who was sworn in later in the meeting, will be serving another two years with the city. Houts said 2010 started her 21st year with the city.

“I appreciate each and every resident that shows the support they show,” Houts said.

The new year started off with a fairly busy meeting for the city commission as residents of a new housing development on Ashton Lane addressed commissioners to ask what needed to be done in order to get fire hydrants, street lights and street signs on their road. Mayor Barton Harris told the concerned citizens that the infrastructure in the housing development has to be completed by the developer and then the developer must come to the city and ask the city to take over the street. The deed to the street must be signed over to the city. 

For the infrastructure to be complete there must be a fire hydrant placed by the developer, Harris said, and that the street of the development in question also needs a turn-around for emergency vehicles. Other than that the Ashton Lane subdivision road is up to city standards and almost ready to be handed over by the owner of the street, or developer.

Apparently, according to the Ashton Lane residents, there is some dispute over who actually owns the property containing the street. The residents will be checking their deeds to see if their property extends to the center of the road, then they can be the ones to sign the street over to the city. If not, the street must be signed over by the developer who originally owned the land. The developer must also warranty the street for a year after the city takes over the roadway.

“We can’t force his hand,” Harris said of the developer. “We can’t take his land away. He needs to finish the work.”

Lecia Eubanks, director of the Cherokee Regional Library, also spoke with the city commission to ask for an increase in the amount of money being contributed by the city toward the expansion and renovation of the Dade County Library.

Eubanks had originally asked the city to contribute $30,000 from their SPLOST in order to help the library start and complete the project. Eubanks approached the commission Monday night to ask for $67,333 instead. 

Eubanks stated the reason for the increase in funding asked for was due to two things. One was that the library had hoped to get SPLOST funds from the county SPLOST, but since the library project was not bonded up front, the library had ended up at the tail end of funding and was only going to receive $50,000 from the most recent SPLOST with another $75,000 promised from the current SPLOST for technology, books and equipment. The second reason Eubanks said the city was being asked for more money was because the Dade County Board of Education was unable to provide any share to the library for the renovation/expansion project.

Mayor Harris asked Eubanks if the library had done anything, like the city had with the civic center project, to scale back the original $1.3 million. Eubanks replied that the library had applied for grants with the USDA for HVAC to the tune of $46,000 and that the project had been split into two phases. Phase one would now require only $840,000 and it was the remainder of the funding for this first phase that the library was trying to raise. The state has already bonded $676, 667 for the Dade County project.

“We may not ever have this much money available from the state again,” Eubanks said. “We are building the maximum amount this site will allow. It makes sense to add now while the money is available from the state.”

City commissioners said the additional funds asked for would have to be taken under discussion, particularly since the city already has a community project it is working on – the civic center.  Commissioners did make a motion and approved giving the library the original $30,000 asked for by the library and to be paid from SPLOST.

“At least you will have a set amount you know you have to work within,” Harris said.

In other business, Harris said that financially the city finished the year on target.

“We’re tickled,” Harris said. “Again, the commissioners have been good stewards of your money. The tax rate has not changed since 1994.”

Fire and Utilities Commissioner Tommy Lawson reported the fire department answered a total of 1,063 calls for 2009 and that the rebuilding of the control system at the main plant was nearly complete. The new system is ready to be installed, but they are waiting for slightly warmer temperatures. Lawson made a motion to re-appoint Jerry Kyzer as Fire Chief for another year and it the vote unanimously approved by the commission.

Cannon made a motion to re-appoint Lawson as vice mayor for the city of Trenton for another year and the commission also unanimously approved that vote. Cannon also reported that there had been a meeting with the architect and contractor and it looked like they were approaching a finalized price on the civic center.

Streets Commissioner Greg Houts reported that the city was able to purchase a new used bucket truck that was already being put to use taking down Christmas lights and banners in the city.

Gray gave the monthly report for the Trenton City Police Department and said that fines collected for the 2009 year totaled $81,090.61. Gray also made the motion to re-appoint Roger Castleberry as Chief of Police and Joel McCormick as city judge for 2010. The commission approved the motion unanimously.

Peter Cervelli, Better Hometown Manager for the city, told commissioners that John Shober was the new Downtown Development Board chairman for 2010. Cervelli also said that Christmas in the Park was a success and thanked all those involved. Around 1,500 people signed up at businesses around town to win $25 gift certificates to be used at local businesses.  The Downtown Development Authority and Chamber of Commerce spent $1,800 to encourage people to shop in Trenton during the holiday season. Cervelli asked that a vacancy on the DDA board be filled with Donna Jones, a city resident and co-owner of Jones Fast Lube and secretary of the Dade Optimist Club. Jones’ appointment to the board was unanimously approved.

Chamber of Commerce director, Debbie Tinker, said the Chamber by-laws had been changed to allow presidents to serve a two-year term. The chamber’s President Lionel Austin will remain in that position one more year and then president-elect Butch Rapier will take over the position in 2011. Tinker also said that one more member was selected to be on the chamber board to take the place of an outgoing member.

Mary Petruska of the Arts Council said that the new banners have been delivered to the city to be hung and that the Arts Council had been asked by Bill Lockhart to assist in the fundraiser planned for the local soldier deployed overseas who lost everything when his home in Dade County was burglarized. The Beatnik Poetry group will be at the fundraiser, as will a bluegrass band. Organizers of the event are also working on a live feed to communicate with the soldier during the event and any other Dade County soldiers stationed near him. The event will be Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.

The busy evening ended for commissioners with Ann Brown bragging on Chuck Cannon’s department who recently housed several animals rescued by the county without having to euthanize any of them.