Mayor Dan’s Weekly Blog

  Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - Thursday, February 19,2009


Greetings from the Mayor's office. I hope you and your family had a great weekend and enjoyed everything even in the cool weather. We really had family time this weekend and enjoyed all of it. This week will be cold and possibly wet. I hope the coming weekend will be better suited to fun things for us and our families.

Tuesday, February 10, I attended a meeting at the Emergency Management Operations Center. Many of the agencies necessary for the activation of the EOC were represented, and we heard a good bit of information from Rita White and Spencer Black. Rita talked about the EOC belonging to all of us and that we need to use it for direction and control, even when the situation is not a dire emergency. She said this type use would give us training and we would be able to better utilize the EOC whenever there is a dire emergency that affects much of our community.

I had the regular radio show at WKAC at ten o'clock this morning. This is a regular show every Tuesday morning after the regular Council meeting on Monday night. Kirk, Ken, and I had a great time and I thought the show went well. The guys at WKAC are very interested in our community.

I attended the grand opening of Custom Polymers in the Elm Street Industrial Park this afternoon. They had a good crowd of folks there who were wishing them well. Their corporate people from North Carolina were present and enjoyed the grand opening. We hope the company does well and brings more jobs to our area. They still have a lot of activity taking place at the old site at the corner of Lucas Ferry Road and Highway 72 West.

I met with the board of the Elk River Development Agency tonight at the office in the Elkmont Rural Village. We had a lot of ground to cover tonight. We have two new board members who were meeting with us for the first time. They are Richard Herston, and Larry (his last name escapes me at this time). Both are from the Rogersville area. Mr. Hulon Newton, former Mayor of Anderson, is serving as Chairman of the Board. We had the CPA who handles the agency's financial business, and a fiscal consultant meet with the board tonight for a full discussion of the budget and finances. We also voted to offer the job of Agency Director to a gentleman. Mr. Newton will meet with him at the end of the week to make the offer.

Wednesday morning I was in the office catching up on the regular business and correspondence of the city.

I went to Huntsville for a meeting with the North Alabama Transportation Foundation at lunch. I carried a list of all the projects we have compiled to turn in to the committee, and to put all the projects in the hand of Senator Roger Bedford who was the guest speaker for the luncheon.

I met with a Recycling committee this afternoon at the Public works Department. Earl Glaze, Tanji Schrimsher, Bill Wojciechowski, Recycling Center Manager, James Rich, Evan Thornton, Benard Hammonds, Terrance Brown, and Ronnie Marks were present for the meeting. We covered a lot of information about our recycling program and discussed the finances needed for an efficient operation. We will meet again next week.

I met with a representative of the Honeywell Corporation this afternoon. This company is proposing to do business with the city. They are in the business of making the city buildings and lighting systems more efficient in the use of energy. We will probably have them make a proposal to the city council at some date in the near future.

Kay and I went to Seven Mile Post Road Church of Christ tonight when they had a get-together celebrating the sixth year since Mark Whitt had a liver transplant. Every time I see Mark I am thankful that he is still here to be my friend. I remember the time immediately before his transplant, and during his recovery from the operation, that I didn't think he would pull through it. God has been good to all of us and especially to Mark and his family during a terrible time of anxiety.

I was sick all day today. I think my diabetic condition was out of kilter and I could not get things going correctly for myself.

Thursday morning I spoke with bankers regarding business related to the Elk River Development Agency. We are attempting to come up with a different way to invest the agency's reserve monies so more interest can be generated. We need the additional revenue to meet expenses which are growing.

I attended a meeting in Priceville City Hall this morning with other area mayors to discuss some transportation issues in North Alabama. Mayor Ted Letson of Courtland, Dwight Tanksley of Hartselle, Melvin Duran of Priceville, Ray Alexander of Moulton were present. We heard a presentation from Ed Mitchell who has worked on transportation and industrial projects in North Alabama for many years. We plan to have a meeting of the Mayors in Moulton in the near future when Senator Shelby holds one of his town meetings there.

Kay and I had lunch with our granddaughter Alex at Lawler's on Hobbs Street. She has Strep throat and has been out of school for two days. She seems to feel better today, and I am sure she enjoyed getting to be out of the house for a while.

I spent the afternoon in the office involved in the business of the city.

Thursday night Kay and I had dinner at Catfish Cabin. We later went to Seven Mile Post Road Church of Christ to hear the McFameys. They are a top gospel group but I have never heard much of their music. They did do a good concert and they are very talented.

Friday morning Evan Thornton and I had breakfast at LuVici's and discussed several items of the city's business.

I went to the Chamber ribbon cutting at the new Mortgage America office on Cloverleaf Drive. This is a new office opening here in Athens, and the building is shared with another business, Cruise One. Cruise One will have their grand opening one week from today.

I met with my General Manager of Utilities this morning to discuss several items of utility business. Gary Scroggins is our General Manager and he is doing a great job with our utilities. We were discussing a matter related to our aid to construction charges we make to developers to install and make utilities available to their projects.

The Council and I attended the Rotary lunch today to hear the guest speaker, Dallas Fanning, Huntsville's city Planner. Dallas talked about some of the things that have happened in south Limestone County since Huntsville annexed thousands of acres.

I had a meeting with Susan Todd at Athens Public Library this afternoon to discuss the business of the Library and how plans can be prepared for the City Council regarding the Kroger building.

We went to Whitney's house tonight with all the Whitts for a breakfast dinner. Everyone showed up around seven thirty, and all the girls had made wonderful breakfast foods for us to eat. We had several kinds of egg casseroles, quiches, sweet rolls, biscuits, monkey bread, juices and great coffee.

I had one of the Southern Splendor Barbershop Quartets to come to Whitney's house just before we ate dinner, to bring Kay a single red rose, and sing a love song to us. I think she was really surprised that I did this for her. She had come home tonight with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and said she thought we should have some flowers for dinner tonight. She didn't think I would have flowers coming for her valentine. They did a rendition of,"O My Love", by the Righteous Brothers, and they did one more love song for the crowd.

We played Mexican dominoes tonight after dinner. Charles , Kay, Mark, Phyllis, Asa, and I played our first game with my new set of dominoes. We had fun and Mark won the game. Charles watched everyone's actions to make sure they drew from the bone yard if you couldn't play. I think Mark was real proud of winning the game. We need to get Roger and Marcelle Leopard back for a real game of Mexican Train.

Four of the grandchildren came home with us for tonight. Alex, Luke, Asa, and Jillian were about played out from the dinner and evening, so they went right to bed without much coaxing for Kay and me.

Saturday morning the kids were up early for breakfast. We all lazed around pretty much all morning. We carried them to Crystals for lunch, then to Staples for some more school supplies.

Kay and I carried Luke and Jillian back to Huntsville to meet their parents, then we went to Bridge Street and the Westin for the Athens/Limestone Hospital gala fund raising event. This was our first time at the Westin, and it is a pretty nice place. The Hospital Foundation staff and all their volunteers did an excellent job of preparing the gala.

They had a silent auction set up in a long hall that allowed you to study all the items and make bids on them. They had several collectors items including an autographed baseball by President Obama. The beginning bid was around $850. I think there was just one bid, but someone purchased it. They had a boxing glove signed by Ali. They had a lot of art, furniture, and home decorations. They also had trips, weekend get-a-ways, and other things to raise money for the hospital.

The meal was a buffet with steak and salmon. There were salads, vegetables, and desserts to round it out for everyone. We were at the table with Annette Barnes and her party. The party included Annette and Jerry Threet, Elizabeth and Chris Anderson, Richard and Kathryn Gordon Hall, and Kay and I. We had good food and conversation. Annette was so kind to invite us to dine at her table and we all enjoyed it.

We met two fairly new Athens citizens tonight. Peggy and John Worley moved here from the Memphis area. They are the parents of Leslie Christopher, wife of David Christopher. Peggy and John are great people who love living in Athens, and they like to dance. We enjoyed meeting them and look forward to seeing them again. We got home around eleven after a fun night.

Sunday morning we attended Church. The crowd was down a bit but that didn't keep us from having a good service. Our choir sang two good selections today, and Brother Jenkins delivered another good sermon.

All the kids came to the house for sandwiches for lunch. We enjoyed being with each other again, and we went for a ride to look at houses. Joy Whitt came by and went with us for the ride.

We went to Catfish Cabin tonight with the Whitts for a lite supper. We went to their house later for a visit. This is an enjoyable family that has been intertwined with our own for many years. The love and support the Whitts have given to us over the years is one of the most valuable things we have ever had. I hope every family in Athens has friends like this family.

Monday morning I had Joy and Daniel Whitt as my guests on my radio show, Monday Morning With The Mayor. We had a great show and interview with them today about their recent experience in skydiving. They discussed how the event was actually a life-changing event for them. They likened it to a spiritual experience that was not scary at all. They think it is a total mind-cleansing experience and plan to do it again when they feel the need. I appreciate them taking the time to talk about it on my show.

I met with a group of young scouts at the office today. They were from Cedar Hill School, and they were very interested in learning about our city. I was very impressed with the way they behaved. They were very nice looking in their uniforms. I always enjoy meeting with groups like this.

I later met with two councilpersons and our Finance Director to discuss several items of city business.

I went to Dr. Moody this afternoon to see about a problem I am having with my right eye. I keep seeing a flash of light and more floaters in my line of vision. He checked me out thoroughly and said it is nothing out of the ordinary. It is part of the gel in the eyeball that tears away and makes the floater. The problem arises when the retina tears and eye fluid get inside the retina and causes it to separate. He said if this happens surgery is always needed to repair the damage.

I went to another Elk River Development meeting tonight in Rogersville. We finished up the hiring of a director and an office assistant. We will have them on board at the end of the week, and hopefully we will begin to do a better job of getting the work of the agency completed.

Tuesday morning I attended the Chamber Coffee at the Lindsey Lane Baptist Church. Dr. Denver Betts chaired the coffee today and several items of business were discussed, and several announcements were made by different people. After the business, everyone was invited to tour the new elementary school building that will be accepting students later this year.

I met with one of my Utility persons today to discuss a problem that a business owner has with aid to construction. He gave me several good options to speak to the business owner about.

I had lunch today a Logan's with Evan Thornton, Jerrod Hester, and Bill Matthews. This was a fun lunch and we didn't discuss business. Kay had lunch today with Vonnette Harper and Susan Todd.

I met with the business owner this afternoon to discuss his problem with aid to construction. This is a good business for our community and I hope we will be able to help him. We had a good visit and discussion.

I met with Susan Todd at the library to continue our plans for the library to use the Kroger building.

I went to the Planning Commission meeting this afternoon and we only had one item of business. That was to subdivide property behind the Steelcase Property to accommodate an industrial building to be built.

Wednesday morning I spent a large amount of time in the office speaking with citizens and taking care of correspondence. I did an interview with one of the Huntsville TV stations about Federal Mogul's announcement to expand a line in their facility here in Athens which will bring about 110 new jobs by the end of 2010. This is a $21,714,000 investment the company will make in Athens. In return the City Council abated $75,000 in one-time sales tax, and $75,000 per year for 10 years in property tax. No school taxes were abated, so the school system in Athens will certainly benefit from this new line coming to our community.

I checked on work we are having done at our house. We are having granite counter tops installed, and preparation work had to begin today. They should do most of the work tomorrow.

I spent time this afternoon working with library personnel to begin a financial plan to be presented to the City Council at a later date. We need to get this done so the community will know if the library will have use the total Kroger building property, or just a portion of it.

I went to choir practice tonight, and we are getting our songs ready for Sunday night's Choir Fest that will be held at our church. There will be eight or nine choirs to participate in the program, so if you want to hear some good music, come on to First Baptist around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evening.

Thursday morning I attended the Economic Development monthly breakfast meeting at Athens/Limestone Hospital. Tom Hill and Bill Ming chaired the meeting, and regular business of the organization was discussed.

I later met with several bankers and financial consultants regarding the business of the Elk River Development Agency. I think we finally concluded all the business we needed to do at the present time.

This afternoon I met with the Recycling committee to continue our discussion about the efficiency of our program. We will be making some recommendations to the Council very soon.

Kay and I attended the North Alabama Mayor's meeting tonight in Madison. Lt. Gov. Jim Folsome was the speaker for the meeting. He discussed the stimulus package that is coming to our State. He said the State would get $3 billion dollars from the package. One billion will go to education, $850 million will go to medicaid, $526 million will go to the State Department of Transportation. That leaves about 700 million that will be going somewhere, and this could be to other agencies, the Legislature, or whomever. He said nobody really knows at this point what will happen. We will have to wait and see.

Here is the Chamber of Commerce schedule of tourism events for this year

21-Feb Hospice Chili Challenge
7- Mar Cruise In around the Square
12-14 Mar Polk Sallet Follies
28-Mar Doggie Fun Fest*
17-Apr Singing on the Square
19-Apr Kids Day in the Park**
25-Apr Athens on the Square Car Show
25-Apr Best Buckin' BBQ Cookoff
1-2 May Athens Bible Homespun Arts & Crafts Show
2-May SoulStock
8-9 May Limestone County Relay for Life
15-May Singing on the Square
15-16 May Limestone Sheriff's Rodeo
16-May Garden Tour hosted by Friends of the Library
6, 13, 20, 27 Jun Saturday Walking Tours
13-Jun Delmore Days Bluegrass Festival
19-Jun Singing on the Square
4-Jul Reliance Bank Fire Cracker Festival
10-11 Jul Clements Rodeo
11-Jul Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car and Harley Davidson Show
17-Jul Singing on the Square
18-Jul CASA Mud Volleyball Tournament
24-25 Jul AL Championship Tractor & Truck Pull (Tanner)
7-8 Aug Ardmore Rodeo
7-8 Aug Piney Chapel Antique Engine and Farm Equipment Show
8-Aug Art on the Square Silent Auction
21-Aug Singing on the Square
29-Aug Ardmore Crape Myrtle Festival
12-Sep Art on the Square
18-Sep Singing on the Square
2-3 Oct Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention
3-Oct Wacky Quacky Ducky Derby
16-17, 19-20 Oct Haunts Walks
24-25 Oct Rails to Trails Fall Color Ride or Walk
30-31 Oct Athens Storytelling Festival
Nov Festival of Trees
3-Dec Reliance Bank Christmas Parade (Athens)
5-Dec Ardmore Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade
5-Dec Elkmont Lions Club Christmas Parade
*New Event ** Formerly Dogwood Festival

I guess this is enough for this time.

Take care and I'll see you next time.

Mayor Dan