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News Headlines
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
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Dresden approves construction
of new pharmacy |
By David Fisher
Staff Reporter |
During Monday night’s meeting of the
Dresden Board of Zoning Appeals and Dresden Planning
Commission, members voted unanimously to grant a variance
and to approve the final plat for a new pharmacy scheduled
to be built in Dresden in the near future.
In order to facilitate the construction of a
new CVS Pharmacy, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a
minor variance (waiver) in the city’s regulations that
normally call for having one parking space for every 100
square feet of retail space. Since the 10,000 square foot
building has approximately 7,200 square feet of retail floor
space and 2,800 square feet devoted to warehousing and
storage, the city’s ordinance called for 72 parking spaces.
But since this was not practical, due to there not being
enough square feet in the parking lot area to accommodate
that many spaces, the pharmacy chain requested a variance,
which would require them to install only 66 parking spaces.
Tommy Moore, who chairs the Dresden Planning
Commission, stated that the Tennessee Department of
Transportation (TDOT) has approved highway entrances to the
property on Hwy. 22, as well as another entrance off of Hwy.
54.
The Planning Commission had previously
reviewed the site plan for the new construction, but had
deferred final action, pending approval by the Tennessee
Department of Transportation of the highway entrances.
Monday night’s action by the Planning Commission of
approving the site plan cleared the way for construction to
begin on the project.
Dresden Realtor Larry Jolley said that he has
been working on securing a site for the pharmacy since March
of 2004, but under the terms of a confidentiality contract
with the pharmaceutical chain, was prohibited from
mentioning the name of the firm the property was being
purchased for. This technique is commonly used by industry
to prevent price gouging when purchasing land.
(Read the rest of the story in this week's
print edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)
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Assault charges against Sharon principal
dismissed
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Two charges of assault filed against Sharon school principal
Tim Trimble were dismissed following a hearing held in
Weakley County General Sessions Court last Wednesday.
Weakley County General Sessions Judge Tommy Moore dismissed
the charges after hearing testimony from two 13-year old
students at the school. The charges against Trimble were
filed by the Sharon Police Department after an investigation
revealed that Trimble, on Valentines Day, had returned cell
phones taken from two female students a week earlier in
exchange for the girls giving him a kiss on the cheek. The
two girls testified during the hearing.
One of the two girls, a seventh grade student at Sharon
School, testified that Trimble came to her classroom and
told her to come see him in the office after class. She said
that when she went to see Trimble, he told her that he would
return the cell phone if she would give him a kiss. She said
that she first told the principal “no” and then asked, “Are
you serious?” The seventh grader said Trimble then went and
got a 13-year old eighth grade student she referred to as
Kim and made her the same offer in the hallway outside the
school office. She said she kissed the principal to get her
cell phone back after the eighth grade student did first.
The seventh grader testified that the request made her feel
“real uncomfortable” and that she was embarrassed by the
incident particularly after other students teased her about
kissing the principal to get her phone back. However, she
described Mr. Trimble as a good teacher and principal when
she was cross-examined by Martin attorney Kent Gearin, who
represented Trimble during the hearing.
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Price learning about Weakley County
economic development ‘products’ |
Ronnie Price, new Weakley County Economic Development Board
president and chief executive officer, is established in his
office temporarily at the Regional Entrepreneurship and
Economic Development (REED) Center in Martin and is learning
about the county’s “products.” In this case, those products
are industrial sites, existing buildings and the WCED
board’s speculative building that is slated to be built in
Martin. Price was hired earlier this year to lead the
economic development efforts of the WCED Board that was
formed last year with all cities in the county
participating. Price, industrial developer from Rogersville,
began his new responsibilities April 1.
Having been an industrial developer in Hawkins County for 25
years, he is familiar with officials in the Tennessee
Department of Economic and Community Development, Tennessee
Valley Authority and USDA Rural Development, but is now
getting to know the WCED board’s other partners in economic
development West Tennessee Industrial Association and the
Delta Regional Authority.
“I have taken the first two weeks to familiarize myself with
the county’s industrial sites and buildings. Also, I’ve done
some work on the spec building in Martin and met some key
people.” The partners and his counterparts in other West
Tennessee counties are valuable, he noted, as the county
will be marketed using a regional approach. “I believe in
working together as a region.” As Price continues to settle
in, he will visit with representatives of existing
industries. “They also are partners in economic
development.”
Price said he was attracted to the WCED board position
because it was a startup organization, adding all the cities
and county are committed to pursue a common goal. “I still
find that to be true. I like the county,” he said.
While he is learning aspects of economic development that
are particular to Weakley County, his 25 years of experience
have immediately allowed him to know what information he
needs and what basic strategies he wants to follow in his
initial days here.
(Read the rest of the story in the April 26th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)
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