Members of the Dresden Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an annexation plan involving certain properties on the east side of town located in Area 1 during their regular monthly meeting Monday, January 12, 2009.

 

Annexation Plan

 

    On Monday, January 5, members of the Dresden Planning Commission discussed implementing a plan of services and zoning for these parcels. A public hearing immediately preceding the January 12 Dresden board meeting was held to allow local citizens an opportunity to voice their opinions concerning the city’s latest annexation proposal. However, there was no public discussion on the matter. Following public hearing, the board approved the second and final reading of the annexation plan by a unanimous vote.

    The four parcels annexed already have access to all city services.  They are:

• Tax Map 102, Parcel 49.02, located on Woodside Circle, which is owned by Jacqueline Glisson.

• Tax Map 102 G, Group B, Parcel 22.01, located on Woodside Circle, which is owned by Jacqueline Glisson.

• Tax Map 102 G, Group B, Parcel 25.01, located on Parkway Street, which is owned by Judge James Bradberry.

• Tax Map 102 G, Group C, Parcel 11.01, located on Woodside Circle, which is owned by Sam Bone.

    The annexation of these properties was approved on first reading during the December 1, 2008 meeting of the Dresden board.

    The annexation ordinance outlines the areas to be annexed as follows:

    “Area 1 (Gaylord Road Area) – Water is available in the entire area.  The sewer line stops at Thomas Street, which is the end of the current city limits.  The area annexed includes only the properties that lie just outside the city limits but have access to both city water and city sewer. 

    The plan was amended to include adjacent properties owned by Walter Bennett and Gene Crawford, which had not been included in the original annexation plan. This portion of the plan was approved on first reading during Monday night’s meeting. A public hearing on the additional property being annexed will be held at 5:45 p.m. February 2, 2009. It will then be considered for approval during the board’s regular meeting immediately after the hearing.

    Board members also approved a zoning ordinance amending Dresden’s zoning map to indicate the annexed area will be zoned as R-1 low density residential.

    Additionally, the board approved a resolution outlining a plan of services to be provided to citizens in the annexed area to include: police and fire protection, street maintenance, repair and improvements, inspection services, street lighting, and access to all city recreational facilities.

Water for domestic use is already provided to the area, and new sewer service will be made available to properties when a majority of the septic systems fail. The resolution also stipulates if sewer is available at the property line and the septic system fails, the property shall be required to connect to the town’s sewer system. Future developments which occur within close proximity of an existing sewer main will be required to connect to the city’s sewer service and to extend the sewer main to the development at the developer’s expense.

 

(Read this rest of this story and more in this week's print edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)

   

    Richard Barber, director of Weakley County School’s for the past 18 years, announced his intention to retire at the end of the current fiscal year. Mr. Barber made the surprise announcement during the regular monthly meeting of the Weakley County School Board on Thursday, January 8.

 

Barber Announces Retirement

 

    “I will be retiring effective June 30 of this year,” Barber said.

    He stated he is letting the board know of his intentions to retire to give them plenty of time to find a replacement.

    “Right now, we really don’t have any plans,” Barber said. “Diane and I plan to be together and maybe do some of the things we’ve never had the opportunity to do. We may do a little traveling and keep up with the grandkids. Mr. Barber also mentioned he would have more time to spend on his family’s 600 acre farm when he retires.

    Giving his reason for retiring, Barber said simply, “It’s time.”

    “I sat down with Richard, and he and I talked about this more than once,” said School Board Chairman Gordon Morris. “In my heart, I wanted to do all I could to persuade him to stay. But after having enjoyed retirement a number of years myself, and knowing how much I have enjoyed retirement, I didn’t have the heart to suggest that he not retire. It can be the right time for someone to retire, and it certainly has been for us. I wouldn’t want to deny him that same kind of opportunity.”

    Recalling his first encounter with Barber, Morris said, “When I came out of the army in 1959, they needed an extra teacher at Palmersville, and I went to Palmersville and taught science and arithmetic. There was a gangly, little junior high boy I met there at Palmersville and he and some of his buddies had to endure my trying to coach them in basketball. That young man was Richard Barber. So, I either will take credit or blame, whichever you think is appropriate, in influencing him, at least some, early on in his life. He went on to graduate from Palmersville, from UT Martin, from Murray State University, and he joined our school system in 1969. He has been a credible person, contributing in a lot of ways – as teacher, as principal, and since 1990, he has served as superintendent.” Morris noted Barber served first as an elected superintendent for Weakley County Schools, and later when the law changed requiring superintendents to be appointed by the school board, he was appointed superintendent.

(Read the rest of this story in the January 14th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)

  

    A heated dispute between two teenaged girls at a Huntingdon home Sunday resulted in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old, according to Huntingdon Police Investigator Lt. Johnny Hill. Also participating in an investigation in the death is the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Carroll County Coroner Steve Cantrell.

    Huntingdon Police Department received a call from the residence at 40 South Forks Creek Road at 2:43 p.m. Sunday. The caller stated that two girls had been fighting and one had been stabbed.

    Police and medical personnel from Baptist Hospital EMS arrived on the scene and found the 15-year-old white female unresponsive.  Coroner Cantrell was summoned to the scene and pronounced the victim dead at the scene at 3:51 p.m. Her body was sent to the Forensic Center in Nashville for an autopsy.

    Authorities declined to provide the name of the victim. However, the deceased has been identified as Laura LeShay “Shay” Campbell, a sophomore at Huntingdon High School. Miss Campbell was staying at the South Forks Creek Road residence with her mother, Lacey Roberts.

    Coroner Cantrell spoke with Dr. Adele Lewis, forensic pathologist, early Monday afternoon, concerning the preliminary autopsy report. Dr. Lewis confirmed death was caused by a “stab wound to torso,” said Cantrell.

    A 16-year-old Medina youth, whose name is also being withheld by authorities, has been charged with second degree murder in connection with the incident, said Lt. Hill. She is being held at a detention center in Memphis, according to authorities.

    A kitchen knife from the home was reportedly used in the stabbing.

    He stated the Gibson County (Medina) youth was visiting the Huntingdon home where the stabbing incident occurred and had spent the night there. The two girls were not related, but had grown up together and were friends.

    “They just lost their temper,” said Lt. Hill.

    Also in the home at the time of the stabbing, besides the suspect and victim, was the victim’s mother, another minor and another adult. However, they reportedly did not witness the stabbing, Hill said.

 

(Read the rest of this story in the January 14th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)