Gun Show, Tornado Sirens and Trash Service Discussed at Dresden Board

By Shannon Taylor, Editor

The City of Dresden approved a CDBG Grant application resolution for storm sirens at their Monday, Feb. 5 meeting.

“We’re going to roll the dice and see if that happens. They’re not generally approved, but we need a funding source,” Mayor Mark Maddox said.

Mr. Ronald Legans requested to hold a gun show in the Civic Center with a weekend not yet settled upon. Maddox said the request came through his office but that he was uncomfortable approving or disapproving the request without discussion from the board.

The city has a facilities rental agreement that they have to go by, however Maddox stated that he was unsure if allowing a for-profit enterprise using city facilities was a proper thing to do but that the city allows it for The Farmer’s Market, but that he did not have a recommendation for the board on which way to go about it.

There is a section in the rental agreement that states, “a tenant leasing the premises for a gun show, the exhibit, sale, and trading of guns and their related items or other special events as deemed necessary by the city shall obtain special events insurance to cover both the tenant and the city.”

Paragraph 14 of that agreement states, “the tenant shall not have any fog machines, fireworks, explosives or pyrotechnics of any type in the center or on the premises.”

Ammunition would not be allowed if a gun show was held, according to Maddox.

“This has been in existence and predates my tenure as City Attorney. The board, if it chooses to make a distinction, you will have to do so at a later time because there’s no functioning difference between leasing to The Farmer’s Market for profit as opposed to the Civic Center for profit. They are both government owned facilities, both allowing individuals to sell items for profit as long as the terms are compliant and they have insurance coverage. Functionality dictates that there’s really no difference here,” City Attorney Beau Pemberton explained.

Alderman Kenneth Moore expressed safety concerns regarding holding the event at the Center. “There’s a lot of difference getting hit in the head with a tomato and a round going off,” Moore said. Moore explained that he attends a lot of gun shows and that checks are made at the door for ammunition, however, he stated that liability is present for the event.

The board approved the gun show, with Moore voting no.

More information on dates for the event will be forthcoming.

Sanitation bids for trash service were discussed between RaeKar, Platform Waste Solutions and Republic Services. The board voted to go with RaeKar as their new trash service for the City of Dresden.

“I like the fact that the people I spoke with had nothing but great things to say about them. I like that they’ve got new equipment. I like that they have cameras. I like that they’re local in Martin, but what was really the kicker was the fact that they want to be involved in our community and you don’t find that nowadays,” stated Alderman Ralph Cobb, who made the motion.

A budget amendment resolution was also passed, which Finance Director Carla Edwards explained that the city had received a $7,000 contribution to update their dog pound, but the contribution did not cover the entire cost so $2,100 was moved from the Public Works Department to the Dog Pound to fund the additional expenditure.

The second item was for a reimbursable grant. “This is just a partial funding. We have been purchasing items all along and we received $9,534.55 in reimbursement for the items of training, an associate for that training, police equipment, and medical supplies,” Edwards explained. The money has already been expended; it is just being reimbursed back to the city.

The third item was also a reimbursement grant for the dog pound renovation for work that was done at Antiques on the Square who have been paid. The city is being reimbursed by the State of Tennessee for that expense.

The next item was for the water fund. During the Dec. 2023 tornado there was damage done to one of the city’s lift stations and the city received insurance compensation for the repairs.

The final item was for the Police Department’s Education Grant for their training. $800 was received this year for each officer that work full time, making it $4,800 salary supplement grant received to be paid out to officers this week.

An ad was placed for the 250 Jefferson Street Property; however the city did not receive any sealed bids so the city maintains ownership of that property.

The construction on the Dresden Municipal Complex is progressing according to Maddox, who encourages everyone to drive by and take a look at the progress. The reasoning for the black plastic around the fence by the complex is due to safety issues so nothing like debris gets in or out of the construction area, Maddox explained.

John Poole spoke on the city’s audit report. Poole said there were no concerns on the city’s report at this time.

The next board meeting will be held Monday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at the Civics Center.