WJLE Radio

11/25/2025

WJLE

11/20/2025

They will try it again!

The Alexandria Mayor and Aldermen were scheduled to meet in regular monthly session Tuesday night at city hall but no business could be transacted because four of the five aldermen were absent.

The only alderman present for the meeting was Debbie Fischer. The other four, Sherry Tubbs, David Cripps, Bobby Simpson, and Luke Prichard either could not come or did not show up. A special called meeting has now been scheduled for Friday December 5th at 5 p.m.

(View video of Tuesday night’s entire Alexandria Town discussion at link below)

https://youtu.be/B-TdvuPVYEU?si=-rFkLXeHuIW90yY

The December 5th agenda is much the same as the one for Tuesday night including the following: roll call, prayer & pledge, approval of minutes, resident input, attorney, fire engine repairs, resolution for bank signatures, setting a date for a beer board meeting, addressing a sewer line and tap on Nashville Highway and reports from the police, fire, and water/wastewater departments as well as reports if any from business owners fair board, and Alexandria Activity Center.

According to the town’s municipal code, “The board of mayor and aldermen shall hold regular monthly meetings at 7:00 P.M. on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the city hall building. If the regular meeting falls on a holiday, or on a day observed as a holiday, the regular meeting shall be held at the same time and place on the next regular work day unless otherwise decided by the board at the previous monthly meeting”.

Recently the mayor and aldermen have held monthly meetings as early as 5 p.m.

Although there was a lack of a quorum to proceed with the meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Jeff Ford opened the floor for discussion of city business and he gave people in the meeting room an opportunity to speak during a “resident input” period.

Mayor Ford began by reading a letter from a citizen “Ursula” expressing opposition to any effort to change the monthly mayor and aldermen meeting time from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m. claiming, among other reasons, that the earlier time “blocks working citizens from attending”.

The mayor also introduced Lebanon attorney Daniel Turklay who was in attendance for the meeting. Turklay, primarily a criminal defense attorney, has been in practice for 10 years. After being contacted by individuals saying the town could use some legal help, Turklay said he is interested in perhaps becoming the town’s city attorney after the recent resignation of former city attorney Jerry Jared of Cookeville.

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11/14/2025

The new Smithville Elementary School (Pre-K to 2nd grade) could be ready to open by the start of school in August 2028 located near Northside Elementary School on North Congress Boulevard

(View pdf of new elementary school site plan at link below)

https://wjle.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/1830_SDP_11x17_11_13_2025.pdf

During Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting and a workshop prior to the meeting, the Board of Education and Director Patrick Cripps got an update on the new school construction project from Brian Templeton, Firm Principal at Upland Design Group, the board’s architect.

“Our target is to have the project (plans) finished in May, 2026 and then be able to open bids in June and have a contractor moving earth in July. The targeted completion is June 2028. That would give enough time to move furniture in and be ready for occupancy by August 2028,” said Templeton after the meeting while speaking with the local media.

According to Templeton, the initial site design for the building has been refined a bit but there are apparently no major changes.

“We got survey information for topography and refined site design for the building with that in consideration,” said Templeton. “We also toured a new school in Putnam County with Patrick (Cripps) and some of the staff. We took some things from that visit and adapted the previous design to reflect it and that was primarily how we were handling the mechanical system. So we refined the design and presented that update to the board for their approval so that we could move forward in producing the documents for the project”.

“The square footage is essentially the same (120,980 square feet). It was more of an internal configuration,” Templeton explained. “ The initial design utilized a rooftop mechanical system, so the units were actually on the roof. Mr. Cripps had toured another facility prior to us going to the one in Cookeville and both of those schools utilized a mechanical unit in a closet outside of the classroom. The benefit of that is its not as noisy and if you have work that needs to be done it could be done from the hallway and not disrupt the classroom. We didn’t want to give up the classroom space because we had the design done already on the floor, so we used mechanical mezzanines down the core of the building and not over the classrooms to put those units in. Its cheaper space than making the footprint of the building bigger. We’re just going vertical to put those units up there,” he said.

“The building is designed to have classroom space for 800 students when it opens but we are also planning for future additions that can hold eight more classrooms bumping it up to about 960 students total,” said Templeton. Students will be dropped off by car at the front of the building and by bus at the rear of the new school. A side drop off under an awning will be included for cars bringing pre-k and special education students to school.

In addition to adopting the final school schematic design as presented Thursday night by Upland, the board of education voted to proceed with soliciting requests for proposals as it prepares to select a construction manager for the project after a committee recommendation

Templeton explained what comes next.

“The RFP (Requests for Proposals) part of the process is to bring the construction manager on board to deliver the project. His responsibility will be to solicit bids from subcontractors. This construction manager approach the board has elected to do will allow us to bring him in probably by February. The CM would provide pre-construction services looking at our design and giving us feedback on costs so that we are prepared and can make decisions as the project progresses rather than wait until the very end until we’re done and then bid it. This way we are taking steps to ensure that everything is within budget. The CM will manage the project as the general contractor once it moves into construction,” said Templeton.

“We are going to get engineers involved now and more people will be engaged in the design, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, etc. to produce the construction documents that contractors will bid from. We are now taking this from concept to something that is detailed that somebody can bid on and then we can submit that to the fire marshal and start the process,”

The project could even be a little less costly than estimated at first.

“We had estimated about a year ago the cost would be $53 million but using some recent data, it appears costs have stabilized. “There was a project that bid recently over the summer, and we got good cost data from that project which allowed us to zero in on this one a little better,” said Templeton. “And as this process goes along with the board selecting the construction manager, he (CM) will also be engaged to provide even more precise evaluation of the cost,” added Templeton.

The county commission a year ago made a commitment to fund construction of the new school through a 30-year bond resolution not to exceed $55 million. The commitment was made conditional that the cities within the county agreed to extend their existing sales tax agreements with the county through 2055 which they did.

The existing Smithville Elementary School, originally built in 1958, is 70,557 square feet in size (including additions over the years)., and had an enrollment of 551 students as of August 2025. As far back as 2017, a facilities study by Upland Design Group, concluded that the school, which had mold and other concerns at that time, should be replaced and repurposed for other uses.

11/05/2025

The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) will stage a “mock disaster” drill on Thursday morning, November 6 simulating a personal injury school bus accident on Allen’s Ferry Road near the Little League Ballpark.

The exercise will begin at 9:15 a.m.

Charlie Parker, DeKalb County Emergency Management Coordinator has provided a detailed scenario overview and objectives of the staged event as follows:

Scenario Overview
A DeKalb County School bus transporting six students and a driver has reportedly run off the roadway near the Little League Ballpark on Allens Ferry Road. The bus is on its side in a ditch with multiple injuries reported. This will serve as a disaster exercise to test local emergency response coordination and communication between responding agencies.

Exercise Objectives
·Evaluate interagency coordination among Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Rescue, TDOT, School Officials, and the Hospital.

· Practice safe and effective patient triage, treatment, and transport procedures.

·Test communication protocols during a multi-agency response.

·Reinforce the proper use of ‘This is part of the disaster exercise’ during simulated communications.

Participating Agencies
·DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency (EMA)

·Smithville Fire Department

·DeKalb County Rescue Squad

·DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Smithville Police Department

·DeKalb County EMS

·Dekalb Emergency Communications 911

·DeKalb County Board of Education

·TDOT

·NHC Healthcare

·Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital

·WJLE Radio

·DCHS students

·Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA)

Exercise Details
Scenario Start: 9:15 AM
A designated caller will contact 911 to report a school bus accident on Allens Ferry Road near the Little League Ballpark.
Each time the call or any radio traffic referencing the scenario is repeated, it must include the phrase:” This is part of the disaster exercise.”
TDOT will display a message board in the area notifying the public:
“CAUTION – Training Exercise in Progress.”

All responding units will respond NON-EMERGENCY, obeying all traffic laws and operating as they would on a normal call.

Response Expectations
·Law Enforcement: Secure the scene, manage traffic, and assist with accountability of students.

·Fire Department & Rescue Squad: Provide scene safety, assist EMS with patient removal, stabilization, and packaging.

·EMS: Conduct triage, provide medical treatment, and transport patients to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital according to injury severity.

·School Officials: Coordinate student identification and reunification planning.

·Hospital Staff: Receive, triage, and process patients as part of the exercise.

·NHC Healthcare will prepare to accept any minor overflow patients.

Post-Exercise
When the patients (students) have completed their evaluation at Saint Thomas DeKalb, they will be released and may return to school.

A post-exercise review (“Hot Wash”) will be held on-site following the conclusion of the exercise to discuss what went well and identify areas for improvement.

Safety and Control
This is a controlled training exercise.
– No actual emergency driving.
– No real dispatch of mutual aid resources beyond those participating.
– All exercise participants should ensure that ‘EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE’ is stated at the beginning and end of all radio or phone transmissions related to this scenario.

Prepared by: Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency

Exercise Date: November 6, 2025
Start Time: 9:15 AM
Location: Allens Ferry Road – Little League Ballpark Area

Public Information notice: This exercise is for training purposes only and is no cause for alarm, all participating personnel will be operating under simulated emergency conditions. This exercise is to test capabilities and plans for local emergency responses that may arise in our county. It allows several different agencies to test plans and capabilities before an actual emergency arises”.

11/01/2025

After 21 years as head football coach of the DeKalb County High School Tigers, Steve Trapp has decided to hand the program over to someone else next season.

Trapp announced to his team Friday night before the game against Livingston Academy and that he would be ending his career as head coach with the close of the season. In those 21 years, Coach Trapp compiled an overall record of 115-116 and ends his tenure as the second longest serving head football coach in DCHS history behind former head coach Wayne Cantrell who logged 28 years over the program.

Coach Trapp was named the 11th head coach in DCHS football history in July 2005, by then-Director of Schools, Jim McCormick. The Tigers posted only three wins in Coach Trapp’s first three seasons combined, but in the 17 years that followed, the program accounted for 110 wins (including a 53-40 mark against Region opponents), 12 winning seasons, 15 playoff appearances (including 13 consecutive appearances from 2010 through 2023), the program’s first-ever playoff victory in 2008, a State Quarterfinal run in 2019, and the program’s first-ever Region Championship in 2020, among many other individual and team milestones.

10/31/2025

Smithville First Baptist Church is reaching out to help folks who are struggling during the federal government shutdown. Benefits for the SNAP program, which provides a monthly allowance for food, will end October 31. Pastor Chad Ramsey says the church wants to step in to help and will offer free meals to feed hungry families.

The church will have soup nights for families November 3-7 at the church Activities Building. Doors will be open from 5 to 7 p.m. every evening except Wednesday to serve soup to families. On Wednesday the community dinner will be open from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m. in the church’s Family Enrichment Center, located next to the church at 201 West Church Street in Smithville with regular Wednesday night activities following the meal.

Ramsey says the church will continue to evaluate the federal government’s economic situation to see if further assistance is warranted. When the government shutdown ends or the food stamps resume, soup nights will end.

According to research from the latest U.S. Census Bureau data map, 20.4% of the households in DeKalb County live in poverty. 14.7% of DeKalb County homes are SNAP households. The medium household income for our county is $48, 484.

10/28/2025

The Tennessee Comptroller’s office has turned thumbs down on the Town of Alexandria’s Budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year because it was not submitted to the state on time.

What that means is the town won’t be able to borrow money until the Comptroller’s Office approves next year’s budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year unless an emergency borrowing request from the town is approved, according to John Dunn, Director of Communications for the State Comptroller of the Treasury.

“In the meantime, the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation (TBOUR) has asked the town’s utility to have a rate study and a feasibility study (to explore the potential for merging with other nearby utilities) performed. These studies are due to our Office by December 30, 2025,” said Dunn.

The state informed Alexandria Mayor Jeff Ford and the Board of Aldermen in a letter sent by Shelia Reed, Director of the Division of Local Government Finance which states as follows:

“This letter acknowledges receipt of a copy of the 2026 fiscal year budget for the Town of Alexandria. The budget was filed on September 5, 2025.

“Budget Not Approved”

As the governing body, you have a responsibility to file the annual budget with our office each year for approval. This letter is notification that we are not approving the fiscal year 2026 budget because it was not submitted to our office within 2 months of the beginning of the fiscal year.

As a result of not submitting the budget to our office within the above timeframe, the Town may not issue debt or financing obligations until our office has approved next year’s budget (Tenn. Code Ann. § 9-21-404). Our office may waive this limitation for emergency financial transactions.

Please be sure next year’s budget is adopted prior to the beginning of the fiscal year and filed with our office within 15 days of adoption, but no later than August 31st.

Because your budget was not approved, the governing body will need to develop a plan to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing the budget for future years. We will be reaching out to discuss that process.

Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation

Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-82-703, your local government is currently subject to the oversight of the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation (“TBOUR”) because of an administrative review of the Town’s financial, managerial and operational capacity of its water and sewer fund having an approved budget demonstrates to TBOUR that the governing body is exercising responsible oversight for the finances of your utility syste”.

10/20/2025

The Smithville Fire Department responded to a structure fire late Sunday night at 106 Village Place. The call came in at approximately 9:50 p.m., reporting a detached garage fully engulfed in flames.

Upon arrival, firefighters found the structure heavily involved, with two vehicles also on fire nearby. Crews quickly went to work to extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings. Despite their efforts, the garage and its contents were declared a total loss due to the extent of the fire damage. There was also some damage on the nearby house.

The structure was being rented by Terry Knowles, who was at home at the time of the incident.

Fire Chief Charlie Parker commended the firefighters for their quick response and teamwork in containing the fire under difficult nighttime conditions.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and no injuries were reported.

10/16/2025

Two people are dead, and one was wounded in an overnight shooting in the Austin Bottom area of DeKalb County.

Sheriff Patrick Ray issued the following statement:

“At approximately 7:32 PM on Wednesday night October 15, 2025, deputies were dispatched to Vickers Ridge Road Baxter, which is in the Austin Bottom area of DeKalb County, for a shooting. When Deputies arrived on the scene, they found two males and female who were shot. One male and the female were pronounced dead on the scene. The two deceased people’s names are not being released until their families have been notified”.

“The other male involved in the shooting was air lifted by helicopter to an undisclosed hospital. Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and Putnam County EMS assisted DeKalb Sheriff’s Department and DeKalb EMS on the scene”.

“The District Attorney General’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were also on the scene”.

“The TBI is investigating the shooting”.

“More details may be released later today pending family notification of the two people who were deceased”.

10/06/2025

The DeKalb County Fire Department (DCFD) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday during an afternoon ceremony at the Main Station and Training Center on King Ridge Road.

Members of the community joined in the observance enjoying cake, giveaways, and door prizes as the department paid tribute to its founders, 52 honorary lifetime members, and applauded volunteers who serve today.

The DCFD has had seven chiefs in its 50-year history including Columbus Haley from 1979-82; Robert Rowe from 1983-84; Charles Griffith in 1985; RV Billings, Jr. in 1986; Larry Evans from 1987-88; Mike Johnson from 1989-94; and the present Chief Donny Green who has served for 31 years.

State Representative Michael Hale presented Chief Donny Green with a proclamation honoring the DeKalb Fire Department’s 50 years as adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly along with a Tennessee State Flag flown over the capitol

Lou Nave, Congressman John Rose’s field representative, spoke in his absence and announced that the Department of Homeland Security “will soon be making available to your fire department $145,773 in a grant for personal protective gear to keep you safer as you go out into the community”.

Chamber Director Suzanne Williams presented the DeKalb Fire Department a 50 year milestone award.

Founded in 1975 through the Model Cities Grant initiative, the DCFD began with five stations and has grown to 12 across the county, with planning underway for a 13th in the Wolf Creek community.

The DCFD is one of the few county-wide fire systems in Tennessee, staffed entirely by volunteers—83 strong—alongside one shared part-time position and 12 Rehab members. Despite having no full-time paid personnel, the department continues to set the standard for excellence. For the 17th consecutive year, DCFD was recognized as an Elite Department for Training Achievement by the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy. Out of 732 departments statewide, DeKalb County ranked #15 overall—and #1 among all volunteer fire departments.

Jason Sparks, Fire Program Director for the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy presented the DCFD an Elite Department certificate for Training Achievement recognizing its having accumulating 2,813 hours of training this past year.

The program Saturday featured displays and pictorial memorabilia from over the decades as well as county fire trucks and other apparatus from units across the county that were lined up in front of the main station for the public to view.