Bell Buckle targets speeders

Bell Buckle's narrow roads with sharp curves are not conducive to speeding -- but that hasn't stopped many motorists.

Now, with the presence of part-time police officer Chris Spradling, and some changes in his cruising schedule, the town leaders hope that will change.

"I've talked to Chris repeatedly about that for the last few weeks," said Bell Buckle Mayor Dennis Webb at the Tuesday night meeting of the board of mayor and aldermen.

Webb said Spradling wanted to introduce himself gently into the community, not wanting to seem "heavy-handed." But now that the RC-Moon Pie Festival and the Shakespeare Festival have ended, Spradling will begin patrolling both earlier and later to deter speeders during heavier traffic times.

The town will also look into borrowing a speed monitor from Shelbyville to let drivers know how fast they are going, Webb said.

"Webb School had one and it malfunctioned," said Alderman Jenny Hunt. "They were going to put it around town."

She said the school is hoping to get the equipment fixed.

Two speeding tickets have already been issued, said Webb, and unless the drivers slow down, there will be more.

Tapped out

In other business, the board approved a request from Catherine Jacobs to repossess a water tap, but with stipulations. In the past, said Supervisor Ronnie Lokey, taps were repossessed when the property owners failed to pay the fee. In this case, he said, the property had been used for rental and the family did not anticipate renting it out again and did not want the tap. He told the family to simply stop paying the fee, but said the board needs to come up with a policy for similar situations in the future.

"This is the first time this has happened," said Lokey.

The board agreed, and Webb said he would draft a letter outlining the repossession and its ramifications so the customers would know exactly what they were doing when they turned the tap back over to the city.

Alderman Mark Felices requested a clarification be made about water tap requirements.

"I think there might have been a misconception out there that you have to have five acres to get a tap," Alderman James Anderson said.

Felices said that requirement applied to large areas, such as a 25-acre lot, which would be permitted five taps.

"The requirement is 3/4 acre for individuals," he said. "The intent of that was to stop high-density growth."

Taps were approved for Charlie Cannata on Bynum Road and both Caroline Bartlett and Alan Fox on Happy Valley Road.

BZA revived

The board also approved the appointment of a new board of zoning appeals.

"We had one in the past but rarely utilized it," said the mayor after the meeting. "Because of the new ordinances we recently passed, there will be more requests for zoning exemptions, so we needed one."

Webb will serve on the BZA, as will Rodney Simmons and David Robinson. Simmons is the chairman of the Bell Buckle Planning Commission, and Robinson, said Webb, would bring his construction knowledge to the board.

Coming events

The Bell Buckle "Best of the Butts" barbecue cook-off is now taking entry forms, said Hunt. Forms and rules can be picked up at the town hall or at the web site, www.BellBucklepark.info.

"We would really encourage locals to participate in this," said Anderson.

Hunt said the cook-off was using the North Carolina Barbecue Society rules as a guideline for the competition.

"It's our first year and we really want to grow this thing right," she said.

The cook-off is scheduled for Aug. 29-30, and the entry fee is $35. It will be held at the stage area behind the stores and is limited to 20 entries. The two meats this year are ribs and butts.

With two big festivals out of the way, the town is already anticipating the next one -- the Webb School Arts & Crafts Fair, slated this year for Oct. 18-19.

"Those who want to rent spaces in their yards need to attend the Chamber of Commerce meetings so they'll be well informed," said Simmons.

"We're talking about putting out a flyer on how to put on a craft fair," said Webb.

The flyer would deal with such matters as public safety and liability issues, he said, adding that he wanted to protect both the visitors and the residents.

"You need to be careful when you invite all these people on your property."

Mayor's comments

The work session prior to the regular meeting wash heavy with praise. The board commended the fire department for its help with the Moon Pie festival, specifically the 10-mile run, and the mayor praised Hunt for her work on the parks and recreation program, which enabled it to win the Governor's Stewardship Award this year.

"I couldn't even let her relax and bask in he glory," Webb said. "She had to come back and do the 10-mile run."

There was also high praise for the two festivals that kept the town busy in June.

"We think it was one of the best events we've had here," said Simmons of the Moon Pie Festival. "It was clean and organized. We had lots of volunteers."

As for the Shakespeare festival, Simmons said, "We exceeded our expectations every night."