Outdoor pool repair approved by council

The city council voted unanimously Thursday evening to authorize taking bids to resurface the outdoor facility.

Last week, Parks and Recreation Department director Sylvia Pinson said the proposed repair would cost an estimated $33,000, and the funding for it is already in the department's budget this year.

She said that the outdoor pool is in "desperate need of resurfacing," stating that the last time it was done was in 1996.

Pinson said the department had budgeted for the resurfacing last year, but the money earmarked for the project was spent on upgrading drain covers on the recreation center's two pools after a federal law directed all public pools in the country to update their drain systems to meet new safety standards.

Shelbyville's Power, Water and Sewer board has a new member. Paul Stacy was swiftly selected by a majority of the council to serve on the board.

Stacy was voted for by council members Al Stephenson, Thomas Landers, Jean Pruitt, Lee Roy Cunningham and Mayor Wallace Cartwright.

Council members Kay Rose and Jo Ann Holland picked Fay Womble for the seat.

The council voted 5-1 for spending up to $2,500 to promote the 2010 Census.

Organizer Luci Taylor said last week that the money would be used "to help generate community awareness" about the federal head count.

She explained that every person counted translates to $100 in federal funds for the region and that during the last census, 65 percent of the Latino community did not fill out the forms.

Cunningham voted against the measure.

The council also approved authorizing city recorder Betty Lamb to set up interviews for attorneys to pursue the collection of damages for repairs to Shelbyville's underground flume system.

Ginger Shofner, the city's attorney, had recently informed the council that she would be unable to move forward with any action over damage to the flume due to the fact that Fred Hunt, who represents Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer, belongs to the same law firm as she does.

Council members have discussed getting reimbursement from the city utility for the cost of the collapsed underground flume following the release last July of an engineer's report that identified the cause of its failure, with fingers pointed at work done by Mayse Construction Co. of Chattanooga, a contractor employed by the utility.

Delinquent property taxes for 2008 have been turned over to the city attorney for collection after approval from the council. Shofner informed the council that those numbers will probably be lower than expected.

The park and recreation department's new policies and procedures for athletic leagues was also given approval, which includes a requirement for background checks for coaches and board members.

They also approved taking bids to replacing a backup battery for fire alarm system for the recreation center, not to exceed $3,000.

The council authorized taking bids for mosquito spray for the public works department.

Passed on second reading was a request to rezone an area between South Main and South Jefferson Streets, described as "a triangle shaped plot," to high density residential.

The reason for the recommended change concerns a rezoning request made by Tory May, who wants to develop a quadruplex residential dwelling on South Main at South Brittain Street.

Bids were also accepted from Bradley Chemical of Nashville for weed killer for the public works department.

Stephenson asked why there were no other bids, and Lamb said that the city had informed several other companies of the bidding opportunity.