The Town of Alexandria Board of Mayor and Aldermen appointed two people to fill a couple of vacant alderman seats at their last regular meeting last Tuesday, August 27. Tiffany Robinson and Sherry Tubbs were approved unanimously by the board to fill unexpired two-year terms. City attorney Vester Parsley administered the oath of office to both Robinson and Tubbs after the meeting.
“I am here to serve the community,” Robinson told the Smithville Review. She is a lifelong resident of DeKalb County and has lived in Alexandria for two years.
Originating from Nashville, Tubbs said she has lived in Alexandria for four years, and has been in DeKalb County for 13 years. She has worked in nursing for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.
Robinson and Tubbs join Mayor Beth Tripp, and Aldermen Jeff Ford, Jonathon Tripp, Bobby Simpson, and Luke Prichard on the board.
The meeting was standing room only as the tiny meeting room had people standing in the hall and outside. The big issues addressed at the meeting was the water and sewer situation, and the resignations of the entire police force.
Mayor Tripp told those in attendance that she is currently seeking new police officers, but the process may take a little time.
“I am actively looking for more cops. I have had one interview with somebody, and I am going to interview more. I hate that they (former officers) left but I cannot make anybody stay. I do apologize but I had the best intentions of keeping them and I was never going to get rid of them,” said Mayor Tripp.
The board voted to move forward with plans to help improve the water system by installing new meters.
New automated water meters will replace all the old meters and will help locate leaks. The meters are being funded through the city’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act. The only cost to the city will be for water leak detection services in the town’s 38 miles of water lines in the amount of $12,300 awarded to the lowest bidder.
Rich Potter of Brush Creek Environmental Management (BCEM), told those in attendance the new meters are expected be more accurate to help prevent water loss. “You have 100-year-old meters out there and meters don’t get faster as they age. They get slower. New meters were approved four years ago, but never purchased. The new meters will read more accurately, but that will mean higher water bills for some,” said Potter.
“You had a 48 percent water loss and 33 percent of it was through your meters. We previously changed 200 of 1,050 meters, but you’re still at 29 percent water loss, which has to be accounted for through your water bills,” he added.
The total project comes to more than one million dollars using the city’s allocation of $700,000 in ARP grant funds. The city will also use another $350,000 in ARP money donated from the Smith Utility District to be used at the pumping station in the Sykes community to fix pumps and put in generators to improve water pressure to the Town of Alexandria.
Potter also addressed the issue of dirty colored water, saying, “Your system is over 100 years old it starts on the outskirts (coming from Smith County). The water has iron and its soluble which means you can’t see it. It goes insoluble when it’s contained in dead end lines. This is the dead end. The water comes from that end (Smith County) and comes to this end (Alexandria) and then it stops,” said Potter.
“I have gotten my board (Smith Utility District) to authorize a chemical polyphosphate treatment that I put in play two months ago and what it does is it sequesters the iron. It doesn’t get rid of it but it hides it. You won’t see it but it’s working. Polyphosphates sequester iron and manganese to prevent discolored water,” said Potter.
The mayor also addressed the issue of garbage pickup for the town. She said that there isn’t any money allocated for trash pickup in the budget, something the board will have to look at in order to refund the service.
“The budget was already approved by the prior council,” said Mayor Tripp. “We will have to amend the budget to address it because there is no money for streets. It was taken away.”
City recorder Jeff McMillen informed the aldermen and public that city auditor John Poole has said funds from within the city budget can be moved around to fund trash pickup.
“In 2022-23 the budget had $32,353 in it for an employee. In 2023-24 the estimate was $16,286 and the budget for 2024-25 is zero,” said McMillen.
“This year’s budget has zero money in it for that,” McMillen explained. “I talked to Mr. Poole who is the city auditor. You can move money around within the budget, but we need to know what we have in the budget before you start moving money. I am a believer in paying as you go. Give us just a few days for the mayor to find that money and let’s come back with a budget amendment soon to hire somebody,” said McMillen.
