A recent accident involving a DeKalb EMS unit may require that the planned sign at the county complex be downscaled.
At the regular meeting of the mayor and county commission last week, Mayor Mike Foster told the commissioners that an abbreviated version of the planned sign might have to be erected until the county can better assess what replacement of the ambulance might cost.
“We had an ambulance involved in an accident recently, and it’s the one we just put a new engine in, and we expected to be able to use it for a long time. The box has already been remounted twice, and by law we can’t remount it again. We are going to have to look at this and see what we have to do.”
The mayor said that there is some concern that the original sign may not be safe, and plans may have to be modified to exclude the reader board from the bottom of the sign for now.
“We have a bid for a little more than $15,000 to replace the posts and the top two sections of the sign. This plan would leave off the bottom of the sign. This may be what we have to do for the present to get the sign up. There is some concern that the old posts may not be safe, so we probably need to replace that part at least.”
The ambulance was involved in a three-vehicle accident on Dec. 2 at the intersection of West Broad and South Mountain streets.
According to Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the ambulance, a 2009 Ford, driven by Hoyte Hale was traveling north when a 2001 Chevy Blazer driven by 33-year-old Michael Jones, travelling west,  ran a red light and hit the EMS unit.
The impact apparently drove the ambulance into a 1993 Buick driven by 62-year-old Phillip Atnip, who was sitting in the turning lane on Short Mountain Street facing south.
There was no patient on board the ambulance at the time of the collision.
Jones was charged with a second offense of driving under the influence, violation of the financial responsibility law, and failure to obey a traffic control device.
Meanwhile, at least one county commissioner is concerned about the Cookeville Boat Dock’s ongoing refusal to pay personal property and improvement taxes in DeKalb County.
According to local tax records, dock owners have been named as defendants in Chancery Court lawsuits filed for delinquent taxes every year from 1998 through the 2010 tax year.
The trustee’s office has recorded that the amount the business owes for delinquent taxes through 2010 amounts to $137,144.47, with additional penalties being assessed monthly, and owes $8,368 for 2011, as well as $7,593 for 2012.
The dock’s attorney apparently files an answer to the lawsuit every year, arguing that DeKalb County has no right to collect tax on real estate located on federal property, because the federal  government pays in lieu of taxes to the state for the use and benefit of the county.
According to county officials, however, the county is not assessing a property tax, it is only trying to collect taxes levied for personal property and improvements, which all the other marinas on the lake, and, in fact, all businesses in the county  are required to pay.
The tactic has allowed the owners of the business to stall the matter for 16 years, except for two years when they paid the tax bill under protest.
The matter has apparently outlasted two judges as well.
Former Chancellor Vernon Neal cited a personal conflict and recused himself from hearing the case in 2002. Former Circuit Court Judge John Turnbull was then designated and appointed to hear the case to its conclusion, but retired from the bench before the matter was resolved.
The case was then transferred to Judge Amy Hollars, and is still pending in court.
During last week's regular meeting of the commission, Second District Commissioner Jack Barton made a motion to make the case the county tax attorney’s “number one priority.”
Barton told the mayor and his fellow commissioners that the problem had gone on long enough, and that it was time for the county to collect the bill.
“I want to address the unpaid property and personal property taxes by Cookeville Boat Dock since somewhere in the beginning of the last decade, he said.
“For whatever reason, the case keeps getting postponed in Chancery Court either at the request of us but most often at the request of the Cookeville Boat Dock's attorney,” The commissioner noted.
Although Barton said he understood some of the reasons for the postponement of the case, he feels that it is time for the dock owners to cough up the money.
“There have been many issues I am sure as to why this has been postponed so many times, and that was due to the long-time sickness and subsequent death of Reese Nash, one member of the family that is the owner of the Cookeville Boat Dock.
“However, at some point business is business and we must force this issue that all of us must and do deal with yearly," he said.
“I want to make a motion that we give this priority number one in our unpaid taxes that our attorney is going after. Since we filed the case already, I understand legally we can go after all the taxes to the beginning and are not limited by how far back we can go. Not counting penalties or interest that may be due, I believe this amount to be a very significant amount between what has already been turned over to the Chancery Court Clerk and still has not been turned over,” said Barton.
Barton said he felt that not attempting to collect the unpaid tax bill would set an undesirable precedent when tax time rolls around for other DeKalb countians.
“Enforcement of taxes serves as a deterrent to others trying to do this and in this area we as a county have failed. If further resources are needed to address this, I would add to my motion that you apprise the budget committee of what is needed to make it a priority and resolve the issue, so that we can collect what is long overdue us.” he concluded.