USDA Rural Development State Director Mary “Ruth” Tackett today announced $3,000,000 in funding for the Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District to complete a new 33 mile transmission line improving service throughout the utility’s 20 county service area. The ceremony was held at the Middle Tennessee Gas training center in Smithville.
“Adequate public infrastructure is an important factor in providing a good quality of life and in making our communities attractive and well prepared to take full advantage of new economic opportunities,” said Tackett. “Middle Tennessee Gas has done a great job building partnerships with local leaders across their service area and by planning for the future in this way, they are helping to ensure this will remain a great place for families and businesses.”
This Rural Development community facilities loan will be used to complete 33 miles of gas lines from Woodbury in Cannon County to Rock Island in Warren County. This extension will upgrade the entire system and provide the Middle Tennessee Gas with an additional source of natural gas, which is beneficial in times when alternative transmission lines are interrupted and helps improve the utility’s access to competitively priced natural gas supplies. Rural Development also provided funding for phase one of this project through a $3,000,000 community facilities loan in 2003.
“A community’s quality of life depends directly on its utilities,” Congressman Bart Gordon said in a statement. “Improvement projects like this one are necessary to keep pace with Middle Tennessee’s growing population. By upgrading our infrastructure, we ensure residents maintain an enviable quality of life.”
The gas line extension is funded through Rural Development’s community facilities program which provides communities with the financial resources needed to construct or improve essential services. Education, Healthcare, retirement, and civic centers, along with local government buildings for police and fire protection are examples of projects typically funded through this program. Community facilities grants target rural areas with a population less than 20,000.
“This important Rock Island project has been greatly aided by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Loan Program, and we appreciate the cooperation and support that State Director, Ruth Tackett and the entire Cookeville Rural Development staff provided, ” said Les Enoch, Chief Executive Officer for Middle Tennessee Utility District.
In his remarks during the presentation, Enoch said “Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District is a Municipal Corporation established in 1955 to serve the energy needs of Middle Tennessee. In keeping with its mission, the District has continued to expand the distribution system where it has been financially feasible to provide quality natural gas service at competitive rates in a safe, environmentally clean and efficient manner. The District has made substantial progress during its more than 50 year history. It has expanded to 3,100 miles of distribution line and presently serves 53,000 customers located in more than 120 communities in all or portions of 20 counties.”
“As a part of the District’s ongoing planning process ‘Focus on the Future’, it was determined in the late 1990’s that additional sources of natural gas supply were required to meet the needs of its growing residential, commercial, and industrial energy market area. In 2000, the District began installing a 12 inch steel pipe from a new Interstate pipeline tap in Gladeville (Wilson County) toward Rock Island (Warren County), where it will serve as a new source of supply for the District’s customers. As this project developed, the pipepline has been interconnected to the District’s existing distribution systems in Watertown, Woodbury, McMinnville, Centertown, and Smithville, and 54.5 miles of 12-inch steel pipe have already been installed and in service. Previously, Rural Development provided a $3 million loan for the Cannon County Phase of the project. The final construction phase of this project extends the pipeline an additional 14.5 miles from western Warren County to a previously completed interconnect in Rock Island and Rural Development has again agreed to help bring this project to a successful conclusion.”
“When the final phase of the Rock Island Project is completed, it will allow the District to meet the growth needs of all counties in the District’s Middle Tennessee service area for many years into the future; it will lower costs for the District’s customers by diversifying sources of both gas supply and Interstate pipeline capacity; it will improve both the integrity and security of the District’s overall distribution system; and it will encourage economic development in this rural area of Tennessee.”
Other participants in the ceremonial check presentation included Senator Lamar Alexander’s Field Representative Brent Wiles, Congressman Bart Gordon’s Field Representative Billy Smith, and DeKalb County Mayor Mike Foster.
USDA Rural Development is committed to the future of rural communities in Tennessee by providing financial and technical assistance through housing, community, and business-cooperative programs. Rural Development assisted 459,219 Tennessee families and businesses with more than $257 million in financial assistance in Fiscal Year 2005. For more information on home ownership or business development programs, contact USDA Tennessee Rural Development toll free at 1-800-342-3149 extension 1493 or visit online at www.rurdev.usda.gov/tn

Five people were involved in a two vehicle traffic accident around 2:50 p.m. Saturday afternoon on Highway 70 east just west of Sligo Bridge. Two of them were seriously injured.
Sergeant Billy Prater of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says 27 year old Bill D. Cannon of Little Brook Road, Cookeville was east on Highway 70 in a 2003 Dodge Neon when he crossed into the westbound lane while negotiating a curve and struck head-on a westbound 1998 Olds Bravada, driven by 49 year old Marvin T. Waggoner of Banks Pisgah Road, Smithville.
Cannon and a passenger of his car, 22 year old Janelle Frazier of Luna Road, Sparta were seriously injured and airlifted from near the scene by a Life Force helicopter ambulance and flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. Frazier’s brother, 14 year old Chris Frazier, also of Luna Road Sparta, was slightly injured and taken by a private vehicle to DeKalb Hospital. He was also a passenger of Cannon’s car.
Waggoner and a passenger of his vehicle, 49 year old Charlotte Henry of Banks Pisgah Road, Smithville, were slightly injured and taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Hospital.
Sergeant Prater says the accident remains under investigation and there could be charges in the case.
In addition to Sergeant Prater, DeKalb EMS, and the Life Force Helicopter ambulance, others on the scene providing assistance were members of the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department, who provided extrication to get Cannon out of his vehicle; officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department; and members of the Johnson’s Chapel and Midway Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department.
Traffic was backed up for a while during the crash investigation.

A 28 year old man was seriously injured in a Sunday morning crash around 6:46 a.m. on East Broad Street in Smithville.
Lieutenant Richard Jennings of the Smithville Police Department says David Gene Satterfield of Tracy City, but who is believed to reside in Smithville, was traveling west on East Broad Street in a 1991 Chevy S-10 pickup truck when he crossed into the eastbound lane, went off the highway, struck a curb, overturned, and clipped a utility pole. The truck came to rest upright in the parking lot of Disco Tienda Latina.
The Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was called to the scene to extricate Satterfield from the truck.
He was taken by DeKalb EMS to meet a Life Force Helicopter Ambulance which landed near the scene.
Satterfield was then airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.

If you plan to visit the Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival Friday and Saturday, June 30th and July 1st, please leave your pets at home.
The City of Smithville has an ordinance that prohibits most animals in the downtown area during the Fiddler’s Jamboree.
The ordinance states that “Whereas, the City of Smithville has received complaints in past years from people concerned about their safety and well being due to the presence of certain types of dogs, animals, and reptiles at the annual Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree, and
Whereas, on occasion, even animals restrained by a leash have been known to cause harm to individuals and instill fear for those attending the Jamboree, and
Whereas, the City desires to keep visitors to the Jamboree safe and free of fear of such animals,
Now, therefore be it ordained by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Smithville that
All types of pets including dogs, cats, reptiles, and other such animals shall be strictly and expressly prohibited on the city streets within the boundaries of the Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree during the period of the annual event, with the exception of dogs for the visually impaired, disabled and police and military dogs that are being used for official business during the Jamboree.
Each violation of this ordinance shall be punishable by a minimum fine of ten dollars per occurrence.
A brochure distributed by the Fiddler’s Jamboree Committee states that the festival allows no pets, no alcoholic beverages, no fireworks, no roller blades, or no bicycles.

Following the Internal Revenue Service’s
announcement to stop collecting the federal excise tax on long distance
phone calls, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon is urging congressional leaders to take
up legislation that would eliminate the excise tax from all calls.
Last month, the IRS announced it would no longer collect the 3
percent tax on long distance phone calls.
“The federal telecommunications excise tax was originally
enacted to pay for the Spanish-American War,” said Gordon. “This tax
certainly has outlived its original purpose, and the time to permanently
repeal it is long overdue.
“The IRS did the right thing by eliminating the tax on long
distance phone services. Now, Congress needs to take the next step and
eliminate the tax from local phone bills as well.”
The tax first was levied in 1898 as a luxury tax for wealthy
Americans who could afford telephones. Since then, the tax has been
repealed and reinstated numerous times and became permanent in 1990.
Today (June 16), Gordon joined a bipartisan group of his
colleagues in sending a letter to the Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives expressing support for the Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act
of 2005.
Gordon is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which would repeal the federal
excise tax on all calls.
“With more telephones than people in the United States today,
the (federal excise tax) now represents the polar opposite of a luxury tax,
and merely serves to raise prices for consumers,” wrote the House members.
Taxpayers will be able to file for refunds on their 2006 tax
returns for any long distance excise tax paid after February 28, 2003. More
information is available on www.irs.gov .