UCHRA is hoping to close on the sale of Lakeside Resort in DeKalb County to the Brentwood Arts Society in February.
“We are hoping to sell the Lakeside facility to the Brentwood Arts Society, said UCHRA Executive Director Luke Collins, who addressed the county commission Monday night.
Last April, UCHRA settled on a deal to sell the property to the Brentwood entity controlled by Jim Himelrick and Bob Pierce, real estate developers and former investors in Nashville Shores.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, last fall approved allowing the non-profit Brentwood Arts Society to assume the land lease. Rural Development had to approve a loan to Brentwood Arts before the transaction could be finalized.
Himelrick and Pierce had reached a deal in April to acquire the property from UCHRA by the first of the year but also operate it for a fee of $5,000 a month until then. Under the existing lease and loan terms, a non-profit has to be in control of the property.
Collins said the Brentwood Arts Society will bring more activities to the county through Lakeside Resort. “I think that change will be a win, win for everybody. I think the Brentwood Arts Society will bring more activities to Smithville and DeKalb County and more opportunities because that’s more of what they do. They are specialized in doing those things and I think they would be a better suited organization to manage Lakeside. We (UCHRA) are primarily into social services. That’s primarily what we do. But Lakeside is a great facility. It offers a lot of educational opportunities for DeKalb County and a lot of jobs. It’s brought a lot of tourists here. We want it to continue to be an asset to DeKalb County and I think it will,” said Collins
“It would still be run as an educational facility,” said County Mayor Mike Foster. “It would still be open to the public and it would probably help create a resort area for DeKalb County and the Upper Cumberland area in that it would still be run as a motel, a destination, a training center, and would still provide a lot of the same services that it has in the past. But it would be run by a private organization,” he added.
Brentwood Arts Society provides financial support to the Town Centre Theater in Brentwood, which also has a production group that recently put on play performances at the new DeKalb County Complex auditorium.
“February 6 is the date that we hope it will close (on the sale of Lakeside) but it may be a little later into February,” said Collins.” We feel very positive about it. The buyers keep saying they will be able to assume the loan and take it over. I think it will be positive for everybody,” he said.
Lakeside Resort, consisting of 139 acres on the banks of Center Hill Lake off of the Cookeville Highway, created problems for UCHRA financially, by being unable to support itself or to service the debt on the $1.6 million note owed on property there.

An inmate was found with a prohibited weapon inside the jail last week.
43 year old Morris Edward Knowles of Sparta Highway, Smithville is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon inside a penal institution. He is an inmate at the DeKalb County Jail. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court January 31.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Wednesday, January 23 Morris had a weapon made from a razor handle and a nail. The item could have been used to stab someone. It was found inside Knowles’ sock, while he was being patted down before a shakedown.
44 year old John Michael Turner of East Main Street, Smithville is charged with a second offense of driving under the influence and disorderly conduct. He was further issued a citation for violation of the financial responsibility law (no insurance). His bond totals $7,500 and he will be in court on February 14.
Sheriff Ray said that on Wednesday, January 23 the sheriff’s office received a call that someone had been blowing their car horn for some time on A.B. Frazier Road. Upon arrival, the officer found Turner’s vehicle in a ditch. Turner was present and his keys were in the ignition. Turner had an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and he was unsteady on his feet. Turner refused to submit to a field sobriety task because he was too unsteady. Turner was declared an habitual offender on December 5, 1996 in DeKalb County. He was placed under arrest and brought to the jail for booking. Turner did submit to a blood test but at the hospital he initially began cussing and became very loud and disorderly, refusing to do what the officer asked him to do. Turner allegedly made threatening gestures toward personnel checking him into the hospital.
28 year old Brandon Lynn Tallent of West Main Street, Smithville and 20 year old Shelly Renae Newby of Anthony, Avenue Smithville are each charged with theft of property under $500 and two counts of theft of property over $1,000. Bond for each totals $21,500 and they will be in court on February 14.
Sheriff Ray said that on Saturday, January 19 Tallent and Newby allegedly took three tractor trailer starters and a cast iron intake from property on the Old Snow Hill Road. The items are valued at more than $1,000. Newby admitted to an officer that she and Tallent had taken items from this property on several occasions.
The next day on Sunday, January 20, Tallent and Newby allegedly took two trailers and small gasoline engines from the same property on the Old Snow Hill Road. These items are valued at more than $1,000. Newby admitted to an officer that she and Tallent had taken these items.
Meanwhile on Friday, January 25, Tallent and Newby went back to the same location and allegedly took val covers, a gas tank, an intake, and struts. These items are valued at less than $500. They were found in the back of Tallent’s vehicle after an officer pulled him over on a traffic stop. Newby admitted to the officer that she and Tallent had taken these items.
40 year old Sergio Sanchez of Kendra Drive, Smithville is charged with driving under the influence. His bond is $3,000 and he will be in court on February 14. He was also issued citations for no valid drivers license, violation of the financial responsibility law (no insurance), improper backing, and violation of the implied consent law.
Sheriff Ray said that on Saturday, January 26, Sanchez was involved in a two vehicle crash in the parking lot of Handle Bars II on Sparta Highway. The investigating officer found that Sanchez had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and his eyes were blood shot. He was unsteady on his feet. Saying he was too drunk, Sanchez refused to submit to field sobriety tasks and blood tests. He was placed under arrest and brought to the jail for booking.

The DeKalb County Commission may soon decide whether or not to authorize Sunday beer sales or to make it 24-7, the same as the City of Smithville has done for businesses licensed to sell packaged beer.
During an informal county commission meeting Thursday night, in what is called an all-committees session, local businessman Jewel Redmon, owner of Jewel’s Market and Pizza on North Congress Boulevard asked that stores be allowed to sell beer on Sunday. “I would like the county commission to consider letting us sell beer on Sunday,” said Redman. “Eighty five percent of the places (licensed stores) in DeKalb County sell beer on Sunday now anyway. We would just like to have the same opportunity to compete with our competition. I don’t care about all the hours. We just need, say til twelve o’clock in the morning and Sundays. Being 24 (hours) I really don’t care about that,” said Redmon.
“We would like to have it the same as it is in the city” said Roger Sharp, owner of Sharp Lodge on Cookeville Highway near Silver Point.
Local minister Bernard Houk asked the county commission not to extend the hours for beer sales. Houk said this issue is personal with him because he has seen how that alcohol has destroyed lives. He urged the commissioners to think about what’s best for people rather than somebody’s wallet.
Although the issue is on the agenda, the county commission is not expected to make a decision Monday night. County Mayor Mike Foster suggested Thursday night that a public hearing be scheduled at some point to give citizens a chance to express their views. County officials may also want to take some time to see how the changes made in the city are working out.
Meanwhile, County Mayor Foster said he has received complaints about loud noise coming from a business (Chabelita’s Sports Bar and Grill) on the Short Mountain Highway late at night on weekends. “I’ve probably had ten phone calls about it and I know the sheriff has had some about it. I got a call Monday that they were going til two o’clock Sunday morning. The noise was so loud that they couldn’t sleep. I think we need to put a clause in whatever we do to address these type things because that’s in a residential neighborhood. I think they’ve got to use some common sense or lose their license. I’d be the first one to recommend that,” said Foster.
“They tell me you (sheriff) get calls on the weekends to go out there about the noise,” said Foster
“Every weekend, probably three times a night,” said Sheriff Patrick Ray.
” I probably get three calls a week. It needs to be shut down. I’m for locking the doors or pulling their permit,” added Foster.
Some suggested that the county beer board be made aware of the complaints.
Chabelita’s Sports Bar and Grill has an on premises consumption permit to sell beer

The DeKalb County unemployment rate for December was 7.3%, up from 6.9% in November but below the 7.9% rate in December 2011.
The local labor force for December 2012 was 9,600. A total of 8,890 were employed and 700 were unemployed.
DeKalb County’s unemployment rate was fourth lowest among the fourteen counties of the Upper Cumberland Region.
Here’s how they ranked from highest to lowest:
Pickett County: 12.7%
Van Buren County: 11.2%
White County: 11%
Clay County: 10%
Jackson County: 9.6%
Fentress County: 9.2%
Cumberland County: 9.2%
Warren County: 8.4%
Smith County: 7.5%
Overton County: 7.4%
DeKalb County: 7.3%
Putnam County: 7.1%
Macon County: 7%
Cannon County: 5.9%
County unemployment rates for December 2012 show the rate decreased in two counties and increased in 93 primarily due to normal seasonal employment declines. County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted and reflect seasonal employment changes from month to month.
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for December remained constant from the November revised rate of 7.6 percent. The national unemployment rate for December 2012 was 7.8 percent, also unchanged from the previous month.
The state unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.
Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 5.7 percent, up from 5.2 percent in November. Davidson County was 6.2 percent, up from 5.7 percent. Hamilton County was 7.2 percent, up from 6.4 percent, and Shelby County was 8.7 percent, up from 7.8 percent in November.

The Hurricane Bridge construction project is nearing completion.
Paul Degges, Chief Engineer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, in a meeting with County Mayor Mike Foster and the county commission Thursday night, said the project is ahead of schedule and could be finished by May. “We are running considerably ahead of schedule on that project,” said Degges. “We anticipate being able to open that to traffic probably by the first of May. If we have good weather this winter we might even beat that. You might recall our original completion estimate was October of this year so we are significantly ahead of schedule,” said Degges.
During an interview with WJLE in August, Degges described the work being done on Hurricane Bridge.”That bridge was built during World War II and it had some pretty lite structural members. One of the things we’ve been going through on the project is to make sure it can handle traffic for the next fifty years or so. We’re going in and looking at every single member of the truss. Some of those metal components underneath the deck are in tension and some are in compression. So we’re doing an analysis on all those to make sure that we replace the ones that need to be replaced. This is an older bridge. It has a lite weight construction so we’re also using a lite weight concrete on it. The concrete deck on this bridge weighs about twenty percent less than concrete we use in typical applications. I think motorists will notice that the bridge rail on the bridge looks a little different. It’s metal instead of concrete. It’s just as strong but it’s a little bit lighter than concrete. We’re going to take about two feet off the shoulders. While we’ll still have the same width twelve foot travel lanes, the shoulders are going to be a little bit narrower than they were before the project. What we’re trying to do is be able to put this bridge back in service and get another fifty years out of it,” said Degges.
In October, 2010 TDOT awarded the bid to OCCI Incorporated at $26.9 million. The contractor has until October 31st, 2013 to complete the project. Modjeski and Masters is the consulting firm.