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City representatives and managers met for a quarterly lunch to deliver reports to the mayor on Jan. 12, at C.D. Stamps. Attendees included members of the Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA), Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Tullahoma Planning Commission and others.

Randall Braker, general manager of the Duck River Utility Commission and constable of the Coffee County Board of Commissioners, delivered a report on the meeting between Duck River affiliates and stakeholders, requesting that the other local government entities keep a careful eye on the watershed.

“It’s going to be a real difficult issue over the next few years, and if you would as a community keep your eyes on that, because it does impact our ability to grow and expand our communities,” he said. “Competing communities downstream are growing rapidly, and they have a lot of big plants where they’re expanding their water and wastewater systems. It’s a limited resource, so we really have to compete and share. It’s a working relationship.”

He went on to say that the annual meetings allow the communities to work together to meet their own communities’ needs without impeding the other systems. He then addressed the effect of the freeze on the water operating system.

“Christmas was a major challenge for us,” he said. “Rolling blackouts and cold weather were very hard on the plant. We had malfunctions and a lot of breakdowns, but we were able to get through without anybody having any shortage of water, which was the main goal.”

He shared that the plant pumped the most water in one day, a total of 8.4 million gallons, on Dec. 26, to maintain the system as households used a drip method to prevent pipes from bursting.

Brian Skelton, president of TUA, shared that the water department experienced issues in December, resulting in hundreds of customers having their water turned off due to leaks. He additionally shared that TUA is working on a wastewater expansion project on Ledford Mill Rd.

TUA also purchased an electric vehicle for the use of its communications department, with Skelton reporting its purchase as being under $30,000.

John West, deputy director of Tullahoma Public Works, discussed the effect of the weather on local roads, sharing the plan for salt trucks and leaf crews in the city. He estimated leaf crews would be finished with their rounds in mid to late February.

Paul Schwer, chairman of the Tullahoma Planning Commission, reported on the completion of the mandatory annual training that the commissioners underwent, as well as his plans for the future of the board, involving Mary Samaniego, city planning director.

“We had a lot of open discussion about where we want to go in the future,” he said. “We’re going to be looking at Mary to draft some new amendments to make us a little more functional and meet the needs of the community.”

He also expressed his interest in working with the Community Planned Development Committee (CPDC), which was created by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to provide community input on the adaptation of the 2011 Comprehensive Plan to suit current city needs and growth.

Ashley Abraham, the executive director of United Way of Highway 55, reported that the organization distributed clothing items worth a total of $50,000 to nonprofits in the Coffee, Moore and Warren County areas during 2022. She clarified the total did not include projects or community assistance, which is conducted daily.

“Currently, we are helping with the Tullahoma Winter Shelter project,” she said. “This has been such a huge group effort, with five local churches, Rupa Blackwell, Pam Bussell, Tom Murdock, Sheree Cox, Daniel Berry. It just proves that it takes a community to make things happen and to help.”

She explained that there are between five to ten volunteers each night, and each location provides cots, blankets, snacks and hygiene items to those in need. Breakfast is provided in the morning by Damron’s Restaurant. The shelter is currently at Church of Christ on Cedar Lane.

The Mayor’s Quarterly Planning and Coordinating Meeting will be held at the end of the next quarter.