City to Handle Soil Control, New Police Patrol Car and Officer, and Library Summer Reading Returns

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The May 8 City of Trenton commission meeting included numerous minor updates, with highlights on law enforcement, plans for the city to handle soil control (instead of the current state process), and the library summer reading program.

Mayor Alex Case noted the May 2 Law Enforcement Appreciation Ceremony (as previously covered by the Sentinel). Speaking about the Trenton Police Department, Mike Norris (police commissioner) said, “Right now, a lot of departments are struggling just to find help, but we’re fortunate here in Trenton, we’ve got a good group of people that care.”

Case then explained a “Soil Erosion, Sedimentation, and Pollution Control Ordinance” that the city began working on over a year ago, saying, “This allows Chief Kyzer and Chief Smith for any agency within the city to bring soil erosion plans to us. We passed this almost a year and a half ago and found out it did not get processed forward to Atlanta.”

The city recently followed up with the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) about becoming a local issuing authority. This ordinance will speed up the process of sediment control since it can be handled locally instead of through the state.

Norris gave the April police report. The Trenton PD answered 258 calls in April and completed 1,661 business checks. 55 traffic stops resulted in 33 citations being issued.

Norris also noted David Duvall’s retirement from the Trenton PD (as covered during the Law Enforcement Appreciation Ceremony) and the hiring of Officer Kevin Haswell who has begun working full-time for the department.

Norris added that the new patrol car design intentionally increased visibility, saying, “When they drive through a neighborhood, you should be able to see that car. In the past, they’ve put ghost writing on them…We want to be visible.”

Lucretia Houts (fire and utility commissioner) reported that the Trenton Fire Department answered 115 calls in April, eight of which were fire related and 40 of which were canceled en route.

Terry Powell (parks & animal control commissioner) reported that the Jenkins Park pool will open on May 27. He said, “All the prices will be the same as last year. We’ll be closed on Sundays.”

Case reported on behalf of Monda Wooten (streets commissioner) who was on vacation. After listing street work completed in April, he noted, “If you see anything on the streets, please don’t hesitate to call. You can call City Hall or send us an alert on our website and we can get a work order quickly. If you see water standing by the side of the road…that’s something we need to know about.”

Case reported that he met with two United States Congress representatives to ask for help with a grant for sewer infrastructure (specifically for the pump stations), and Representative Mike Cameron also spoke to several representatives separately.

He added that they have also been considering the city pipes. “We’ve got clay pipe that’s been in these streets since the 60s or so. There are so many new techniques to get these things repaired that we never have to open the ground…We’re trying to make more contact about what this costs.”

Case also reminded the commissioners that to move the Downtown Development Authority forward, they must begin recruiting people to serve on a temporary board. The DDA will need to be taken into consideration as the city prepares its 2024 budget.

Mindy Haworth, library branch manager, reported that the library’s summer reading program  will begin on June 5, with registration opening May 15. She thanked the numerous local sponsors who made this program possible.

A complete list of summer events is available at www.chrl.org/dade-county-public-library, but several highlights include: Teen Entrepreneurship, Adult Medicinal Herb Workshop, Children’s Story Time (with Josh Ingle, Alex Case, and Ted Rumley) and EMS Vehicle Parade, Teen Improv with Improv Chattanooga, and two adult writing workshops.