City Receives $1,000 Grant For Spay And Neuter, Officer Williams Recognized
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Photo by Lydia Berglar – Chelsea Turner with the Department of Agriculture (left) presents Terry Powell, Monda Wooten, and Alex Case with a check for $1,000 to be used by the City of Trenton for spaying and neutering dogs and cats.
On the afternoon of April 14, the City of Trenton received a check for $1,000 from the Georgia Department of Agriculture to be used for spaying and neutering dogs and cats. The department’s Dog and Cat Sterilization Program works to reduce the strain on shelters caused by overpopulation, and it’s funded through individual contributions and designated dog and cat license plate sales (available at tag offices throughout the state).
Out of 172 applicants, Trenton was one of the 93 selected to receive the grant, and Alex Case (mayor) thanked Monda Wooten (street commissioner) for putting in the leg work to secure the grant.
Later that evening, the city held its regular monthly meeting, which was light on business and discussion and ended with an executive session to discuss personnel matters. The meeting featured new microphones to improve the sound quality on the city’s livestream videos.
The commission briefly approved surplusing a Ford tractor from the sewer department before moving into regular reports.
Mike Norris (police commissioner) read the police report. In March, the Trenton Police Department answered 192 calls for service, conducted 1,406 business checks, answered five animal complaints, responded to nine domestic disturbance, two trespassing, and 17 suspicious activity calls, and worked 20 traffic crashes. From 105 traffic stops, 24 citations were issued.
Norris and Steve Beaudoin (police chief) then recognized Sergeant Trey Williams for his work as the department’s training officer. Williams designed a 16-hour Pistol Mounted Optic Transition training course, and the director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency sent his department to Trenton to complete the training under Williams.
Beaudoin explained to the Sentinel that most law enforcement agencies, including all of Georgia’s state agencies, are moving toward this type of sight. The Drugs and Narcotics Agency sent a letter to Trenton PD recognizing Williams’ excellent work.
Terry Powell (parks/animal control commissioner) reported that there were three animal work orders in March. For a brief period of time, there were no dogs at the city shelter, but the city then picked up two dogs in the county that are now housed in the shelter.
Lucretia Houts (fire and utility commissioner) reported that the Trenton Fire Department answered 117 calls in March, 22 of which were fire related and 47 of which were canceled en route.
Wooten reported that the street department laid rock in the ditches along Sunset Drive, and Case thanked the property owner, Smokey Russell, who is allowing the city to move the ditch line further away from the street and onto his property. Due to traffic coming to the new subdivision and use of the road as a shortcut to the industrial park, the city is working to create more space on the road.
Case gave an update on the proposed D.R. Horton subdivision. He said, “There have been some land restraints from the current property owner. There’s some other farmland in the area that [D.R. Horton is] looking at redesigning.”
He explained that the city has received most of the necessary preliminary information regarding sewer and water, so the city is now waiting on D.R. Horton. He said the upgrades needed would cause a low impact on the city, but “we will have those discussions once [D.R. Horton] comes back to talk to us some more.”
He noted that the city is deciding on a few more roads to pave because they received another paving grant: $46,000 from Georgia Department of Transportation.
Sandy White (Alliance for Dade president and CEO) noted that J-103 is advertising with the Alliance, so locals can get 25 percent off Jfest tickets by using the code “Dade25.” Jfest is an annual Christian music festival in Chattanooga, and this year’s date is May 17.
White noted the Alliance’s recent move into the historic courthouse, and Case added that work with GDOT is ongoing to add lights/signs to the pedestrian crosswalk so that the building is more accessible. In the meantime, the city purchased small signs to draw attention to the crosswalk. Case noted that state law requires drivers to yield to pedestrians.
The commission entered executive session to discuss a couple of employee matters. After exiting the session, Case reported that a plan of action had been agreed upon, and nothing needed to be voted on.
