Jasper Board deals with potential backlogs in the supply chain

David Riley

Jasper, Tennessee – As infamous as how many electronic components have impacted auto manufacturing and the availability of many popular household products, the city of Jasper learned that there could be other ways in which they could fall victim to supply chain problems. Jasper Waterworks have historically incorporated fluoride into their water supply, as do many water systems across the country. However, Plant Manager Dwight Perry alerted the Board of Directors to concerns about the diminishing availability of the granular fluoride currently used at the plant. Perry said there were varying amounts of bags and canisters that enabled him to keep the plains where they historically had remained. However, he feared that suppliers of granular fluoride would turn away and stick with a more common liquid fluoride.

The change would require some fundamental changes to the current distribution infrastructure. However, after Perry’s presentation, the board saw this change as inevitable. Currently, the state minimum value for the fluoride input for plants that declare the additive exceeds. Perry admitted that he could reduce the initial insert amount. Still, state testing requirements include multiple sampling points, and Perry expressed an awareness that samples from the most distant points in the distribution would be the determining factor in how long the plant could withstand the known shipment. However, Perry had procured several different springs to keep the water quality high for the next few weeks. Conceptually, the board agreed to a switch and agreed that the city’s engineering office should begin design work immediately to upgrade to the more widely available liquid fluoride. In addition, the Board of Directors approved the conversion of the current radio monitoring equipment of the water system to fiber optic links in order to increase reliability and speed. The cost of just over $ 20,000 was expected to be covered by federal infrastructure money that the city received.

The board also agreed to hire Rudy Honea for a full-time position as a water worker after a new employee left for another position. The board also followed Police Chief Billy Mason’s recommendation that Justin Graham be formally added to the list of part-time police officers. Several local departments hire officers from other departments to control overtime costs when a full-time officer is on vacation or sick. Graham’s inclusion follows the recent hiring of Nathan Smith, who served as a part-time officer for Jasper, by the 12th Judicial Violent Crime and Drug Task Force. Mason felt that adding Graham to the roster would prevent reporting issues from moving forward.

The board also approved a provision to receive funding from the American Rescue Plan, recently enacted under US law. Jasper’s qualifying amount was just over $ 111,000, according to Mayor Jason Turner. Accepting the funds included setting up a separate bank account for the funds. The same access restrictions apply to the new account as to the city’s current accounts.

The city of Jasper officially accepted the proposed trade between the city of Jasper and Marion County. The city currently has a plot of land between Industrial Boulevard and the county’s landfill that has been configured for a shooting range. The intent of the range is to give local law enforcement a more logistics-friendly location to complete the mandatory annual firearms certification. A proposal has been made to sell the Range property to the county in exchange for vacant lot in the courtyard in downtown Jasper. Some of the benefits showcased along the way included that the county could manage the shooting range and the city could convert the property into a small park.

Mayor Jason Turner thanks several city departments for helping with the December 3rd Christmas activities. The activities ran all day and were rounded off with the annual Christmas parade. Library Director Karen Strain reminded the board that the Carolyn Stewart Library in Jasper still held a personal storytime class on Wednesdays and a virtual storytime class on Fridays. Strain also announced that the library will take over the administration of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program from the United Way of Greater Chattanooga from 2022. Strain predicted that the library would eventually take over the financial management duties in the future, but emphasized that the program was funded by the Imagination Library program and would not affect the library’s budget from the city’s perspective.

The next regular monthly meeting is on January 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the town’s annex at 700 Phillips Avenue.

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