Crossville Police Department Ranks Tops

This article amplifies the award wining police department of Crossville Tennessee- The Affordable Paradise

Crossville Police Department ranks top in national competition

By Jim Young / jimyoungreporter@gmail.com

Just four years ago the Crossville Police Department (CPD) began competing in police department competitions put on by the Governor's Highway Safety program and this year the police department took first place for their size category at the National Law Enforcement Challenge.

The first year the CPD took part in the Tennessee-wide competition they earned third place in their department size category. Their awards improved in subsequent years and through these competitions they have also been awarded some $218,000 in grants that do not require a local match. They have also won police equipment including mobile speed check trailers that let drivers know how fast they are going without getting a ticket.

In order to win the award at the International Association of Chief's of Police (IACP) held in Denver, Colorado, Crossville's police department was up against 28 award winning departments from 11 states, but Crossville beat out them all. Departments are judged on their traffic safety accomplishments in categories of education, policies and guidelines, seatbelt usage and enforcement.

Police Chief David Beaty praised the work of his entire department but especially singled out Lt. Fred Sherrill who he said committed to the program and has worked to make it successful.

Chief Beaty and Lt. Sherrill proudly shared the award with the council and it will be hung in the police department's offices.

During their regular meeting the three members of the city council present briefly discussed the issue of damage complaints by property owners on Holiday Lake caused by the increase in the water level after work on the dam was completed. Currently the lake's water level has been dropped to allow city staff to investigate complaints and estimate repair costs.

City manager Ted Meadows reported that 25 complaints had been received and the estimates were approaching $200,000. Meadows added that those numbers could increase once work on repairs start.

Originally the council had set a work session on the matter for Monday morning but it has been rescheduled as a special-called meeting for Thursday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. at Crossville City Hall so all council members can attend. The agenda has not been released as of press time.

The council also approved the purchase of a lake front lot at Lake Tansi that will be used for the intake and pumps for the water harvesting project. The city approved paying Tommy Bean $145,000 to purchase the piece of property necessary for the project.

The sales tax collections reported received in September was much closer to the amount received in previous years. The amount was $14,000 less then the previous year while last month's sales tax collections were over $60,000 below the previous year. The city remains within its budget.

The council approved filing eminent domain actions against property owners along Lantana Road as part of utility relocation required because of the project. City clerk Sally Oglesby reported that the city started out needing 114 easements and has arranged all but nine as the project gets close to starting. Of the nine properties, two are close to settlement, one has environmental issues the owner is working on and one is only a construction easement that may be eliminated. The remaining five will end up in court. Of the five properties, three are owned by the same individual so only three owners are involved.

The council approved the low bid recommended by engineers for the construction of water lines to Cumberland Cove. The bids ranged from $2.2 million to almost $5 million. The $2.2 million bid was withdrawn by the bidder and the remaining low bid was for $3.245 million by W & O Construction.

The council approved the bid contingent on the approval of Rural Development required by the financing for the project.

The council also approved bids for city employees' health insurance. The city will be staying with Blue Cross of Tennessee with no increase over the previous year. City employees are on two different networks depending on whether they see a doctor at Crossville Medical Group. While one network is slightly higher per month the council agreed not to charge the difference to the employees. The new insurance goes into effect January first.

The city will be offering several classes in the next few months on stress, weight loss and smoking cessation as part of continuing efforts to control costs.