The Sewanee Mountain MESSENGER Vol. XXX No. 24 Thursday, July 3, 2014 Council Votes to Increase Municipal Fee for Sewanee Leases by Leslie Lytle Council representative David Coe Messenger Staff Writer took issue with the proposal saying non-leaseholders would benefi t from At the June 30 meeting, the Se- the municipal improvements and not wanee Community Council approved share in the cost. Council representa- increasing the municipal service fee tive Theresa Shackelford countered paid by all leaseholders to generate that individuals could make contribu- $10,000 to $20,000 in funds to be tions to projects that interested them. used by the Community Council for Flynn said that community organiza- municipal improvements. The fee tions could also make contributions. increase is for a trial two-year period. A visitor suggested the municipal A committee charged with in- service fee increase for community vestigating ways to encourage active improvements would be more mean- participation in the council drafted ingful if the University matched the the proposal. The committee was funds raised by the fee increase. Swal- comprised of council representatives low said the University contribution John Flynn, Th eresa Shackelford and would depend on the project. Pam Byerly, University community Coe said the proposal needed to relations liaison Barbara Schlichting be brought publicly to the community and University provost John Swallow. for discussion before a vote. Council Monteagle alderman Harry Parmley, Monteagle mayor Marilyn Campbell Rodman, MGTA board members Janice Th omas, Council representative John Flynn representative Pat Kelley agreed. Dede Clements, Henry Blizzard, and Debbie Taylor, city recorder in the back. said the proposal addresses the com- Flynn argued that as an elected body plaint that the Council has no power. the council was empowered to make Th e fee increase would be based on decisions regarding the constituents home value according to the Franklin they represented. TDOT Approves Mountain Goat Trail County tax assessment. For example, Th e council voted 12 to 2 in favor to generate $10,000 of revenue, the of the proposal; Coe and Kelley voted owner of a home valued at $300,000 against the proposal. Contract For Monteagle-Sewanee would see a fee increase of $56, said Vice-Chancellor John McCardell John Swallow, provost of the Univer- The Tennessee Department of Transportation The Phase II project is being funded by a TDOT said, “Th is is not a step the University sity . Th e average leasehold fee increase is taking lightly.” At the August 25 (TDOT) and the Town of Monteagle have approved the Transportation Enhancement grant. Th e MGTA funded would be $22 annually. contract for construction of Phase II of the Mountain Goat fi ve years of engineering and development costs totaling (Continued on page 6) Trail between Monteagle and Sewanee. Construction is more than $140,000 with the help of many individuals due to begin by August 1st. and private foundations. At the June 30 Monteagle City Monteagle Mayor Marilyn Campbell Rodman said, Council meeting, MGTA board members presented the Explore the “My thanks fi rst to God, and then to those who began this Town of Monteagle with a check for $85,843.68 toward project eight years ago—April Alvarez, Clayton Rogers construction costs for the project. and Iva Michelle Russell—as well as those who’ve carried Local contractor Blevins Enterprise of Grundy County Memorial the project forward. I’d also like to thank Lisa Dunn and submitt ed the winning bid of $640,179.69 for the project. TDOT for their help.” Th e Mountain Goat Trail is a rail-to-trail community “Aft er a great deal of hard work by many, many people, outdoor recreation project to convert an abandoned rail- Cross Trails Phase II of the Mountain Goat Trail is about to become a road right-of-way into a multi-use recreational corridor reality,” said Janice Th omas, board president of the Moun- between Grundy and Franklin counties on the Cumber- Th e Sewanee Herbarium is spon- tain Goat Trail Alliance (MGTA). “We are so grateful to land Plateau in Middle Tennessee. When fi nished, the trail soring a hike of the trails adjacent to the mayor and aldermen of Monteagle for making this will be 35–40 miles in length, climbing from Cowan onto the War Memorial Cross. Th e group happen,” she said. the Cumberland Plateau and passing through the towns will take short forays in the most Th e three-mile Phase II section of the trail will extend of Sewanee, Monteagle, Tracy City, Coalmont, Gruetli- interesting directions, as well as talk from the Dollar General store in Monteagle west to the Laager and Palmer. about the trees and other plants near current terminus of the trail on Highway 156 in Sewanee. For more information go to <www.mountaingoatt rail. the Cross itself. It will create a fi ve-mile walking and biking path linking org>. Meet at the Cross (at the end of the towns of Monteagle and Sewanee. Tennessee Avenue) at 4 p.m., Wednes- day, July 9, to join Yolande Gott fried on this moderate one-hour walk. A previous SSMF Hike to a Concert. Candidate Th e War Memorial Cross was built in 1922 as a memorial to all who died in World War I. Since then, its scope has “Hike to a Forum been expanded to honor the students and citizens of Sewanee who also Concert” at Candidates running for election served in our nation’s armed forces in the Franklin County General Elec- during World War II, the Vietnam War, Lake Cheston tion will be answering questions at a the Korean War and Desert Storm. Franklin County Candidate Night, 6 The Sewanee Herbarium is in- Th e Sewanee Summer Music Fes- p.m., Monday, July 14, at the Franklin volved in education, research and tival’s Hike to a Concert will be held County Annex Community Room. conservation. at a beloved Sewanee landmark, Lake Th e event is sponsored by the Tims It acquires and maintains a collec- Cheston, on Friday, July 11. Th e event Ford Council. Expected to partici- tion of pressed plant specimens with begins at 6 p.m. pate are candidates for county mayor, emphasis on the fl ora of the Sewanee Th e community is invited to bring county sheriff and circuit court judge. Domain and adjacent counties. walking shoes for strolling, or a picnic Th e Franklin County Annex build- Writer and editor Neil Shea, photo by Stephen Alvarez For more information go to basket and blanket to experience the ing is located at 839 Dinah Shore Blvd., < htt p://lal.sewanee.edu/herbarium>. (Continued on page 14) Winchester. Editors Discuss Nonfi ction Th e Sewanee School of Lett ers is hosting “Stranger Than Fiction: Editor P.O. Box 296 Panel on Nonfi ction Writing,” at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 9, in Gailor Audi- Sewanee, TN 37375 torium. A reception will follow. National Geographic writer and Virginia Quarterly Review contributing editor Neil Shea will lead a conversation on nonfi ction publishing with editors Paul Reyes of the Virginia Quarterly Review, Leigh Anne Couch of the Sewanee Th e schedule for Sewanee’s Review and Bruce Falconer of the American Scholar. Fourth of July celebration Shea is a veteran journalist whose work—published in such venues as the can be found on pages Providence Journal, Foreign Policy, the Atlantic Monthly, the Christian Science 10–11 and online at <www. Monitor and the American Scholar—literally spans the globe, oft en covering military or environmental issues. Shea has been embedded with U.S. troops in sewaneemessenger.com> and Iraq and interviewed a Taliban commander in Afghanistan; he has <www.themountain now.com>. (Continued on page 13) 2 • Th ursday, July 3, 2014 • eTh Sewanee Mountain MESSENGER Letters THE SEWANEE MOUNTAIN MESSENGER 418 St. Mary’s Ln. COE EXPLAINS HIS VOTE CFM SUCCESS shade trees for our beloved pets. Dona- P.O. Box 296 To the Editor: To the Editor: tions may be made to the Sewanee Dog At the most recent meeting of the Many thanks to the community Park account at the Southern Commu- Sewanee, Tennessee 37375 Community Council, the council and visitors to the community for nity Bank, P.O. Box 39, Sewanee, TN Phone (931) 598-9949 voted to raise funds from municipal supporting the June 28 Taste of the 37375. Take care, stay cool, and love Fax (931) 598-9685 fees in order to create a pool of money Market and Art in the Market. We those puppies of yours—they give so Email [email protected] Contributors that it could use for small community- estimate between 140 and 160 people much and ask so litt le in return. www.sewaneemessenger.com Phoebe Bates minded projects. This fund-raising visited and met our growers, artisans Barbara Hart, Chair, Phil White Jean Yeatman ■ Laura L. Willis, editor/publisher John Shackelford initiative alters in a fundamental way and invited artists. We are so grateful. Dog Park Board, Sewanee Annie Armour the relationship between the council We know that its success is because Janet B. Graham, advertising director/publisher John Bordley and the Sewanee community. of all the help we receive for publicity, LEST WE FORGET! April H. Minkler, office manager Virginia Craighill I was one of two Community help the day of the event, and those To the Editor: Ray Minkler, circulation manager Patrick Dean Council members to vote against the who helped us in the planning stages: I have been blessed to be an Ameri- Leslie Lytle, staff writer Buck Gorrell K.G. Beavers, staff writer Margaret Stephens measure and I want to explain my vote.