Local Company Questions Permitting Process
by Ashley Murphy

Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Cleveland City Council listened to the owner of a local concrete business during yesterdays meeting as he questioned the legality of the City Planning Department's "fast tracking" of permits for an out of state company to set up a concrete plant for the duration of the Whirlpool Plant project; a project for which they won the bid.

City Planner Greg Thomas said that he did check with City Attorney John Kimball before taking any action. Kimball went over the legalities and the fast track was set in place based on special provisions. In addition, it was confirmed that the company had received all necessary permits, even those from Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation (TDEC).

Bradley Concrete, one other local concrete company and a company from Memphis were bidders in the Phase 1 construction project for the concrete part of building the new Whirlpool plant. The company from Memphis had the lowest bid, leading Whirlpool to choose the out of county company.

In city bidding news, the City of Cleveland is looking to acquire two new 4x2 mid-size sport utility vehicles. Bids were placed by Toyota of Cleveland, Don Ledford Auto Park in Athens, Village Volkswagen of Chattanooga, Golden Circle Ford in Jackson and Whiteside Chevrolet in St. Clairsville, OH.

The winning bid went to Golden Circle Ford for beating out Toyota of Cleveland's bid by over $7,500. The total for the two vehicles will be $44,230.

The City of Cleveland welcomed and swore in Police Officer Jacob Varnell after recognizing several city employees for their various years of service.

City offices will be closed December 23rd through December 27th for the Christmas holiday. Also, December 31st through January 3rd, the offices will be closed. The City Clerk's Office will be open, however, for regular hours on December 31st for those who wish to make payments.

A joint city/county meeting will be held Wednesday, December 15th at 4 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss fire protection.