City experiencing major absenteeism because of COVID-19, quarantining

 City Administrator Brad Hennessee told Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen during the Nov. 5 meeting that the city departments are experiencing absenteeism because of COVID-19 but that all city employees are working together to ensure the city government and services are continuing to run efficiently.

“There are currently eight COVID-19 related quarantines among city employees,” Hennessee informed the board and added that number equals 10 percent of the city’s workforce. “I would like to compliment the department heads on the way they’ve handled the quarantined situation.”

Hennessee said adjustments are having to be made on almost a daily basis but department heads are handling each situation as it arises and are working together to ensure the needs of the city are being met despite the difficulties.

“I do want everybody to realize what a difficult situation to manage,” he said.

Hennessee said that, at times, employees are having to shift out of the area they usually handle and adjust to working other positions.

“They’ve all done well managing what they have to manage,” he said.

Alderman Robert Officer asked if there was anything any of the board members could do to assist the departments and meet  some of the needs they were facing during times when they were short on staff because of quarantines.

“Right now, the need that we know is the Christmas Parade,” Hennessee responded, saying he was foreseeing they could need additional people for manning stations during the annual parade that takes place on the second Saturday of December. “The police department has had to rely on the public works department for help with the Veterans Day Parade, and the Christmas Parade is not that far behind it, and we are likely to need help.”

Hennessee went on to say it was hard to predict what areas of help would be needed on a day-to-day basis because there was not any way to predict when and how many employees would be quarantined.

“Just let us know if you need help,” Vice Mayor Jim Floyd told him.

Other department heads gave reports to the board about the work that was happening throughout the city, and, for the most part, it was business as usual.

In addition, the electric department had a safety audit performed by TDPPA that included inspections of all of the trucks and equipment as well as watching the crews and inspecting their PPE to ensure OSHA regulations were being followed.

“He actually stated that we had an exceptionally good audit, and, because of that, our Workers’ Comp insurance should be reduced,” Belva Bess,  electric department manager, told the board.

Police Chief Doug Goff said the police department was in the process of winterizing the cars and, at the same time, would begin installing the new dash-cameras that had been received in the past week.

In other business, the board approved Dustin Kerr to be promoted to Water Plant Operator and to solicit bids to hire a trade worker for the position he would be leaving when he assumes the operator position.

They also approved Ordinance #20-934 to amend the city’s zoning map to rezone two parcels of land on North Church Street from Residential R-A to Residential R-B in its second and final reading and approved an equipment lease agreement between the city and Seven States Power Company for a vehicle charging station to be located in the parking lot near the Farmer’s Market.  One of the board’s final pieces of business for the Nov. 5 meeting was to approve a bid for roofing one side of the Senior Citizen’s Center from Turner Roofing, of Crossville, which they did unanimously.

Before the meeting was adjourned, during the time set aside for citizens’ comments, Janice Savage approached the board to voice her concerns about the traffic flow in the area around East College Street and Quill E. Cope Street.

“Since I’ve lived there, there’s been a problem,” she told the board. “That street used to be a one-way street, but not it is a two-way street.”

Savage said she is worried about a collision with traffic coming through the area at high rates of speed and not adhering to the stop signs.

 “I’ve seen cases where it’s almost been a collision,” she said.

In addition, she said the roads were very narrow and that on West Everett Street there were too many cars parking on the road to make it passable for two-way traffic. She asked the board if they would look into, and consider, returning the roads in that area to the one-way traffic status they had in the past in an effort to reduce some of the traffic and make the area safer.

Mayor Jeff Young thanked Savage for her comments and informed her that the portion of the meeting set aside for citizen’s comments did not include discussion from the board but encouraged her to meet with him after the meeting to further discuss her concerns.