Surgoinsville Board of Mayor and Alderman (BMA) accepted a land donation Monday from First United Methodist Church of Surgoinsville to install a playground.
The church is donating land at the base of the hill that Surgoinsville FUMC sits atop between Main Street and Old Stage Road.
The church did have conditions for the donation of the land.
In June 2023, Alderman Kaley Mierek told the board that the Surgoinsville Medical Board wanted to bring a playground to the town, but would not move forward without BMA approval. The BMA voted 7-0 to aid the SMB in any way that it could, however, plans stalled when questions of where to put the equipment arose.
With the land donation, Surgoinsville can continue its work of getting playground equipment.
“I think the playground is a great thing for the younger generations to have in town,” Alderman Mierek said.
Healthy Places
Alderman Warren Bishop first recommended BlueCross BlueShield Healthy Places to the BMA last summer after Bean Station unveiled their new playground built through the program.
The BlueCross BlueShield Healthy Places program builds a playground with state-of-the-art equipment designed to create a safe space that encourages active lifestyles. The playground comes at no cost to the town receiving the park.
However, the program requires that the applying organization is the legal owner of the land and the location cannot be in a floodplain.
Early discussions over the playground looked into using Riverfront Park or a section of land on Sandidge Hollow Road to accommodate the equipment over the summer.
It was later found that most of the land at the park is in a floodplain. Sandidge Hollow similarly fell through with the upcoming miniature subdivision that will be erected nearby.
During the meeting, Mayor Merrell Graham said that First United Methodist Church of Surgoinsville is willing to donate the land.
However, Attorney Joe May added, “What the church is asking for is a commitment that (the town) will do this.”
The church included a clause that Surgoinsville must commit to applying and receiving the BlueCross BlueShield playground within the next three years or the land will fall under the church’s ownership again.
‘Go ahead and okay it’
With the space donated by First United Methodist of Surgoinsville, the town now has an acceptable plot of land that falls within requirements for a Healthy Place.
Alderman Bishop added, though, that just because the town has the land for a playground, it does not mean that they will automatically be accepted.
“It’s got to go before (BlueCross BlueShield’s) board and stuff then higher up for them to accept,” Bishop said. “It’s still iffy, but we’re going to go ahead and okay it to have (the land).”
Surgoinsville will begin going over all necessary paperwork for the Healthy Places program to ensure that it can apply this August. If the town is awarded the playground, it will know in winter. If Surgoinsville does not receive it this year, the town will have two more years to try.
FEMA application for Fire Department
In other business Monday the BMA approved the Volunteer Fire Department’s request to apply for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for a new Type 3 “mini-pumper” firetruck with a 7-0 vote.
The town also said that it would cover the 5% match if the department was awarded the $450,000 it was applying for.
A Type 3 firetruck is a smaller counterpart to fire engines that allow for better maneuverability in tighter spaces.
“This is probably our only chance to get a vehicle of that caliber to replace (the old one),” Fire Chief Shane Suthers said.
The former truck was declared surplus by the town last fall after its damages had become too much to pay for.
“It was old, antiquated, and just junk,” Suthers said
However, the Chief later added that the “mini-pumper” was used in at least 80% of the answered calls by the department.
The department will know if it has been awarded FEMA funds in August or September.
Attorney Joe May also reminded the town to figure where the match would come from when planning the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget.
Pothole repairs
Following Alderman Mierek’s questions about road repair, Maintenance Director Boddy Hickman said that Surgoinsville Public Works would start filling potholes in town.
Following the snow in January, many people have become worried over growing potholes, particularly in neighborhoods such as Stewart’s Landing.
“I’ve had quite a few people complain about (potholes) in Stewart’s Landing,” Mierek said. “Any chance we can get those at least filled?”
Alderman Warren Bishop said that repairing the road fully would have to wait for spring, but Hickman said that some of the worse ones could be filled for the duration of the season.
“We’ll put some gravel in there. That would help for now, get the worst ones,” Hickman said.
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