Portland, Tennessee Blog

Digman,

Gosh...that was a pessimistic statement...but, I am thinking I have to agree with you. After learning that Portland's planners years ago were short-sighted and didn't extend the city limits out to exit 117, and they let Orlinda have it....that was a bad mistake. I don't know..it seems to me that Portland is destined to be a town of tractor, truck repair, used auto sales,and an industrial park site, and a truck route and a few fast food places....of course we have the park and the schools...but when the children become teens.......there will be nothing for them to do...and that's sad.....but it's the price of living in a small town. Towns are just like family budgets, I suppose...they want to do things and make improvements, but the money is just not there to do it. Portland seems to have made some very serious financial mistakes in it's past..and they will be years paying for them, it seems. I hope something proves this wrong.

this town is almost beyond help.

david
you made my point for me.
this city gom't has no control.tax and spend.
but let me ask you: why does the city maintain the grounds of little league? if they dont want
gom't intrusion why do they intrude on gom't? {us, the tax payers.} let the eidsons mow the field with all their tractors.

I agree with Tammy's comments on the $5.00 fee. The Dixie League and football league give 20% of their concessions net profit to the city for use of the fileds in Richland Park. This is fair, but what I don't think is fair is the fact this money hardly ever makes it to the parks dept. The money is put into the general fund. The money should go directly to the parks dept. and put back into the parks. This could go toward maintenace of the fields, mower, etc.
Also, David is correct regarding the city being a part of the Little League. They tried this a few years back and ended up in a lawsuit over a fight that took place during a game. I am curious to know if the city will charge the $5.00 to the Little Leaguie program. I realize they are not part of the city, but the city parks department spends a considerable amount of time at the Little League park mowing, weed eating, etc. Why is this, if they are not making the 20% payment from concessions, paying the out of city fee or the $5.00 maintenance fee then why should the city work on their fields?
As for the kids that can't pay to play, the league can find a why to get the moeny through scholarships from individuals or local business owners. If a kid wants to play then they should be allowed to, regardless of their financial situation.

Digman,
You were refencing the Little League about the money. Please note, that the City has nothing to do with that program. That is a private program funded by donations. Unfortunately, the city cannot take over the league due to Little League bylaws. I used to play ball at the park in the late 80's and when Mr Brown it, that was the place to play ball and assosciate with other families. It was great. Since it was took over by the Edison's, that park has had a bad rap for fights and became rundown.

a few years back, i took my kids to sign them up for baseball. they asked me to coach because they were short volunteers. i really didnt have the time because of my job, but i said i would and did. they then asked me to find more kids to sign up because they barely had enough kids for 2 teams. i told them i knew some kids that would probably play but didnt have the money for the fees. they told me "no problem,just get 'em here" so between other coaches and parents we got enough kids for 3 teams. about 4 weeks into the season a rep. from the little league called me and demanded that i shake down these kids parents for the sign-up fees. i told the lady on the phone that i was a volunteer and was not my place to do this. she told me it WAS my responsibility
and i would not be permitted to coach the next year if the money wasnt turned in. needless to say, i did not bring my kids back the next year. just go to a game any sat. the consession stand does more business than hardees. where does the money go? God bless Elvis Browns soul, its time for the city to take control of the little league park.

I hope with this year's budget that they will take in consideration of parents trying raise children.Our children should be the most important issue and suckering money out of their parent's pockets for ridiculous reasons,such as the sport-player's fee. Does anyone realize how much it costs in general just for the sports fees ALONE? If you have two or three children, it is almost impossible to let them all play because it is so expensive and now we have more fees to pay because our children want to be active! How does that equal out to good for our town?

this should not surprise anybody with this tax and spend city council. they cant make do with
the budget they have they always have to rob us
landowners every which way but loose.
they raised the trash pick-up (that we WERE already paying for in the first place) to 3dollars
as opposed to the 4.50dollars they wanted. i guess we should appreciate them for that.
we were already paying for trash pick-up on our
utility bill to begin with. dont believe this
farse about trash pick-up being paid for out of the general fund. when i moved here in '89 i asked the water dept. how trash pick-up was paid
and they told me it was included in the sewer bill. this council just used this to fleece us
once again to pay for pet projects such as this stupid skatepark THAT WE DONT NEED. hard to pay for what is really needed when you are blowing tax
dollars on things we do not need. some of these council members ran on the premise that "we dont want to be another gallatin". gallatin gets a stupid skatepark, now we have to have one.
i regret being so gullable as to vote for some of these fakes, expect more tax hikes with this council, and please lets not vote for not one of them again. if they want to be like gallatin, lets pass the liquor law and let consenting adults have a choice. or better yet let people buy beer on sundays in portland instead of driving 4 miles to the shell station. you dont stop consenting adults from drinking beer on football sundays by making the next county over
rich in sales taxes. you cannot legislate your supposed morals on consenting adults. everybody get out and vote next time.

I am troubled that no one at City Hall seems to be able to set any priorities or complete any projects. What happened to the dam? The lake? The sewer plant? etc.

Franklin, Kentucky, is finishing up their dam and lake (which are also on Drakes Creek.) Portland has been "studying" the project for years and years, and we have nothing to show for it.

Yet with the new impact fee, the City Council is talking about new skateboard parks ... and they are now talking about having to raise fees *and* taxes to obtain even more money.

The Feds have been doing this for years -- tax and spend, tax and spend.

What we need is Portland are realistic plans and timetables of what our priorities are and how best to utilize the funds we do have.

Well the budget is always a big deal in every city. There is one thing that bothers me about something that was passed for the budget. They have decided to make every child who plays a sport to pay an extra $5.00 to the city. I know that this does not seem like a lot of money but that is why we all pay taxes. I know to that all of the organizations pay the city a certian percentage of their concession money each season. There are also other things that these organizations give the city of Portland Money for. Like for example, state touraments the city gets the hosting fee from those. It is already a rule that children out of the city limits have to pay an extra $5.00, that is understandable since they do not pay city taxes. Now they are talking about a $10.00 increase. I think that we pay enough money for our children to play sports already. This is something good for children to get into and now the city is going to it harder for children to play sports because of the money factor.