Portland, Tennessee Blog

With the onset of the Spring storms, we had to have our roof replaced. I want to put in an unsolicited plug for Newland's TN Home Repair Construction. I found them using the "Service Magic" Website, and they are OUTSTANDING. They had near the lowest bid, but there work was top-notch. One of the clinchers for me was that they were the only company whose bid included 30lb felt instead of 15lb. They also had a 5 year warranty, unlike most who offered one. When they were nearing completion, they found problems with the walls in one of the upstairs rooms. This had been caused by shoddy work prior to our buying the home. They could have covered it up, and said nothing, but they brought it to my attention immediately. They did an estimate on-the-spot which I sent to my insurance company (more on that in a minute) and did an outstanding job on that as well (and for a very reasonable price). I mowed my lawn the next day, and did not see even a single stray nail! They did a wonderful job explaining the whole process to me (I knew nothing about roofing), and kept me up to date on their progress, throughout the project. Even with the additional work, they finished on-time. I would highly recommend them for any roofing project. If anyone wants their contact info, I'd be more than happy to provide it.

One more "Kudo" to my insurance company. When the additional damage was found, they could not get an appraiser out to the house for a day or two. Instead, late on a Tuesday afternoon I e-mailed photos of the hidden damage, and scanned them a copy of the estimate. They called at 8:00AM the next morning to tell me the money was in my account. Thanks USAA!!!

Ew Debra..I am all for recycling and finding good treasures,but I must say I do not see the covered jewel in that story! LoL :) I have seen some very odd items out for trash pickup..I recently got stuck behind the trash man in school traffic (boy, that was a long drive) and a family semmed to have cleaned out their garage and just set everything to be picked up by the trash man..there was a baby walker, a fireplace screen, an exercise ball, and random wooden knick-nacks..The trash men just threw it all in and it all got crushed! I thought maybe those things could have been sent to our Portland Cares,but I guess to some its easier to dump than donate..

There are people that get out on garbage days and go looking for stuff on the side of the road that they can use or sell.

We recently had to have our cat put down. On pick-up day we put her litter box out with the garbage cans. Within an hour the litter box was gone!!! Stinky litter and all!!!

The city does a good job picking up whatever you throw out to be picked up.

I have to say my experience with garbage service here is pretty good (except my husband complains that they leave the trash can lying down after they empty it). They are really prompt about picking up limbs and stuff too that we pile out by the road, usually only a day or 2. When I lived in Nashville, the piles might lay there for 6-8 weeks before it was our neighborhood's turn to have branch collection. Also, you know what they say about "one man's junk is another man's treasure"--often when we put household or construction-type stuff out for the garbage, it's picked up by somebody who wants it within an hour.

Like i said before the Inmates are more than welcome to clean in my area. Since they have been doing it for as long as i can remember. Not all of the people on the cleaning crews are theives or vandales. I've known people on the crews before and one was there because of drunk driving more than once. One was there because of being behind on their child support and so on. They said they liked being on the road crew because it got them out for the day. If i were that afraid I would have alarms and camera's in the frist place. I also remember playing as a kid and seeing them come by and they simply did their job and never bothered me. If some of you want to live in fear go ahead I'm just not into that lifestyle. LOL

For a mower check DT McCall's in Lafayette.Ask for Frank.Tell him I said for you to call.They have 90 days same as cash.

Well, as far as a riding mower goes....there's Lowe's and good ole Wal-mart....LOL

I don't envy you with the yard mowing. I do my share of that....and by the end of summer, I wish I had never seen a yard !

I hope Portland isn't too much of a culture shock for you ... ( I mean that most sincerely...not being flip). I know it's bound to be a big adjustment. I hope you'll enjoy the activities of the Strawberry Festival - I'm looking forward to the concert in the park on Sat. night.

YES I LIVE WITH-IN THE CITY LIMITS....

Thanks DeeAnna for the information. We are now trying to do our best at keeping up the yard. I am in the market for a Riding Lawn Mower. Coming from California I never had this much lawn to cut :) But I am sure we will handle it.

Other then that just looking forward to the Strawberry Festival and learning about our new town

Lee, do you live in the city limits ? I can tell you my experience and what I know of the city trash pick-up. They will take most everything -
(except hazardous stuff),and if you stack up your limbs, another truck will come by and pick those up. As far as I know, there is no dump in Portland.
There is a recyling place in town where you can take certain things. There is a thermal plant in Gallatin where you can take large items or just about anything else. We've taken wood and building materials and other household items there, ( except hazardous ) but there is a charge for using it. If you have items you no longer want, you can donate them to CARES.

Portland is a great little town and a quiet place to live -- I hope you continue to feel welcome and enjoy being here.

The inmates can only go on the streets and not up to the houses. So SL it won't help your neighbors. How bad does the streets look in your subdivsion? I haven't seen any where we need inmates cleaning. The main roads are fine but I still wish City Hall would do something to stop this in neighborhoods. Do you want your kids playing outside while they are there? I don't!
The inmates are hardend criminals but I am sure they did some crime such as stealing or vandilize something and they can do that in your neighborhood. If there is no trash to pick up they will be bored and looking for something to do for fun later like messing up stuff at Your House? Should we wait unitl something happens before we say anything. Citizens should take charge more to make it safe!

Being new here I would like someone to tell me what the city will pick up on trash day. I know I can not leave paint or other hazard materials. But what will they pick-up? Is there a leaf and limb pick-up? Do they pick-up just stuff that the formers owners left in the yard? For instant they left some plastic outdoor chairs and some scraps of wood. Or can someone tell me where the dumps are and I will haul it off myself.

My spring cleaning is unpacking the millions of boxes we have from our move... I can say we love this City and have found nothing but welcomes form City Hall to the Farmers Bank to Ace Hardware.

I Hope they come to my area and clean up. I have some nasty Neighbors down the street that should be locked up for being so nasty. The one place that I think needs the most cleaning is the ridge between Portland and Gallatin. It looks like everyone uses that area to clean their car while driving.

In Nashville the people I see cleaning up the roads all have the same Orange vest on that says I AM A DRUNK DRIVER.

I agree with Jack. It's ok to have the inmates cleaning up the roadsides on the highway and out in the public areas, but I don't think it's wise to have them in our neighborhoods. There are plenty of public spaces around Portland that need cleaning up. I live on the street behind City Hall and our street has had the inmates on our street recently. I thought that was a waste of their time as well as out of place.

Jack - The inmates from Sumner county jail have been coming to the portland area for years to do roadside clean up, I myself have seen them many many times, they just haven't done so inside the City Limits. I don't really see the need for alarm. I don't think the hardened criminals get these types of priviledges, and they are supervised. The City has given a map of when and where the area's are that they will be cleaned. Not all neighborhoods will see them IN the neighborhood, many are just the streets leading to them. I think it's good use of our county taxes at work. If they wanted to scan homes they could do it anyway after their release when they aren't supervised!! I see no alarm in the city doing this task, and YES the streets where my home sits is on the map of area's to be cleaned.

Has anyone heard about the inmates from the sumner county jail coming to every neighborhood in Portland to clean?
What business do they have in the neighborhoods?
They will just be scanning the homes for later to come back and do something.
If you think this is wrong call City Hall and talk to the Mayor. The phone number is 325-6776 and the ad that ran in the paper had another phone number 323-1437 for public works. I guess you can also call them.
Think about it, do these inmates need to be on your street in your subdivision. My opioion is a clear NO. Our children and our homes are at stake here. Call to stop this!