Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 5

'Wrri-H 4 5 rwnpr LocalUpstate June 5 2006 Johnson City Press Page 5A i 1 wgrn: Preserving Pinnacle Officials would like to see fire tower become a tourist draw By Jim Wozniak Erwin Bureau Chief Jwozniakjohnsondtypresscom Tower One idea that has been discussed includes removing the windows which are located on all four sides and turning it into more of a pavilion Other possibilities are to restore the tower to its condition when it was in use and create an interperative site It could be moved but because each wall of the cab was rebuilt about IS years ago meaning the structure as a whole not historic a better choice would be to construct a similar tower somewhere else instead Dyer said The preferred choice is to keep the tower there About a year ago the Forest Service was compiling an ecosystem management study of Buffalo Mountain which included the tower A resident Nathan Coggins who rode the trails on Buffalo Mountain wrote a letter to express his and desire to keep the tower She said that organized a group called the Friends of Pinnacle Tower which met with Forest Service officials they were interested in just putting on a new roof and kind of keeping it sheltered from the weather (and) keeping it from deteriorating any Dyer said Forest Service staff members talked with their engineers and decided a structural engineer needed to assess the condition According to Dyer and Coggins the Friends group received a small grant from the Harris Fund of Washington County but still needs additional funds to pay for the engineer The Forest Service wants an engineer to examine the stability and the metal parts of the structure and the wooden floor and determine the number of people the structure can accommodate Then the Forest Service the Friends group and others can seek grants and other money to restore it Coggins a member of the Friends group said he is concerned that the group is pretty close to running out of time to save the existing cab Lynch said the Forest Service at one tune was willing to turn the tower over to Unicoi but he said the town had concerns about liability He said the town is willing to help I The following meetings are open to the public and attendance is encouraged: Johnson City Today 6 pm: Board of Education 100 Maple St Tuesday 11:45 am: Seniors Center Foundation Board 607 Myrtle Ave 5:30 pm: Sister Cities International Municipal and Safety Building 601 Main St Friday 7:30 am: Development Authority Suite 207 Main St For more information call 434-6021 I Washington County Monday 6 pm: Commercial Industrial and Agricultural Committee Second Floor Courthouse Tuesday 6 pm: Planning Commission Second Floor Courthouse Thursday 6 pm: Education Committee International Storytelling Center 6 pm: Welfare Committee First Floor Courthouse For more information call 753-1666 Jonesborough Thursday 7 pm: Historic Zoning Commission Town Hall For more information call 753-1030 Carter County Today 6 pm: Watauga River Regional Water Authority Workforce Development Complex Tuesday 5:30 pm: Parks and Recreation Committee Conference room Courthouse Thursday 6 pm: Budget Committee Main Courtroom Courthouse Elizabethton Today 6 pm: Historic Zoning Commission Council Chambers City Hall Tuesday 7 pm: Planning Commission Council Chambers City Hall Thursday 6 pm: City Council Council Chambers City Hall Unicoi County Monday 5 pm: County Commission Courthouse Conference Room 5:30 pm: Election Commission Election Commission Office Tuesday 5 pm: Board of Education Finance Committee Central Office Thursday 6 pm: Unicoi County Board of Education Central Office Johnson County Tuesday 6:30 pm: City Council City Hall i i UNICOI been about 17 years since anyone looked through the fire finder in the Pinnacle Tower in an official capacity but supporters of this well-known facility on Buffalo Mountain hope to keep its memory alive with a refurbishing Visible from various points the tower has attracted interest from people and officials in Unicoi County even though it is just barely in Washington County Unicoi Mayor Johnny Lynch said the tower would tie in nicely with the proposed Tanasi cultural center if that facility were built near Exit 23 of Interstate 26 and he said it will be incorporated into the signage think this figures really prominently (with) Unicoi County Deice Dyer landscape architect for the Cherokee National Forest said of the tower can see it (from) several places in Unicoi County You can see it from Limestone Cove You can see it lots and lots of places as driving on 1-26 1 see the Pinnacle from Johnson City from my street very But the building will need a lot of work because Mother Nature and Father Time have left their mark Supporters are looking at hiring an engineer to determine what needs to be done there Lynch knows it is more than a building to the people in the Unicoi area many people have a heartfelt connection to that he said has been a landmark here in the Unicoi area We all remember that fire tower when wewere kids You would look up to it driving through Unicoi Jim WozmakJohnson City Press The US Forest Service and Friends of the Pinnacle Tower are looking into the possibility of restoring the old fire tower atop Buffalo Mountain near Unicoi ferent form of aerial detection Dyer said The Forest Service stopped staffing Pinnacle in about 1989 and it has essentially been dormant since building has continued to Dyer said noting that the damage includes a hole in the roof there have been times when depending on in charge been discussed to just tear it But she said Terry Bowerman the current ranger for the NolichukeyUnaka District has an interest in Forest Service history and wants to keep Pinnacle His feelings are in line with a shift in thinking in the Forest Service to preserve fire towers many people in this whole area like to see that tower Nathan Coggins a Jonesborough resident who has worked with the Forest Service on the tower recalls the many times he traveled to the tower by various means including bicycle motorcycle and horseback The employee manning the tower sometimes would lend him binoculars and he would check out the views from the wraparound deck around the tower office which was 40 feet above ground He called the visits real The tower was used to spot fires in the forests for about 60 years before it gave way to a dif a fc jfr May donates law books to college library By Ben Ingram Press Staff Writer bmgramjohnsoncitypresscom Two transportation projects in area to get state funding By Matthew Lane NET News Service known for many years and sure he is pretty familiar to people across the state having served on the Board of Tennessee Regents and as an attorney for Roane State for many he said May said he has both good and bad recollections from his days as district attorney general of the good would be greatly advancing law enforcement in Johnson he said bad would have be the Forbes As district attorney general May prosecuted Doug Forbes a Carter County letter carrier and church deacon who was wrongfully imprisoned for five years after being found guilty of nine rapes committed in Washington and Carter counties beginning in the early 1970s In early September 1980 Johnson City truck driver David Jerry Williams confessed to the rapes which was later adapted into a 1986 made-for-TV movie Former District Attorney General Lewis May Jr reminisced on his days as an integral part of the legal system in the Tri-Cities earlier this week following a donation to the Roane State Community College Law Library inHarriman The Mountain City resident said a personal connection with the community new facility prompted him to donate his own law books to the collection law library at Roane State was created in honor of a Johnson County girl and her said May 85 who served as district attorney general from 1966-82 May also was appointed to a judgeship by then-Gov Ned McWherter in 1992 donation was a mutually satisfactory one for myself and Roane State I have a place to store the books since I retired and the new law library ContributedRoane State Community College Several representatives from Roane State Community College in Harriman made a trip to Johnson County recently to thank retired attorney and judge Lewis May Jr for his donation of his law books to the law library was in need of a set of law Edgar Bowers Also prompting the donation wanted to do something that May said was his good friend would honor Buddy whom I have 8-9 campus renovations could get jump start By Sam Watson Press Education Writer swatsonjohnsoncitypresscom tion Albright said the environmental study could take up to two years to complete and include such work as the impact on wetlands along the road topographic features vegetation wildlife historic sites and possible burial grounds Over the past three years TDOT has been working to bring a new welcome center to the Kingsport area located halfway between the Wilcox Drive and Rock Springs Road exits In 2004 the project received a false start after a site recommended by TDOT had to be disqualified when an environmental assessment revealed a network of caves under the land TDOT went back conducted further studies and moved the proposed site slightly from this original location The new site sits along the western side of the interstate between the Rock Springs Road and Wilcox Drive -exits approximately 35 miles from 1-81 The new welcome center will sit on an 80-acre site will accept north and southbound traffic and will have the same size and appearance as the welcome center in Bristol Tenn Because of the change in site Travis Brickey TDOT spokesman said the department is still conducting an interchange modification study to see how a road would run from the proposed welcome center to the John Dennis Highway time you move something like taking three steps Brickey said is continuing You just see it if driving through A few years ago city leaders came up with the idea of having a visitors center located beside the new Tennessee Welcome Center and modeled after the Tamarack visitors center in Beckley WVa Assistant City Manager Jeff Fleming said that idea has not been discussed any further among city leaders would certainly hope to have the opportunity to do Fleming said KINGSPORT Two Northeast Tennessee transportation projects that have been on the drawing board for years recently received funding from Gov Phil Bredesen Last month Bredesen released a three-year (2007-09) multimodal work program for the state The program includes 169 transportation projects and programs including 112 individual highway projects 27 transit water rail and aviation initiatives and 31 transportatipn programs Two of the projects in Sullivan County receiving funding were the Tenn Highway 126 (Memorial Boulevard) improvement project and the new welcome center project on Interstate 26 Under proposal funding has I been approved to conduct an environmental study for the Memorial Boulevard project in fiscal year 2007 and for right-of-1 way acquisition for the new wel-come center in fiscal year 2009 In October the Tennessee Department of Transportation accepted the recommendation 1 from a local community resource team that conducted a 21-month study of Memorial Boulevard The team created a concept plan on what improvements should be done to the 8-mile stretch of road" from East Center Street to Interstate 81 According to the recommenda-' tion Memorial Boulevard should be four lanes from East Center Street to East Lawn Cemetery from there the road should merge down to three lanes to 5r Harrtown Road and from Harrtown Road to 1-81 the road should be two-laned with stabi-5 lized shoulders 5 Bill Albright transportation planning manager for Kingsport called the ment 3 the first time the state has funded the project on some Albright said means (thte state) is serious about moying forward with construc Schools Director Richard Bales said he would ask the board to approve the plan to use $10 million set aside for the first phase to build a new kitchen and cafeteria this year In addition to renovating and expanding the central'buildlng as planned In earlier discussions under way by the time school starts in August know that it will but we have to plan as if it Bales said The overall plan calls for the eventual remodeling of the 8-9 other two buildings as well as the addition of a gymnasium Those elements have yet to be funded Should funding arrive school officials intend to move classes and offices from building to building to allow the renovations to occur The origmal plan called for one renovation per year allowing moves to take place each summer So the completion of the first renovation would be crucial for timing still hopeful that it could happen but with renovation sometimes things always go according to Bales said we may have to be as flexible as we can It may not be If the moves cannot happen over summers as a result of construction delays Bales said the administration could look toward other breaks in the school calendar the addition of the week fall break the long winter break and the spring break there are some additional Bales said not large windows but a few smaller windows of opportunity to move during those times if we need An upgrade for Science Hill High 8-9 campus could shift into high gear if the Johnson City Board of Education tonight echoes the City ideas on the project Schools Director Richard Bales said he would ask the board to approve the plan to use $10 million set aside for the first phase to build a new kitchen and cafeteria this year in addition to renovating and expanding the central building as planned in earlier discussions The proposal also called for the project to expand the central little theater to seat up to 550 students a component not included in the original plans there will be some major things happening there as Bales said The renovation would force the school to use other locations at Science Hill to house classes administrative functions and other programs from the central building trying to empty the middle building as far as Bales said course that means using any available space at all in the other two buildings and on the 10-12 campus putting some of the adult ed offices down at the Henry Johnson building space will be a big issue but we think we can work through Because the move would have to be concluded in time for school to resume in the fall Bales said the staff already had started the process have a he said think going to do what we have to do to get it ready for students our biggest priority to have everything ready for students who will' be eighth- and Given that architects would have to complete drawings and obtain state fire marshal approval before asking the board and the city to release the project for bids Bales was unsure whether work would be The school board will meet at 6 pm in Columbus Powell Center corner of East Maple and South Roan streets Pag DasignJohnftout.