Cedartown city buildings in need of repairs; some described as "unsafe"
Jun 09, 2008 | 640 views | 4 
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Interim City Manager Tommy Engram told the board that the conditions of city structures were “very unsafe.”
Engram said that there were inoperable fire alarms in every one of the city’s buildings, and many lacked fire extinguishers.
The prognosis for the city’s water plant doesn’t look good, according to Engram. “The city water plant is in danger of falling down or burning down … if a fire takes place before we can get this fixed, then the city’s out of the water business.”
The water plant contains many heart pine beams, a common material used for building in the early 1900s, when the plant was built. “Heart pine is wood that has dried out for years and contains resin. What’s made from resin? Turpentine. If this caught fire, it would go quick.”
There are no fire alarms in the building.
Water damage from leaky gutters and pipes are also proving to contribute to the building’s dilapidation. Engram said it was critical that the water plant is preserved as it provides millions of gallons of water to city residents.
There are other buildings that Engram is also worried about. “The city’s water maintenance building is collapsing on itself and at City Hall, we have a leaking roof and bats.”
The water maintenance building is in bad shape, a fact which is apparent for anyone who walks in.
Doors won’t shut because the foundation is sinking. The building was built on top of a landfill, so there’s no stability. “Dig down into the ground a few feet, and you hit trash,” Engram said.
Baseboards are detached from the floor, because the floor is literally falling away. A set of employee lockers have to be propped up with pieces of wood because the floor is caving in.
In fact, one day after Engram expressed concern over the lack of fire alarms in city-owned buildings, the gym located at the Bert Wood Youth and Athletic Complex caught fire.
Engram said a fire was set intentionally in a garbage can by two juveniles. The fire spread from the can and burned the gym's floor and part of the wall. Had it not been for two good Samaritans who doused the flames with water, Engram said the fire could have taken the whole building.
Engram said not all of the issues could be fixed right away, but the city needed to start looking at creating a five year budget that they can draw on in order to correct these problems.
In other news, the city:
—Approved a land disturbance permit for Byron Slaughter for property located next to the Dollar General Market.
—Approved the use of either the Peek Park parking lot near the tennis courts or the Prior Street ballfield parking lot for the County Extension Agency’s Farmer’s Market.
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Also, where did you get the info that they were being treated as suspects?
Remember we have a new City Manager and he did not know these young gentleman worked for the City. He knows very little about the City, if you ask me. He has a lot to learn............
Are these boys (as you called them) doing any better in the different department? They might learn what a real job is all about, not just riding around all day in a AC truck pulling a empty trailer, around town, with all 5 of the rec workers, while their boss is playing golf (or at least, not at work) ?
Transferred to a different department and made to feel like they were suspects.
Good thing we don't have the cash for the park, even though the plan is long range, it is a bad idea and government waste!!!!! Even worse, city buildings in bad shape and Scotty Tillery is only thinking about 200 or 300 of his sports buddies.
I guess the majority don't matter, nor do the buildings.