A member of the community asked that the following be posted on his behalf. The text is presented as given, with a little English editing added for publication plus some maps for clarification. Here it is.

"The print version of the Roane County News on Friday, July 17, 2009, carried a story that cries out for comment." [No link is possible because it is not up on their RoaneCounty.com website.]

"The story, which contained a number of inaccuracies, concerned the possible annexation of the Parkview subdivision by the City of Rockwood and the extra taxes Rockwood would reap from the area."

"Contrary to what was stated in the story, the City of Rockwood does not currently provide fire and police protection (other than mutual aid) to the Parkview subdivision. Fire and emergency medical services are provided by West Roane County Volunteer Fire Department."

"The story stated insurance premiums would go down for Parkview residents with annexation. However, there are no fire hydrants in Parkview and the Rockwood Fire Department has no tankers for water supply. How can insurance premiums possibly be lowered by annexation?"

"The water mains aren't large enough in Parkview for hydrants to be installed. State law requires at least a 6-inch water main for hydrants."

"The possibility of the city purchasing tankers for fire water supply is very low. In addition, the possibility of new water mains is very slim."

"The volunteer fire department's budget keeps shrinking, so they probably won't be able to continue to provide an annexed Parkview with tankers through mutual aid. Is the city going to make monetary donations to West Roane VFD for their help? Probably not."

"Also, at present Rockwood city police do not patrol the streets in Parkview."

"The paper stated also that the annexation would involve approximately 300 residents. A physical count of the homes there on Friday yielded only about 70 homes in Parkview. Is the city averaging 4 persons per home or does this annexation involve areas that are not mentioned, such as Circle Drive, Burke Mill Road, and Smoke Rise subdivision, or even the Eureka community?"

"The City of Rockwood has already not been taking care of areas they have had for years. There are poor water mains and no sewer in several areas."

"Rockwood has done very little for areas that have been annexed in the last few years. They have not installed sewer service in the Pond Grove and Plemons Road areas. They may have installed one fire hydrant there, or even maybe two."

"In short, all the real facts were not in the newspaper."

To help readers understand the issues better, I am adding the following maps and map links.

An overall map of West Roane County's fire district (District 5) in both GIF and highly zoomable PDF formats, showing Rockwood in yellow, West Roane VFD stations as red stars, and hydrants as tiny red dots, is available at: (link...)

While Google Maps has the West Roane County VFD Station #1 in the wrong place, Mapquest gets it better: (link...)

The Parkview subdivision is clearly marked on the Mapquest map. In the following detail from the West Roane hydrant map, Parkview is below the "WRC" and to the left of Station #1's red star. There are no red dots there; Parkview apparently has no hydrants.

Closeup of Parkview subdivision showing no hydrants
 
 

Find the big version of this West Roane Fire District and Hydrant Map at: (link...)

Note: I live neither in the city of Rockwood nor in Parkview subdivision.

-- OneTahiti