It was meant to be a brief called meeting in order to pass the 2008-09 Madisonville on a final reading, but it became more about the things that are pulled out of a sewer line.

Former Water Department head Charlie Atkins has been given the task of getting the sewer lines ready for the new sewer plant, but the concerns he brought before the board Monday evening didn’t address the plant itself.

Atkins said over the years he has seen some strange things pulled out of the sewer lines, including underwear and sheets.

“But the thing that’s worst is finding used needles in the sewer lines,” he said. “Sometimes things get so crammed into the sewer lines that you have to physically clear the line. And you don’t want to find used needles when you’re doing that. I was poked by one once and had to go to the hospital to be tested.”

Atkins said the worst needle clog was in the area of East Tennessee Health Care on Isbill Road. Atkins asked if the needles were coming from there, but the nursing home said it wasn’t their needles.

“After I asked if it was their needles,” Atkins said, “they did stop for a while. But they’ve started to pop back up again. I’ve been told there is a way to track where the needles came from and we may need to do that to stop them.

“I know there are a lot of people who use needles on their own,” Atkins added. “I’m diabetic myself and take three shots a day. But I never throw my needles in the trash and the amount we found would take a lot of people to produce.”

The sewer lines also have the continuing problem of grease being dumped into the lines. This has created problems in the past where workers had to dig the grease out of clogged sewer lines.

Restaurants have been advised to use grease traps, but Alderman Bobby Bruner said the problem continues. Codes Enforcement Officer Tony Wilson was assigned to look into the situations concerning both the grease and the needles.

Atkins also requested the city buy four gas detectors that could be lowered into sewer lines to detect for gas build up before workers went down in them.

“Waste can build up some dangerous gases,” Atkins said. “And we have four spots we need to check. And it is an OSHA requirement that we have these detectors.”

The aldermen approved the purchase of the detectors, which cost $1,570 each.

In other business:

The board did pass the budget on the final reading. On a property tax rate of 52 cents, Madisonville will operate in 2008-09 with a budget of just over $3 million. The property tax rate had been 68 cents until a state property re-appraisal dropped it 16 cents.

The board voted to look into buying a chipper that would reduce brush and limbs into mulch. Bruner said it’s costing the city thousands of dollars to drop the brush off for disposal and feels it would save money in the long run to be able to do something else with it.

Bruner said the city also needs to keep a close eye on contractors who cut down trees for property owners and dump the limbs on the side of the street.

“It’s OK for homeowners to do that,” Bruner said, “but these paid contractors need to have another way to dispose of the brush they cut down.”

The board briefly considered burning the brush, but realized there are too many regulations against burning inside city limits, including several put in place by the board.

City Recorder Ted Cagle asked that no more permits be given to charities wanting to collect donations at the Highway 411/Old Tellico Highway intersection.

“I’m not trying to be a scrooge or anything,” Cagle said, “but it’s just gotten too dangerous at that intersection, especially with the way they’re setting up that turning section. People are starting to make U-turns since they can’t go straight across. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Cagle said he would talk with the city’s insurance company to see what other alternatives could be offered to charity organizations.

michael.thomason@advocate anddemocrat.com | 442-4575.