Dresden, Tenn.–Reminder: At 6 p.m. Tuesday night, January 4, a Town Hall meeting will be held in the Dresden Middle School gym to provide information to citizens on what resources are available to assist them in their recovery after the December 10 tornado.
Dresden Mayor Jeff Washburn said, “There are challenges to be met including meeting the immediate needs of our citizens as they struggle to find housing and the resources needed to sustain their lives. Information concerning filing insurance claims and how to insure that you receive the contractual benefits set out in the policy may additionally be presented during the meeting.”
Meanwhile, the Disaster Volunteer Center has been relocated from the First Baptist Church to the Professional Development Center located at 8250 Highway 22 in Dresden effective Monday morning, January 3. Dresden is still in need of volunteers.
Persons wanting assistance in cleaning up their properties need to fill out a request for assistance in person at the center. The focus is currently shifting to assisting persons remove yard debris and cleaning up individual yards. Personnel are still available to cut up trees and remove tree debris as well.
Place yard and tree debris at the street for removal.
Dresden is still in need of volunteers to assist in cleanup. We welcome the assistance of youth groups and religious organizations to participant in this task as well as organized Disaster Relief groups.
Please sign in at the Volunteer Center now located at 8250 Hwy 22 to be directed to work areas.
In a statement to the citizens of Dresden, Wasburn said, “The cleanup of our city will continue to be an enormous challenge throughout this year. That includes not only the debris strowned by the storm, but also the debris caused by demolition of buildings destroyed by the tornado. Even though we have had amazing success in cleaning up our streets and are actually weeks ahead of most cities in the cleanup process, it is necessary that we continue to push to achieve a quick and total cleanup of our city and begin the process of rebuilding our homes, businesses, and government buildings.
“I firmly believe that city government must take the lead in the rebuilding process and demonstrate that Dresden will build back better and stronger after the storm. This effort can be achieved simultaneously with our efforts to lift our citizens back up and assist them in achieving self sufficiency. This has been our goal from day one.
“One reality is that there are residents who have left our city because of a lack of available rental property. We want to work with property owners to assist them in rebuilding homes for the return of displaced residents. We are also seeking investors to construct new rental units in our city inclusive of apartment complexes. I believe that we have a significant need for additional senior citizen housing as well based upon conversations I have had with our senior residents.
“Who will build that new housing and where it will be built is a challenge that we face as a community. As Mayor, I am mindful that the challenges are many in this area and that city government must be proactive to meet those challenges head on.
“In rebuilding our business community, I believe that we must likewise be proactive to work with our existing businesses to encourage them to rebuild and even expand where new opportunities arise. We must have welcoming arms for new businesses that seek to come to our community as well. This will be one of our primary goals as well in the days ahead in 2022.
“If we seek to make Dresden stronger and a better city, we must recognize that there are a multitude of issues that must be addressed simultaneously. We cannot afford to sit on our hands in any area or else our recovery efforts will be prolonged and we risk moving backward instead of forward toward our ultimate goal of having a better and stronger city.”
Photo by Bobby Goode.