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City water service shut off
Utility bill dispute to blame
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Cotten Apartments resident Douglas McCrary holds a five-gallon bucket he's been using to carry water from the apartment office to his home. The residents have been without water since Thursday morning because of a utility bill dispute between the city and property owner Evelyn Cotten. - photo by James Clark
James Clark
Updated: Dec 10, 2014, 1:21 AM
Published: Dec 10, 2014, 1:24 AM

A water bill dispute has led to dozens of families without water at Cotten Apartments.
The families, who pay for water, electricity and cable with their monthly rent, have been without water since Thursday morning when the city disconnected water service to the apartment complex.
“We’re having to carry water in a five-gallon bucket just so we can flush the commode,” said Cotten Apartment resident Joyce Taylor. “There’s no water for doing dishes, taking a shower, or anything. It’s been six days like this and I don’t like to live this way.”
Taylor says she has a second-grader living in her home. Her next-door neighbor has three children and is pregnant with a fourth.
“I would leave if I could, but I don’t have the means to move anywhere else,” said Taylor. “I just paid $585 rent on Wednesday and the water was cut off Thursday. It’ll be the first of the month before I have any more money.”
Cotten Apartments owner Evelyn Cotten says a $10,000 water bill is at the source of the dispute. She says she refuses to pay the bill because it resulted from a water leak that was caused by the city.
According to Cotten Apartments maintenance supervisor Brian Looper, the city released thousands of gallons of water from its nearby 1-million-gallon water storage tank off Bybee Branch Road about three months ago. That water flooded one of the apartment buildings to the extent it caused the foundation to shift and rupture one of the main water lines. Looper said the flooding forced all the people who lived in four units to move.
In addition to the immediate water damage that was visible, the foundation shift caused an unseen water line to break. That is what caused the outrageous water bill, Looper said.
“This is the city’s fault for flooding us out and they won’t even work with us on the bill,” said Looper. “They could at least take off the sewer charge, which is half of the bill. If they took off the sewer charge and showed they were willing to work with us, she might go down there and pay it.”
According to city administrator Bill Brock, water was released from the water tank as part of routine maintenance and inspection.
Brock said this sort of water tank draining is done periodically and it’s never caused a problem in that area before. He is not sure why it flooded the apartments this time.
“We drained it and we did some damage to one or two of her apartments,” said Brock. “Insurance has settled that complaint.”
Cotten said the insurance settlement was for $5,000, which is only half of the water bill. She said that doesn’t cover damage to her property, or the loss of rent since those tenants were forced to move. She said she is not cashing the $5,000 settlement check because it’s not fair compensation for her damages.
“This is nothing personal against the people who live here,” said Cotten. “I don’t like it that they don’t have water. If they want to leave, I will prorate their rent and they can leave. If they owe me money, they can leave and not owe me anything.”
The Cotten Apartment office operates on a separate meter and still has water. Residents are being allowed to shower at the office if they choose and they are being allowed to fill any water buckets they have at the office.
Cotten said she doesn’t see a speedy resolution to this problem if the city refuses to adjust her bill. She said she does not have a time estimate about when residents may once again have water.
Brock says the city does not discuss water bills with anyone but the customer. As far as policy, Brock said the city begins to look at terminating service if a water bill is 60 days past due.
“This is a serious situation and we don’t like it,” said Brock. “We work with people all the time and we’d be more than happy to work with anyone who is willing to come up here and talk to us.”
Local law enforcement on the lookout for distracted driving
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Nikki Childers
Published: Apr 9, 2025, 2:43 AM

April is National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Distracted Driving Awareness Month and McMinnville Police Department (MPD) is on the roads to educate motorists about appropriate hands-free driving.

The amplified focus of cracking down on distracted driving is a nationwide initiative, with many states taking part. MPD Officer Mark Mara indicated the local department is increasing patrols, funded by overtime grants, to enforce and educate about Tennessee’s Hands Free Law.

“We’re trying to get people to change their habits,” Mara said. “There’s a lot of people that are distracted while driving, whether its their cell phones or not. When driving, there are already so many distractions, so having electronics in your hands while you’re driving down the road is dangerous. We need to focus on getting where we need to go and getting there safely.”

According to its records, NHTSA estimates 3,308 lives were lost in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2022 and 8% of all fatal crashes could be attributed to the same. To illustrate the point on a larger scale, it approximates over 32,000 people have died and nearly 290,000 were left injured from crashes attributed to distracted motorists between 2013 and 2022.

Violation of the Tennessee Hands Free Law is a Class C misdemeanor and traffic citations based on the violation are considered moving traffic violations. A first-time offense is typically $50 with third-time offenses and violations resulting in a crash rising to $100; citations received in a work zone while workers or present or in a marked school zone while flashes are in operation carry a penalty of $200. Three points are also added to a motorist’s driving record for each violation with 12 points leading to license suspension.

While the law specifically mentions hands in its name, it is similarly illegal to prop the phone up with any other part of their body.

“We’re going to be stopping vehicles whose operators are distracted by using their cell phones or other electronic devices,” Mara said. “It is against the law for a motorist to be holding their electronic device or having it on their body, so if you’re holding it to your ear or with your shoulder, it’s against the law all the same.”

When using GPS technology, Mara recommends investing in windshield-, vent- or dash-mounted mobile device holder to support the phone while using it for those purposes so your hands can remain on the wheel without compromising your ability to navigate to a destination.

“I understand that your cell phones are a lifeline and we get that — we use them ourselves for GPS. If you have an important phone call that’s coming in and you really need to focus on talking to that person, just pull over to the side of the road and turn on your emergency lights,” Mara said. “When you’re on a phone call, you’re not paying attention to all of the things you need to. You’re going to be concentrating on that conversation and you’re going to find yourself drifting in your lane, going through a stop sign or not stopping properly before a red light.”

Mara additionally recommended drivers sync their phones to their vehicles in models with Bluetooth capabilities and to use phone mounts that do not obstruct vision of the roadways through the windshield.

“The greatest danger of distracted driving is ending up in a crash that was absolutely avoidable, which might hurt yourself or someone else,” Mara said. “You’ve got a lot in front of you when you’re driving and a vehicle is a piece of machinery. We want all motorists to be driving safely on the roads and getting to their destinations without misadventure.”

Warnings and citations will be rendered at officers’ discretion during the increased patrols.