Bobby Doss of Dayton, Tennessee

DAYTON, Tenn. - Dayton City Council members voted to spend $57,600 to repair a roof eaten by buzzards.

City Manager Frank Welch reported to council members in January that the roof of the Dayton Skills Center, which is owned by the city and leased to several tenants including Chattanooga State Community College, had been damaged by buzzards. The damage resulted in leaks that must be repaired, he said.

On Tuesday night council members accepted a bid from Turner Roofing of Chattanooga to replace the damaged roof with a material they hope will be unpalatable to the buzzards.

In other matters, Welch reported that long-awaited projects to install traffic signals at the intersections of Illinois Avenue and Market Street and at White Oak Road and U.S. Highway 27 should begin about the first week of March and be done by April 20.

Officials at Rhea Medical Center asked for the signal on U.S. 27 that would serve their facility, and Councilman Bobby Doss campaigned for the Market Street light after requests from area residents.

Meeting earlier as the Dayton City School Board, board members approved a calendar for the 2012-13 school year. School will start Aug. 7, and the calendar will coincide with the one proposed for Rhea County Schools.

They also voted to move the school's football team from the Sequatchie Valley Conference to the Clinch Valley Conference. Principal Sam Kirkham said schools in the new conference are closer in size to that of Dayton City School, which should allow the team to be more competitive than in the Sequatchie Valley Conference.

Tom Davis is based in Dayton. Contact him at tsdavis@volstate.net.