By Joel Spears

CHURCH HILL — No more road blocks for Church Hill.
    On Tuesday the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to ban all road block fundraisers in the city after a Volunteer High School student was reportedly struck by a vehicle recently at one of the events.
    Mayor Dennis Deal said he authorized a temporary ban on all road blocks in Church Hill immediately following the incident until the BMA could vote to make the ban permanent.
    According to the mayor and Assistant Police Chief Roddy Miller, who reported to the scene of the accident, weather conditions and the position of the victim’s location in the street were both factors that caused the unidentified driver to accidentally graze the teen’s arm with his vehicle’s side mirror.
    Miller said the driver never saw the girl while making the turn and while scratched from the incident she was uninjured.  The drive however was reported visibly shaken. 
    No charges were filed.
    After putting a motion on the table Deal and other board members voted unanimously to ban all future roadblocks within city limits.
    The only other Hawkins County municipality to ban road blocks is Surgoinsville.
    Bulls Gap prohibits individuals under age 18 to participate in a road block fundraiser.
    Mount Carmel also recently decided to limit its number of permitted road blocks.  The town will only authorize six road blocks per year, one per month, from April through September.  However, officials said they might consider a ban in the future.
    Rogersville permits one road block per month in town, but it must be scheduled in advance through the assistant fire chief.