Board of Mayor and Alderman Meeting

Thursday, March 21st, 2024

The meeting was called to order. Pastor Jones from Temple Baptist led the prayer for the month’s meeting. All aldermen were present. The agenda was adopted and the minutes approved. There were two proclamations made for two White House Heritage wrestlers. Abby Page was the first female wrestler for Heritage, and the city of White House. She placed at the state tournament twice finishing in 4th at 114 as a senior. Nik Taylor was the first Robertson County wrestler of the year, the first wrestler at Heritage to hit 100 career wins, and also finished 4th at 165 in the state tournament. The proclamations list all of their accomplishments for the season and over their careers. The Connection has named both wrestlers Robertson County wrestlers of the year since the proclamations were drafted.

No one was signed up for public comment.

11. Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator- Alderman Matthews thanked (Chris Keith) for his 30 years of service to the city. City Administrator Herman stated that the Sage Road expansion to Cardinal was complete. They are still working on the soccer complex parking lot. It is on schedule to be completed a couple of weeks before the Americana Festival. The city has received a $230k grant from TDOT, the first time in 12 years, that will be used to continue the side walks along Raymond Hirsch and 31W. The money will help with the inflation. The plan will be updated by the end of may.

Reports were acknowledged.

13. Consideration of the Following Resolutions:

a. Resolution 24-03: A resolution to annex certain territories and incorporate same within the corporate boundaries of the City of White House, Tennessee. First Reading. This is the property across from Heritage High School. The owner is asking to bring 7.32 acres into the city. His other properties are already in the city and are zoned commercial. He has roughly 45 acres around this property already zoned commercial. They were added to the city around 2010. Matthews asked about fire and police. City Planning Director Ceagus Clark stated that a plan of service would be addressed later. Approved

The property with the star is the request. The two properties to the left of the star are already in city limits and zoned commercial along 76

14. Consideration of the Following Ordinances: a. Ordinance 24-03: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County Agricultural, AG-2, to General Commercial, C-2, at 7769 Highway 76. First Reading. This is the same property referenced in the previous resolution. The resolution brings it into city limits, the ordinance is to rezone the property. This would be zoned C2. A C2 would allow for commercial builds with special exceptions needed for car lots or storage units. The owner currently has no plans for the property. It became available and he purchased it. He is local and desires something nice to be built, but has no current timeline for the property. Approved.

15. Purchasing:

a. To approve or reject the purchase of an LTE Video Surveillance Trailer from Wireless CCTV from the GSA cooperative contract# GS-07F-031DA in the amount of $46,328.57. The Chief of Police recommends approval.

Chief Brady spoke to this purchase. It will be used for soccer tournaments, the parade, and the Americana Festival. The city had applied for a grant for this device, but was denied because the crime rates were too low. The device is Bluetooth and WiFi connected, but will just be connected to the police department. Additional cameras could be added to the device, but if that is warranted, the city would look into purchasing a second device. The money that has been allotted for this camera (with grant money that I could not decipher) had enough money left to purchase four tasers and body armor. Approved.

16. Other Business:

a. To determine the level of debt service for road improvement project(s) discussed during the Study Session. (This discussion was lengthy and much of it lost in conversation. I will do my best to bring the basics of the conversation) Matthews started the discussion with a question about the timeline of projects with a tax increase vs a referendum on the tax increase. Herman stated that a referendum delays all project starts by a year even if the referendum is held in August. Matthews asked if a resolution could be made contingent upon an August referendum? Herman explained the process of budgeting and projects. All projects must be listed with their costs in the May budget retreat. In the budget retreat, taxes and projects are listed. Once that is done it has to be adopted by the board in a city meeting. Only then can projects be designed and bid. As far as the tax increase being rescinded, the current board can make a resolution, but ultimately cannot bind future boards to it. Alderman Wall asked when the last tax increase was done. Herman answered that the last time taxes were raised was in 2017. Before that it had been 20 years without a tax increase. The 2017 tax increase is taking care of the rec center, but there was no money for transportation in that increase. Wall added that this issue has been a long time coming. He also added that the reason this board was put in place was to clean up this mess. He asked if any of this can be put on developers. Herman stated that at this point, the developers have already done what was asked of them in their contracts. However, TDOT has told Lennar that they will be required to put in turn lanes on 76 at New Hall as they build on New Hall. TDOT is also requiring turn lanes at Union and a traffic light. At this point, the city has managed all upgrades that they can afford. The Sage Road widening came from the general fund. At some point the city will need to look at a signal at Lone Oak and 76, and the next phase of Calista Road, from Bill Moss to the city limits. Wall added that the board does not want to continue to be reactive. Mayor Corbitt stated that if these six projects can get done, then the city could start to budget in order to cash flow future traffic projects.

Herman said they will continue to push developers as they go forward. As long as the city restrains any new residential development, the population in White House is projected to reach 29k in the next 8.5 years. That will help with future projects. The city is asking for another census to be done. That could bring in more money for the city as well. The city has obviously grown since 2020. There was discussion on using taxes brought in from the parks from Matthews. Herman said you do not want to do that. The city has park property that will need to be developed in the next few years and will need the funds to do so. Corbitt added that he also does not want to take money from the parks department. Corbitt continued, the bottom line is that people want the traffic issues fixed. This board was put in place to fix it. He put out an informal survey on social media, and 80% came back with just get it done. On 76 there were two semis in the ditch off of Union in two weeks. Matthews asked if road impact fees could be used, but then added that the impact fees can’t be used on debt and the money would have to be saved first. Herman said that $650k of road impact fees were used on Sage Road. Wall then said that the board needs to be proactive and transparent. The people want this done. Herman said that the N. Palmers Chapel project is ready to go, and Pleasant Grove is in the process of planning. The others will need more attention, but all of them could be finished in 2.5-3 years. Wall then reiterated that most folks want it done and the board is responsible for the safety of the streets. Corbitt then said he was for a referendum when he started looking at this, but after talking to people, the majority want the issues fixed. This won’t fix it all, but it’s a good start. Matthews asked about the timing if the board approves a tax increase for these projects. Herman stated that they would be put in the May budget, in June and July the resolutions/ordinances would be made, the projects bid in August, and at least the N. Palmers Chapel could start in September. Alderman Spicer added to the conversation. She is also looking at the timeline and the safety issues, especially on 76. There are wrecks and people ending up in buildings. A decision has to be made. She is not in favor of raising taxes, but higher taxes are certainly better than another person hurt or worse. At that point Herman mentioned that the city has an article coming out in the current Word On White House that the city sends out, about the traffic projects and the funding. The city has also sent a letter to TDOT, Sabi Kumar (house rep for Robertson County), Kerry Roberts (State senator for Robertson County), and William Lamberth (state rep for Sumner County side of White House) requesting a meeting to discuss the issues on 76 and lack of commitment to fix the problem in the current 10 year plan. That letter just went out last week. Alderman Silver spoke up and was concerned that 4/6 projects were in Robertson County and that they seem to be county or state issues. Sumner will be funding issues in Robertson County. Wall added that we have to look at the city as one, even though they are split by counties. Corbitt added that a lot of Sumner residents use Sage as a cut through, hes’ one of them. Matthews added that they need to take politics out of road projects and simply look at safety and congestion.

b. To approve or reject subdivision infrastructures and street acceptance for The Parks Phase 3B. The Planning and Codes Director recommends approval. Clark began this discussion with the fact that the city had been out to The Parks to look at the phase in question. The solar street lights still need to be repaired. Phase 3b still has 38 lights not functioning. Herman added that they learned these lights are set up to NOT be on all of the time. They are set to rotate through which ones will be on. Spicer added that she lives out there and the lights out front are never on. It was stated that the lights are computerized and on a varied sequence. Spicer said there are lots of kids in that neighborhood, and the lights are not functioning. The developer needs to be responsible for this issue. Legacy Farms will not be using the solar lights because of the issues with them. Spicer also stated that the property management team is telling the residents that the city will be responsible for the lights. Matthews asked if the city knew that they lights were going to be varied. Clark added that it was all done before he came to the city, so he is unsure. Wall asked if they can hold the developer responsible past the bond. Spicer asked if they could extend the bond until this issue is fixed. Herman said that they could be put on the planning board for April to extend the bond for a year. Once the issue is resolved they can come back and ask for the bond to be complete. The city does not want to get into an issue where they accept the subdivision and then all street lights need to be replaced. Rejected

c. To approve or reject subdivision infrastructures and street acceptance for Legacy Farms Phase 1. The Planning and Codes Director recommends approval. This has been completed. There are no solar lights in this subdivision. The roads and sidewalks that needed to be repaired were marked and repaired by a second contractor. The first contractor did not make the repairs correctly. The paving was being completed on Thursday and the areas of concern were addressed. Approved

Meeting was adjourned

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