Board of Mayor and Aldermen
November 17th, 2022 Meeting
The meeting began without a community pastor to pray, so Alderman Decker blessed the meeting. All members of the board were in attendance, and the agenda and minutes were approved. Visitors were welcomed, about 30 in attendance including developers and staff, and no one signed up to speak for the only public hearing. Communication from the board was opened.
Mayor Bibb stated that no one in the city failed compliance check. For the first time in years, the city was in 100% compliance. This is where the police department sends underage people into establishments that serve alcohol to ensure that staff are asking for ID. Bibb commented that they are protecting our youth. Hutson and Payne both congratulated Corbitt on his win in the mayor’s race. Matthews was in attendance, so he was congratulated as well. City Administrator Herman then had communication.
The design for the Heritage HS/Pinson Lane project is complete. There was a conflict with some electrical, but that has been resolved. The project will be out for bid in March.
The Rogers Group has submitted a bid for the Sage Road project. It has been idle since March. The insurance company will be paying the difference in the cost between what was agreed upon with the previous bankrupt company, and the new bid. They will have it completed in 60 days. (days will be added for rain). This is addressed again in purchasing later in the meeting.
The tennis courts are almost complete. The only things left are parking and sidewalks. They didn’t mean for the space between the courts to look like a racket, but it does and is kind of fun. The parking and sidewalks should be complete in a couple of months.
TDOT has their projects ranked on their website. The lines in red on the right photo are proposed, and the lines in blue are projects with committed funds. Hwy 76 is still on their radar, but no funds have been committed. It will be a $20 million project.
The finance director for the city has save the city $1.2 million in interest. By not taking out the entire loan amount for the new rec center, and only taking draws on what is necessary at the time, he has saved the city money on interest. The finance director is good at saving money. Reports were acknowledged and the meeting proceeded.
11. Consideration of the Following Resolutions:
a. Resolution 22-14: A resolution to annex certain territories and incorporate same within the corporate boundaries of the City of White House, TN.
This will be 54 acres annexed, not 64 as originally requested. The family has asked that 10 acres along Melton Road be left for the family. That parcel is unable to be developed because of a creek and the nature of Melton Road. PASSED
b. Resolution 22-16: A resolution to annex certain territories and incorporate same within the corporate boundaries of the City of White House, TN. This is the new intermediate school that Sumner County is building next to the middle school on 31W. Annexation is now completed through resolution instead of ordinance. Because of this change, it will need a second reading next month as will the Melton Property. PASSED
The following ordinances call all be found here in the agenda packet, as can the resolutions.
a. Ordinance 22-14: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 2, Chapter 2 Library Board, Section 2-210 Schedule of fines, services, and damages. Second Reading. This was addressed last month at length. This is the addition of a disconnection fee for hotspot users that do not return the library hotspot. PASSED
b. Ordinance 22-15: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 11, Chapter 4 Offenses Against the Peace and Quiet, Section 11-402. First Reading.
The times in yellow were changed previously, but further in the description, the times still said 6pm instead of 9pm. This ordinance is to update the times in the paragraph to match the times in yellow. PASSED
c. Ordinance 22-16: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 13, Property Maintenance Regulations, Chapters 1 and 3, as well as establishing Chapter 4 Enforcement. First Reading The city has a new employee that is tasked with property maintenance. Currently there is not a specific outline on how to handle properties out of compliance. This will add the steps necessary for the employee to follow in order to address and enforce property maintenance issues. Essentially everyone would have 20 days to remedy the issue. It also allows for the citizen to remedy the issue before the city sends someone out to mow, etc. There was some discussion about abandoned vehicles and art. (example on Tyree Springs) Currently, White House isn’t set up for that and Ceagus Clark stated that exceptions for art seem to exist on the west coast only. Herman pointed out that most HOAs have rules for abandoned vehicles built in. PASSED
d. Ordinance 22-17: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 4, Chapter 6 Code of Ethics. First Reading. This ordinance revises the code of ethics for the city. It cleans up definitions and puts the city attorney in charge of ethics complaints in stead of the BOMA. This makes the city attorney the ethics investigator. Complaints will need to be signed and notarized before they are submitted to the city. PASSED
e. Ordinance 22-18: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 7, Chapter 5 Open Burning Regulations, Section 7-502. First Reading. This ordinance eliminates the commercial burn permit. According to the fire chief, with the density of the new developments, they are not meeting minimum state requirements for space when it comes to burning. The city has received too many complaints about the smoke and ash. The developer behind Kroger is using a grinder to turn the wood into mulch, and other developers will need to look into that as well. PASSED
f. Ordinance 22-19: An ordinance to amend the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2023. First Reading. The tennis courts have progressed more rapidly than expected. This city administrator is asking to move money from the park impact fee account to the tennis courts. The money is there allocated for the courts, but it was not budgeted this soon to pay out. PASSED
g. Ordinance 22-20: An ordinance to amend Article V, Section 5.053.2, C-2 General Commercial, Previously, the city planner has moved major/minor auto repair to special exception zoning. He is asking that the city do the same for auto sales. This has been discussed previously. PASSED
All four of these ordinances deal with the properties along Union Road, south of Hester Drive. The discussion that ensued related to all four ordinances. The properties are 58.06, 58.05, 58.04, and 59. Corbitt started with concerns about traffic on Union. Herman answered that currently there is only access on Union Road, but the city is looking at Sage as another point of entry. Hester has already received a grant from the state for upgrades related to this industrial area. The industrial park off of 76 only has one way in and one way out. That is less than ideal. The city is looking at three points of access for this area. There is a lot of interest in this area. One property is already under contract. (187.01-North of parcel 59, Melton Property) Another company is also looking at these parcels. With each site plan, traffic will have to be addressed. PASSED (Hutson abstained from all 4 votes)
l. Ordinance 22-25: An ordinance amending Article V, Section 5.053.2, C-2 General Commercial, to add an Industrial Overlay District to include certain boundaries within I-1, Light Industrial. First Reading. This adds a level of protection to the character of the city. In industrial areas, generally the design is not required to adhere to design standards. This overlay protects the character of this area requiring developers to adhere to the city’s design standards.
m. Ordinance 22-26: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Sumner County Agricultural to R-20, Low Density Residential, on Highway 31W and New Hall Road. First Reading. This was the new intermediate school that was addressed in resolution. PASSED
n. Ordinance 22-27: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County C-2, General Commercial, to I-1, Light Industrial at Love’s Lane and Union Road.
This is the Core5 property proposal that was discussed at the planning meeting on Monday night. They are requesting 21 acres be rezoned to I-1 (light industrial) from C-2 (commercial). They have stated that they will adhere to the city’s design standards. Corbitt asked that the overlay be extended to include this property as to ensure that the developer will adhere to the standards. The wording in the ordinance still includes the 34 acres, but the owner just changed it to 21 last week. That wording will need to change for the second reading next month. (p.106) PASSED
Purchasing- a. To approve or reject the Stansell Electric bid of $166,750 2023 for the Traffic Signal UPS Battery Backup Systems project. The Public Services and Administrative Services Directors recommend approval. All traffic lights in the city lose power during outages. These are batteries that would mount to the existing lights allowing traffic signals to function for up to 20 hours during an outage. There is one on the corner of 76/31 that worked very well during the last outage. These would also include a GFCI for added future functions such as decorative lights. PASSED
b. To approve or reject the emergency agreements and purchase order with Rogers Group and United Fire & Casualty Company to complete the McCurdy/Sage Road turn lane project in the amount of $510,558.75. The City Administrator recommends approval. This was discussed during communication from the administrator. The official numbers are in the packet. PASSED
No other business was discussed. Meeting adjourned.
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