Board of Mayor and Aldermen

Tuesday, June 24th, 2025

This meeting was changed from last week to this week because of the Juneteeth holiday.

All members of the board were present and the agenda was adopted. Alderman Wall stated that there needed to be a change to the previous month’s minutes. He is sure that he made the motion for item #5.

Visitors were welcomed and a proclamation was made honoring the White House High School graduates that joined the military after 2025 graduation. Only two graduates were in attendance. Jackson Corbitt (2024 graduate) will be attending the Naval Academy, and Tristan Bailey has joined the Air Force

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No one was signed up for public comment or the public hearings.

11.Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator- Alderman Spicer thanked the city for recognizing the students entering the military. Her son went in six years ago and is almost finished. She is thankful that we recognize these young people. City attorney Webb announced that two lawsuits filed against the city were dismissed. One with last name Brown against wastewater was dismissed and Johnson vs the city was dismissed in federal court. That involved a DUI arrest and may come back to the state. Two new lawsuits were filed. TNHomesites.com has sued the city over the planning commission’s decision on Sage Road and (Vanderhoff) is suing the city over a car wreck with a police officer. City administrator Herman also had updates. The weight equipment is in place in the rec center. The upper parking lot has been a challenge with all of the rain. They have been using the gym, and the game room is coming together. The desks and chairs are in. The target for ribbon cutting is still July 17th. The design work for the Calista Road widening project is done. There are 27 parcels involved that property owners will need to be notified. The Pleasant Grove stop light has had another coat of asphalt, and they are waiting on the poles at this point. Sage Road starting moving dirt, and Marlin Road stop light is out for bid. The city is still negotiating with one property owner on 31W. It was asked if there is a date on the Pleasant Grove light. Herman thinks maybe a month. Once the asphalt is done, the poles can be put in. Are there dates on the poles? At this point Herman is unsure if they have the poles or are waiting for them. He has not heard that there are any delays on the poles. Alderman Wall asked if there was a deadline on the project and if there were penalties for not meeting the deadline. The deadline is the end of June. They will be past that, but there are no penalties.

Reports were acknowledged.

13.Consideration of the Following Resolutions:

a. Resolution 25-08: A resolution authorizing appropriations for financial aid of non-profit organizations This is the same as last year and the same amount of money. It was discussed at the budget meeting. The city donates money to vets, the chamber of commerce, and meals on wheels.

Approved

b. Resolution 25-09: A resolution amending the schedule of permit and development fees for multiple City departments. Planning director Ceagus Clark spoke to this. He compared White House’s fees to the surrounding cities. WH was 25% lower than other cities. He brought the fees in line with surrounding areas. Herman added that anything over $250 has to be justified.

Approved

14.Consideration of the Following Ordinances:

a. Ordinance 25-04: An ordinance amending the Municipal Codes Title 18, Chapter 3 Sewer Rates, Fees, and Charges, Sections 18-301 and 18-302. Second Reading. This was discussed at length last month and can be found here. Approved

b. Ordinance 25-05: An ordinance adopting the annual budget and tax rate exceeding the 2024 certified property tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026. Second Reading. This was also discussed at length last month and can be found in the link above. Approved.

c. Ordinance 25-06: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Sumner County R-20, Low Density Residential, to C-2, General Commercial, at 2786 B Hwy 31W. First Reading. This was discussed at the planning meeting in May.

This will simply bring the entire property into C-2. The size of the property was bigger than a clerical change would allow, so it needed to be approved by the board. Approved.

15.Purchasing:

a. To approve or reject authorizing the City Administrator Gerald Herman to enter into a one-year Interlocal E911 agreement between E911 Emergency Communication District of Robertson County, Robertson County, the City of Springfield, and the City of White House for $293,768.85 for furnishing dispatching services for the purpose of emergency dispatch at the E911 facility. The Police Chief recommends approval. This is the yearly agreement the city has with the Robertson County EMS. It is the same as last year. The city pays an annual fee for 911 services. Each city in the county pays based on the number of calls. As the city grows, the cost goes up with the rising number of calls. Approved.

b. To approve or reject single source requests for FY 2024-2025. The Wastewater Director recommends approval. This list gets revised each year by wastewater. It gives the department permission to use single source vendors if necessary. Approved

16.Other Business:

a. To approve or reject appointments to various Boards and Commissions

Approved

b. To approve or reject scheduling a Study Session on July 14th at 5:30pm with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to discuss Traffic Management Program, Surplus Land Bid, and Union Rd. / Hwy 76 Intersection. Approved

c. To approve or reject a contract extension of Gerald O. Herman as City Administrator

Approved- Alderman Matthews No

17.Discussion Items

a. Annual Performance Evaluation of City Administrator- Herman spoke to this. According to a city ordinance, the board requires an evaluation of the city administrator each year. Herman started with the city in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2014 that a form was used for his evaluation. Some board members used it some said they didn’t like the form. He found a new form in 2015 and 2016 with the same results. In 14 years he’s had 7 evaluations. His position went to a contracted position, but the ordinance remained. Under his current contract, if three board members decided they wanted to terminate his contract, they could. His contract is up in December and he wants to retire in July, which is why he asked for the 6 month renewal. He has no problem with the evaluation if the city decides to do it. Corbitt said that he only filled out two as an alderman. The ordinance was written before it was a contracted position. Alderman Matthews said that the city is out of compliance with municipal code. HR does evaluations on all employees, but not the city administrator. The Library board even does one. Spicer interjected that the leisure service board does not with the parks director. Matthews stated that they should be consistent. Wall added that it was counter productive since Herman only has one more year. He then thanked Herman for a fantastic job and added that at his company they didn’t do employee reviews because he knew what his employees were doing. Going forward they might need to make evaluations happen. Spicer motioned to change the ordinance from “shall evaluate” to “may evaluate.” Matthews added that he completely disagrees with that. Motion approved to change ordinance- Matthews No

No other information, meeting was adjourned.

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