Board of Mayor and Aldermen

August 15th, 2024-*see correction in debt services*

All board members were present for the meeting. Two teenage girls signed up to speak under public comment. Indy Taylor, of the White House Heritage cross country team spoke to let the city know that the crosswalk lights are not working on 31W between the animal clinic and Molipozzo’s. Libby Taylor, also on the team, then let the city know that the water fountains at the Revolution Church greenway trail head were not working. After the meeting, Isaiah Manfredi, head of public works let me know that there is a part in the control box for the lights that has malfunctioned. The part has been approved and will be ordered this week.

No one was signed up to speak for the public hearings.

11. Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator Alderman Spicer brought up that City Administrator Gerald Herman received the city administrator of the year award for the state of Tennessee. This is the first time the city has received that award. Alderman Mathews thanked Manfredi and the rest of the public works crew again for all of their work on the storm water issues. Mayor Corbitt also thanked them and gave his appreciation for the department shutting down non-compliant job sites. Herman said that the budgets from the counties had come in. Robertson County had promised the White House Library $25k per year for ten years. This is the ninth year of the funding. Sumner County has promised White House $225k from the American Recovery Act for the southern force main project on Sage. Commissioner Wes Wynne was on top of that. TEMA reps met with the staff in the city and have said that White House can apply for a mitigation grant to help deal with the flooding. The city has also met with the Kellys of Kelly Dairy. They are having storm water issues as well. The city is helping with that and they are signing off on the right of ways for the Pleasant Grove stop light. Those are the last right of ways needed for the project.

Reports were acknowledged and there were no resolutions this month.

14. Consideration of the Following Ordinances:

a. Ordinance 24-09: An ordinance amending Article IV and Article V of the Zoning Ordinance concerning permitted uses and special exception uses. Second Reading. Discussed last month at length. See write up here. The entire ordinance can be found here starting on page 67. Approved

b. Ordinance 24-10: An ordinance amending the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to C-2, General Commercial, at 2813 Hwy 31W. Second Reading. Discussed last month at length. See write up here. Approved

c. Ordinance 24-11: An ordinance establishing the Tax Rate for the Tax Year 2024. First Reading. The tax rate has been reviewed and revised now that the rates have come in for the two counties after the assessments. Finance Director Barnes spoke to this. The tax rate for Robertson County will go from $.83 to $.89. Sumner County has gone from $1.31 to $.89. Barnes had uses $.17 as a rough estimate for the tax increase for the road project. It only went up 5.7 cents. The debt service will be $1,080,00.00 (corrected number from $1.8 million) a year. The increase on on $300k home is $43/year. The increase brings in just over a million and it is only for the debt. Mathews asked if it was included in the debt services budget. It is. Approved 4-1: Mathews voted No

d. Ordinance 24-12: An ordinance abandoning the City’s 30-foot easement for the right-of-way over the unimproved western section of Cardinal Drive, and the appurtenances thereto. First Reading. This was discussed at the planning meeting on Monday. City Attorney Webb spoke to this.

The property being discussed is in red. The city got a right of way on their property back in the 60’s. At this point it’s not being used by the city and the Johnsons would like it back. Nothing was built behind it. They are asking that the property be quit claimed to them in exchange for the easement on Pleasant Grove for the stoplight. Alderman Wall asked what this property was for. Herman said that it was meant for a road to new homes that were never built on Cardinal. Webb added that it is currently a road to no where. Approved

e. Ordinance 24-13: An ordinance amending the Municipal Code Title 18, Chapter 4 Stormwater Management, Section 18-408. First Reading.

Manfredi spoke to this and the next ordinance. This is the five year storm water audit. There are no errors in the codes, it’s a update reflecting changes that TDEC requires for their permit. It needs to be changed in the ordinances. Approved

f. Ordinance 24-14: An ordinance amending the Municipal Code Title 16, Chapter 2 Street, Sidewalk, and Drainage Design Standards, Section 16-234. First Reading. The city is looking to change the required storm water pipes. Currently, public works has been looking at the pipes being installed in the new subdivisions using CCTV. They are not being properly installed. The HDPE pipe is good, but they are not being installed correctly. The requirement of HDPE is being removed and they are going back to requiring the pipe that is easier to install. Wall asked if that was the issue on North Palmers. Manfredi answered that the pipe on N.Palmers was actually old barrel sections of a manhole laid on their sides. The were connected and concrete was poured over it and then metal corrugated pipe attached. It needs to be torn out and replaced with a box culvert. Matthews asked if the city will need to upgrade going forward. Herman said that they upgraded the ordinance to the new pipes, but they aren’t working. Approved

15. Purchasing:

a. To approve or reject City Administrator Gerald Herman to sign a 5-year agreement with Loomis US for safe deposit service in the annual amount of $5,976.72. The Finance Director recommends approval. Barnes reminded the board that the city has switched from Farmer’s to Regions Bank, and Loomis had been taking the checks and cash for the city daily to the bank. With Regions, checks can now be scanned and Loomis trips can be reduced to weekly. Spicer asked if the city was getting a cash machine with Regions. Barnes stated that it wasn’t offered as part of the contract. The city averages about $1500/day currently in cash. Wall asked if the city could go cashless. Barnes answered no, that’s not an option. As Wall was looking through the contract, he noted that it’s $498/month plus a 7% insurance fee and a fluctuating fuel fee. Barnes said that right now we are paying roughly $1k per month and that the fuel fees are there now, but will decrease with the weekly vs everyday trips. Wall voiced his concern about the accuracy of the count with Loomis getting the final count. Barnes added that the more people you have involved, the more likely counts will be off. Approved

b. To approve or reject City Administrator Gerald Herman to sign a 5-year agreement with Digital Ally for in-car camera video cloud storage in the amount of $8,991.00. The Police Chief recommends approval. Chief Brady spoke to this purchase. This is an issue that came up in the police department this year. The cameras in the cars have to be downloaded at the station on a daily basis. The data is overwhelming and some of it is being lost. Right now officers have to find and send the data to the DA when it's needed. Utilizing this cloud will offer more space for data, and make it available to the DA from the cloud. This will save officers time and therefore the city money. Digital Ally is the company that manages the cloud. Approved

c. To approve or reject the purchase of a 2025 Ford Explorer from Lonnie Cobb Ford off the statewide contract# 209 in the total amount of $40,880.00. The Police Chief recommends approval. This was discussed and approved in the budget meeting. This is the vehicle for one of the detectives. He is currently in one of the old cars. There are only two of the cars left as one was totaled by a drunk driver. Approved

d. To approve or reject the purchase of a 2024 Ford F150 Super Crew Cab from Lonnie Cobb Ford off the statewide contract# 209 in the total amount of $44,098.00. The Police Chief recommends approval. This truck is to be used for events. Community Relations Officer Enck is currently driving one of the public works trucks for events. This truck is not getting a police package so it is coming in less expensive. Approved

e. To approve or reject City Administrator Gerald Herman to sign a 3-year leasing agreement with Flock Safety for four (4) License Plate Readers in the annual amount of $12,600.00. The Police Chief recommends approval. Herman and Brady have discussed this at length and have decided that the city needs these cameras. They will be used for investigative purposes only. The city will start with four. These read license plate numbers and alert local police if one has been entered into the system. A plate from Illinois was entered after it was seen at a robbery. That plate was picked up in Portland and they were apprehended. With robberies, Flock can access nation wide data. Spicer asked if suspicious behavior at banks could be added, ie cashing bad checks. Brady explained that any plate that was used in a crime can be entered into the system. Alderman Silver asked where they would be placed. The four initial cameras will be on 31W by the White House Middle School, 31W and Portland Road intersection, I65 and Hwy76, and on Tyree just north of Marlin. The city wanted it south of Marlin, but since they are solar, that would not work. Sumner County is getting 24 more, but Nashville has not purchased yet. All of middle Tennessee will have them before too long. The hot list will ping to police cars. If a car is stolen in Hendersonville and reported to Flock, if that plate shows up in White House, the department will be notified. Herman added that if the owner has a warrant that will also show up. Going forward, Brady would like them in the park and the soccer complex. Spicer asked how long the data would be held. Brady wasn’t sure on that yet, but we will not reach the limit at this point. The department is in the process of writing the policy on how to use these. Herman added that Flock is on TBI’s certified list and Flock is not allowed into the police data. Matthews asked if there was an audit trail showing who is using the program. Brady said their is, and the policy will be strict, similar to the portals. Silver asked if only plates involved in crimes will be entered. Brady stated that the only numbers on the “hot list” are those involved in crimes, not private info. The officers will be trained on the program, and data entry will probably involve a supervisor so as not to have repeats. Matthews added that he is glad to see it presented here after seeing it at the budget retreat. Approved

f. To approve or reject the purchase of a 2023 Chevrolet 5500 truck with utility bed from Wilson County Motors off the statewide contract# 209 in the total amount of $83,586.64 (misprint # is $63039.24) The Public Services Director recommends approval

This truck will be used to transport crew members and equipment into areas that are too small for the larger vehicles. This truck already has the utility bed, even though the spec sheet shows it with just the chassis. The total is the VQ2 price, not the $83k price listed here. Wilson County Motors purchased these trucks from GM and it is sitting on the lot right now. It is ready to be picked up as soon as this is approved. Approved.

g. To approve or reject the purchase of 25 sets of Fire-Dex firefighter turnout gear (PPE) from SiddonsMartin Emergency Group off the Sourcewell cooperative contract# 010424-FDX in the total amount of $79,755.00. The Fire Chief recommends approval.Chief McLaughlin stated that this is for all new gear, coats and pants. The gear has a 10 year life and some of the firefighters have gear that is 9 years old and some have two year old gear. This will give some of the firefighters a second set to use when the first set needs to be cleaned, and will replace gear as it ages out. Approved.

16. Other Business:

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

Nothing else was discussed and the meeting was adjourned.

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