BOMA 10-19-2023
Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting for October
The October meeting started with a prayer and the pledge as always. All aldermen were in attendance for this meeting. The agenda was adopted and the minutes from last month were approved. There were only about four people in attendance, and they were welcomed.
8. Proclamation- A proclamation was made regarding the city park. In the proclamation, it was recognized that the park was purchased in the 70’s and was named after the previous mayor, Michael Arnold in 2021. The proclamation returned the name of the city park to White House Municipal Park.
9. Public Comment- No one signed up to speak.
10. Public Hearings- No one signed up to speak
a. Ordinance 23-14: An ordinance amending the Municipal Code Title 12, Chapter 5 Housing Code and Chapter 6 International Energy Code.
b. Ordinance 23-15: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map and re-subdivide land from R-20 Low Density Residential and C-1 Central Business to CPUD Commercial Planned Unit Development on Raymond Hirsch Parkway.
c. Ordinance 23-16: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2024
11. Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator- City Attorney Webb had an update involving the Days Inn. The issue has been resolved. The owner has requested that the buyer be able to enter the property in order to complete an inspection and that they be allowed to retrieve some personal items. This request will be granted. City Administrator Herman stated that he gave his update at the chamber lunch earlier in the week. Mayor Corbitt thanked him for his work on that.
Approval of the reports.
No new resolutions.
14. Consideration of the Following Ordinances:
a. Ordinance 23-14: An ordinance amending the Municipal Code Title 12, Chapter 5 Housing Code and Chapter 6 International Energy Code. Second Reading. Planning Director Clark addressed this at the last meeting. The state has changed their energy codes from the 2009 to the 2018 updated version in July of this year. The city is required to do the same. Approved
b. Ordinance 23-15: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map and re-subdivide land from R-20 Low Density Residential and C-I Central Business to CPUD Commercial Planned Unit Development on Raymond Hirsch Parkway. Second Reading.
Clark began this discussion with a recap of this property. When it was first presented to planning, they wanted to build 120 town homes. That project was denied. This commercial project first came to planning with commercial buildings and 70 town homes. It made it through planning with 30 single family homes roughly 20k sq ft lots. This is the new plan with that number. The developer was not in attendance for the meeting. Alderman Matthews asked about the traffic study and wanted to know how the 3% background noise was calculated. Clark was unsure of their method. Matthews stated that 3% seems awfully low given our future growth projections. He asked if the impact of the new lanes on Raymond Hirsch were included. Clark stated that they were. Matthews believes that the numbers in the traffic study concerning volume are low given the Publix and the city’s growth. With the excess demand on Raymond Hirsch and 76, we may be back to square one even with the improvements that Sembler will be making. Clark added that all changes will need to be approved by TDOT on 31W for this property. Matthews stated that the intersection as it is is dangerous. The volume backs up there and the city or the state is going to need to put money into Raymond Hirsch. At some point it will need to be 4 lanes. The volumes calculated in the study are 15k a day. It could be up to 76 traffic volumes. The city needs to be aware that we will need added capital to make these future improvements. Corbitt added that denying this commercial property would be a bad idea. As the zoning stands, another developer could come in and build 30 single family homes and the city would lose that space for business. Alderman Wall clarified that left “as is” they can build 30-35 homes. Alderman Spicer agreed and finished with the fact that without the rezone to CPUD, the city would lose the commercial tax revenue. Matthews asked if the developer had plans to go before the industrial development board. Herman said that there was no discussion on tax abatement for this property. Core5, behind Love’s, did not request it, only Sembler (Publix) has. Some cities give the abatement to everyone. Sembler asked for it because of the extensive road work they are required to do. Matthews asked if the office space on the plan could be changed to commercial space and if so, that would bring in more traffic. Wall asked if this developer was responsible for any road improvements. Clark replied that they will need to add turn lanes and sidewalks on Raymond Hirsch. Approved
c. Ordinance 23-16: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2024. Second Reading.
The Sage Road project went over budget and the budget needed to be amended to accommodate the rise in price. This was discussed at length last meeting. Approved
d. Ordinance 23-17: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2024. First Reading. The stoplight at Hester and 76 was hit by a truck. The accident happened after the budget was completed for that fiscal year. The insurance money from the accident then came in after the next budget was created. In this same amendment is the overage needed for the soccer complex.
Herman began with the explanation that the bids for the soccer complex parking lot came back high. TDEC said they would come up with half in a grant but the city had to find the other half. The mayor had to send a letter to TDEC about the situation. The fund balance was found in park impact fees. Now the budget needs to be amended to reflect the change. Herman has asked the Rogers group to hold the price until the second vote on this in November occurs. This project includes the parking lot, the sidewalks, lighting and catching up with some codes. This lot will be nice to have for the Americana Festival and tournaments. Matthews asked how did it become so far over budget. Kevin from parks explained that this was a 2020 grant and the numbers had been started in 2019. It was a long process to get from the grant writing phase to bids. Herman added that when they started it was a $500 grant that matched half. Today it’s $3 million. Inflation is the reason this project and the Sage Road project is so high. Approved.
e. Ordinance 23-18: An ordinance amending the Municipal Code Title 16, Chapter 2 Street, Sidewalk and Drainage Design Standards Section 16-220. First Reading
Public Works Director Cieslak asked for the change in language in this ordinance. The was it was previously worded was “overkill” to do with the density testing. They are not getting rid of that just adding at the city’s discretion. Matthews asked what the standard was. Cieslak replied 95%. Approved.
15. Purchasing:
a. To approve or reject the proposal from Clarke Power Services and allow City Administrator Gerald Herman to enter into a three-year agreement with an optional two-year extension for preventative maintenance services of all City generators. The Administrative Services Director recommends approval. Derek Watson, administrative services director, was responsible for this contract. The generators that are housed at each facility need to be maintained. The city decided to look for a new company this year since the current contract is about to end. They came up with specifications and solicited bids. The current contract is with Cummins. Clarke was the company that ranked the highest with the department heads and was reasonable in price. The price is for a three year contract with an option to add another two years at the same price. Matthews asked why the new building was not included. Watson answered that the generator is still under warranty and because of the issues it has had, they are leaving it with SSE until the warranty is up. Wall asked when that would be. Watson answered that it was a year, but with the issues, it was extended. Wall asked if adding the generator to the Clarke contract would cost more, Watson replied yes. Approved.
b. To approve or reject the purchase of a vac-trailer from Ditch Witch of Tennessee off the Sourcewell cooperative contract #110421-CMW in the amount of $107,681.51. The Public Services Director recommends approval. Cieslak added that the current one the city owns is 20 years old. He also said that they saved the city $60k/year in future spending by going with a smaller piece of equipment. Approved.
c. To approve or reject the purchase of four (4) 2025 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Vehicles from Lonnie Cobb Ford off the State contract #80355 in the total amount of $178,404. The Police Chief recommends approval. These are the four vehicles that were brought to the budget retreat in the spring. Two of these will replace totaled vehicles and two will be newly added vehicles. Matthews asked if they would be white or black. Chief Brady answered that they will be black. The black will arrive sooner. The last one they ordered took 13 months. Brady has no idea how long these will take especially with the UAW strike on the horizon. Herman added that two of these were paid for with impact fees. Approved.
16. OtherBusiness:
a. None
17. DiscussionItems: a. Adjusting/discontinuing late-night flash operations at signalized intersections. Alderman Wall brought this item to the table to discuss. 76 and 31W at night seems to be an issue. When all of the lights are flashing at 11 o’clock it’s hard to see turning south off of 76 on to 31W. 76 and Hester is also problematic when the lights are flashing. Wall thinks that the signals should not flash at any point of the night, especially when there is traffic from games after 11 pm. Herman said this was looked at back in 2012. The fiber was installed and all of the lights were connected. It was discussed with the city engineer. At night, motorcycles couldn’t activate the lights and would sit through several cycles until they finally ran the red light. When they switched to the Gridsmart system they did some research and went to the flashing lights starting at 9 pm and ending at 5 am. Maybe it needs to be tweaked a little, but we can do a study session if necessary. Herman spoke with Sergeant Erin Martin since she worked over nights for years. She is going to look into crashes at the intersections. This is a policy decision not an operational decision. Wall said that a citizen brought it up to him just the other day. Herman added that most complaints on that intersection were that you sat too long, but the Gridsmart ahs helped that. Herman will get more data and look at the number of crashes. Wall wants to make sure we are concerned with future safety with the number of people projected in the next eight years. Herman said they should have a round table study session. Mayor Corbitt said schedule it.
18. OtherInformation: a. None
19. Adjournment:
The city agenda packet can be found here.
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Thank you, Nikki! Glad the park name change was uneventful.
Thanks Nikki. Also I’m not sure what that 3% study means, in regard to the property on Raymond Hirsch. I wish I was there to ask someone, spent the last two weeks in and out of the hospital so I could not. I can say when sitting on my back deck, (across from S&W Greenhouse back two blocks), that we can hear traffic from 31 and I suspect even 76 since we can hear the games being announced at the football field. I know Kris Freeman can project his voice, but there are others we have heard announcing as well. So I suspect this traffic issue might get louder than they think. I’ll have to do my homework on exactly what that means. If you have any insight in to that I would appreciate a heads up! Thanks again, great info!