BOMA Meeting

Board of Mayor and Aldermen March 16th, 2023

Linda Silver was sworn is as alderman for Ward 3 before the meeting began.

Items 1-6 were approved and visitors were welcomed. Public comment was opened for the first time and I signed up to speak. First I thanked the board for the opportunity to be heard at meetings. Next I thanked the city for the clean up that has been done on Union Road. My concern was about the resolution GRNC-2023-08. I spoke to the fact that like Atlas Shrugged, any time the government names a bill with titles such as the “Inflation Reduction Act” or “Transportation Modernization Act,” you know there is something not right with it. My concern was that there is no reason for the city to be involved with a state act. A resolution, while not having teeth, seems senseless for us as a small town. Please read about this resolution and act here. As I finished speaking, City Administrator Herman let me know that the city is not voting on this resolution, it was only in the packet for informational purposes. I apologized for wasting the city’s time and sat down. (feeling like a complete moron)

9. Public Hearings a. Ordinance 23-03: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 17, Refuse and Trash Disposal in its entirety. No one spoke.

10. Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator Mr. Herman had updates for the city. The high winds this month did serious damage to the tennis courts to the tune of $34k. There was damage at the police station and fencing at the parks. The total damage amounts to about $40k. The city is waiting on the insurance company at this point to move forward with repairs. The water line has been connected to the old gym, and they are working on connecting the sewer. They have shored up the southwest corner of the building and are going to shore up the heating and air units as well so that they can begin working on the foundation for the new rec center. The parking on the north should be finished by the end of March, and heavy equipment for the foundation will be showing up the beginning of April. The splash pad is closed for the season at this point. It is just not safe right now. They have had to reduce the size of the maintenance building and plans are with the engineer. Once the building is constructed the splash pad can be opened. If that is before the season is over, they will open.

a. Ordinance 23-03: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 17, Refuse and Trash Disposal in its entirety. Second Reading. This was discussed last month. Public Works director Andy Cieslak stated the the language around electronic trash was cleaned up.

The distance for commercial contracts changed from 2500ft to 100ft. (I cannot find what this is in reference to in the ordinance. The city is closed on Friday, I will ask on Monday) Approved

b. Ordinance 23-04: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 9, Chapter 6 Mobile Food Vendors Section 9-706. First Reading. The current ordinance allows food trucks to park within 50 ft of a brick and mortar business. Mr. Herman has said that the city has received complaints from restaurants that this is too close. This amendment changes that 50ft to 200ft. The food truck would still need permission to be on the property. Herman added that the city is making adjustments and enforcement moves at this point. Alderman Hutson asked if there were fines for being too close? Herman replied that there are fines. The first is $50. It can go up from there with fines occurring each day. Their permit can also be pulled. Food trucks can get a temporary permit allowing for a single event or a yearly permit. Alderman Matthews asked if this would impact the trucks at Nervous Charlie’s on 76 or the trucks at TN Flea on 31W? Herman said that they had taken measurements at various spots. The parking lot at TN Flea would be close, but if the food truck moved to a different spot in the parking lot, they would be 200ft from the restaurant across 31W. The police are not going to be in the business of going around the city with a tape measure trying to cite food vendors. This is being put in place for when there are complaints. Mayor Corbitt and Mr. Herman both stated that they have had complaints from restaurants about the food trucks being too close to their businesses. Alderman Spicer asked if they needed permission to be on city property. Yes, they do. Hutson asked about the food trucks in the park. Spicer responded with the fact that some of the rec programs invite the food trucks and then receive a percentage of the sales for their programs. Herman also mentioned that they did measure from the Chamber to the Sonic to make sure that the Chamber could still host events on their property. Approved

c. Ordinance 23-06: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2023. First Reading The amendments on this were in two places. Jason Barnes, finance director, spoke to the changes. He first apologized for the error. He had looked at the wrong line when the budget was first put together. The bond on the new rec center was still in progress and the numbers didn’t account for draws on the account. The only draw that has been made so far has been for closing costs. If the amendment is not make, this account will be over budget by the end of the year. The money is in the fund balance, it just needs to be moved on paper and cannot be done without a budget amendment. The other area where money needs to be moved from the fund balance to the line item is in the Delta Dental account. It is very difficult to guess how many people will use the dental benefits and for what over the course of a year. They didn’t budget enough into that line item, and again, money needs to be moved on paper. Herman added that the money is in each account and is not being taken from another area. Spicer asked if the bond rate will change over the year on the rec center. Barnes replied with it is a 10-15 year bond and the current rate is not only good for this year, but several years. (If I recall correctly, the rate was locked in in June for around 5%-the city jumped on that as rates began to rise) Approved.

14. Purchasing: a. None 15.

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

No discussion on the appointments. The board members were appointed by the mayor. The other members were applicants that were approved. Approved.

b. Election of Vice-Mayor Mayor Corbitt nominated Alderman Spicer as Vice Mayor. No discussion took place. Approved.

16. Discussion Items: a. Municipal Code Title 8, Chapter 3 Package Liquor Stores, Section 8-305 Limitations on number of licenses. This was brought up as a discussion to see if the board wants to amend the municipal code.

Currently, there are only 2 licenses in the city for the sale of liquor. Herman asked the question if the government should be involved in the free market? Can we have another liquor store? Should we allow more licenses? Would it make sense for there to be stores in the town center, or the south end, Sumner County? Mayor Corbitt stated that he sees both sides of the arguement. When the first two liquor stores opened, they expected to have the market until the city grew. However, that’s not really a free market. Spicer asked if the city gets a percentage of the alcohol tax. Herman stated that the city gets the permit fee. Barnes, city finances, said that the city gets taxes from the wholesale of beer and liquor. Those taxes go to the city. Herman added that there would be more details in an ordinance. Currently, it only allows for 2 permits per 12k people. The ordinance stipulates how close they can be to each other, a school, and a church. Hutson asked if they could be changed to allow more, can they also be removed? (not advocating that, simply asking the question about the process) Herman informed the board that the licenses could not be reduced without public hearing. Last time they were added the board took applications and reviewed them. Corbitt said we could pull their permits and put them out of business? Herman answered yes. (again, these were discussion questions) Hutson said maybe it’s time for Sumner County to also have revenue from liquor sales. Herman did add, that with fewer stores, prices tend to be higher. This was not on the agenda for a vote. This was a discussion to see if the board was interested in changing the ordinance since the city administrator and the mayor have been approached with interest in adding a liquor store.

17. Other Information: a. Resolution GNRC-2023-08 endorsing the Governor's proposals to increase transportation funding and to accelerate project delivery. This was briefly discussed in public comments and is in the packet for informational purposes only.

18. Adjournment

This meeting was only 36 minutes long. You can find it on the city’s Facebook page.