BOMA Meeting April 21st

Monthly Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting 4-21-23

Items 1-6 were all done and approved. All members of the board were present. There were three people signed up to speak under #8, public comments. All three were actually speaking towards ordinance 23-04 concerning mobile food vendors.

Speaker #1- Sierra with Asi Hibachi and Sushi. She came forward asking the board to change their perspectives on food trucks. The food trucks are not out to harm the local restaurants. They started this food truck to serve their friends and neighbors. This truck allows for her husband to have a more flexible schedule and he is finally able to coach his son’s ball team. These trucks have a why. The why is so that her husband could go to all of the school functions and ball games. More of these trucks will come. She asked that when making these rules, they see her, her family, and all of the hard workers around these trucks.

Speaker #2- Jessica Bowman with Pink Truck. She stated that she had the same story as Sierra. She and her husband wanted to spend more time with their families. They are both from TN, he being a White House native. This truck is part of a ministry for them. They can close when they need to, but would also like to grow. They would love to have employees, but right now it is just their family. They welcome criticism, but no one has talked to them personally with a complaint. All they want to do is provide for their families.

Alderman Matthews asked a question at this point. He asked how the rule going from 50ft to 200 ft will affect their business. Sierra said that TN Flea is their number one spot for sales. The 200 foot rule would affect that spot. Right now they park at TSC and schools, and where they are invited. This is a small town, not like Hendersonville, 50 ft should be plenty. Bowman replied that they only go places where they are asked. They respect the restaurants and would leave if they were asked to leave.

Speaker #3- David Muldanado from one of the Taco trucks. (I did not catch the name of his truck) They started this food truck after working at Los Agaves. They were working seven days a week, and didn’t want to do that anymore. He created his own menu and is still working to bring his family up here from Mexico. The food truck gives them more freedom. He is concerned that if they are hired for a birthday party, they could be too close to a restaurant. They are not trying to take business from restaurants, they are all just trying to provide for their families. He also agreed with the statements from both of the previous women.

9. Public Hearings

a. Ordinance 23-04: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 9, Chapter 6 Mobile Food Vendors Section 9-706.

b. Ordinance 23-05: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Ordinance Article VIII, Section 8.050 Impact Fees.

c. Ordinance 23-06: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2023. No one signed up to speak towards any of these. (all comments for a. Were made in the public comment section.

10. Communication from Mayor, Aldermen, City Attorney, and City Administrator- City Administration Gerald Herman stated that the brush in the city exceeded normal amounts due to the wind storm. Staff is working over time to get it picked up. Normally they would get help from another community, but all of middle TN is struggling after the storm. The tennis courts had sustained damage. The ribbon cutting has been delayed. It should all be fixed by the end of May. All utlities have been moved at the old gym. They should be moving dirt on the south side soon. The city is in the last days of budget prep. Inflation and rising debts are going to be an issue, but they will balance the budget.

13. Consideration of the Following Ordinances: Fire I. Library/Museum Public Services J. Municipal Court Planning & Codes Parks & Recreation

a. Ordinance 23-04: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 9, Chapter 6 Mobile Food Vendors Section 9-706. Second Reading. Opened for discussion. Alderman Spicer stated that this ordinance caused a stir because there were more people than usual that showed up for the meeting. She added that she had been contacted by citizens mostly in regards to The Patio.

There is concerns that there is not enough parking and has created a traffic issue. Spicer did state that local businesses invite the food trucks, and Deja Moo has opened their parking lot to the mobile vendors. Would the change in distance affect them? Herman noted that The Patio cannot have any food trucks currently because the property is yet unapproved. They have not yet gotten their certificate of occupancy. Also, any mobile food vendor has to have written permission from the property owner to be on the premises. This ordinance is to make sure there is adequate distance from brick and mortar restaurants. Police and planning do not intend to be out measuring distances. The food trucks do need permission, that is already in the ordinance. Mayor Corbitt added that the 200 feet prevents any truck from parking at “the front door” of a restaurant. Matthews added that 100 feet should be plenty. What is the distance from De La Paz to TN Flea? Derek Watson, administrative services director, said that it is just over 100 feet from De La Paz to TN Flea. 200 feet puts a food truck to the right of the building. Alderman Hutson added that he loves food trucks, but the brick and mortar stores have a much larger investment. The crowd began to argue with him. Asi Hibachi and Pink Truck both told him that they pay for permits in White House and every city they work in. Hutson reminded them that permits are not the same as property taxes. He too has started a business and understands what goes into it. Brick and mortar businesses have restrictions as well. He wants to make sure the playing field stays level. A restaurant can’t just move if it’s a slow day. Bowman, with Pink, asked what that looked like? Hutson added that this is a new problem that the city has to deal with. At that point there were other outbursts from the crowd and Corbitt reminded the citizens that this was not a debate, Hutson is giving his thoughts on the issue. Corbitt assured the people that this can be revisited. This issue is new to the city, and if the 200 feet isn’t working, it can be changed. Hutson added that the city has to work through the growing pains. Herman said that there were no issues in the city when the ordinance was put in place. The city had looked at other cities and their ordinances when this first began. This is the only issue that has surfaced. Brick and mortar restaurants are having the issue. Alderman Silver agreed that 200 feet isn’t unreasonable and it can be reopened for discussion at a later date if needed. This was a second reading and needed a role call vote. Approved. Matthews was the only nay.

b. Ordinance 23-05: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Ordinance Article VIII, Section 8.050 Impact Fees. Second Reading. This is the ordinance that triples the impact fees for the city. Approved

c. Ordinance 23-06: An ordinance amending the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2023. Second Reading. Approved. (for details on this one click here.) Was discussed at length last month.

d. Ordinance 23-07: An ordinance amending the Municipal Codes Title 18, Chapter 3 Sewer Rates, Fees, and Charges, Section 18-301. First Reading

This memo has the explanation of the changes. The changes are to streamline the process. The cut off process is still very lenient. That has not changed. The $500 cut off of non payment is directed at commercial accounts. Ultimately, this gives the account holder six weeks to pay before an actual cut off occurs. Approved.

Public Services Director, Andy Cieslak, said they had looked at four companies for trash service. They used a matrix to rate each company. GFL was the lowest bidder. This is for a 60 month contract. They are allowed a 2.5% increase per year, but need to notify the city 90 days before the increase if they increase prices. The city will be requiring uniformity on the cans. The city is also asking GFL to show up to community events. The start time for pick up has changed from 7 am to 6 am. Holidays will stay the same. GFL will be required to send a calendar to the residents, and use the web for communication with its customers. ie a truck break down. This should be a service with text messages. They will tag a trash can with an “unauthorized use” tag. That is a notice as to why a trash can wasn’t emptied. ie brush in a trash can. They are also be required to supply a 24 hour notification for missed service. Corbitt added that text messages would be great. Herman stated that GFL was actually 3rd in the matrix. The city had to look at overall cost though. GFL would not require a doubling of rats as would another company. When they looked at the error rate of GFL, it was only at half a percent. Corbitt noted that most of the complaints came during the ice storm. The entirety of the purchase can be found here. Approved

There were roughly 40 people in attendance and the meeting lasted 37 minutes.