State of the City
A White House Area Chamber of Commerce Luncheon
On Tuesday, October 15th, the city administrator Gerald Herman presented the annual “State of the City” address hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
Herman started with his background and how he came to White House in 2008. He is a retired Marine, and had been in law enforcement in Ohio for many years. He was getting ready to retire as chief and he and his wife were looking to move south. He interviewed with White House and told several funny stories about the culture differences from the north and the south. Ultimately, they ended up moving here and noticed that not only the citizens were nice, but even the criminals. In 2012 he became the city administrator, and was given the task of growing the local economy. The country had just come out of a recession. The population was at 9k, and that board lowered impact fees. Herman started going to the yearly convention in Las Vegas looking to bring economic growth to White House.
These are the number of permits for homes each fiscal year. With what is still left on the books, it should take the city to 29k people in the next 3-5 years. The city needs a current count of citizens, but he guesses that it will be above 18k.
The board of mayor and alderman voted to make this happen. This will begin in April. Two years ago, the board was changed, and the new board has put the brakes on high density residential building. They raised impact feed, and have not approved a single high density development. The only residential approved was for 30 houses in the commercial area of Raymond Hirsch and 31W. Robertson County is still being approached by developers wanting to build outside of White House. Robertson County needs to pay attention to that. The developments here in White House are just finishing up. We have six or seven national builders here in town and will still be building for the next 3-5 years. The current slow down in residential building will really be noticed 5-10 years from now. The growth comes with need for more city employees. The city now employs 140 people. However, sanitation and storm water did not see any tax increases this year. There was a tax increase came from waste water. That was the annual 3% required by the state.
This is the tax increase for the six road projects in the city. This will require $11 million and a 12 year load. Both counties had a reassessment done in the last two years, and the tax rate above reflects that. The road tax increase works out to $4/month on a $300k home.
Here is the list of the six road projects:
North Palmers Chapel- This will be widened from Tyree to the new city park property. The contract has been signed and work begins next week. It should be done by the end of the calendar year.
Pleasant Grove/Hwy 76- This project includes turn lanes on 76 and and a signal on 76. The bids came back at $1.4 million, and the city has the easements necessary and utilities are in the process of being moved.
Sage Road- This project includes widening Sage from Cardinal to 31W. The sewer has already gone through, so the widening is next. The sidewalks will not be put in at this time. Ditches will be built as they are less expensive. This project is in final construction design phase.
Marlin Road/ 31W- This project is in the design phase. A stoplight will be put in place on 31W, and turn lanes will be added. This should be out to bid in fall 2025.
Union Road- Union is a high crash area for the city. It has the second highest crash rate. The goal with this project is to move Union to line up with Pleasant Grove. This would turn that into a four way. This is currently in the design phase.
Calista Road-The goal is to widen Calista Road from Indian Ridge to Bill Moss and add sidewalks. This project is in the design phase. All of these projects are set to be completed in 2-3 years.
Once again, Halloween is on the 31st. Please don’t ask the city to change it for weather. The city changed it once before, and it will never happen again. Halloween is on the 31st.
Herman thanked the community for helping with the Trail of Treats. This will be held at the city park.
Herman proceeded to add what each department had accomplished for the year.
Legal/Administrative Services- They added the new 40 foot tree.
Engineering- Sage Road was widened from Madeline to Cardinal, and the Heritage High School Road extension project was completed. They are working with the state on the sidewalks on 31W.
Finance- This department was awarded the (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting under the direction of Jason Barnes. His department is working on a clean audit for the year.
Human Resources- This department finished the city wide pay study, and the ADA transition plan. They will continue to work on the plan, and also complete all state required trainings.
Police- This year they received their 4th state accreditation, and a $115k grant to update and replace equipment. This year they will be working on designs for a police building addition.
Fire- A new fire truck has been ordered. These trucks now cost $1 million and take three years from order to receipt. The department made upgrades to the training tower this year. Next year they will be adding turn out gear and another captain.
Public Services- They have added another snow plow this year. They also updated trash and recycling routes.
Library- The outdoor reading garden was completed and the fine free program implemented. Next year they are looking to add a butterfly garden.
Parks and Recreation- The soccer complex parking lot is complete, and the tennis courts are also complete. Next year will see the opening of the rec center, and the addition of a park attendant. The rec center should be completed by April. The old building will not be torn down until the new gym is operational. (the old building is in red) Once the new building is fully operational, the old building will be torn down and a parking lot will be put in its place.
Planning and Codes- This department was able to get the Days Inn shut down this year. They have begun the process of updating land use regulations.
Waste Water- The southern force main phase 3 is complete. They will work on phases 4 and 5 this year.
This is the photo that was taken in Vegas highlighting the Publix complex coming to White House. (the building just to the north of Dollar Tree doesn’t exist and there are no plans for it) Along with this slide, Herman highlighted some of the new businesses coming to White House. Teriyaki Madness, a dental office, a nail salon, the Smile Center’s new building on 31W, Express Oil, McInerny Industrial on Union, Sage Road Strip Center, 5/3 Bank, Casey’s, Boom Boom BBQ, Neal’s Pour House, Whataburger, and Wing Stop just to name a few.
With that he thanked the city and the chamber and was finished with his presentation. I did not include all of the slides, but did include much of the information contained in the slides.
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