City Council

MINUTES OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL,TENNESSEE SPECIAL CALLED CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 2,2020 CALL TO ORDER: The City of Bristol, Tennessee Special Called City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Margaret Feierabend at 4:30 p.m. on April 2,2020. The meeting was held electronically via Zoom. ROLL CALL VOTE: Present were Mayor Margaret Feierabend, Vice Mayor Mahlon Luttrell, Councilman Chad Keen, Councilwoman Lea Powers, and Councilman Vince Turner. Others present were City Manager William L. Sorah, City Attorney Danielle Smith, City Recorder Tara Musick, Economic Development Director Tom Anderson, Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell, and Interim Director of Schools Annette Tudor. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: A. Discussion of Necessity for Conducting Electronic Meeting: Mayor Feierabend asked if anyone on Council objected to holding an electronic meeting. No one objected since the electronic meeting is necessary to protect public safety, health, and welfare due to the Coronavirus pandemic. B. Believe in Bristol Presentation: Maggie Elliott, Believe in Bristol Executive Director, discussed the mission and vision of Believe in Bristol. She discussed several activities that the non-profit is involved in. The reasons that Main Street is important and goals of the organization were presented. Funding for the organization was discussed, including financial support from both the City of Bristol, Tennessee and the City of Bristol, Virginia. Changes in programming as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic were presented. A Downtown Emergency Loan Program and a Social Distancing Concert Series via Facebook were detailed. Councilman Keen asked if businesses had taken advantage of the Downtown Emergency Loan Program. Ms. Elliott replied yes and that thirteen business had submitted initial application forms. He asked if we expected many more businesses to apply for loans. She said that the press release went out last Tuesday and it has been posted on social media. She knows of three other businesses that are working on their application.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 2, 2020 Page 2 of6 Mayor Feierabend inquired if we had posted the program on the City of Bristol's website. Economic Development Director Tom Anderson replied that there was a link to Believe in Bristol's webpage and this program on the website. Councilman Powers asked if everyone had a clear understanding of the federal opportunities being offered through the Small Business Administration (SBA). Ms. Elliott said that a lot of information had been in limbo until the last few days and that she is trying to educate business owners. Mayor Feierabend expressed her appreciation for the staff of Believe in Bristol. Councilwoman Powers stated that their funding is in jeopardy and is not what they need. Mayor Feierabend asked ifthere was a way for funding to be contributed to the loan program. Mr. Anderson said they could bolster the fund through Believe in Bristol, if desired. C. Economic Development/Small Business Administration Presentation: Economic Development Director Tom Anderson discussed the Paycheck Protection Program and terms. Direct links have been added through the COVID-19 section of the City's website which will link to state and federal resources available. Fie reviewed several of the links and what the programs are about. Each page and link are being continually updated. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked if someone could apply for a People's Inc. loan and for a federal loan. Mr. Anderson said they could apply for both and it does not matter or have an impact on the borrowing ability. Mr. Anderson discussed the activities that his department is currently working on. They are anticipating the need for buildable sites as more investors seek to relocate in the United States after the pandemic ends. They will be doing another hiring expo at the end of the pandemic and will look to regional partners for funding and participation. Commercial developers are looking to start new projects. He has been in contact with several developers regarding current and anticipated projects. Weekly meetings are being held with their partners, such as Bristol Tennessee Essential Services(BTES),to share ideas and to coordinate economic development efforts. Mayor Feierabend liked Mr. Anderson's positivity and it is great to hear there is light after the storm from an economic development perspective. Mayor Feierabend thanked the economic development staff and their partners. She wants to ensure that businesses have what they need to keep their employees safe.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 2, 2020 Page 3 of6 D. Update from Bristol Tennessee City Schools: Mayor Feierabend introduced Interim Director of Schools Annette Tudor. She discussed that all school buildings are closed to the general public. Essential staff are still performing tasks, such as school nutrition. There are fifteen feeding sites in the City. There are thirty-eight students who cannot get to a feeding site and staff are delivering meals to these students. The federal government is altering restrictions as soon as possible for waivers and requests, such as the switching out of foods and delivery guidelines. The Family Resource Center is still helping families. Almost 1,400 packets ofinformation have been distributed to parents at the feeding sites. Books have also been distributed. Students are all working in some capacity at home. Teachers have made contact with every child in the district to check on them. If they could not make contact, information was forwarded to counselors and supervisors. Instructional materials have been distributed to pre- kindergarten through third grade students. Students in grades four through twelve are mostly online. Hard copy packets are being distributed to students experiencing technical difficulties. They are working through how to provide special education services. Services will be provided later to make up for the services that cannot be offered in real time now. The budgeting process is continuing. They are trying to figure out how the COVlD-19 pandemic will impact the financial status. The strategic planning process has been put on hold. Vice Mayor Luttrell mentioned the number of households where children do not have internet access. He wondered if anyone had reached out to BTES for free Internet or assistance. Ms. Tudor responded that Charter had offered free internet for sixty days but they quickly ran into a backlog of work orders. She discussed the possibility of putting hotspots on the feeding buses and discussed the benefits versus the negatives of offering this service. The social and emotional health of students and staff are more important than what can be accomplished instructionally right now. They are focused on how they can support their families and get them through this crisis. Mayor Feierabend thanked Ms. Tudor for focusing on the relationships and is thankful and appreciative of this goal. Councilwoman Powers discussed how little library books should be distributed. Ms. Tudor said to hold on to the current system for now so a variety of places can provide assistance. Packets and the availability to students not in our district were discussed. They are available via the website and at the feeding sites.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 2, 2020 Page 4 of6 Councilman Turner asked that social distancing and not congregating be stressed on all social media posts. Mayor Feierabend discussed support of volunteers or funds and how that could help the school system. Ms. Tudor replied absolutely and discussed a few of the needs where donations could be helpful. Councilwoman Powers asked what was happening with Vance Middle School. Ms. Tudor said there had not been an interruption with construction at this point. BurWil Construction has been great securing supplies and materials which will be needed for future months. Foundation work will continue and everyone should start to see more coming out of the ground. Time-lapse and progress videos have been added to the website. E. Update on City Services: City Manager Sorah has checked with the Sullivan County Department of Health and the number of cases has not changed since yesterday. This is a positive in that we have not grown in reported cases over the last twenty-four hours. The Police Department is still receiving the same type of calls that they were receiving last week. Staff is still working a fifty/fifty split to achieve some separation between staff. Staff are still going through daily screenings at their workplaces. EMS calls are lower. Personal protective equipment(PPE) is fine and that may change as the event deepens. We continue to expand inventories as a result. Public Works Department is maintaining the same levels of solid waste services. These are single staffed vehicles and lean towards the social distancing practices being promoted. There has not been a decrease in bus ridership. Parks and Recreation Department has secured basketball courts and removed nettings. Tennis Courts have remained open, but that may change. Baseball and soccer fields are closed. Parks are otherwise open. However, playgrounds have been fenced off to prevent use. Parks are open for walking and people are encouraged to take advantage of outdoors. Dissecting of animals will be videoed through the Nature Center. Employee updates are being provided. City Manager Sorah asked for Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell to provide an update on the communication plan. He discussed the dedicated webpage to the COVID-19 pandemic on the City's website. He discussed features of the page and the red alert indicator on the website which will take you straight to the page. BTN programming was reviewed. Sixteen different pieces have been produced and aired over the past few weeks. Content has been shared on social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. A local billboard vendor is donating space which will be  Special Called City Council Meeting April 2, 2020 Page 5 of6 used to promote social distancing and safety for medical staff. Six press releases have been issued. The Police Department has also issued a separate release regarding operational changes in their department. Mr. Lutlrell discussed coverage by the media outlets and recent attention provided to City releases over the past few weeks. Improvements to the process were reviewed, such as the timing of releases. Councilman Keen said that timing of meetings might need to change in order to avoid a conflict with other meetings, such as Presidential press conferences. There was a discussion regarding when to meet next week and what topics to discuss. Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday and at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday was decided. F. Council Comments: Councilman Turner would like a resolution added Tuesday night for delivery of beer from local businesses. City Manager Sorah said that a resolution was also being drafted in anticipation of this request. Councilman Turner also wanted to thank the public safety staff for what they are doing during these difficult times. Councilman Keen asked if Council wanted to revise their original plan to fix the wall and to repaint the mural. He still supports the project, but he is not sure that the timing is good. Mayor Feierabend said that could be an agenda item for review next week. City Manager Sorah said that a contract had been executed. However, there are provisions to cancel the project with costs to dale being reimbursed. Just under $8,000 of costs have been incurred for this project to date. Councilman Turner then asked if we could take the supplies and use them someplace else. City Manager Sorah said yes, however, a portion is for the performance bond and a portion is for the labor of calculating and buying the material. Councilman Keen does not want the contractor to do more work for the next week though. He asked if everyone was under agreement in asking the staff to hold the contractor at this point for a week. City Manager Sorah said that he would ask the Contractor to wait until Council could discuss the matter further. Councilman Keen said that doubling of the virus has slowed down which is good news. He has also heard that PPE is coming through other supply chains. A small study has potential and has an 80% success rate of treatment. Vice Mayor Luttrell said that people are getting creative and working together and there are a lot of good things to come.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 2, 2020 Page 6 of6 Councilwoman Powers would like to know our total testing pool and how many have tested positive and negative. She is confident that we will get to the other side and be in a good place. Mayor Feierabend wants to thank the health department for the job that they do. She wants as many resource opportunities to be provided to the citizens as possible. She asked for us to support local businesses even though services may not be received at this time. First responders were thanked and they are appreciated every day for all they do. There are a lot of first line workers in our community that we should appreciate for what they do on a daily basis. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m. by the Mayor. ^[^argaret Feierabend, Mayor Tara E. Musick, City Recorder