City Council

MINUTES OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL,TENNESSEE SPECIAL CALLED CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 9, 2020 CALL TO ORDER: The City of Bristol, Tennessee Special Called City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Margaret Feierabend at 9:00 a.m. on April 9,2020. The meeting was held electronically via Zoom. ROLL CALL: 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, Development Services Director Tim Beavers, Parks and Recreation Director Terry Napier, and Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell. 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, Sullivan County Regional Health Department Update: Gary Mayes, Sullivan County Regional Health Department Executive Director, thanked Council and the community for their support and said everyone is doing a good job. He discussed the Nurse Connect hotline and the availability of staff to guide businesses on what is considered essential and nonessential. He believes the Governor's Executive Order is having a positive impact on the numbers of people with coronavirus in Sullivan County. Dr. Stephen May, Sullivan County Regional Health Department Medical Director, provided current statistics on the number of cases of the coronavirus in the State of Tennessee and in Sullivan County, Tennessee. He said the doubling rate of the virus is not as fast as it could have been if the social distancing measures had not been put in place. Mr. Mayes discussed the status of personal protective equipment(PPE) availability and how supplies are being managed. He stated that social distancing appears to be flattening the numbers better than had been expected two weeks ago.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 9, 2020 Page 2 of6 Mayor Feierabend asked about how testing is being conducted. Mr. Mayes said they are continuing to test and that process has not changed much in the past three weeks. The Tennessee Department of Health is working on increasing testing. Mr. Mayes stated that we are not where we need to be in Sullivan County but we will get there. As soon as tools and capacity are in place, they will release the information to the citizens. The testing sites remain the same and all sites are still performing prescreening. Dr. May discussed how quickly test results were being received. Councilman Turner asked about the number of hospitalizations in Sullivan County. Dr. May confirmed that two cases at Ballad Health are currently in Sullivan County. Councilman Turner also asked when the two-hour result test would be available. Dr. May discussed the difficulty with the current machine which is why they have had to use the tests with a longer result time. Vice Mayor Mahlon Luttrell asked how many days ofPPE are on hand. Mr. Mayes responded that Sullivan County currently has eleven days on hand. He discussed that Ballad Health is helping them sterilize equipment and that they are continually searching to procure more PPE. He stressed that our number of cases are not growing exponentially which offloads pressure on PPE. Councilwoman Lea Powers asked if they will follow the Governor when the statewide restrictions are lifted. Mr. Mayes said that he will base that decision on how the disease is impacting the local area and with the support of the local government leaders. The Center for Disease Control(CDC)is supposed to be releasing work-related social distancing guidelines. Upon request of Councilwoman Powers, Dr. May reviewed there are currently thirty cases in Sullivan County and also provided other data relevant to Sullivan County. Ballad Health has had ninety-six cases hospitalized in the system locally. Mayor Feierabend expressed her appreciation for support of the Sullivan County Regional Health Department. C. Frontier Health Update: Ms. Kristie Hammonds, President and CEO of Frontier Health, provided an update of where Frontier Health is with handling the virus. They have changed to a telephonic and telehelp model to serve patients at this time and all services are currently in operation. They made one change to the hours of operation for outpatient services. Services are not being offered on Fridays. They still provide access to services on a twenty-four-hours/seven days a week schedule. They have been working with the homeless population and local non-profits. There has been a shift on substance abuse treatment. People are holding back on seeking help. Crisis treatment is remaining stable.  special Called City Council Meeting April 9, 2020 Page 3 of6 Vice Mayor Luttrell asked her what the homeless population of Bristol would be. Ms. Hammonds replied she was unsure however, she anticipates that it will change in the future. She knows that Bristol has a unique situation and several people with mental health and substance abuse issues. Councilwoman Powers asked if they were keeping a plan or log of opportunities they had learned from this situation. Ms. Hammonds said that being able to use technology to reach people is an opportunity to engage people differently. She hopes that this will open up the funding stream to allow more of this type of treatment in the future. Ms. Hammonds wants people to know they are open and still providing services. Mayor Feierabend stressed that Frontier Health is still serving our community. The Mayor also discussed how the other crisis services were responding to the situation. D. Downtown Center Mural Wall Repairs: Councilman Chad Keen had requested in a previous Council meeting that the mural wall repairs at the Downtown Center be discussed in regards to timing and whether the project should be postponed. City Manager Sorah reviewed the status of the current contracts and the costs that had been incurred to date. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked if the items procured to date could be useful elsewhere in the City. Development Services Director Tim Beaver stated the items procured were tools to perform masonry work and there is not really a need for them elsewhere in the City. Mayor Feierabend asked if City staff could repair the portions of the wall that were in need of the most repair. Mr. Beavers replied that we have several talented employees that could work on the repairs. Councilwoman Powers asked what our liability would be ifthe wall were to have failure. Mr. Beavers responded that the structural engineer who reviewed the wall did not see the wall as being in need of immediate repair to prevent failure. Councilman Vince Turner asked ifthe liability would be shared with the co-owner ofthe wall. City Attorney Danielle Smith replied that topic should be discussed later and the decision to postpone the project is based on a variety of other factors. Councilman Keen asked when the mural was last repainted. Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell stated the mural was repainted in 1999. A discussion occurred in regards to whether the entire mural or just portions of the mural had been repaired.  special Called City Council Meeting April 9, 2020 Page 4 of6 Councilwoman Powers discussed the economic situation, the current year budget process, and the need to take a careful look at the numbers. She discussed fund balance requirements and how we prepare the budget to ensure there are reserves in case another major disaster were to occur. She would like the issue tabled, if there is no liability exposure, until the budget and the financial situation is reviewed. City Manager Sorah said that the stage has been ordered and he is not sure if the order can be cancelled. Councilwoman Powers said that the issue was whether or not to repair the wall and she was not discussing the stage at this time. Councilman Keen asked if we should check if we have members of City staff who could do the repairs. Mr. Beavers said they could review the talents of staff and then determine. Councilman Keen asked Vice Mayor Luttrell what his thoughts were. Vice Mayor Luttrell replied that he saw nothing more wrong with the wall than would be to a normal house. Councilman Keen made a motion to eliminate the repair for the wall. Councilman Turner asked if the tools that have been bought could be used by staff to use to touch up the wall. Councilwoman Powers requested a written opinion from the structural engineer. The City Attorney said that Council was trying to repeal Resolution 20-17 which is a resolution awarding a bid for restoration of the Country Music Mural Brick Fagade at the Downtown Center. Councilman Keen requested to keep his motion to repeal Resolution 20- 17. Councilman Turner seconded the motion. Councilwoman Powers asked if the request for a written opinion of the structural engineer was unrealistic. She would at a minimum ask for a summation of the structural engineer's report. Mayor Feierabend would like to see ifthe artist would agree to a release at the end of a certain number of years or upon his death. Councilman Turner said that Mr. Beavers had already answered a lot of questions about the wall based upon data from the structural engineer. Mayor Feierabend called for a vote on the motion. The vote to repeal Resolution 20-17 was as follows: Feierabend Yes Keen Yes Powers Yes Luttrell Yes Powers Abstained  Special Called City Council Meeting April 9, 2020 Page 5 of6 Council discussed the upcoming meeting schedule. The budget will be discussed in work session at 10:30 a.m. on April 28'^. Councilman Keen asked what business was missed in the last work session that needs to be addressed. He would like to be updated weekly. City Manager Sorah replied that Believe in Bristol was addressed in an earlier meeting. The economic development incentive program needs to be reviewed. Mayor Feierabend also mentioned the comprehensive plan review. City Manager Sorah said the plan could be reviewed in a Zoom meeting with the consultant. Mayor Feierabend asked if each meeting should have an agenda. The City Attorney said that each meeting should have an agenda since they are special called City Council meetings. The advertisement process for the meetings was discussed. The decision was made to meet on April 16"* and April 20"^ at 9:00 a.m. Councilman Keen asked if there was any future business that needed to be discussed. He is expecting an update from Discover Bristol. City Manager Sorah said maybe that could be on one of the two upcoming meeting dates. Councilwoman Powers discussed the financial impact of the virus and the potential for the State of Tennessee to extend the budget deadline for fiscal year 2021. Councilman Turner asked if the deadline has been extended and Councilman Powers replied not at this time. Councilwoman Powers mentioned the Bristol Tennessee Essential Services(BTES)COVID- 19 Relief Project. They will provide some free Internet to homes with students to allow students to continue their schoolwork. The terms of the program were discussed. Wireless hotspots have been opened to the general public downtown, at Avoca Elementary School, and in the BTES parking lot. E. Council Comments: Mayor Feierabend mentioned the local food pantry hours and their need for volunteers as well as the soup kitchen and their hours. Meals on Wheels continues with funding from the First Tennessee Development District. Haven of Rest is also providing food. She mentioned Healing Hands and the services they offer. First Baptist Church is offering a charging station. Councilman Turner asked if there is knowledge of any COVID-19 homeless population. Mayor Feierabend replied not to her knowledge. We need to be able to test more and isolate the positives and the planning process for that is happening now. Parks and Recreation Director Terry Napier said the current plan is isolation and the Haven of Rest has a house which could be used for isolation. He reviewed contingency plans for our community in regards to feeding. There is not a capacity issue at this time. Councilwoman Powers encouraged everyone to look for opportunities at this time to be helpers.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 9, 2020 Page 6 of6 There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:49 a.m. by Mayor Feierabend. ^argaret Feierabend, Mayor f. Tara E. Musick, City Recorder