City Council

MINUTES OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL,TENNESSEE SPECIAL CALLED CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 16, 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 16, 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, Economic Development Director Tom Anderson, Parks and Recreation Director Terry Napier, and Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: A. Discussion of Necessity for Conducting Electronic Meeting: City Attorney Danielle Smith explained the recent changes to the open meeting laws. 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 for inviting him to the meeting. The Health Department is expediting their testing capabilities. Starting next week, drive-thru testing will be made available to anyone in the community on an appointment basis. They are seeking funds to do disease detection and cluster isolation to help contain the disease in preparation for when the State opens back up. Dr. Stephen May, Sullivan County Regional Health Department Medical Director, stated that the national death rate is 4.8% and Tennessee's death rate is only 2.2%. The predicted peak day is today. He provided other COVID-19 statistics. Currently, Sullivan County is at a social distancing rating of F and Tennessee overall is a D minus so that is concerning. Modeling is predicting that 4.5% of patients in Tennessee will require hospitalization. Rural regions are following one to two weeks behind the major metropolitan areas based upon modeling trends.  special Called City Council Meeting April 16, 2020 Page 2 of6 Vice Mayor Mahlon Luttrell asked where we were experiencing social distancing problems. Dr. May responded that problems developed over the Easter weekend. Sullivan County's social distancing rating was higher the week before. Councilwoman Lea Powers asked what people should be doing in addition to social distancing. Dr. May discussed the importance of washing hands. He also stressed the importance of masks in the community to help stop the spread ofthe disease. Mr. Mayes said the best defense against the disease is social distancing, hand washing, personal protective equipment(PPE), and to avoid contact with those that are sick. Councilman Vince Tumer asked if testing would be able to determine if someone had experienced the disease in the past. Dr. May replied that the antibody test is not available yet. The current testing will detect the virus. However, it will only detect it if you are secreting the virus. There are currently delays in getting the test results back and in some situations, it is taking five to seven days to receive them. The best type of specimen to obtain is via a swab test through the nose in order to get better test results. Professionals are collecting the specimens while citizens remain in their vehicles. Mr. Mayes expressed his appreciation to City Council and City Manager Sorah for their leadership through this event and for helping to communicate to the public. C. Fair Housing Month Proclamation: Councilwoman Powers read a proclamation declaring April 2020 as Fair Housing Month. Ella Kane, Chairwoman of the Bristol Housing Board, and Steve Scyphers, Chief Executive Officer of Bristol Housing, were present to accept the proclamation. D. Bristol Housing Presentation: Mr. Scyphers reviewed the history of Bristol Housing and the name change from Bristol Tennessee Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Mr. Scyphers shared a PowerPoint presentation regarding the history and mission of Bristol Housing. The Authority was chartered in 1964 by the City of Bristol, Tennessee. Edgemont Tower and Fort Shelby Tower were constructed to provide housing for elderly and disabled individuals. He reviewed the Board of Directors and staffing structure of the organization. They are currently utilizing contractors for unit turn arounds, mowing, and landscaping. He also discussed the response of the organization to COVID-19. Mr. Scyphers reviewed the Public Housing Program and Housing Choice Voucher Program. He showed pictures of the housing facilities located throughout the City.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 16,2020 Page 3 of6 Bristol Housing receives no City or State funding. The main sources of revenue are rent and assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD). Bristol Housing is also involved in several tax increment financing (TIF) agreements. The West Ridge TIP ended last week and the City will be able to retain the revenue going forward. The Southgate TIF is slated to be completed in March 2022. The City will realize over $200,000 in additional funds per year when this TIF is completed. The Lavinder Lane Villas TIF will mature in January 2030, however, the project is slated to pay off earlier. The E. W. King TIF will mature in December 2033 and this project is also slated to pay off earlier. The Tenneva Hotel TIF was reviewed in regards to funding and project completion dates. This TIF loan will mature in 2035. Mr. Scyphers reviewed the movement in HUD to convert Housing Authority stock to privately owned Section 8 voucher programs. This would de-federalize the program and thus, would help eliminate many of the rules and regulations. Mr. Scyphers stated that public housing as we know it would go away. Externally, there would only be a few changes as the main difference would be how the money would be handled internally. Councilman Turner asked if they could dispose of properties that required a lot of upkeep. Mr. Scyphers replied that he could as long as he had replacement housing. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked if this would change the entity's ability to do TlFs and Mr. Scyphers said that it should not. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked how many people live in public housing. Mr. Scyphers responded that approximately 750-800 people are currently in public housing. Mr. Scyphers thanked Dr. May for his assistance in managing COVlD-19 in the two high rise facilities. All residents are being provided with masks. They are regulating the gathering requirements. They will receive assistance from the Health Department if declared a cluster. A cluster is being defined as three or more cases in one of the towers. Staff is working to monitor the situation and stay on top of the issue. E. Economic Development Incentive Policy: City Manager Sorah stated this was a work in progress. He introduced Economic Development Director Tom Anderson to present the issue. The program covers several types of incentives such as extension of infrastructure, tax increment financing (TIF), and payment in lieu of tax (PILOT)agreements. Mr. Anderson reviewed the TIF policy highlights. It included several factors such as the applicant contributing equity of at least 15%. The project should be anticipated to increase the property's appraised value for tax assessment purposes by at least $3,000,000. The TIF infusion is also not to exceed 25% of the project costs. PILOT performance metrics were presented by Mr. Anderson including job creation/retention, capital expenditures, local impacts, and the Industrial Development Board (IDB)finding of the project of unusual benefit. He reviewed the performance metrics  Special Called City Council Meeting April 16, 2020 Page 4 of6 scoresheet and median income source data. Mr. Anderson went through an exercise reviewing a PILOT and showed how the scoresheet would work. Mr. Anderson explained the proposed strategic development areas (SDA) of the City. He showed the map of the areas in the City and reviewed the point system assigned to SDA incentive performance metrics. Councilman Turner asked if any of the projects that had occurred in the past would not have been eligible under this policy. Mr. Anderson replied that he has looked at that and they would have been eligible and still qualified. Vice Mayor Luttrell said that we need to review this and get it into play. Councilman Keen asked when would there be a PILOT versus a TIP. Mr. Anderson responded that PILOTs are used in areas that are not TIP districts. Councilman Keen asked what happens when there is a situation where both would work. Mr. Anderson said it depends on several factors. A TIP agreement can go for a longer period of years. We typically do 15 year agreements. However, the State of Tennessee authorizes a TIP agreement to be up to 20 years. Councilwoman Powers said that several projects in the past have not had the economic impact desired based upon this policy to be a TIP agreement and Mr. Anderson agreed that was correct. She also clarified that with a PILOT there would be claw back provisions if the terms of the PILOT were not met. He said that was correct. Mr. Anderson reviewed a COVlD-19 Business Resources site that has been developed to assist businesses with navigating the COVID-19 situation. They are working on a virtual hiring expo to queue up businesses for when the situation improves. The goal is to have jobs waiting for people when they are able to go back to work. Mayor Peierabend thanked staff for their work. She stated that it was good to hear optimism at this time. F. City Manager Report: City Manager Sorah asked if City Council was ready to put the Economic Development Incentive Policy on the agenda for approval at the next meeting. Councilwoman Powers said that she would like a week more to review it and then she should be good. Mayor Peierabend said that if they had questions then they could ask them at their next meeting. City Manager Sorah listed the items that will be reviewed at upcoming Council meetings. He discussed moving the budget meeting from the April work session to a date in late May to allow for a different meeting format to be utilized.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 16, 2020 Page 5 of6 He discussed City operations and the volume of public safety calls. He stated that citizens are still being offered the same services, except that some are having to be offered in a different format. Parks and Recreation Department activities have been impacted the most because of COVID- 19. Parks and Recreation Director Terry Napier gave an overview of the available programs. He has discussed the opening of the Farmers Market with several other entities. The majority of the markets are opening on Memorial Day weekend. He stated this may shift in the upcoming weeks, however, it is the current expected opening date at this lime. He discussed the opening of the swimming pool. He has delayed the repairs to the pool that are normally done prior to opening. There is no known opening dale at this time. They are doing extensive cleaning at the Slater Center so they will be ready to go when able. Several outdoor programs can open rather quickly. However, there will be a delay to find staff to cover programs before they can reopen. They are using this opportunity to take care offacilities and do repairs. They are waiting on a time that they can reopen for the public to come back. City Manager Sorah asked when City Council would next like to hear from the Sullivan County Department of Health. City Council members advised that they would like an update at the April 28''^ meeting. G. Council Comments: Councilwoman Powers discussed that she felt the ordinance that provides the Mayor the authority to declare a state of emergency should be revised. She stated that the Mayor represents City Council. However, she felt that a state of emergency should be the decision of the City Council as whole. She discussed several references regarding this issue. Councilman Keen asked how the process would work. City Attorney Danielle Smith said it would require an ordinance. Therefore, they needed something to read before they could approve it. The ordinance must also have a week between first and second reading. She reviewed ordinances of other municipalities regarding this issue. Vice Mayor Luttrell said he would like to review the matter to make sure there are no negatives. Councilman Turner would like it added to the next meeting so it would be out there and scheduled. Mayor Feierabend asked for the City Attorney to work on this and see if she can have it for the meeting on April 20'^. Mayor Feierabend discussed Census responses and relevant data. She encouraged everyone to file either online or via mail. She also stated this is a good time to complete online training, such as the required utility training that City Council must complete. She also mentioned other available webinars.  Special Called City Council Meeting April 16, 2020 Page 6 of6 There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:02 a.m. by Mayor Feierabend. ^^argaret Feierabend, Mayor Tara E. Musick, City Recorder