Board of Mayor & Aldermen

Board of Mayor and Aldermen Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020 Meeting held pursuant to Executive Order No. 16 issued by Governor Bill Lee permitting local governing bodies to conduct meetings electronically. (1) Call to Order: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen convened for their regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday, August 3, 2020 via phone conference at 7:00 p.m. Mayor John Holden presided. The meeting opened with a prayer by Alderwoman Mary Claire Hopper. All members of the board were present. Dyersburg Mayor John Holden noted under the Governor’s Executive Order, all action must be recorded via a roll-call vote. (2) Approval of Minutes: Mayor Holden called for a motion to approve the minutes from the June 29, 2020 meeting. Alderwoman Mary Claire Hopper made a motion to approve the minutes. Alderman Willie Cole seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously by roll-call vote. (3) Unfinished Business: None. (4) New Business: A. Public Hearing – Beer Permit – Family Dollar Stores of Tennessee, Inc. #20283 1935 St. John Ave. #C Dyersburg, TN 38024 Dyersburg Police Chief Steve Isbell mentioned a background review had been completed for Family Dollar Stores of Tennessee Inc.’s Dyersburg location at 1935 St. John Avenue # C, for an off-premises beer permit. Isbell stated he found no reason to deny the applicant the permit. A motion to approve the beer permit was made by Alderman Ricky Hammond with a second from Alderman Willie Cole. The motion passed. B. Attorney Invoice – Mayor John Holden presented the attorney invoice for the month of June in the amount of $4,950. A motion to approve the payment of the invoice was made by Alderman Dennis Moody with a second from Alderman James Baltimore. The motion passed. C. Finance Committee Meeting minutes – July 29, 2020 – Chairman Edward Burks Alderman and Finance Committee chairman Edward Burks reviewed the committee minutes from July 29. The committee began budget discussions for the 2020-21 fiscal year following the $2.3728 Certified Tax Rate recently announced by the State of Tennessee. The meeting was held to inform committee members of the Certified Tax Rate and to review the proposed budget as well as department requests. During the July 29 meeting, projected total revenues were listed at $23,514,200, while total proposed expenditures, which included all department capital outlay and small item requests, were listed at $24,640,400. Without including any capital outlay requests, it was mentioned the proposed budget would be $260,000 to the good. Though no salary increases were listed in the proposed budget, $300,000 was included for street paving. Mayor Holden informed the committee the City had until the end of August to pass a balanced budget. The City is currently operating on a continuation budget. Committee members agreed to review the budget on Wednesday, August 5 at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall and talk with various department heads about their requests. Additionally, Mayor Holden passed out copies of a proposed revised section of the City of Dyersburg Employee Handbook regarding the City’s Sick Leave Policy. Though no formal action was taken, the committee further reviewed the policy Wednesday morning. On Monday, no formal action was taken pertaining to the July 29 committee meeting. Alderman Baltimore asked if employee salary increases could be discussed at the August 5 meeting. “Yes sir, we can discuss salary increases at the meeting,” replied Mayor Holden. D. Bids – Greg Williams – No bids were presented. Report from Aldermen and Alderwomen: Alderman Baltimore: No report Alderman Burks: No report Alderman Cole: Alderman Cole said he had received concerns from residents in the Bruce community pertaining to trash pickup. “Their concerns are trash and curbside garbage sitting at the edge of the street are not being picked up in a timely manner. Sometimes it has been allowed to sit two or three days after garbage pickup – sometimes, and I know this for a fact myself, a week,” said Cole. “I asked Mr. McCulloch [Street, Water and Sewer Superintendent Mike McCulloch] if we could get together and talk to residents about why stuff is not being picked up, what’s being left on the curb, and what we can do about it. Residents who own their homes are concerned about the value of their homes. I told them we would look, and maybe I could meet with someone who could point me in the right direction and what I can tell my residents what they can put out, what not to put out, and what criteria they need to follow.” “Thursday is the household sanitation trash pickup day for Bruce, and if you will be here Wednesday, I will be more than happy to share some pictures with you, and we can actually put them on Facebook last Thursday or Friday, of pictures of what the sanitation guys have run into. A lot of those pictures were from the east side, and I will share those with you,” replied Mayor Holden. “Simply, that Facebook post was to ask people to help us help them – to have their trash in bags, lids on containers. There [are] various pictures of garbage cans full of water, loose trash, and all of that. We will be more than happy to meet with you about all of that and share that information with you. I have talked to Greg Wilson [Landfill Operator] about it. “As far as curbside, that’s a little different,” continued the mayor. “We have a color pamphlet prepared based an ordinance passed several years ago with that is allowable and not allowable for curbside pickup. I would assume I sent that out to this board in the past. If I haven’t, I apologize, but I can have those flyers printed as well to let people know what’s legal and not legal. We can have the meeting anytime and anywhere you want to.” Alderwoman Gilbert: No report Alderman Hammond: No report Alderwoman Hopper: Alderwoman Hopper hopes to have the Street and Sanitation Committee meet next week. She also issued a complaint to the Codes Department concerning two houses on Tucker Street for sanitation and substandard housing conditions near the Holy Angels Catholic Church. Alderman Moody: No report Alderwoman Webb: No report Communications from the Mayor: Prior to adjournment, Mayor Holden presented the following items: - Codes Enforcement Report for July 2020, noting 77 total complaints – 24 sanitation, 21 motor vehicles, 2 substandard housing, 4 notice of repair, 1 non-conforming use (zoning), 2 overgrown grass/vegetation, 15 driveway/autos, and 8 others. There were 81 re-inspections, 1 demolished structure, and 12 citations. - Additionally, Mayor Holden reminded board members of the Finance Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 5 at 9:00 a.m. in the upstairs conference room of City Hall. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:17 p.m. _________________________________ John Holden, Mayor ______________________________ Scott Ball, City Recorder