Board of Mayor & Aldermen

City of Dyersburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday, September 6, 2022 1. Call to Order: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at 7:00 pm in the Dyersburg Municipal Court Room. Mayor John Holden called the meeting to order. All members were present except for Meghan Gilbert and Mary Claire Hopper. The meeting opened with a prayer by Alderman Edward Burks. 2. Approval of Minutes: Mayor John Holden called for a motion to approve the minutes from the August 1, 2022, meeting. Alderman James Baltimore made a motion to approve the minutes and Alderman Edward Burks seconded the motion. All were in favor. 3. Unfinished Business: Elijah Taylor – President of ‘I Am’ Mentoring Elijah Taylor, President of ‘I Am’ mentoring spoke to the board, speaking on how the organization serves as prevention and intervention mentors for local children. Mayor Holden and the board offered their praise and support for Taylor and the organization. Taylor added anyone willing to assist ‘I Am’ in their efforts as a volunteer, a mentor, or in donations can email IAMdyersburggroup@gmail.com , call 731-445-8703, or attend a monthly meeting (next meeting is September 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Future City Recreation Center). 4. New Business: A. Attorney Invoice – June 2022 & July 2022 Both attorney invoices for June 2022 ($5,630) and July 2022 ($6,310.25) were also approved. Alderman Ricky Hammond made a motion to approve the invoice and Alderman James Baltimore seconded the motion. All were in favor. B. Bids – Greg Williams Dyersburg Mayor John Holden presented a bid sheet prepared by Purchasing Agent Greg Williams. The bid sheet contained a total of 15 bids, 6 of which required board approval. The 6 bids requiring board approval were listed as follows: • Dump Truck for Street Department $70,000 was budgeted for the item, however the bid received, utilizing the state contract, was listed at $85,805 from Ford of Murfreesboro. Alderman Dennis Moody made a motion to approve the bid and Alderwoman Vanedda Webb seconded the motion. All were in favor. • ½-ton standard cab two-wheel drive pickup for meter readers $30,000 was budgeted. Notification was given through the State Gazette and one bid was received by the City from Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $33,150. Alderman Willie Cole made a motion to approve the bid and Alderman Dennis Moody seconded the motion. All were in favor. • ½-ton standard cab two-wheel drive pickup for Fire Department $35,000 was budgeted. Notification was given through the State Gazette and one bid was received by the City from Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $39,200. Alderman Ricky Hammond made a motion to approve the bid and Alderman Willie Cole seconded the motion. All were in favor. • ½-ton crew cab four-wheel drive pickup for Fire Department $40,000 was budgeted. Notification was given through the State Gazette and one bid was received from Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $42,800. Alderman James Baltimore made a motion to approve the bid and Alderman Willie Cole seconded the motion. All were in favor. Pertaining to the pickups, Alderman Edward Burks noted only receiving one bid and asked if notification was only given through the State Gazette? “I would like to see more than one bid on these to make sure they’re in line,” said Burks. “I’m pretty sure they (no response bidders) are aware of it, but I’ll find out,” replied Mayor Holden. • Herbicide treatment for four cemeteries $20,000 was budgeted. Notification was given through the State Gazette. Two bidders did not respond, one did not have the required license, and two bids were received in the amounts of $25,410 and $24,402. The lower bid was from Cowles Custom Applications. Alderman Dennis Moody made a motion to approve the bid and Alderman Ricky Hammond seconded the motion. All were in favor. Mayor Holden noted the additional funding needed would come from the remaining funds left over from the privacy fence and Fairview Expansion fencing line items, which came in under budget. Alderman Willie Cole, speaking to Alderman Dennis Moody, stated, “Several months ago I asked about spraying weeds and you said we couldn’t do it because of the runoff that would poison the soil.” “We were talking about the ditches,” replied Moody. “Same difference,” said Cole. “No, it is not,” Moody stated. “The State says you can’t do that. The State has regulations, and they will not let you spray ditches anymore.” Cole asked how spraying the cemeteries would differ from the ditches to which Moody replied, “they say you have grass and other things this would go through before it gets to the ditch to filter it. It doesn’t make sense to me, but that is what they say.” • Replacement of rotten bridge on Stevens St. (Street Department) The item was not budgeted and listed as an emergency repair. Recommendation was to award the bid to Ford Construction in the amount of $34,085. Alderwoman Vanedda Webb made the motion to approve the bid and Alderman Willie Cole seconded the motion. All were in favor. Alderwoman Vanedda Webb asked how the repair would be funded? Mayor Holden noted the funds would come from maintenance within the Street Department budget. The remaining bids did not require board approval as they were approved in the current year budget: • ½-ton standard cab two-wheel drive pickup for Recreation Department $40,000 budgeted, bid awarded to Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $33,150. • ½-ton extended cab two-wheel drive pickup for Street Department $40,000 budgeted, bid awarded to Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $37,200. • ½-ton standard cab four-wheel drive pickup for Solid Waste Department $44,000 budgeted, awarded to Tim Castellaw Ford in the amount of $37,607. • Privacy fence around shop and rear office at Fairview Cemetery $12,500 budgeted, bid awarded to Ramm Fencing in the amount of $10,485. • Chain-link fence, three gates, and automatic opener at Fairview Cemetery expansion $60,000 budgeted, awarded to Ramm Fencing in the amount of $55,360. • 5,800 rollout garbage containers (Solid Waste Department) $405,000 budgeted, bid awarded to Cascade Engineering of Grand Rapids, MI in the amount of $397,956 utilizing the Sourcewell Contract. • 6 Firefighter turnout coats and pants $14,000 budgeted, bid awarded to EVS of Memphis in the amount of $12,705 utilizing the Sourcewell Contract. • Hydraulic jack hammer for mini excavator (Water & Sewer)  $15,000 budgeted, awarded to First Choice Farm and Lawn in the amount of $12,349.75 utilizing the Sourcewell Contract • 9 pairs of various size soccer goals (Recreation Department) Budgeted through the American Rescue Plan Act funding, bid awarded to BSN Sports of Dallas, TX in the amount of $24,140.61 utilizing the Omnia Partners Contract REPORT FROM ALDERMEN & ALDERWOMEN: James Baltimore: Alderman Baltimore said he had been contacted by residents of Scott St. concerned about potholes. He asked if the street could be paved. City Recorder Scott Ball said the bids had recently come back from Ford Construction on repaving City streets, and Scott St. should be paved in October. Baltimore also acknowledged some concerns from the City’s new curbside garbage pickup. Mayor Holden provided an update. “This is the fifth week of the automated rollout of the garbage collection service,” said Mayor Holden. “It has gone fairly well. We’ve put out a lot of information on our Facebook page about it. We would like for folks to put the cans back in the front yard, side of the house, back of the house after their pickup day, but again, we ask people to be patient with us. It is a learning process. It’s a big change in our community. It is certainly easier for our men to do this. We don’t have to worry about getting bit by dogs or grabbing trash bags out and getting stuck by needles, or worker’s comp claims. I think overall it has gone well.” Mayor Holden also asked residents to have their garbage in bags and place them inside their cans. He also asked residents to have their cans out to the curb either the night before their scheduled pickup day or early that morning. Mayor Holden added it is still the City of Dyersburg employees collecting garbage. Edward Burks: Alderman Burks said there have been residents stacking garbage bags on top of the garbage lid containers and asked about additional cans. “We are picking them up, and we have ordered 500 additional cans,” said Mayor Holden. “We are picking everything up, so if people stack bags on top, we are going to get it. You might see folks in a pickup truck going around picking stuff up. Those guys are working hard to serve everybody. It’s a learning process. “What we have found out is some of the cans people have out are bigger than what we’ve set out, our (trucks) are calibrated with belts on there – so if we try to pick up a bigger can it has been breaking the belts,” continued Mayor Holden. “We have had to replace some belts. Those guys are on top of it, and I am in contact with Greg Wilson (Sanitation Director) two or three times a day. We just ask people to call us at City Hall, 311, or my office for help.” Willie Cole: Alderman Cole asked who is responsible for cleaning the ditches located between Martin Luther King and the project housing and between Grant and Gentry. Mayor Holden said ownership needed to be determined, and he would look into it. Meghan Gilbert: Absent Ricky Hammond: Alderman Hammond thanked everyone from the ‘I Am’ group for attending. He said he had recently spoken with Chad Williams, Street Department Superintendent, and noted all the parts are in on the pothole machine, approved in the current year’s budget. “They are waiting for the guy to come in and train them on the machine,” said Hammond.” He also asked the status of the soccer complex in South Dyersburg. “We’re working on punch list items,” said Ball. “We have a company coming in next week to talk to us about top dressing and line painting. The delivery date on the goals is in October.” Mary Claire Hopper: Absent Dennis Moody: Alderman Moody said the state is performing paving along I-155 and asked Mayor Holden if he has spoken with anyone from the state about paving the state routes within the city limits. Mayor Holden said he had recently spoken with State Rep. Rusty Grills and will be in Nashville later in the month to have discussions on the topic. Vanedda Webb: Alderwoman Webb expressed her appreciation to Dyersburg Police Chief Steve Isbell and neighborhood residents for working together on an issue. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR: In closing, Mayor Holden thanked the ‘I Am’ group for their efforts and encouraged everyone to attend the Dyer County Fair. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:37 pm. ________________________________________ Mayor John Holden ________________________________________ Scott Ball, City Recorder