Board of Mayor & Aldermen

City of Dyersburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday, February 6, 2023 1. Call to Order: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, February 6, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Dyersburg Municipal Court Room. Mayor John Holden called the meeting to order. All members were present except for Mary Claire Hopper. The meeting opened with a prayer by Alderman Willie Cole. 2. Approval of Minutes: Mayor John Holden called for a motion to approve the minutes from the January 17, 2023, meeting. Alderman Willie Cole made a motion to approve the minutes and Alderman James Baltimore seconded the motion. All voted in favor. 3. Unfinished Business: None 4. New Business: A. Tiffany Heard – City of Dyersburg Engineer – Project Update Opening the meeting, City Engineer Tiffany Heard presented numerous project updates: Wells | Industrial Park booster pumps Heard mentioned Well #11 had failed and the casing was falling apart. Due to the damages, the city decided to abandon the well and drill a new Well #11. Heard noted construction of the well is currently wrapping up. “Well #11 failed 18 months ago and we started to have some trouble with the other wells at the Roger Hawkins Water Treatment Plant...there was nothing we could do to fix it for certain, so we decided to abandon it. The new well is definitely going to help make our water supply more resilient,” explained Heard. Initiated roughly 11 months ago, The Fort Hudson groundwater tank at the north industrial park, where Develey Mustard and NSK Steering are located, is getting a new booster pump. The pump will allow the south industrial park to have fewer spikes in pressure, while the north industrial park will have a more consistent fire flow, ultimately better serving the needs of industrial park businesses. “We have been having some trouble maintaining the fire flow pressures that we needed so the decision was made to come in and install an upgraded booster pump system that will allow us to separate that pressure zone from the south industrial park pressure zone,” said Heard. “This is really going to help with reliability for the fire flows we provide to our industrial customers. The actual booster pump has been on backorder. It was supposed to be here in March and now we are hoping it will be in May. There are just lots of issues with the supply chain…we are excited about what this will do for both of our industrial parks.” Landfill Commenting on two projects underway at the landfill, Heard said the City is currently cleaning sediment out of one of the landfill’s sediment basins and is also working on making “major modifications to the [City’s] permit. “We have somewhere between 8-12 years left of capacity in our landfill, so we have been having some conversations lately about when to begin the process to expand it,” Heard explained. “We don’t want to run out of room or get into a panic at the end. We discovered last year when we were undergoing review from TDEC that the slopes for the garbage in one of one our cells were too steep. We were under the impression we had a 5:1 slope, but we have a 4:1 slope in our permit. We met with a consultant that specializes in landfills, and we have been working through that with them. A suggestion was made that we submit this major modification that would alter the maximum allowable slopes on the landfill and that would give us additional capacity in the cells that we do have. And because the major modification is such an undertaking, we have decided to go ahead with permitting the next phase of the landfill.” Heard said she feels the design phase of the permitting will take roughly 18 months. Levees In 2019, FEMA preliminary flood maps did not reflect Dyersburg levees in areas of Bruce and Future City as having an accredited status despite being constructed by the Corps of Engineers. “FEMA had not been clear with us that our levees were going to be shown as unaccredited on these maps, so when we got the map, they showed the Finley levee…and the Bruce levee as unaccredited, meaning that when they looked at the flood areas for Dyersburg, they pretended as if the levees were not there,” said Heard. “Obviously, that put some areas in Dyersburg, Bruce and Future City, into the flood zone, and that was going to require flood insurance and a lot of other things to happen. That was not acceptable, obviously.” Heard said the ordeal was the result of a misunderstanding between the Corps of Engineers, the City of Dyersburg, and FEMA that is being addressed. Heard said FEMA reported it to be unique for Corps-constructed levees to be owned by a municipality, creating some confusion regarding accreditation. Heard made note of four steps necessary to have the levees accredited and recognized by FEMA. Levees must receive a full evaluation by the Corps of Engineers, update manuals to reflect the current operating conditions of both levees and flood pump systems, write an appendix to the hazard mitigation plan, and an interior drainage study to evaluate what would happen if the flood gates were closed and water was to back up outside of the levee. Heard said the study would need to indicate the pump system currently in place would be able to keep up with that water and not cause a flood event. Heard also mentioned full accreditation of the levee would not happen until October. She assured the board that anyone purchasing a home in areas of Bruce or Future City would not be subject to flood insurance while the accreditation is being completed. TDOT A TDOT grant to improve Fort Hudson Rd. and the bridge to connect the old industrial park and the new industrial park was discussed. Heard said the City has been in discussions with TDOT about an SIA grant. Staff have said there is enough economic impact from Develey and the NSK expansion to qualify the city of the funds for the design phase and get the right of way for the project. Heard noted the grant is a matching grant, with the City only required to match 5 percent ($500K) of design and construction and 50% of right of way. The total construction budget for the project is $10M and the city would wait until they had an industrial prospect with enough jobs and investment to qualify the City for an SIA grant to fund construction. . Site Development Grant Heard said the Site Development Grant would allow the City to expand utilities (water, gas, sewer) at the north industrial park to TN Certified Site for further development. Multimodal Grant Awarded in 2021, the grant was initially issued for $950K, however, TDOT increased the grant award to $1.3M following an inspection of the city and proposed projects. Heard said the Multimodal Grant will be used for the development of a multi-use walking path from Horner Rd. to the soccer complex. The grant is a matching grant, with the City paying 5 percent ($65K). Looking forward 5-7 years, Heard said TDOT representatives also discussed plans to redesign the bridges down the South Main corridor. “[The City] was excited to hear that the bridges have moved into the right of way phase. They should move into design in 2024,” stated Heard. “That South Main corridor is going to look so different.” State Transportation Block Grant The State Transportation Block Grant will help fund paving projects in downtown Dyersburg. The grant is reported to provide $250K-$300K/yr. for these projects. Heard said roads being addressed in the grant are those, which have not been paved in the past 10 years. Heard said the grant funds come from an allotment of gas taxes. Recreational Trails Grant Heard informed board members that only two communities across the state were awarded the Recreational Trails Grant. The grant is an 80/20 matching grant allowing for the development of the Jennie Bell walking trail; a bathroom facility at the Forked Deer River Park; a lookout at the Forked Deer River Park walking trail; ADA-compliant sidewalks for the River Park; an emergency phone on the Reagan Levee; a trailhead at the Reagan Levee for ease of access. Community Development Block Grant Heard announced that a CDBG grant totaling $680K-700K, was being matched with $700K of ARPA funds for the construction of a new gymnasium at Future City. ARPA | TDEC  ARPA funds were required to be used on water, wastewater, and stormwater projects. Heard noted the ARPA funds were used to replace Well #6 and make repairs to Well #8. Additionally, funds were used to create a water system model, which is expected to help the City troubleshoot areas of the system with weaknesses or leaks, and allow for repairs, which will strengthen the integrity of the system. Currently, Heard says the City is losing roughly 40 percent of its water. While systems reflecting this percentage of loss are still considered to be healthy systems, Heard said the model would help to identify and resolve issues that would bring the City’s water loss under 25 percent. Heard also noted the funds would be used to purchase a new generator and a “green” water management parking area with room for permanent food truck parking. Heard added that a water and electrical hookup would be available as well as seating. SRF projects The SRF loan, totaling $8M, will replace the pump station generator and allow for manhole rehab and camera inspections on roughly 50 percent of the sewer systems. B. Updated Basic Emergency Operations Plan Approval The City of Dyersburg Emergency Operations Plan was approved on a motion by Alderman James Baltimore and second by Alderman Ricky Hammond, with all others voting in favor. C. Dyer County Hazard Mitigation Plan 2022 Update Approval The Dyer County Hazard Mitigation Plan 2022 was approved on a motion made by Alderman Baltimore and seconded by Alderman Rick Crawford, with all others voting in favor. The above two requests are from James Medling, Dyer County EMA Director D. Attorney Invoice: The attorney invoice, totaling $2,133.75, was approved on a motion by Alderman Dennis Moody and second by Alderwoman Vanedda Webb, with all others voting in favor. E. Bids – Greg Williams A bid for $13,760 authorizing Jackson Overhead Door to replace a steel roll-up door for the Water/Sewer Dept. This is a budgeted item not requiring board approval. -A bid of $263,100 was approved on unanimously authorizing Cottrell Electric to replace a generator at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. A motion was made by Alderman Moody and second by Alderman Hammond, all board members voted in favor. -A bid of $167,000 was unanimously approved authorizing J.S. Haren Co. to replace existing pumps at the Public Works pump station. A motion was made by Alderman Cole and seconded by Alderman Crawford, all board members voted in favor. -A bid of $2,498,335 was unanimously approved authorizing Portland Utilities Construction Co. to repair sewer line defects identified in the survey. A motion was made by Alderwoman Webb and seconded by Alderman Cole, all board members voted in favor.  -A bid of $943,054.82 was unanimously approved authorizing SDT Contractors to repair sewer line defects identified by the survey. A motion was made by Alderman Moody and seconded by Alderman Baltimore, all board members voted in favor. REPORT FROM THE ALDERMEN/ALDERWOMEN: James Baltimore: Thanked City employees and EOC workers for their hard work and dedication during the winter weather outbreak last week. Edward Burks: No Report Willie Cole: No Report Rick Crawford: Thanked City employees and EOC workers for their hard work and dedication during the winter weather outbreak last week. Ricky Hammond: Hammond mentioned the lack of a Cath lab in Dyersburg, asking fellow board members if they knew why Dyersburg no longer provided this service. Mayor Holden replied that Dyersburg Hospital is currently working to open a Cath lab. Mary Claire Hopper: Absent Dennis Moody: No Report Vanedda Webb: No Report COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR: In closing, Dyersburg Mayor John Holden announced that State Route 211 would be closed Feb. 18-20 for railroad crossing repair. Mayor Holden also recognized Dyersburg Police Chief Steve Isbell for being featured in a statewide periodical. Mayor Holden congratulated Gloria Spence, EOC Director on getting her EMP Certification. There are 88 active in the state of Tennessee and Gloria is one of them. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. _______________________________________ Mayor John Holden _______________________________________ Scott Ball, City Recorder