Board of Mayor & Aldermen

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE 1 CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING March 12, 2024, at 7:00 P.M. 101 Maple Drive North, Hendersonville, TN 37075 PRESENT JAMIE CLARY, MAYOR JIM WATERS, ALDERMAN, VICE-MAYOR MARK BURGDORF, ALDERMAN RACHEL COLLINS, ALDERMAN KAREN DIXON, ALDERMAN BOB GARZA, ALDERMAN TERRI GOODWIN, ALDERMAN MICHAEL MARTIN, ALDERMAN LEEPETERSON,ALDERMAN EDDIE ROBERSON, ALDERMAN JEFF SASSE, ALDERMAN MARK SKIDMORE, ALDERMAN LANCE WRAY, CITY ATTORNEY ANNETTE HUNTER, CITY RECORDER DESIGNEE ABSENT: JANNA GARTON, ALDERMAN The March 12, 2024, BOMA meeting was opened with a welcome by Cooper Balitsos, a sixth grader at Ellis Middle School and son of Jeff and Shannon Balitsos. Prayer was led by Alex York, Director of Volunteer Services with First Baptist Church Hendersonville Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Clary. AGENDA Waters moved; Goodwin seconded a motion to approve the March 12, 2024, agenda. Collins moved; Skidmore seconded a motion to amend the agenda by renewing the conversation of the resolution regarding the EcoPort. Collins stated she has received information of discussion of a ramp being bui It off Exit 3 that would go straight to the property alleviating much of the traffic concern. When the item comes up on the agenda if added, Collins explained she would defer it for two weeks so all could collect more information. There was discussion in which Roberson stated he recommends that the standard operating procedures be followed with the EcoPort project going before the Planning MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE2 Commission first, then to BOMA to discuss. Roberson moved; Waters seconded a motion to table the renewing of the Eco Port conversation. Clary stated there cannot be discussion or a debate on a motion to table. Collins asked for procedural clarification as to whether this would accomplish the same thing as her motion. Clary explained that a tabled motion can be brought back at any time. A "Yes" vote for the motion to table would mean Collins' amendment would not be voted on. A "No" vote for the motion to table would mean Colllins' amendment would be voted on. There was a majority vote seven (7) to five (5) to approve the motion to table with voting as follows: Aye: Collins, Dixon, Garza, Goodwin, Roberson, Waters, and Clary. Nay: Burgdorf, Martin, Peterson, Sasse and Skidmore. Absent: Garton Clary declared the motion to table carried. Peterson moved, Martin seconded to withdraw Item # 1 under Ordinances and Resolutions. Clary noted sponsors may withdraw with no vote needed. There was a unanimous vote to approve the agenda as provided in the packet, less Item #1. Clary declared the motion carried. PRESENTATIONS There was a presentation of a proclamation for the Hendersonville Police Explorers Post 112. The Explorers Program is part of the Boy Scouts of America and Leaming for Life Exploring. The program is for ages 14-20 who meet a series of requirements, and are interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. While in the program, they learn about basic police procedures, techniques and tactics, receive hands on training, and compete in competitions with other Explorer posts from around the Southeast. They raised funds to participate in a competition in February 2024 in Gatlinburg, TN. The competition included team building exercises with four areas of competition; Active Shooter, Officer Down, Domestic Violence, and Crisis Negotiation. The proclamation extends congratulations to the Explorers on receiving third place in the Officer Down category of the competition and creating tomorrow's leaders. Leia Garton, who serves as a Lieutenant in the program addressed the Board with thanks of support for the program. MPO Goodwin is the head advisor for the Explorers program at HPD. He took over the role after covid. He expressed his thanks for the proclamation and asked that the City continue to recognize and work to improve the program. The participants do so voluntarily and complete community service MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE3 projects every month without question or fail. MPO Goodwin stated Lt. Garton will be retiring as she is aging out of the program and she has expressed her interest to join HPD when she turns 21. Explorers in attendance were J.B. Anderson, Caleb Pedigo, Lillian Faith, Lucy Sherba, Zach Miller, Cameron Rose, and Meagan Frost. The Explorers passed out hockey pucks with a QR code on the back that links to the Explorers' webpage. PUBLIC HEARING None MINUTES Garza moved; Peterson seconded a motion to approve the February 27, 2024, minutes. There was no discussion. There was a unanimous vote to approve the minutes with Dixon abstaining. Clary declared the motion carried. CITIZENS' COMMENTS Clary read the guidelines for Citizens' Comments. David Luckey of 110 Clarendon Place addressed the Board extending thanks for allowing participation in the workshop prior to the BOMA meeting. He wishes to be part of the solution and from his perspective in the development community if he can help, please ask. Lee Jestings of 1000 (address illegible) signed up to speak but was not present when comments were called for. CONSENT AGENDA None ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS The caption was read for first reading of Ordinance 2024-05, an ordinance amending Budget Ordinance 2023-11 to reflect mid-year adjustments to the City's 2024 fiscal year Budget. Clary moved; Waters seconded a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-05. Collins asked Eckenroth for clarification of the $20,000.00 adjustment in the Mid-Year Budget for the Bradford Berry house and whether the trees closest to Main Street were on City owned property. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE4 Eckenroth stated the fallen trees on Main Street are not on the property that was deeded to the City. He further clarified the $20,000.00 was to temporarily protect the house. Tarps and boarding up the house have been completed, but the adjustment was being requested in case more protection is needed. Collins explained she has had several complaints from constituents that have had emergencies in which ambulances arrive later than they feel they should. Collins' research found that ambulances are arriving two (2) minutes after HFD gets to the fire site on average. Collins relayed Advanced EMT's are on the fire trucks, but not always a paramedic. There are currently seven (7) paramedics responding to calls. Chief Bush is a paramedic but typically doesn't respond to calls. Collins shared that she hears Gallatin is contemplating increasing their paramedic pay to $6,000.00 per year in a goal to retain and encourage current employees to become paramedics, which she wishes to do for the City as well. Collins verified with Eckenroth that the impact to the FY 2024 budget would be less than $5,000.00 to increase the pay for the next three months, finishing out the fiscal year. It takes two (2) years to become a paramedic, hence her feeling of urgency to implement. Collins moved; Sasse seconded a motion to amend Ordinance 2024-05 by increasing paramedic pay from $3,600.00 annually to $6,000.00 annually resulting in less than a $5,000.00 adjustment to the City's operating expenses. HPD has no paramedics apart from one crossover employee who is a firefighter and a paramedic, but is also on SWAT. Clary would like to check with Director of Administrative Services Gallo to see what the impact would be for next year since all positions were recently reviewed along with some supplemental pay situations. Collins responded that supplemental pay was not a component of the last pay study. Her goal is to get a paramedic on a fire truck that will arrive two minutes sooner than an ambulance. Clary expressed he would like to phase in a plan where perhaps all Firefighter II positions were required to be paramedics and increase their overall salary. Roberson inquired as to whether paramedics were on the Sumner County ambulances and what they are paid. Chief Bush explained that Sumner County EMS does provide a paramedic and an Advanced or Basic EMT on each unit. The starting salary for a paramedic is higher than what the City pays firefighter medics. Sumner County pays solely for being a paramedic and they have tools that the City fire trucks are not equipped with. There are skills that paramedics have that an Advanced EMT does not. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGES Chief Bush stated the City's additional paramedic pay is not competitive with surrounding agencies. Goodlettsville pays 7% of the salary, the City of Franklin pays $11,000.00; Brentwood pays $6,500.00, and Murfreesboro pays 7.5% of the salary. Roberson prefers to discuss the pay increase during the regular Budget process. Chief Bush stated that the AFG grant will allow an accredited college, specifically Vol State, to come in-house for EMT CEU training. Burgdorf inquired whether the AFG grant applied for would help with the costs. Chief Bush explained that it would cover training and enable the EMT, Advanced EMT and Paramedic programs in-house. Chief Bush explained that those participating in the Paramedic courses would have to attend classes at Vol State, but the grant pays for those classes which can be $12,000.00 - $13,000.00 per student. Peterson inquired as to whether there is a paramedic at each station. Chief Bush explained NFPA requires there be an EMT or higher on 90% of the trucks, so the paramedics in the City have been strategically placed. Chief Bush explained that when paramedics go on a fire call, they do fight fires. If there is a victim that needs care when they arrive because the ambulance is not there yet, the paramedic on the truck will be assigned to take care of the fire victim until Sumner County arrives at which point the patient would be handed off to them. Peterson made an amendment to the amendment to only pay paramedics the paramedic pay when they rendered those specific services. Eckenroth explained paramedics were not the only ones receiving the supplemental pay. The dive team, SWAT, motorcycles, and flex team all receive it as part of their salary per the Hendersonville Municipal Code. Peterson withdrew his amendment to the amendment. He also feels it should be addressed at Budget time. Waters voiced he cannot vote for Collins' amendment as he feels it needs to be done at Budget time. Garza doesn't want fire personnel to work on "commission". Once certified, the pay should reflect the certification. Dixon inquired as to whether this had been discussed in the Public Safety Committee. Goodwin responded that it had been discussed in committee tonight with differing opinion and it was moved forward to BOMA for a vote. Dixon shared she would like to see it all in writing with numbers to consider the long-term goal instead of jumping in at this point. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE6 Clary would like to see how the higher pay impacts other cities across the board, how it helps in recruitment and retention, and whether other cities are requiring the certification of Firefighters or Firefighter Ils. If it will help residents and help with employee retention he might consider supporting this. He would like to revisit it in two (2) weeks to see if there is proof that gives firefighters better wages and pays fairly for experience and training. Sasse asked a procedural question; if a vote was taken and it failed, could the amendment be brought up at the second reading. Clary stated the same amendment could not be brought back up. Sasse recommended withdrawing the amendment, researching and then bringing it back to second reading. Collins withdrew the motion to amend the Mid-Year Budget increasing the paramedic pay with Sasse agreeing as he seconded the motion. Roberson requested that if Collins' amendment is brought back up that it goes to Finance Committee for more research and vetting. Goodwin questioned if the City were to have more paramedics would that increase the City's liability or would it help the insurance rating and lower the insurance. Chief Bush responded that the ISO rating is based on fire calls only; EMS staff is not considered in the rating. Martin requested conversation related to Donations and Contributions. He stated the Fire Department has a new non-profit group and he inquired whether conversations have been had regarding contributions to that new entity. Director Ingersoll explained that applications for non-profit contributions were due last Friday. She has not compiled the packet for the Non-Profit Committee yet so if there were to be a late applicant she could include them in the packet with a notation they were late. Clary noted every application must go through the Non-Profit Committee to be considered. Roberson pointed out for citizens that greater than 50% of the Mid-Year Budget adjustments are going toward Public Safety and 22% is going toward natural disasters accounting for 72% of all the adjustments in the Mid-Year Budget. This is the first year in several where nothing can be added to paving or hire new employees. Capital Projects, located on page 52 of the packet shows the Saundersville/Avondale project having a request for $112,000.00. This is one of the smaller projects and this proves staff doesn't believe the original amount budgeted will cover the project. There was a unanimous vote to approve Ordinance 2024-05 on first reading. Clary declared the motion carried. OTHER AGENDA ITEMS Sasse moved; Burgdorf seconded a motion to reappoint Beverly Hyde to the Historic Zoning Commission. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGE? There was no discussion. There was a unanimous vote to approve the reappointment. Clary declared the motion carried. REPORTS Brief Committee Reports General-Peterson-Report Given by Amanda Grider • Met March 12, 2024. • Discussed Ordinance 2024-04, amending the Hendersonville Municipal Code Title 2, Chapter 1, Section 2-101, relative to appointing members to various boards and commissions. Approved unanimously and forwarded to BOMA with a positive recommendation. • Ordinance 2024-06, an ordinance rezoning 4.84 acres located at the intersection of Saundersville Road and Wyncrest Way from Suburban Residential Low-Density (SR-I) to General Commercial, Planned Development (GC-PD), to be known as the Wyncrest Commercial Plaza. This was removed because the Developer withdrew from the project. • Discussion continued on the Planning Notification Process. Public Safety-Goodwin • Met March 12, 2024. • Discussed Resolution 2024-15, a resolution to apply for a SAFER grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"). Coming to the next BOMA meeting with a positive recommendation. • Discussed HFD paramedic pay. Clary moved; Peterson seconded a motion to add a Public Works Report to the agenda with a two-thirds (2/3) vote required. There was no discussion. There was a unanimous vote to approve the motion to add a Public Works Report to the agenda. Public Works-Skidmore • Met March 12, 2024, for a Special Called Meeting regarding the trash contract. • Resolution for the contract coming in two (2) weeks. • There will be two (2) mailouts regarding the trash service. Planning-Martin • Elliott Electric Supply Site Plan was approved. • The Triangle Phase I - Added Uses Restaurant, Carry Out and Restaurant, Quick Service were approved. MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12, 2024 PAGES • Wyncrest Commercial Plaza - CDP (negative recommendation - 7-0-0). The motion failed and it was sent on to BOMA with a negative recommendation. As stated earlier, the developer withdrew so the project no longer exists. BOMA Report-Eckenroth • Update on the new Purchasing Policy put in place less than a year ago-Any purchase by anyone within the City runs through the new process, which goes through Finance and is then audited at the end of the year by outside auditors who provide a disclosure statement. This ensures money is not inappropriately spent. • Deer Herd Committee Update-TWRA recommended the two most impactful actions to controlling the deer were educating citizens and pairing homeowners who want people to hunt on their land with hunters. The committee has been working on an educational pamphlet that will be released soon and will be presented to BOMA. TWRA has paired the homeowners with hunters. • Eckenroth yielded to Casey LaMarr to explain communication efforts to be rolled out to educate citizens regarding the trash service and the details. There will be two (2) direct mailings, ads and press releases in the newspapers, social media, and City website postings. The first communication to go out will include the explanation of the curbside service option chosen due to cost and the medical waiver process to receive back door service at no charge if qualified. There will also be a webpage dedicated to trash service. For those who do not have internet access there will be copies at the front desk for pickup. • Eckenroth continued with stating next year's Budget schedule will be announced this week. One new fund will have to be considered due to the passage of the Sales Tax referendum. The additional tax will be used for Public Safety, Parks, Infrastructure, and Paving. • Monthly reports are included in the packet. Peterson offered thanks to the Planning and Codes Departments who went out and spoke to a homeowner putting up an illegal fence and educated them on the process. Appreciation was also given to The Clean Team as they repaired a stop sign. Executive session was entered into at 8:30 pm. The Board returned at 8:39 pm. Upon motion by Roberson and second by Sasse, there was a unanimous vote for approval to adjourn. Clary declared the meeting adjourned. Them as adjourned at 8:39 p.m. r- Approved: Jamie Cla ---1