City Council

February 13, 2019 The City Council of the City of Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, met in regular session in the Community Room at Murfreesboro Police Headquarters at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, with Mayor Shane McFarland present and presiding and with the following Council Members present and in attendance, to wit: Madelyn Scales Harris Rick LaLance Ronnie Martin Eddie Smotherman Kirt Wade Mr. Bill Shacklett was absent and excused from this meeting and Mr. Kirt Wade left the meeting at 1:00 pm. The following representatives of the City were also present: Craig Tindall, City Manager Adam Tucker, City Attorney Melissa Wright, City Recorder/ Finance Director Gary Whitaker, Assistant City Manager/ Development and Coordination Darren Gore, Assistant City Manager/ Utility Enterprise Erin Tucker, Budget Director Valerie Smith, Assistant Water Resources Director Chad Gehrke, Airport Manager Mr. Craig Tindall, City Manager, introduced Chad Gehrke, Airport Manager, who presented the Construction Agreement and Design Build Contract with Smith Design Build and requested the Council to approve the contract so work could begin on the new Terminal at the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport. The estimated cost for the project is $4,592,240 and, upon clarification from Mr. Gehrke, the Design Build Team has not approved the plans due to the Principal Planner being ill, so Council approval would be subject to legal review. The Council had no questions for Mr. Gehrke. Mr. Wade made a motion to approve the Design Build Contract; for the new Terminal at the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport. Mr. LaLance seconded the motion and all members of the Council present voted “Aye”. Mrs. Erin Tucker, Budget Director, presented the Detailed Bond Resolution and Loan Agreement to the Council. The City received nine offers with SunTrust Bank offering the most advantageous option with a fifteen-year fixed rate with 2.84% interest. The recommendation of the Budget Director is to approve the Loan Agreement for an amount of $58,000,000. Mrs. Tucker, Mr. Tindall, and Mrs. Wright all answered questions from the Council regarding the Loan Agreement. The following RESOLUTION 19-R-05 was read to the Council and offered for adoption upon motion made by Mr. LaLance, seconded by Mr. Martin. Upon roll call said resolution was adopted by the following vote:  February 13, 2019 Page 2 Aye: Madelyn Scales Harris Rick LaLance Ronnie Martin Eddie Smotherman Kirt Wade Shane McFarland Nay: None (Insert RESOLUTION 19-R-05 here authorizing the incurrence of a General Obligation indebtedness of $58 million.) Mr. Paul Latture, Chamber of Commerce President, gave a presentation on what the Chamber is doing to increase tourism; bring sporting events to the City; and bring companies and business to the City. Mr. Latture announced that the three areas that the Chamber is focusing on next are workforce development; new business recruitment; and business retention and expansion. Also, he shared that the Chamber has assisted in creating five industry-led councils: Construction, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, and Technology. Mr. LaLance questioned what the Council could do to attract more companies to the area. Mr. Latture answered that he and the City Manager had already started discussions on rebranding the City and letting companies know how attractive Murfreesboro can be to them. He also shared that a big draw for the companies was that the City was a good place for their workforce to live and that MTSU is a big draw in attracting students who then stay in the area. Mr. Smotherman wanted to focus on relocating government jobs from Nashville to Murfreesboro and wanted to know if the Chamber could assist with that. Ms. Valerie Smith, Assistant Water Resources Director, presented the Water Resources Policies and General Design Requirement Revisions. She announced that the proposed revisions were approved by the Water Resources Board on December 11, 2018. Mayor McFarland expressed a desire to use letters of credit rather than bonds and wanted research to be done to find out what other municipalities were using. Mr. Darren Gore advised the Council that they would conduct the requested research and that the Water Resources Policies and General Design Requirement Revisions will be presented to the Council at a later meeting for approval to implement. The following letter from the Budget Director was presented to the Council: (Insert letter dated February 13, 2019 here with regards to pension overview) Mr. Craig Tindall, City Manager, presented a review of the City’s Pension Plan which stated that the long-term rate of return (LTRR) was set at 6.75% which would have resulted in the City contributing an additional $1 million to the plan annually. The Pension Committee recommended setting the LTRR at 7% at its February 13, 2019 meeting, which results in  February 13, 2019 Page 3 the City contributing approximately $500,000 to the plan annually. Mr. Tindall also shared the results of the COLA study the Council requested the committee complete, which stated providing a COLA to retirees will have a fiscal impact to the budget, depending on Council decisions, by increasing the required contribution to the pension plan. Council members discussed the pension plan and asked questions of Mr. Michael Guyton, consulting actuary, who conducted the COLA study. The following letter from the City Manager was presented to the Council: (Insert letter dated February 13, 2019 here with regards to development impact fee study proposal) Mr. Craig Tindall, City Manager, presented a proposal from TishlerBise regarding development of an impact fee study for Parks and Roadways. Mr. LaLance made a motion to approve the Impact Fee Study Proposal for an estimated cost of $70,000. Mr. Smotherman seconded the motion and all members of the Council present voted “Aye”. The following letter from the City Recorder/Finance Director was presented to the Council: (Insert letter dated February 13, 2019 here with regards to Beer Permit Application for Mid Tenn Market, 2820 Middle Tennessee Blvd.) The City Recorder/Finance Director presented a Beer application for Mid Tenn Market (new location), 2820 Middle Tennessee Boulevard. This application is pending completion of all required building and codes inspections. Mr. LaLance made a motion to approve a Beer Permit for Mid Tenn Market upon successful completion of all building and codes requirements. Mr. Martin seconded the motion and all members of the Council present voted “Aye”. There being no further business, Mayor McFarland adjourned this meeting at 1:45 p.m. SHANE MCFARLAND - MAYOR ATTEST: MELISSA B. WRIGHT - CITY RECORDER