Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS April 16, 2019, 7:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in regular session on April 16, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner Hugh Davis, Commissioner Preston Trotter were present. Commissioner David Crislip was not present. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Finance Director Maria George, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Police Chief Phil Hendricks, and Building Official Tommie Johnson were present. Building Inspector/Code Compliance Officer Daniel Hyde, Police Officers Jeffrey Norton and Jacob Blevins, Firefighters Brian Shoemaker and Jason Knight, and Volunteer Firefighters Jason Robinson and Daniel Leonard were also present. City Recorder Beverly Holloway was absent. Those present in the audience were Butch and Carolyn Rhea, Elizabeth McCommon, Vicki Hancock, Bill Kelp, et al in the audience. Agenda item 1. Call to order, establish quorum Action taken: Mayor Henry Coats called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and established that a quorum was present. Agenda item 2. Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag Action taken: Elizabeth McCommon led in the opening Prayer and Commissioner Preston Trotter led the Pledge of Allegiance. Agenda item 3. Any changes to Agenda; Addition/Deletions; Motion to adopt Agenda Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to adopt the Agenda, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 19, 2019; Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 19, 2019. Action taken: There were no changes to the Regular Session Minutes of March 19, 2019. Commissioner Trotter moved to approve the Minutes of March 19, 2019, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 5. Review/approval of Financial Reports, Building Inspector’s Report, Fireman’s Report and Police Report City Manager Steve Steinbach reviewed the Financial Reports and stated that the City is in the ninth month of its Fiscal Year 2019; that General Fund revenues were at 84.8% of those budgeted for the fiscal year, and that cash positions and fund balances continue to be strong. Building Official Tommie Johnson stated during the month of March there were 40 total permits with 11 for new single-family dwellings; that his office conducted 167 inspections and handled 3 code compliance issues. Commissioner Davis inquired as to the status of the Richard Chandler property and hopeful action/clean-up. Mr. Johnson stated that staff was continuing to research possible solutions that would be addressed later in the meeting. 1  Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated during the month of March there were a total of 26 calls with 22 in the City. There were 4 mutual aid calls, with three in Rossville and one north of the City. There were two residential fires, a cooking fire on Keough, where the structure was saved, and a mobile home on Hwy 196. There was a delay in the resident calling 911 on the fire on Hwy196; but the fire department still made it there in 3 minutes, which is less than the average City response time of 4 minutes 23 seconds. The fire department performed 13 Business Safety Checks. The fire department staff has 1128.25 year-to-date training hours. Fire Chief Bullock presented a Certificate of Completion to Volunteer Firefighters Jason Robinson and Daniel Leonard for completing their Basic Firefighter Class. Police Chief Phil Hendricks stated during the month of March there were 70 dispatched calls, 4 incident reports, 2 arrest reports and 3 motor vehicle crash reports. Chief Hendricks introduced his new hire police officer Jacob Blevins. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Davis. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Discussion regarding proposed amendments to the City’s Building Code Compliance Regulatory Tools (Title 13 - Building/Property Maintenance; Chapter 12 of the Zoning Ordinance – Enforcement; Resolution 17-199 – Designating Certain Officials as Special Police Officers) as presented by Building Inspector/Code Compliance Officer Daniel Hyde The Building and Code Enforcement department proposed the following changes: Zoning 12.11.2 Penalties for Violation - A proposal to change the wording in Zoning Ordinance 12.11.2 from “misdemeanor” to “violation” since Piperton Municipal Court cannot hear misdemeanor cases Resolution No. 17-199 3. Assistance from the Piperton Police Department - A proposal to change the wording in Resolution 17-199 Para. 3 from “In the event the offender refuses to sign the ordinance summons agreement to appear in court, the municipal enforcement officer in whose presence the violation is committed may have a summons issued by the clerk of the municipal, metropolitan, or city court” to the previous wording (Resolution No. 12-136, Para. 3) that states: “the building official shall call a police officer to effect an arrest for refusal to accept the citation” - this will return power to police officers to arrest those who refuse to sign citations on an agreement to appear in court. Piperton Municipal Code – Title 13, Property Maintenance Regulations Section 13-104. Overgrown and dirty lots. Building and Codes proposes to eliminate (2) Limitation on application – “The provisions of this section shall not apply to any parcel of property upon which an owner-occupied residence is located.” Currently, Building and Codes cannot enforce Section 13-104 on an owner- occupied residence. This would allow the City to clean up an owner-occupied property at the owner’s expense AFTER notice of violation and due process (TCA § 6-54-113.) The City Planner and the Building Inspector will confer with the City Attorney on this issue in the next few days. Agenda item 7. Discussion regarding consideration of adopting T.C.A. 6-19-101 – Authority to Impose a Fee to Fund a Municipal Fire Station. Fire Chief Bullock presented options to the Board to fund a new Public Safety Headquarters for the Piperton Police Department, the Piperton Fire Department, and a Community Safe Room/Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The first option Chief Bullock presented is to implement a fire fee. This was made possible for our city by passage of HB 488, which became Public Chapter No. 459. This allows the City Manager-Charter form of government to implement fees directly applicable to the 2 construction and maintenance of a fire station. With this plan, the funds cannot be redirected or used for any other purpose other than the fire station. It does not specify how the fee is to be determined or by what method it is to be collected. By law, this fee must be reduced or removed after completion of the structure. A nominal fee can remain if it is used for maintenance of the new facility. A discussion followed. It was stated that this fee could possibly be assessed to new developers, homeowners, commercial structures, etc. Rate schedules discussed included fees based on square footage of residence, type of business and modified based on size of building. The second option presented was an increase in property tax to fund the Municipal Building. This could be utilized for more than just fire department needs, and could be a flat tax across all properties. Agenda item 8. Any other old/new business, questions or matters from the audience. There was no old/new business or questions or matters from the audience. Agenda item 9. Adjournment. Action taken: Commissioner Binkley made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Davis. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Lowrance, Finance Assistant Approved: _________________________________date:______________________ 3