Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS December 17, 2019, 7:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in regular session on December 17, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner Preston Trotter, and Commissioner David Crislip present. Commissioner Hugh Davis was absent. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Finance Director Maria George, Building Official Tommie Johnson, Police Chief Phil Hendricks, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, City Engineer Harvey Matheny, and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were present. City Planner Brett Morgan was absent. Those present in the audience were Officer Gallo, Debra Joyner (Fayette Falcon), Vicki Hancock, William Meacham, Liz McCommon, Charles McElwee, Jim and Mimi Ragon, Robert Ladley, John Wnukowski and Tim Goodroe. 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: Fire Chief Reed Bullock led in the opening Prayer and Vice- Mayor Mike Binkley led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. Agenda item 3. Any changes to Agenda; Motion to adopt Agenda Action taken: There was a change to the Agenda, items # 6, 7 and11 were tabled until January’s meeting, and Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley moved to adopt the Agenda with the tabling of items 6, 7 and 11, seconded by Commissioner David Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the Special Called Session of November 8, 2019 and the Minutes of the Regular Session of November 19, 2019: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Special Called Session of November 8, 2019 and the Regular Session of November 19, 2019 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the Special Called Session of November 8, 2019 and the Regular Session of November 19, 2019, Commissioner Trotter moved to approve the Minutes of the Special Called Session of November 8, 2019 and the Regular Session of November 19, 2019, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. 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 stated we are in the fifth month of fiscal year 2020, 41.6% is the number with regards to revenue streams, property taxes will pick up and anticipates exceeding our budgeted number by the end of February, running slightly behind on sales tax and State funds but anticipates catching up and all other revenues streams are doing well and cash positions continue to be strong. Building Official Tommie Johnson stated during the month of November, there 46 total permits with 6 permits for new single family dwellings, conducted 205 total inspections with 8 code compliance contacts. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated during the month of November there were 11 final inspections, there were 46 total calls with 44 inside the City with 23 Medical calls, alarms 1 and motor vehicle crashes are trending up, continuing business safety checks, Public Works/Fire-hydrant maintenance testing/mapping has been completed, Vice-Mayor Binkley inquired if all hydrants are working. Chief Bullock stated there are 3 currently out of service (1-in Twin Lakes, 1-on Russell Rd and 1-on Raleigh Lagrange) and should be repaired tomorrow, and he also attended the Tennessee Fire Safety Inspector‘s annual conference and was re-elected to the board of directors for West Tennessee. Police Chief Phil Hendricks stated during the month of November there were 83 dispatched calls, 3 incident resulting in 3 arrest and 9 vehicle crash reports with 5 involving deer. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Recess- hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 315-19, amending the Budget for FY 2019-2020, (First Amendment) for the City of Piperton Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting Agenda item 7. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 315-19, amending the Budget for FY 2019-2020, (First Amendment) for the City of Piperton Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting. Agenda item 8. Recess- hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 316-19, amending the Zoning Ordinance regulating Accessory Structures. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to recess, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mr. Steinbach stated currently the accessory structure ordinance provides that 30% of the principle structure maybe allotted to the accessory structure, we do have the provision and recognition of the fact that we have many rural estate lots over five acres and they are permitted to propose larger accessory structures with the approval of the Planning Commission and the Board so we were missing the recognition of lots that were larger than the typical suburban lots that we are seeing developed now and the larger estate lots that are not part of a platted subdivision so based on the Planning Commission recommendation to the Board is the modification to apply to lots greater than 1.5 acres up to 5 acres and the new metric that would be applicable to those properties would be 40% of the principle structure could be allotted to the accessory structure, this provides accommodation for larger lots in the older subdivisions and this should address it sufficiently. Action taken: Commissioner Crislip moved to reconvene, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 9. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 316-19, amending the Zoning Ordinance regulating Accessory Structures Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve Ordinance No. 316-19 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 312-19, to amend Title 13, Chapter 1, of the Piperton Municipal Code by the addition of Section 13-109 related to Parking Regulations Mr. Steinbach stated this ordinance is to provide clarification for our Codes Enforcement Department as it relates to the parking of recreation vehicles as well as 2 passenger automobiles, initially the City Attorney had prepared a draft with counsel from the Building Department that provided a breakdown between recreational vehicles and general automotive passenger vehicles, the Ordinance was presented at first reading during the October meeting when I was not present, the City Attorney was also not here and it was tabled, last month we had additional discussion and the public hearing ensued and staff went back to take a second look at this, and so we have a condensed document for the Board that provides the clarity for the residents to understand and give the Codes department the tool it needs and so he used a corner lot graphic as an example since it has two front yards along publicly dedicated public roads, the ordinance covers any type of motorized vehicle that is not a passenger vehicle in addition to boats, trailers, etc., and it provides that they are to be parked to the rear of the structure that is not a corner lot behind the rear line and on a corner lot, parking or storage the same provision would hold true behind the principle structure’s rear line and/or the side building line of the principle residential structure, the secondary part addresses all other vehicles that are licensed and the provision there is that these type of vehicles maybe parked in the front yard and/or side to the extent that they are parked on hard dustless surface (driveway or parking pad) that is constructed of concrete, asphalt or an alternative surface type approved by the City (this surface type is not specifically defined but the intent is whatever that surface type is such that it will not enable the rutting up of the yard and not parking on the grass or dirt), and it also recognizes lots that have gravel driveways so long as it contains at least 4 inches of gravel or aggregate sufficient for a road base, so the primary provisions of the Ordinance are to address the parking/storage of recreational vehicles as well as principle passenger vehicles (automobiles, trucks) and so the distinction would be recreational vehicles are vehicles that might be parked or stored for extend periods of time would be parked in the rear and all other register/licensed vehicles would have the ability to park in the front or side yards to the extent that they are on a hard/dustless surface, and Building and Codes department has reviewed and they endorse this. Commissioner Trotter stated this is understandable, earlier it was cumbersome. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve Ordinance No. 312-19 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 11. Resolution No. 19-216, a Resolution of the Board of Mayor and Commissioners of Piperton, Tennessee, affirms “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States and supports the display of the National Motto in all city owned buildings, schools and on all marked first responder vehicles Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting. Agenda item 12. Consideration of Bid/Bid Award – Ridgewood Grove – Drainage Improvements Harvey Matheny, City Engineer, presented the bids received for drainage improvements in Ridgewood Grove Subdivision (a few months ago previous bids came in considerably out of budget so we made revisions to the design and it was rebid in November), 2 bids were received, our CPI budget was $28,000.00 and the low bid was $27,000.00 well within budget however there is one snag, part of the understanding for this project was we would get a public easement along the rear of lot 20, we had numerous discussions/meeting with the property owner who had presented terms and conditions that were to be added to the easement agreement which staff did implement those into the agreement document but the property owner decided not to grant the public easement because he has done some improvements on his own to stabilize the 3 swale that goes across the rear property line, one of his concerns was tree removal and we certainly tried to reassure him that the City had no intention of removing trees (unless absolutely necessary) and those terms were added to the agreement but he has decided at this time not to grant that as a public drainage easement and so it is for the Board’s discussion and deliberation as to whether or not the Board would like to proceed with the improvements on the adjacent lot 21 to which Mr. Matheny presented an alternative plan and the alternate plan would double the cost of the project. Mr. Steinbach stated in summation this was brought to the Board’s attention in 2016, the owner along with members of the HOA brought to our attention their belief that the original engineering design essentially missed the amount of drainage coming from the west going east and as a result of the City’s failure to catch that drainage the end result was substantial degradation of erosion on this particular property, the owner of this property (lot 20) has effectively maintained the drainage since the inception of the subdivision however lot 21 has been impacted more of the two lots, so the City had Mr. Matheny do an engineering analysis of the subdivision design and presented his findings to the Board and the results of his findings were not satisfactory to the members of the subdivision and staff came up with the scenario in which the City would improve the portion of the lot that it needed to improve to capture this drainage, the agreement between all parties at the time was the lot owners would convey the easements, fast forward the property owner had the design completed and presented to the City so we bid it and now the property owner decided he was not comfortable conveying that easement, and so staff has always maintained that we should maintain easements across both properties due to the investment of installing drainage infrastructure made by the City and it needed to control the upstream portion of that, so when the property owner indicated to Mr. Matheny his decision, the City is in the position where we are counter to the agreement that was reached among the neighborhood and so I delivered the news to the property owner and have not heard back from him and did ask Mr. Matheny to look at a third option that was presented when we initially met with them, we discussed the options and also that of actually condemning what has been to date an undeveloped, unimproved property in the subdivision and the issue for the Board’s consideration is to reject the bid given the fact we were not able to secure the easement, or you can direct staff to pursue this second option, and the Board could accept the bid and we can continue the improvement on the portion that would be within a public easement, it would be infrastructure that the City would maintain perpetuity, it would encumber this lower lot 21 but there would be no easement on the portion of the drainage ditch on the upper lot 20 as it stands now under its current ownership or another option which won’t necessitate easements, following the road around the corner, because we are already within a right of way or utility easement. Vice-mayor Binkley stated he would like to know what the costs would be. Mayor Coats stated he would like to table this item until we get accurate cost on the alternative and bring it up next month. Commissioner Trotter inquired how long this bid is good for. Mr. Matheny stated he believes the bids are good for 60 days but what he would like to do if that is the option the Board would like to take is meet with the low bidder contractor and discuss the alternative with them and perhaps they can give some preliminary costs or estimate of what this redesign would be, and would need to evaluate utility impacts involved and driveway needing to be cut and replaced. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to table this item to allow staff to look at the other options, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 4 Agenda item 13. IDB Reappointment Approval for expiring terms, Mr. Wes Hicks and Mr. Bret Morris – 6 year terms Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve the reappointment of IDB members, Wes Hicks and Bret Morris, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 14. Any other old/new business, questions or matters from the audience Robert Ladley, 130 West Old Stateline Rd, stated in regards to the RV parking regulation, is this going to be grandfathered or retro on that regulations. Mayor Coats stated it will not be grandfathered that is my understanding, is that correct Steve. Mr. Steinbach stated that is correct. Mr. Ladley stated those of us that have recreational vehicles that are parked here, some with covers built that have been here a long time, so you are telling us we have to change this. Mayor Coats stated no, not on the covers built, that is considered a parking pad. Mr. Ladley stated I can see a covenant in a new subdivision having these regulations, I can understand that but not in an old area that is probably the oldest area in Piperton and around my house I have no idea where the septic tank is and I cannot go behind my house and park a vehicle even though my vehicle is only 21 feet long and it looks like a regular van so most people don’t know it is a recreational vehicle that is parked alongside my driveway, I have a gravel area for it and no one lives in it but I do use as a second vehicle but it is regarded as a recreational vehicle. Mayor Coats stated that is not the intent of the ordinance, the intent is to try to clean up multiple vehicles that are sitting in areas where they shouldn’t be. Mr. Johnson stated it would be enforced for everyone and I am familiar with where your vehicle is parked and the location of it but the intent is like the Mayor stated for those who have excess and in your case I agree that you cannot get behind your house. Mr. Steinbach stated to the Board, the City and specifically our code enforcement has always strived to be impartial with regard to enforcement of the ordinances and so without saying specifically since I don’t know the circumstances that this gentleman would be grandfathered if you will, we are certainly not driving around the City looking for opportunities to enforce the ordinance and we are using this as an impartial means to address problems in the City, we are not looking to start or cause new problems with property owners who have kept up their properties or been in an area that is not an issue and I will leave it at that. Agenda item 15. Adjournment Action taken: Commissioner Trotter made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date:______________________ 5