Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS January 18, 2022, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in regular session on January 18, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley and Commissioner Preston Trotter. Commissioner Hugh Davis and Commissioner David Crislip were absent. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Chief Phil Hendricks, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Finance Director Maria George, Public Works Director Richard Mills, and Building Inspector Elizabeth Reed, City Engineer Harvey Matheny were present. Vicki Hancock, William Meacham, Liz McCommon, Kevin Powers, Josh Burnette, Suzanne Jones, Mike Russell, Debra Hummel, Tony and Kimberly Young, Letha Granberry, Steve Williams, Carolyn Rhea (Fayette Falcon), Officer Raymond, and et al were present in the audience. City Planner Brett Morgan and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were absent. Agenda item 1. Call to order, establish quorum Action taken: Mayor Henry Coats called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., and established that a quorum was present. Agenda item 2. Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag Action taken: Public Works Director Richard Mills 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 were no changes to the Agenda, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley moved to adopt the agenda, seconded by Commissioner Preston Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 21, 2021: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 21, 2021 Action taken: The Minutes were not available for the January meeting. Agenda item 5. Review/approval of Financial Reports, Building Inspector’s Report, Public Works Report, Fireman’s Report and Police Report City Manager Steve Steinbach stated this is the half way point of fiscal year 2022, we are over budget for revenue collections, our cash positions are around 5.8 million dollars, the balance sheets are good and we are tracking several expenditures that are pressing their line and will be the focus of our budget amendment #2 for next month consideration. Public Works Director Richard Mills stated the waste water treatment plant-at the time of writing this report I had not spoken with Scott Daniel (J R Wauford) yet but I did speak with him today, he stated he does have the report and they are 99.9% done and will hopefully have to me by the end of this week or the first of next week, on Piper Properties-Spirit Architecture sent in their proposal for the second phase which we are reviewing, SCADA update-bids were received and opened on Tuesday, the 7th and this is the monitoring system for the plant, lift stations and the water tank that can be also operated from a lap top, we received three bids with American Electric Contractor being the lowest bidder at $276,600.00, Prime Controls was $$310,904 and Industrial Controls was $325,081.00, and it is my recommendation that we award the bid to American Electric Contractor so we can get this installation started and it will probably take a year to complete and will hopefully by that time have the wastewater plant going but if not we will not install SCADA until it is ready to go online, I would like to do half of this work (order/purchasing) in this fiscal year and finish it up next fiscal year. 1  Mr. Steinbach inquired how long is the bid good for. Mr. Mills stated as it was voted out, if we buy the material now before prices change but the biggest cost is the panel boxes for each location (water tank, lift stations) and those need to be ordered at the locked in prices for now. Mayor Coats stated so you are looking at dividing it up so half ($150,000.00) of this in this year and the rest next fiscal year. Commissioner Trotter inquired if you are planning to buy all the electronics to now? Mr. Mills stated no that will be the last thing we do. Mayor Coats inquired this will just be all hardware. Mr. Mills stated the hardware, panel boxes, breakers and anything computer related will be the last thing purchased so it is not sitting if the system is not running. Shaw’s Creek drainage project-McCarty Granberry finished the survey last week and we will begin our review and will hopefully meet with Josh Burnett and John McCarty later towards the end of the week to discuss recommended repairs and will report on that at next month’s meeting, Rossville Waste Water-we are at 49.80% of our 80,000 gallons for 28 days from 11/29/21 to 12/27/21 with 1.1 million gallons an overage of 39,838.25 per day, there were 59 work order for the month of December with 2 still outstanding. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve the bids/purchase of the SCADA system from the low bidder and spend $150,000.00 this fiscal year, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Building Inspector Elizabeth Reed (filling in for Tommie Johnson) stated during the month of December we issued 35 total permits for new single dwellings, currently 56 active family homes, conducted 87 inspections, and handled 7 code compliance issues. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated the annual report for 2021 is in your packet, there were 2,150 hours of training, 365 total calls for the year which is a 17% increase over 2020, with 323 of those calls being in the City (14% increase), 46 motor vehicle crashes which is 28% increase over 2020. Mayor Coats commended the firemen who saved two lives last month. Police Chief Phil Hendricks stated in the month of December there were 35 dispatched calls, 1 incident reports, 1 arrest and 6 motor vehicle crashes and I discovered an error on the residential alarms that should actually be an increase of 10.6 and will forward the corrected report tomorrow. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve all reports, seconded by Vice- Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Development Contract – Piperton Preserve Phase 6 Mr. Matheny stated this contract is with RusDun Farms, Inc. for the next phase of Piperton Preserve, this phase consists of 50 new lots and there are two significant items that are part of phase 6, the Planning Commission required when the 6th phase of development occurs an extension of a roadway out to Hwy 57 would occur, this road will serve as a construction road during the development and will become upon the recording of phase 6 it will become a paved road that is assessable to the public and the other part will be the waterline extension up to Hwy 57 and with a connection to our existing line (12 inch) at 57 so that is critical as well to create a water loop and a system of back feed into the developments from both Keough and from Hwy 57, the Hwy 57 improvements will have to be approved by TDOT and there has been a comprehensive traffic study done, there will be a dedicated left turn land created along Hwy 57 and a deceleration lane for the east bound traffic and all those improvements will have to be reviewed by the City and by TDOT for approval, on page 21 in the contract summarizes the development fees, the total letter of credit is in the amount of $300,000.00 which breaks down as $200,000.00 is the off-site portion which is for the road extension and the Hwy 57 improvements, the $100,000.00 is for the on-site improvements 2 which can be reduced subsequent to some of the improvements being completed and accepted. Mayor Coats inquired if this phase will have cluster mailboxes. Mike Russell (Developer) stated Phase 6 will have to unless the legislation has changed. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to accept the development contract for Piperton Preserve Phase 6, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mr. Russell asked for help in two ways that are outside the contract, it is the uniqueness of this phase, going down Hwy 57 and looking over to the south there are some very low hanging wires possibly Bellsouth where we are making our connection and the big truck will hit them so I need help from you to mention to them that something needs to be done in advance of using that regularly to get the lines lifted and the other issue is a neighbor issue that I have made staff and the Mayor aware of that we will deal with later. Mayor Coats asked Mr. Mills and Mr. Matheny to help with this and/or write an email and copy Mr. Russell and staff on this and the timeline involved. Mr. Russell stated it is an exciting phase and will be great for the City, it will open up the neighborhood to Hwy 57 and that should begin the process that should make viable the little downtown area we hope becomes the geographic and identifiable center of the City, I hope this will create some energy with that so we will have our own downtown and will know where the center of Piperton is. Agenda item 7. Recess - hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 349-21, repealing Ordinance No. 296-18 on its entirety and amending Ordinance No.174-10 to amend the speed limit for all vehicles traveling on Keough Road east of Highway 196 in the City of Piperton Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to recess the meeting to hold the public hearing, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Susanne Jones (Resident) stated at the end of 2018 that speed limit was reduced from 40 to 35 mph because people walk on that street, that is a major artery and there are plenty of walking paths in Piperton Preserve and in subdivisions to the south so why people walk on Keough I don’t know so I don’t understand why people want to walk on Keough or why this needs to be changed and I think in Lakes of Greenbrier there is a path designated for pedestrians and bikes to which Mayor Coats stated there is. Tony Young (Resident) inquired is it proposed to drop the speed limit to which Mayor Coats stated yes, from 35 to 30 mph, Mr. Young stated he is totally against it, I am for going back to 40, I just don’t know why it needs to go down to 30 to which Mayor Coats stated it’s called pedestrian safety. Mr. Young stated he is out there a lot and the pedestrians don’t even know how to walk because you are supposed to face the traffic and they all walk on that one side and you are not supposed to do that and if that is the case let’s get the pedestrians, not the cars to which Mayor Coats stated we are not going to do that. Mr. Young inquired if it has already been proposed to do the 30 to which Mayor Coats stated we have already done the first reading and we are getting ready to do the second reading and it is a temporary thing for 30 mph until this road is cut through and until Keough is widened at least to Parkview Avenue, my wife and I also walk it along with several other people and there are times in both the afternoon and the mornings that the sun is out and you cannot see and it is not really about traffic like you and I, it is about concrete trucks, wood and brick haulers-it takes them longer to stop and I proposed it and it was from a safety standpoint. Mr. Young inquired if it was voted on by the public if it was proposed by you to lower it to which Mayor Coats stated the Board has already approved first reading. Ms. Jones stated in the November Fayette Falcon it said that this was discussed and it said that the Mayor was quoted as saying I have ordered the signs and that was before the 3 first reading in the December meeting so I don’t quite understand that in a legal logic of how things should progress, people walk on Keough and there is no reason to walk on Keough. Mayor Coats stated we did do a first reading in December and in November we did discuss it and the signs were not ordered when I said they were but they have been ordered now so yes it was a little ahead of the game but we got a unanimous vote last month and I think it will be a unanimous vote tonight and again it is a temporary thing until this road goes through and Keough is widened to Parkview and the money has been approved and it will probably happen in this fiscal year before June 30th, and I have timed from stopping on Keough west of Hwy 196 at the stop sign, going across and accelerating to 35 and accelerating to 30, I have gone over this several times and there is an 11 second difference between the two speeds going from Hwy 196 to the Lakes of Greenbrier, I think we can all be patient of 11 seconds until this other road goes through. Ms. Jones stated as the gentleman said it is mainly pedestrians walking on Keough that is the issue to which Mayor Coats stated bicycles and pedestrians have a right to walk wherever they want to. Vice-Mayor Binkley stated that is why we are widening that road so it will have a pedestrian walkway and bike lane on each side, I do agree but I would not want to see it stay that way just because of the number of houses and volume of vehicles on that road but it is a temporary fix until the road is fixed and we get the other connection out to Hwy 57 and I think it is necessary. Mayor Coats stated then the other traffic-cement trucks and all that I was referring to will come on Hwy 57 into Piperton Preserve instead of going out on Keough so it will be a lot safer environment after that happens. Another resident inquires so when that construction entrance is opened it is going back to 35 mph to which Mayor Coats yes and Vice-Binkley stated yes and after we widen Keough. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 8. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 349-21, repealing Ordinance No. 296-18 in its entirety and amending Ordinance No.174-10 to amend the speed limit for all vehicles traveling on Keough Road east of Highway 196 in the City of Piperton Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 349-21 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 9. Appoint of Doug Forsythe to the Industrial Development Board Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve the appointment of Doug Forsythe, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Any other old/new business, questions or matters from the audience Debbie Hummel from Oakland inquired on SCADA and what does it stand for. Mayor Coats stated it will give us real time information so if something goes wrong we can react immediately. Ms. Hummel stated she was in Congressman David Kustoff’s office last Friday talking about Oakland’s post office but he is trying to reverse the cluster mailboxes. Mr. Matheny stated on the SCADA question, it stands for Supervisory control and data acquisition. 4 Agenda item 11. Adjournment Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 6:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date:______________________ 5