Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS April 19, 2022, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in regular session on April 19, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner Preston Trotter, and Commissioner David Crislip. Commissioner Hugh Davis was absent. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Chief Phil Hendricks, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Finance Director Maria George, Public Works Director Richard Mills, Building Official Elizabeth Reed, City Planner Brett Morgan and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were present. Vicki Hancock, William Meacham, Liz McCommon, Jim Ragon, Bill Kilp, Billy and Terrye Canady and et al were present in the audience. City Engineer Harvey Matheny was 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: Mayor Coats 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 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 March 1, 2022 Worksession and the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 15, 2022: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the March 1, 2022 Worksession and the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 15, 2022 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the March 1, 2022 Worksession and the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 15, 2022, Commissioner David Crislip moved to approve the Minutes of the March 1, 2022 Worksession and the Minutes of the Regular Session of March 15, 2022, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mayor Coats introduced and welcomed Terrye Canady, who is running for County Commissioner District 5, Position 2. 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 we are getting close to concluding Fiscal Year 2022, we have exceeded property tax income collections relative to budget, we have had the strongest March regarding sales tax and should exceed our budget amount by next month, balance funds are acceptable across General Fund and Enterprise Fund Operations and our cash and cash savings continue to increase. Also noted a change in the report formatting due to the new software upgrade that will expand our seats on our Local Government platform which covers all of our financials as well as our utilities. Building Official Elizabeth Reed stated during the month of March, we still have 70 active new single family dwellings under construction, issued 9 permit for new single dwellings, issued 54 total building permits, conducted 172 inspections, and handled 12 code compliance issues. 1  Public Works Director Richard Mills stated we are still reviewing the JR Wauford report for the wastewater treatment plant. I met with McCarty-Grandberry on Friday regarding Shaws Creek drainage and the plan was to pick 2 places for stormwater modification and one will be Kirkhill Lane, the other was Stirling Cove but we feel we can do a few modifications to an inlet in house one day next week. A week ago this past Monday I met with Spirit Architect at the Piper House to look at the columns to check if hollow or they had support beams and when we arrived we noticed that the front porch had started leaning on the east side so we contacted Mr. Ray Shaul to help shore up the porch but since then the far eastern column has fallen and the bees have been removed, there will be a meeting Thursday with Spirit Architect with the design consultant for low voltage wiring and IT support and they are about 95% complete on the drawings and should have those to us by the end of the week so we can move forward with the bidding process. Mayor Coats inquired if the house would be hard-wired or use wifi. Mr. Mills stated wifi, which is what this consultant will look at. The sewer flow going to Rossville for March was 1,162,423 gallons which is an average of 37,497.52 gallons per day (46.87% of the allotted 80,000 gallons per day, there were 70 work orders created with 1 still pending. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated as Elizabeth stated about the homes picking up, we also had permits picking up and inspections, there were 13 business safety checks, 32 total calls (30 in the City) which has been trending up every month so far this year and there were 115 calls for the 1st quarter which is a 46% increase, it was very busy especially with the storms and downed trees. Police Chief Phil Hendricks stated in the month of March, there were 53 dispatched calls, 4 incident reports, 0 arrest and 2 motor vehicle crashes, vehicle crashes and calls have a slight increase compared to this time last year. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve all reports, seconded by Vice- Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6: Board Acknowledgement of Appropriated ARP Funds Mr. Steinbach stated the Department of Treasury recently issued its final ruling on the American Rescue Plan Act, State and Local fiscal recovery fund for which we were allotted approximately $590,000.00 of which we have received half of that and until the final ruling was issued we were under an interim ruling that provided a convoluted series of instructions with regard to the reporting responsibilities for that money, after the final ruling was issued the end result was a simplified reporting process and for communities less than 50,000 and receiving less than $10 million a streamline use list that we could designate those funds against and the top of those was loss of revenue, so Maria has asked that I have the Board acknowledge on the record approval and acceptance of designating the funds for loss of revenue which I do concur and feel like that is appropriate and reasonable. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to acknowledge the appropriation of the ARP funds for loss of revenue, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 7. Call of Election Mayor Coats stated there are two Commissioners (Mr. Trotter and Mr. Davis) that are up for re-election in November. Agenda item 8. Resolution No. 22-249, adjusting the development security amount from $50,000.00 to $10,000.00 for Piperton Preserve Phase 3, on behalf of RusDun Farms, Inc. Mr. Mills stated Mr. Matheny could not be here today, RusDun is requesting a reduction to their letter of credit currently held by the City from $50,000.00 to $10,000.00, patching and 2 final asphalt was applied in July 2021 along with a one year warranty period, Mr. Matheny recommends the reduction for the remainder of the warranty period which ends July 2023. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No. 22-249 reducing the security from $50,000.00 to $10,000.00, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 9. Resolution No. 22-250, adjusting the development security amount from $100,000.00 to $70,000.00 for Piperton Preserve Phase 4, on behalf of RusDun Farms, Inc. Mr. Mills stated the plat for Phase 4 on January 7, 2020, the final surface has not been installed, the request is to reduce the LOC to $70,000.00, and Mr. Matheny estimates for a 1 inch surface core would be about $66,000.00 and that is his recommendation. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve Resolution No. 22-250 reducing the development security amount form $100,000.00 to $70,000.00, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Resolution No. 22-251, adjusting the development security amount from $100,000.00 to $75,000.00 for Piperton Preserve Phase 5, on behalf of RusDun Farms, Inc. Mr. Mills stated the plat was recorded September 28, 2021, the final surface has not been installed, the request is to reduce the LOC to $75,000.00 and the estimate for a 1 inch surface overlay is $ 74,000.00. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley move to approve Resolution No. 22-251 reducing the development security amount from $100,000.00 to $ 75,000.00, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 11. Recess – hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 354-22, amending Ordinance No. 235-14, establishing service and setting fees for residential and small commercial garbage and yard waste collection service and Resolution No. 13-148, establishing and setting fees for voluntary recycling service and increasing such fees Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to recess the meeting to hold the Public Hearing, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mr. Steinbach stated in February the Board received correspondence from Waste Connection notifying staff there would be a 5% increase across all service lines due to increases in fuel costs and CPI, after reviewing the increases and its impact on our fiscal budget as a result a 2.5% increase to our service lines and a reduction to the monthly recycling fee because we entered into a higher tier level, these rates will take effect on May 1st. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 12. Second Reading Ordinance No. 354-22, amending Ordinance No. 235-14, establishing service and setting fees for residential and small commercial garbage and yard waste collection service and Resolution No. 13-148, establishing and setting fees for voluntary recycling service and increasing such fees Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 354-22 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 13. Recess – hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 355-22, repealing Ordinance No. 348-21, in its entirety and revising/adopting various fees for the City of Piperton Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to recess the meeting to hold the Public Hearing, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 3  Mr. Steinbach stated this is the companion item to the previous ordinance to revise the comprehensive fee schedule ordinance used by the City, this simply indicates the changes to the sanitation rates as we just discussed. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 14. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 355-22, repealing Ordinance No. 348-21, in its entirety and revising/adopting various fees for the City of Piperton Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve Ordinance No. 351-22 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 15. First Reading, Ordinance No. 356-22, amending the text of the Piperton Zoning Ordinance to amend Article 8, Provisions Governing Signs City Planner Brett Morgan stated last year we amended the sign ordinance, which was more of a comprehensive amendment and we addressed issues regarding federal law concerning neutrality and addressed the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act, this amendment specifically deals more with the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act and its application to political signs to which Mr. Morgan read aloud the current information of the ordinance that for the benefit of the audience; “Political signs, limited in size and structure to a height of six (6) feet and total sign face area not to exceed six (6) square feet; provided further such signs shall be permitted only with the consent of the owner and located outside public rights-of-way. Such signs shall be erected no earlier than sixty (60) days prior to an election, and are allowed to remain for 3 weeks after the election. Candidates winning a primary election may keep their signs up through the general election.” The Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act changes some of the current wording and the change is as follows: Political signs are subject to the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act with the following provisions: a) Signs shall be limited in size and structure to a height of six (6) feet. b) Signs shall be located outside public rights-of-way and permitted only with the consent of the property owner. c) The number of political campaign signs or posters that may be placed on property shall be limited to one (1) poster of sign on the property per candidate, issue, or subject, per owner or resident. d) Signs shall be limited from exceeding the following sizes: 1) Commercial property, thirty-two square feet (32 sq. ft.) in size. 2) Residential property, sixteen square feet (16 sq. ft.) in size. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 356-22 on first reading, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 16. Any other old/new business, questions or matters from the audience Mayor Coats stated I have a signed petition from 77 residents in Lakes of Greenbrier, Greenbrier, and Piperton Preserve wanting to add four (4) feet to Keough Road from Parkview to Lakes of Greenbrier for a more safe walking trail, this was discussed last month and a statement was made by a Commissioner that there wasn’t but two or three people so I was given the task to see how much interest there was, I say we move forward since the money has been approved and move forward with getting the design done. Commissioner Trotter stated it sounds like you have the support. 4 Agenda item17. 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 6:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date:______________________ 5