Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS November 21, 2023, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in a regular session on November 21, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, and Commissioner Russ Fletcher. Commissioner David Crislip and Commissioner Bret Morris were absent. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Deputy Chief Jonathan Roney, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Public Works Director Richard Mills, City Engineer Harvey Matheny, and City Planner Brett Morgan were present. Carolyn Rhea (Fayette Falcon), Elizabeth McCommon, Billy Meacham and et al were present in the audience. Building Official Elizabeth Reed 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 Mayor Coats 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 with the tabling of Item 8, Resolution No. 23-282, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley moved to adopt with the tabling of item 8, seconded by Commissioner Russ Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of October 17, 2023: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of October 17, 2023 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of October 17, 2023, Commissioner Fletcher moved to accept the Minutes of the Regular Session of October 17, 2023, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 5. Review/approval of Financial Reports, Building Inspector’s Report, Public Works Report, Fireman’s Report, Police Report and Development Activity City Manager Steve Steinbach stated for October 2023 financial statements – 33% is our number of interest. The balance sheets are strong. Property tax income is trickling in. Sales tax is down, year over year has been down the last six months in a row which is unprecedented. Cost capital has gone up and that is impacting our numbers. We have depleted $1.5 million dollars of savings from the end of June for our capital projects. We are still sitting in a comfortable position and in good shape. Fire Chief Reed Bullock (filling in for Building Official Elizabeth Reed) stated there are currently 34 active new single family. There were 180 inspections and 28 code compliance contacts. Public Works Director Richard Mills stated the Piper House is still moving forward. Sheet rock was being installed last week. There will be a few places that will need to be touched up. Mayor Coats inquired if we are still looking at January to move in. Mr. Mills stated it will probably be February depending on the weather. The next big project will be the parking lot and that will depend on the weather. The lake is looking good. I received a cost increase from Standard Construction for the road base repair for Mann Drive in the amount $ 74,852.00. The reason for the increase is the base is in worse shape than we 1 anticipated. My plan to make up the increase is to remove a section of Ballard and Old Ballard Road that we were going to pave. That would be a cost savings of almost $67,000.00. Another way to help with this offset is instead of going two inches thick on Mann Drive is to go to 1½ inches thick. We feel that 1½ inches would be a good thickness once the base is like it should be and that would save $42,000.00. That is a cost savings of $108,000.00 which would offset the $74,000.00. I would like to get Mann Drive done first and then Twin Lakes Drive next and see where we are at. There should be money left over and then we can look at doing other areas. Mayor Coats inquired what is the time line for Mann Drive and Twin Lakes? Mr. Mills stated we were going to try to have Mann Drive done before Standard Construction shuts down for the winter. With this coming back to the Board it will delay it a couple of weeks. It may be postponed until spring and this depends on Standard. Twin Lakes will not get done until next year. That is my recommendation to the Board on how to offset this cost increase. The base is key to the Mann Drive project. Action taken: Commissioner Fletcher moved to approve staff’s recommendation for the project, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmed votes. Mr. Mills stated Shaws Creek Drainage is looking good, and should be finished within the next couple of weeks. On the TDEC/ARPA projects, the surveying of the waterline (Hwy 196, Old State Line Rd) and the surveying of the Piper Farms has been complete. This is moving to the design phase and hopes to have plans to TDEC after the first of the year. The sewer flow going to Rossville for October was 1,278,300 gallons for 09/25/23 to 10/25/23 (30 days). That is an average of 42,610 gallons per day (53.26% of the allotted 80,000 gallons per day). There were 130 Tennessee 811 line locates. There were 121 total work orders with 2 still pending with 7 after hour call outs on sewer. The Board saw a short video on the Piper Park Lake and a short discussion ensued. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated during the month of October, there were 3 rough inspections, 5 final inspections, with 39 total calls (30 in the city). There were 9 mutual aid calls. We did receive bids for an IT service provider and we are in the evaluation process. The city- wide app should be released just before Christmas if there are no glitches. Police Deputy Chief Jonathan Roney stated in the month of October, there were 43 dispatched calls, 2 incident reports, 0 arrest report and 6 motor vehicle crashes. Officer Craig and myself completed the TBI course that is required for our new software. Officers King and Maxwell completed and passed both the firearms instructor school and the rifle instructor school. We have received the new tasers and body camera. The middle of December is the proposed launch date of the Watson program. We are in the process of interviewing and hiring new officers. City Planner Brett Morgan stated that Piperton is quite busy with development activities. Tuscan Iron came in for a rezoning last month and still needs final site plan approval from the Planning Commission. They will be before the Planning Commission in January. That is probably the only current application that is still pending. There has been a lot of development approved and are moving forward such as: Gateway Plaza on Hwy 57 – the subdivision has been approved and they can move forward on improvements, Piperton Preserve Phase 6 just received DRC approval of 50 lots, Piperton Hills Phase 1 is approved and they are working on the punch list, Lakes of Greenbrier Phase 3, Ameriflo and Madeline Phase 3 were approved and they are moving forward. There are a number of projects that staff is meeting on, but they have not made application yet. There is also a potential commercial development on Hwy 57. Staff has met on the potential expansion of the MCR building. There is also some potential for a new phase for Shaws Creek and they would possibly be submitting application by the end of the year or the first of 2024. The rezoning of the Piper House property will be before you tonight. Staff has received quotes for the gateway signage and looks to move forward on that in the near 2 future. Circle K is working on their landscaping. We will be entering the new year with a special census. We will begin the process in December. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Resolution No. 23-280 – consideration of reducing the letter of credit posted as security for required improvements to Piper Subdivision Lots 1A, 7, 8, and 9 on behalf of Piperton Group Investors City Engineer Harvey Matheny stated this is to consider reducing the letter of credit held by the city for public infrastructure improvements for the Piper Subdivision. The proposed reduction from $350,000.00 to $225,000.00 is to cover the value of remaining improvements. The letter of credit is for the sewer line improvements along the railroad right of way which is still needed and also included is the waterline improvements along Hwy 57 to go from a 6-inch pipe to a 12-inch pipe. However, there is already a 12-inch pipe along the frontage of these lots. When TDOT improved the interchange, they installed a 12-inch waterline all the way to the Kenny McKenzie property. Where the sidewalk ends is also where the waterline ends. Public Works has verified that the line is there. So, we don’t need that portion of the letter of credit for the waterline and staff recommends reducing it down to cover the sewer improvements along the railroad right of way. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No. 23-280, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 7. Resolution No. 23-281 – adopting Public Chapter 377 pertaining to Minimal Activity and Standard Business License based on business revenue threshold Mr. Steinback stated this resolution is to reconcile our current ordinance with regards to business tax licensing. The State increased the threshold from $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 for contractors outside of our jurisdiction. So, we are simply reconciling with the state statute on that. Staff recommends its adoption. Action taken: Commissioner Fletcher moved to approve Resolution No. 23-281, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 8. Resolution No. 23-282 – consideration of approval of the amended Fayette County Urban Growth Plan, including amended Municipal Urban Growth Plans Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting. Agenda item 9. First reading, Ordinance No. 386-23, amending the Municipal Code by replacing existing Section 5-103 with a new Section 5-103: relating to purchasing and increasing the threshold for public advertisement and competitive sealed bids from $10,000.00 to $25,000.00 Mr. Steinbach stated the charter for the City of Piperton is a General Law City Manager- Commissioner Charter and the ordinances/codes applicable to that charter are additionally applicable to every General Law Charter Municipality throughout the State. Last year the law was changed to increase the bid threshold from $10,000.00 to $25,000.00 and our charter reflects that of the State. Given our current position and the activity we have, increasing that threshold from $10,000.00 to $25,000.00 before we have to secure bids, gives staff a lot more flexibility in securing services. The Board will see and approve those appropriations. Staff recommends its adoption. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 386-23 on first reading, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received a unanimous approval. 3 Agenda item 10. Recess – hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 384-23, amending the official zoning map of the City of Piperton by rezoning a total of 14.05 acres of property from R-C (Rural Conservation – 11.95 acres) and from R-1 (Low Density Residential – 2.10 acres) to O (Office) zoning known as the Piper House Property Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to recess the meeting to hold a public hearing, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mr. Morgan stated the Piper House land and park area is proposed for rezoning 14.05 acres to O (Office). Currently where the house is located is R-1 for the 11.95 acres and the remaining 2.10 acres is R-C for a total of 14.05 acres. Where the Public Works Building sits has already been zoned office. There were no comments or questions from the audience. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 12. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 384-23, amending the official zoning map of the City of Piperton by rezoning a total of 14.05 acres of property from R-C (Rural Conservation – 11.95 acres) and from R-1 (Low Density Residential – 2.10 acres) to O (Office) zoning know as the Piper House Property Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 384-23 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 12. Any other unfinished/new business, questions or matters from the audience There was none. Agenda item 13. Adjournment Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 6:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date: ______________________ 4