Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED SESSION OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS February 06, 2024, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in a special called session on February 06, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall (cancellation of the January meeting due to inclement weather), with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner Russ Fletcher, Commissioner David Crislip, and Commissioner Bret Morris. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Chief Jonathan Roney, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Public Works Assistant Director Daniel Lovett, Building Official Elizabeth Reed, Finance Director Maria George, and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were present. Jon Snider (Waste Pro), Jim Ragon, Billy Meacham, Vicki Hancock, Officer Taylor, and et al were present in the audience. Public Works Director Richard Mills, City Engineer Harvey Matheny, and City Planner Brett Morgan 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: 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 was a change to the agenda with the tabling of item 9 until the regular session meeting on February 20, 2024, Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to adopt with the one change, seconded by Commissioner David Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 19, 2023: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 19, 2023 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 19, 2023, Commissioner Russ Fletcher moved to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of December 19, 2023, seconded by Commissioner Brett Morris. 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 this is a makeup meeting and the financial report provides financial data through the conclusion of the calendar year. The numbers across our funds continue to be resilient. Our primary revenue drivers (property tax and sales tax) at December 31st were above our budgeted numbers. We did move $1.5 million into a short-term CD to generate a yield. Building Official Elizabeth Reed stated the month of December, there was 1 Certificate of Occupancy issued and 1 plan in for review. There are currently 35 homes under construction, and issued 24 permits during the month. Total fees for the month were $4,257.23. There were 133 inspections and 9 code compliance contacts (sign removal and mud in the street). Public Works Assistant Director Daniel Lovett stated the sewer flow going to Rossville for December was 1,510,100 gallons for 11/28/23 to 12/27/23 (29 days). That is an average of 52,072.41 gallons per day (65.09% of the allotted 80,000 gallons per day). There were 61 Tennessee 811 line locates. There were 107 total work orders with 1 still pending. The Piper House construction is still moving forward. The flooring is moving along nicely. Twin Lakes and 1 Ballard paving is schedule for spring. Shaws Creek Drainage was completed back in early winter and we haven’t had any complaints concerning flooding. TDEC/ARPA projects-there was a final walk through in Piper Farms with the City Engineer to nail down the location of the sewer placement. Staff had a meeting with Scott Daniel (JR Wauford) on January 26th to review the wastewater treatment plant drawings. Canon & Canon completed their survey on the new 12” waterline and we should be receiving 80% drawings in the near future for review. Mayor Coats inquired on potholes. Mr. Lovett stated we have a crew going around to patch. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated during the month of December, the department completed a couple of business safety checks, responded to 31 total calls (24 in the city) with 10 calls being medical. There were 411 total calls for 2023. Police Chief Jonathan Roney stated in the month of December, there were 52 dispatched calls, 3 incident reports, 0 arrest report and 5 motor vehicle crashes. In January, the entire department went through taser training and are now in service. Also attended CPR training. The Ford Explorer has now been built and is ready to be picked up. That was originally budgeted in 2023 at $39,000.00 for the vehicle, $16,000.00 for equipment. I would like the Board’s approval to pick the vehicle up. It is in Murfreesboro under State contract. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to approve pickup of the new vehicle, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Chief Roney stated he has been working with Mr. Mills to get the land cleared for the shooting range. I have been in contact with Browning Construction and they have proposed to clear the land for $1,000.00 per acre which is around 13 acres. I would like to move forward with this. Mr. Steinbach stated this is under our bid requirement and it is an appropriated item. This is step one for the $750,000.00 capital expenditure. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Browning Construction the right to move forward at $1,000.00 per acre to clear the area on Mt. Zion Road for the shooting range, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Commissioner Morris stated he went out to look at the property. Is he going to remove the debris as opposed to just mulch it and spread it? Chief Roney stated his understanding is a portion will be mulched. If it is the larger timber the other option was to burn on the property. Mayor Coats inquired if we are at full staff now? Chief Roney stated yes sir. Mr. Steinbach stated on the development activity; preliminary site plans for the MCR expansion has been submitted for review. The preliminary site plan for the northwest corner of Hwy 57 and Hwy 196 (Priddy property) has been submitted for review also. Mayor Coats inquired on Pyramex to which Mr. Steinbach stated there is nothing that I am aware of. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Consideration of Bids for the second floor Mezzanine in the Public Works Building/Awarding of the Bid Mr. Lovett stated materials are being donated so staff recommends rejecting the one bid that was received and rebidding it. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reject the bid and to rebid, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 2 Agenda item 7. Consideration of Bids for Solid Waste Services for the City of Piperton/Awarding of the Bid Mr. Lovett stated on February 1st we received and opened four bids (Fayette Sanitation, Hometown Disposal, Waste Pro of TN and Waste Connections) for Solid Waste. Waste Connections was the lowest bidder, who is our present contractor. The contract expires March 1st and staff recommends accepting the lowest bid. Vice-Mayor Binkley inquired if this contract will be 5 years? Mr. Lovett stated yes sir. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to accept the lowest bid from Waste Connections, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 8. Consideration and approval of expenditure for Fire Department/Public Works Radio Equipment Chief Bullock stated the Board approved in our budget for a new repeater, microwave redundancy and trunking. Which is part of a multi-plan to get all of our agencies networked together. Public Works is the first piece. Part of the equipment will come from state contract. The budgeted amount is $98,000.00. The total to outfit Public Works is $20,122.03 and staff would like authorization to move forward with this. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to approve the expenditures for the radio equipment, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 9. Consideration and approval of change orders for Piper House renovations Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting. Agenda item 10. Recess – hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 385-23, amending the Piperton Zoning Ordinance to include portions of Article 3 – General Provisions and Article 11 – Landscaping, Screening and Lighting Requirements, regarding the maximum height of privacy fencing Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to recess to hold public hearing, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Mr. Steinbach stated this is effectively a practical review and consideration of an existing regulatory requirement which is pretty standard throughout most cities and that is the requirement of the 6-foot privacy fence and in some instances depending on grade or other unique circumstances an 8-foot fence maybe warranted. The change to our zoning ordinance in this instance gives the Planning Commission the flexibility to consider. This is not administrative approval. It is not a subjective staff call but will require the review and approval of the Planning Commission. Staff recommends the adoption. There were no questions for the audience. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 11. Second reading, Ordinance No. 385-23, amending the Piperton Zoning Ordinance to include portions of Article 3 – General Provisions and Article 11 – Landscaping, Screening and Lighting Requirements, regarding the maximum height of privacy fencing 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. First reading, Ordinance No. 387-24 amending Ordinance No. 310-19 (2018 International Residential Code) with amendments set out therein Mrs. Reed stated she had received an email from the State regarding the current energy code. It stated that Piperton’s current energy code was no longer in compliance with State requirements. In March 2023, a bill went before the House and the Senate to make changes to 3 State adopted energy code. The House bills removes the authorization for local governments to have a stricter energy code than what the State has. The State adopted a table from the 2009 energy code and made some other adjustments to make things a little more laxed for lack of a better word. So basically, we can no longer be more restrictive than the State which we were by adopting the basic code. The amendments here reflect what has been adopted by the State and reverts our energy table back to 2009 energy code and with your approval we will be in compliance with the State’s requirement. Mr. Steinbach stated this is part of Public Chapter 312 which was passed. We have no recourse but to amend our building code to reflect the mandates of the State. This is a compliance measure. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to approve Ordinance No. 387-24 on first reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 13. Resolution No. 24-286, approving and adopting an updated City of Piperton Drought Management Plan Mr. Lovett stated in 2018 TDEC required all public water systems to establish a drought management plan. This gives us a plan to lower usage if needed. This is a common document and has to be updated every three years and approved. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No. 24-286, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 14. Reappointment of Mark Jenkins and Michelle Bing to the Industrial Development Board Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reappoint Mark Jenkins and Michelle Bing to the Piperton Industrial Development Board, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 15. Any other unfinished/new business, questions or matters from the audience 1) Vice-Mayor Binkley due to the inclement weather inquired if it would be possible in the future to get some snow plows for some of our F250 trucks. Mayor Coats inquired to Mr. Lovett how many trucks could we possibly rig-out. Mr. Lovett stated two, that would be pretty standard. Mayor Coats requested Mr. Lovett to get with Richard and get a cost to see what it would entail. Mr. Lovett stated right now it’s about $12,000.00 each and you would want to add the salt shakers to that. Vice-Mayor Binkley stated the city was shut down for a week and that would be money well spent. Mr. Lovett stated we would have to set up a snow route plan. Mr. Steinbach stated he would add that as a place holder for the budget as a capital improvement for Public Works. 2) Commissioner Fletcher inquired to Chief Roney if we have live dashcams in the police vehicles. Chief Roney stated all the uniformed patrol vehicles have them. Commissioner Fletcher stated we need to look into adding similar to the Fire vehicles to which Chief Bullock stated we are already looking into it. Commissioner Fletcher stated we should add a place holder for that to which Mr. Steinbach stated he will add that as well. 3) Vicki Hancock stated we are having early voting in Piperton at the Piperton Baptist Church only on February 15th, 16th and 17th. 4  4) Mr. Steinbach stated with the pursuit of a professional IT vendor, I want to thank the participants on our committee. We have had a very thorough vetting process and we have nailed it down to two vendors. We are evaluating pricing and will probably reconvene next week as a committee to make a final recommendation and bring that to the Board at the February 20th meeting. Also gave a Census update to the Board. Agenda item 16. Adjournment Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 6:39 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date: ______________________ 5