Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS July 16, 2024, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in a regular session on July 16, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner David Crislip. Commissioner Russ Fletcher and Commissioner Bret Morris. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Chief Jonathan Roney, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, Public Works Richard Mills, Building Official Elizabeth Reed, Finance Director Maria George, City Engineer Harvey Matheny, and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were present. Billy Meacham, Vicki Hancock, Carolyn Rhea (Fayette Falcon), Jim Ragon, Vicki Hancock, Steve Williams (Crews/MCR), Elizabeth McCommon, John McCarty (MCR), David Bartlett, Bill Kilp, Cedric Van Hooks, Jack Murphy, Ashley Bosse, Terry Stage, Donny Stage, Ashley Layton, Ronnie Gross, and et al were present in the audience. City Planner Brett Morgan 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: Commissioner Russ Fletcher led in the opening Prayer and Commissioner Bret Morris 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 David Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the June 11, 2024, Special Called Meeting and to the Minutes of the Regular Session of June 25, 2024: Motion to adopt the Minutes of the June 11, 2024, Special Called Meeting and the Minutes of the Regular Session of June 25, 2024 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the Special Called Meeting of June 11, 2024, and the Minutes of the Regular Session of June 25, 2024. Commissioner Crislip moved to adopt the Minutes of the Special Called Meeting of June 11, 2024, and the Minutes of the Regular Session of June 25, 2024, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. 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 the financial report reflects the last month of fiscal year 2024. We are working to close the books, but the examination suggests that we have met our budget marks in most of our revenue items and should be in good shape on the expenditures. Cash positions continue to remain strong. Piper House is completed and paid for. Building Official Elizabeth Reed stated June was a good month for the department. There was 1 certificate of occupancy issued. We issued 2 new single family dwelling permits. There are 40 active new single-family dwellings. We issued 45 total permits and collected $6,648.70. There were also 123 total inspections and 21 code compliance contracts. Public Works Richard Mills stated we are still moving forward with our three projects that TDEC/ARPA money is funding. We started filing the Park Lake two weeks ago. Admin did get moved into the house Friday and Saturday. I would like to thank all the admin staff for the job they did. The sewer flow going to Rossville for June was 1,366,800 million gallons for 05/28/24 1 to 06/26/24 (29 days). That is an average of 47,131.03 gallons per day (58.91% of the allotted 80,000 gallons per day). There were 123 Tennessee 811 line locates. There were 128 total work orders with 9 pending. There were 4 after hour call outs. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated during the month of June, we were light on inspections, there were 2 rough residential inspections and 1 final commercial inspection on Heavy Machines. We responded to 35 total calls (27 in the city) with 6 motor vehicle calls (4 on I-269). We are in an agreement with the County now. West Fayette had 2 first responder calls which will be reimbursed from the County. Police Chief Jonathan Roney stated in the month of June, there were 51 dispatched calls, 7 incident reports, 2 arrest reports and 2 motor vehicle crashes. Officer Pardue completed and received certification in the Glock armor class. We completed our in-service classroom at the Memphis Police Department. The new vehicles arrived this week and will be stripped. A new officer has been hired. City Engineer Harvey Matheny filling in for City Planner Brett Morgan stated MCR came before the DRC for final approval on building elevations, lighting and landscaping. They are on the agenda tonight for a development contract. Piperton Hills Phase 2 (35 residential lots) will be coming online soon. Mayor Coats inquired on Tuscan Iron Entries; do you know when they are going to start? Mr. Matheny stated I do not. I know they have been delayed. John McCarty stated they are in the cost calculating mode. The last I heard was they were thinking of shrinking the building, but I assume with the slowdown in home construction that may have effect the other side of it. The last thing I heard from the Architect was hold tight. 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 Mr. Donny Stage’s Donation (Flock Cameras – Police Dept.) Chief Roney stated Donny Stage, a Piperton resident and owner of Commercial Filter Maintenance, has stepped up to donate to the Police Department. He previously donated last year for the Watson recording system and this year he is wanting to donate for four Flock cameras, the total is $13,700.00. The City of Piperton and the Piperton Police Department appreciates your generosity. Mr. Stage stated he as well as all of the Commercial Filter employees appreciates the service of the department. Chief Roney stated the flock cameras are license plate readers that are mounted on utility poles and tags are automatically ran through the NCIC (the National Crime) data base. It will alert on stolen vehicles or if someone is wanted. These cameras are connected, and we are able to access across the country, it will show each camera that the vehicle has passed. Mr. Stage stated it’s not only our responsibility but our duty to make sure as modern technology changes that we give our local law enforcement the tools they need to do their jobs more efficiently, effectively and most important safely. I encourage the local business owners that we stand up and make sure that our law enforcement and our public services have the tools they need to keep this place safe. Mayor Coats thanked Mr. Stage for the donation. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to accept Mr. Donny Stage’s donation for the Flock cameras, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 7. Consideration of Development Agreement for MCR, Phase 2 Mr. Matheny stated as mentioned previously, MCR received DRC approval last week and it was previously approved by the Planning Commission for their project. They are here tonight for consideration of a development contract. The two conditions of approval related to some items that would not be covered by a standard building permit. They don’t have any 2 public improvements that are related to their site. There was discussion about off-site impacts specifically to the Milton intersection with Hwy 72. Currently there is just one exit lane from Milton to get onto Hwy 72 either left or right. And with increasing numbers of trucks and traffic with MCR, Fayette Trade Center, Tuscan and the vacant corner on the other side of Milton that there would be more need for more lanes to exit. We previously had a traffic study done a couple of years back when Fayette Trade Center came in, so we know about their trip generation. We now have traffic numbers from Tuscan of what they project and now we have the information from MCR. We made some projections about the future development of the vacant lot on the opposite corner from Tuscan. So, with that in mind and looking at the total trips from each development and the estimated cost of improving that intersection to create a left turn lane and a right turn lane and a through lane. That estimate is about $50,000.00. MCR would contribute about 24% to that traffic at that intersection so that would be about $12,000.00 based on the estimated cost of the improvements. Our standard development contract covers any project that comes in whether it is residential or commercial. So, there are a lot of things in the contract that don’t apply to them such as curb and gutter, but this is the only mechanism we have to request this payment in lieu of. So, in the contract there is a recommendation for payment in lieu of in the amount of $12,000.00 for future improvements to the Milton intersection which we would anticipate that improvement being built when Tuscan comes in making other improvements to that corner. And they will contribute as well. A small discussion ensued. Commissioner Fletcher inquired on an email that was received by the agent? Steven Williams stated we did email; the owner of the company (Jason) wanted me just to remind the Mayor and Commissioners which was received and thought about, I appreciate you taking the time to read through the email. But Jason wants me to express that he felt as if he were an interval part of getting Milton back there. Harvey and I discussed it back and forth, the cost of development and what do we do to help the city and help all the other businesses in the area. So between Milton Road, the sewer service that goes down through there with the lift station and the water that runs down through there and when we heard we were going to be on the hook for another possible cost to the intersection and from Jason’s standpoint (I was not employed at that time) but he was taking a little back but we understand where you are coming from but we did want to email and remind everyone and see if there was a way we could elevate that cost from how much work he had to do ten or twelve years ago. But if the Board doesn’t feel that is appropriate then we certainly respect that. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to accept the development agreement for MCR, Phase 2, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 8. Consideration of Development Agreement for Shaws Creek, Phase 3 Mr. Matheny stated this is for a 17-lot single family residential development and as part of this agreement, the Planning Commission required that they extend the water line not only for Phase 3 but extend it all the way to Raleigh LaGrange and across the frontage to where it terminates now so that we have a loop system within the development. So, that is one of the conditions of approval. On page 21, the fee summary is shown; there will be a letter of credit for the on-site improvements and a letter of credit for the off-site water improvements totaling $260,000.00. The total fees for water, sewer, inspections, and other charges for $50,700.00. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve the development agreement for Shaws Creek, Phase 3, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 9. Consideration of Piper Subdivision Development contract addendum Mr. Matheny stated Piper Subdivision is a commercial subdivision along Hwy 57. The subdivision agreement includes provisions to extend a 10-inch sewer line along the railroad right of way to the upstream side of their property and along the interstate right of way to the 3 upstream of their property per normal requirements of a subdivision to extend utilities through the property to serve their upstream neighbor. Due to the expense of this, they would like to defer some of it. They would put in all the sewer that is required on the lot that is under construction and delay the larger public sewer improvements along the rear of lots 7,8, 9 and along the interstate right of way until the next lot develops. When the next lot develops, they would install the remainder of that public sewer per the development contract that has already been approved. Mayor Coats inquired how will they get waste from the C-Store? Mr. Matheny stated there will be a temporary private 6-inch service line from the C-Store along the right of way to this crossing under the railroad which will go away when the next lot develops, and that permanent 10-inch sewer is installed per the plans that were approved by the City and TDEC. This will only service the C-Store. Vice-Mayor Binkley inquired if someone wants to develop north of that on Hwy 57, where does that come through? Mr. Matheny stated if things got serious about development and they came before us and received approvals, they would have come down the property line to connect to the sewer. We have the recorded easements. Mayor Coats stated so they are responsible to go up towards that. Mr. Matheny stated they are responsible to go up along this line to a point which basically stubs out to upstream properties both to the north and to the west. Mayor Coat stated we need to add something to the contract that says if they develop or if somebody north develops then they must run that section anyway. Mr. Matheny inquired for clarification, if someone to the north were to come in then Piper Subdivision developers would need to extend the line. Mayor Coats stated either the northeast or northwest, that would be an initiation of that. Vice-Mayor Binkley stated it could be 10 years before they do those three lots. Mr. Matheny stated that is the hard thing because there is no way to predict who would be first. At this point in time, we think that the southside would be first, but we don’t know that for sure. Mr. Steinbach stated there is an equitable portion here. The request is an accommodation, meaning the cost to install the infrastructure relative to the yield of the first phase doesn’t work on the number’s basis. So, when Harvey first broached this topic with me, we had this very conversation. Do we have the easements in place because we don’t need that obstruction. Are we maintaining a letter of credit to insure the installation of that line? Yes, we do so if there is a procuring cause on the Sammons property or to the west of the interchange, the components are in place then we are getting into legal question with regards to the procuring development on the Sammons or west of piggy backing off of infrastructure that serves no other purpose as I understand it rather than providing a straw connection to that northwest corner. And that is a situation I don’t want the City to be in, new laws have been passed regarding the developer or any developer being charged more for infrastructure than what is necessary to facilitate the development of their property. Vice-Mayor Binkley stated we would just have them come all the way down. Mr. Steinbach stated if we had somebody ready to go, we would work out a new cost arrangement. I feel confident that we are going to be in good stead either way. It is a timing situation. If they were asking for something other than what Harvey has set forth before you in terms of, we chose not to do this or we don’t want to pay for this or we are asking for your consideration that would be a different scenario but, in this scenario, it is simply timing. They are not asking not to be burden with that responsibility, just the timing of when. I feel fairly confident that the accommodation won’t obstruct a future opportunity. Terry Stage inquired on the property north of Commercial Filter owned by Ameriflo, that easement comes on to our property and they are supposed to be putting underground. Is that in 4 the process because we are looking at building additional building over there and they rushed us to get them this information, saying we need to get this as we are ready to start, and it has been a year. Mr. Matheny stated Ameriflo rushed a lot of us for approvals for permit review and then civil plans review. The Building Official can also speak to that. And then overnight they stopped being aggressive. We don’t know the back story; we have heard that they are redesigning their facility, but we have not seen any revised plans yet. If and when this develops, they will need to drain into existing. Mr. Terry Stage stated we are waiting on them to but in a new building so we are waiting on them to do that before we can do anything. Mr. Donny Stage stated they are enabling us to grow. We are trying to put a building there now but we cannot. Mr. Matheny stated he was glad to know that so that gives me reason to contact their consultant and get more information. I will get back with you. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to accept the Piper Subdivision Development Contract Addendum, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Consideration/Awarding of Bed for City’s Pavement Overlay Mr. Mills stated on June 27th we opened bids for our yearly paving project. There were two bidders: Fowler Paving and Standard Construction. Fowler’s bid was $133.00 per ton and Standard Construction was $147.00 a ton. To mill the driveways-Fowler Paving’s was $100.00 per driveway and Standard Construction was $250.00 per driveway. My recommendation is to go with Fowler Paving. The total cost for this year’s project was a little over $300,000.00. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to award the bid to Fowler Paving, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 11. Consideration/Awarding of Bid for City’s Yearly Pavement Patching Mr. Mills stated there was only one bidder and that was Standard Construction. But their base patch asphalt bid was $285.00 a ton. The CTB was $175.00 a ton. My recommendation is to reject the bids and use in-house crews to do any patching repairs. We do have some new equipment coming in that will help us in that. Mayor Coats inquired what your estimated cost on that. Mr. Mills stated $100.00 a ton. Commissioner Morris inquired if we have staff and equipment. Mr. Mills stated I will have equipment in the next few weeks, and I do have temporary staff in the budget that we will hire to do this. Vice-Mayor Binkley inquired if we are going to mill those driveways ourselves. Mr. Mills stated it is a good possibility-yes, it will depend on the slope because my miller will not be able to tilt as their machine can. So, on the driveways that we can’t the answer to the question is yes. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to allow the City to do the patching, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 12. Resolution No. 24-298, authorizing the City of Piperton to complete an application to install and operate law enforcement automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras on the State Highway rights of way Chief Roney stated the flock camera locations will be on the State right of ways and that requires us to apply for a license with TDOT. As part of the application process, they require the Board to approve the use of ALPR cameras in the City and to approve us applying for that as well. This is part of the process for the Flock cameras. 5  Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No. 24-298, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 13. Resolution No. 24-297, consideration of salary increases for Planning Commissioners Mr. Steinbach stated the Board approved the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 and as part of that budget the increases for the Planning Commissioners were recognized. This is to memorialize that approved budget and increases the salaries for the Planning Commission Chairman and the other members by $150.00 and a $100.00 respectively. It has been 8 years since a compensation increase was awarded and we deem that as appropriate at this time. Staff recommends approval of this resolution. Action taken: Commissioner Fletcher moved to approve Resolution No. 24-297 increasing the Planning Commission salaries, seconded by Commissioner Morris. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 14. Resolution No. 24-299, granting a right of way easement to Chickasaw Electric Cooperative Mr. Matheny stated with the construction of Piperton Hills Phase 1, Chickasaw Electric needs to extend power to this area and they would like to extend their overhead power line along Keough Road on the northside of the right of way. Vice-Mayor Binkley inquired if everything else is underground once it gets into the subdivision? Mr. Matheny stated that is correct. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No. 24-299 granting a right of way easement, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 15. First Reading, Ordinance No. 393-24, updating fees for Building Permits and inspections Mrs. Reed stated a couple of years ago, we did an adjustment to the re-inspection policy that removed the $50.00 first violation and allowed them to have a zero-fee violation and a $50.00 incremental charge after that. It was intended to follow that up with a permit fee increase to cover the cost of our new software increase and the training associated with the department employees. I am recommending a five-cent increase to the current fee schedule from a $.10 square foot to a $.15 square foot for the building permit fee. This is comparable to surrounding jurisdictions. Mayor Coats inquired if this was part of the meeting held with the builders? Mrs. Reed stated yes sir, I made them aware of revising the permit fees and there was no negative comments. Action taken: Commissioner Morris moved to approve Ordinance No. 393-24 on first reading, seconded by Commissioner Crislip. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 16. First Reading, Ordinance No. 394-24, repealing Ordinance No. 279-17 and re-establish an updated Occupational Safety and Health Program Plan, devise rules and regulations, and to provide for a Safety Director and the implementation of such program plan Fire Chief Bullock stated we currently have this in place. OSHA requests that it is updated periodically, the provided template states that we will adhere to the rules to provide a safe workplace, implement rules and regulations and provide for a Safety Director. Action taken: Commissioner Fletcher moved to approve Ordinance No. 394-24 on first reading, seconded by Vice-Mayor Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 6 Agenda item 17. Any other unfinished/new business, questions or matters from the audience There was none. Agenda item 18. 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 6:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date: ______________________ 7