Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS February 18, 2025, 6:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in a regular session on February 18, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Mayor Henry Coats, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley, Commissioner Russ Fletcher and Commissioner Joel Townsend. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Police Chief Jonathan Roney, Building Official Elizabeth Reed, Public Works Director Richard Mills, Fire Chief Reed Bullock, and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were present. Finance Director Maria George, City Planner Brett Morgan and City Engineer Harvey Matheny were absent. William Meacham, Ronnie and Judy Gross, Jonathan Gross, Vicki Hancock, Jim and Mimi Ragon, Harry Hartwig, Michael Hartwig, Judge Mark McDaniel, Brady Allen, Harold Alford and Charlotte Johnson, et al were present in the audience. 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 Commissioner Russ Fletcher led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American led Flag. Agenda item 3. Consideration of any changes to the Agenda; Motion to adopt the Agenda Action taken: There were changes to the agenda with the tabling of the Item 8, the presentation of the FY 2024 Audit and the Development Activity Report until the March meeting, Vice-Mayor Mike Binkley moved to adopt the agenda with the stated changes, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Consideration of the Minutes of the Regular Session of January 21, 2025; Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Regular Session of January 21, 2025 Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of the Regular Session of January 21, 2025. Commissioner Joel Townsend moved to accept the Minutes of the Regular Session of January 21, 2025, 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 state numbers are not in yet so we will delay the department line items until March. The balance sheet for the various funds is strong and cash positions equivalents are continuing to grow. Our sales tax revenue has kept pace with what was budgeted, and our savings have increased prior to the Piper house improvements. I am happy to see that in both the General Fund and the Enterprise Fund. Building Official Elizabeth Reed stated it was a light month for January, we have 47 active new single-family dwellings. We issued 2 certificates of occupancy and 1 new single family dwelling permit. We issued 27 total permits, and our revenues for the month were $6,202.49. There were 115 total inspections along with 21 code compliance contracts with the majority of that related to mud in the streets. We have a new employee in our department, Stephanie McDonald is our new building clerk. Public Works Director Richard Mills stated the decommissioning of Ridgewood Grove Drip Field has been completed. Sod has been laid. I reached out to TDOT about the flooding on the intersection of Hwy 196 and Hwy 57. TDOT came in and did some ditch work, but I will be 1 reaching back out to them. Last week we had a guide rail arm failure at the Ballard Road pump station. When the guide arm broke this allowed the pump when it turned on to spin causing it to tip over inside the wet well breaking the electric pig tail and causing it to over amp and trigger the breaker. We disassembled the pump and determined the pump was working. We called Gulf Stated to repair the pump and ensure all bearings and windings are in proper working order as well. Mayor Coats inquired about any spares to which Mr. Mills stated no. Mayor Coats inquired if they are in the budget for next year to which Mr. Mills stated they will be, yes sir. Mr. Mills stated I did go ahead and order a spare for the Greenbrier pump station which we have had a lot of trouble with it. The railroad company came in last week to replace the damaged beams at the crossing on Ballard Road. They will be installing a headache rack on the north side and south side of the tracks. The sewer flow to Rossville was 1,599,600 gallons from 12/27/2024 to 1/27/2025 (31 days). That is an average of 51,600 gallons per day (64.50% of the 80,000 gallons allotted per day per our contract with Rossville. There were 193 Tennessee 811 line locates for the month of January. There were 125 total work orders with 7 pending. There were 16 after hour call outs. Fire Chief Reed Bullock stated permits during the month of January were slow; as Elizabeth had previously stated. We responded to 40 total calls (33 in the city), with 19 Medical calls. There was a faulty crash on Hwy 72 and Casey Road. Police Chief Jonathan Roney stated in the month of January, there were 58 dispatched calls, 5 incident reports, 2 incident reports, and 2 motor vehicle crashes. Our new hire Patrick Rose passed the first portion of POST transition school for firearms and will go to take his final test next week then he will be ready to hit the streets. We have had a lot of complaints for speeding in the different neighborhoods. We were looking at placing a speed trailer on the next budget but with all of the complaints I would like to act more quickly on this. We have $12,181.00 left over in our vehicle fund and I would like to purchase the trailer with this money with the Board’s permission. They run from $8,000 to $10,000.00 Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve the purchase of the speed trailer with the money from the vehicle fund, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Development Reports were deferred at the beginning of the meeting. Action taken: Commissioner Townsend moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Consideration of Resolution No. 25-309, Appointment of vacant Commissioner Position Mr. Steinbach stated in December that the Board considered and accepted the resignation of Bret Morris, who had been contemplating a move to Knoxville and ultimately made that decision to make Knoxville their home. Under this charter, the Board has 90 days to fill that vacancy, or a special election must be compelled by the Fayette County Election Commission. The Mayor had reviewed several applications for prospects that indicated an interest in the vacant commissioner position. After consideration of that and reflected in the Resolution, the Mayor has recommended Ronnie Gross to fill that position. Mr. Gross is here this evening. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Resolution No.25-309 appointing Ronnie Gross to fill the vacant Commissioner position, seconded by Commissioner Townsend. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 2 Agenda item 7. Swearing of appointed Commissioner Action taken: Judge Mark McDaniel swore in Ronnie Gross to fill the vacancy. Commissioner Gross took his seat with the Board. Agenda item 8. Presentation of FY 2024 Audit – Linda Coffman Action taken: This item was tabled at the beginning of the meeting until the March meeting. Agenda item 9. Recess - hold Public Hearing concerning Ordinance No. 400-25, amending the City of Piperton’s Municipal Code – Title 3, Chapter 2, Section 3-205, Court Administration (adding Clerk’s Fee) Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to recess the meeting to hold a public hearing concerning Ordinance No. 401-24, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Police Chief Roney stated that it brought our attention by the City Prosecutor that this is a current practice used in Oakland and Collierville, this added fee is used discretionary by the prosecutor or Judge as an agreement instead of going to trial. This does not apply to court costs on every citation that comes in, it is only to be applied in rare conditions, for example in lieu of going to driving schools. Mr. Steinbach stated we had this vetted legally, our Court Clerk had indicated some concern and though rare it is a valid tool for the Prosecutor to penalize in unique circumstances, so staff does support the additional fee. There were no questions from the Board or the audience. Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to reconvene the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Townsend. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Second Reading, Ordinance No. 400-25, amending the City of Piperton’s Municipal Code -Title 3, Chapter 2, Section 3-205, Court Administration (adding Clerks’ Fee) Action taken: Vice-Mayor Binkley moved to approve Ordinance No. 400-25 on second reading, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 11. Consideration of Resolution No. 25-308, nomination and disposal of surplus property (Fire Department) Fire Chief Bullock stated the majority on this list is made up of our old computer desktop equipment that is out of service and legally out of date. There is nothing that is useful on parts and it is other hardware that we have been replacing through our replacement schedule. There is also old fire turnouts listed that are also out of service and unable to be used due to out of date for service. Mayor Coats inquired if they would be destroyed to which Chief Bullock stated yes sir, they will be disposed of where no information can be obtained. Action taken: Commissioner Townsend moved to approve Resolution No. 25-307, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 12. Consideration of other unfinished/new business, questions or matters from the audience There were no questions or matters from the audience. 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 6:22 p.m. 3 Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date: ______________________ 4