City Council - Regular Meeting

Council and recognize Councilman Henderson to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.

During this election season, I want to read from Daniel 2.21 and just remind us who's really in control. And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Let's bow in prayer. God, we thank you that you are in control of our lives, of our country. God, we just pray that your hand would be in everything that we do here this afternoon. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Councilman.

And as we get started this afternoon, I'd like to just remember and honor the memory of Kathy Papoy, who is a longtime and beloved member of our city attorney's staff who passed away recently and her services were today. AND SO IF YOU WOULD PLEASE JUST JOIN ME IN A MOMENT OF SILENCE IN HER MEMORY. THANK YOU. So welcome everyone to our city council meeting this afternoon. I just want to remind everyone on the front end to please silence or turn off your cell phones so that we don't have any interruptions this afternoon. And for those who may be new to council, I'll just give kind of an overview of how our meetings run. So we kind of do things in two parts. The first part of our meeting is called our agenda session. which is when we'll have from time to time some special presentations and committee or department reports. That's also a time for council to go through our agenda for this evening and for next week and then looking ahead for things coming on our agenda three weeks or more in the future. And that's a time for council to ask questions or make comments about any of those items. And so we'll do all of that in the first half of our meeting. And then we'll take a recess where we normally have a meeting with our city attorney, which we will have today to cover a few items. And so we'll recess for a period of time and then come back for the business portion of our meeting, which is where we'll vote on all the items on our agenda for this evening. At the very end of that business portion of our meeting at the end, there will be a time for public comment. And at that time, we're happy to hear from any members of the public who are here and would like to address the council. When the time comes for that, we'll just ask you to line up at the podium down front here, and we'll have some rules to read before that period. So with that, we don't have any special presentations this evening. So, council, could I get a motion on the minutes from our last meeting? So moved. All right, we do have a motion properly seconded on the meetings from our July 7th meeting, and those minutes will stand as published. Council, if you would, look with me at the agenda for this week's, tonight's meeting. We do have a few items, ordinances on final reading, and please just, as we go along, hit your lights if you have any questions or comments. We also have some ordinances on first reading, including a few planning items for which we'll have a public hearing if necessary. Councilwoman Noll, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will, it is my intention to defer item number 20260066 until August the 4th. Okay.

And that's item F on page three. Is that right?

Yes. Okay.

You said August 4th?

Yes.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Is that all?

Thank you. Yes. Okay.

Any other questions or comments on ordinances on tonight's agenda, council? We do have a handful of resolutions as well. Any questions or comments on resolutions? I will note on Resolution 9B on page 4, the one regarding Parks and Outdoors Day, we do have David Johnson, our new Parks and Outdoors Administrator, who will have a few words after we vote on that resolution. So we'll recognize him at that time. Councilman Clark, your recommendation.

Thank you, Chairman Davis. I do have a comment under resolutions under economic development regarding the memorandum of understanding with the Helmuth County Department of Education regarding Opportunity High at the Chris Ramsey Center in my district, and I just want to say how exciting that is for that to be a hub of workforce development of young people who cannot attend classrooms or attend the traditional classroom learning environment. And this has been ongoing in our district for quite some, about a couple years now. And so kudos to the Department of Economic Development and Community Development for welcoming that cohort of individuals in our district that gives young people an opportunity to finish their high school diploma. So that's something we should be proud of as a city that we are partnered with them in doing that. So I didn't want that to just go unrecognized as a memorandum of understanding, but to understand the impact that affording additional educational opportunities for people in our city spaces and how important that is, especially in a time when we're seeing a tremendous amount of of youth violence and death in the Brainerd High School educational corridor. So this is very, very important to the public. And I just want to note that that we are very fortunate for those of you, Kevin and Darren, who have worked on that memorandum of understanding to make sure they stay in my district and at that center. So that's all. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay.

Council, are there any other questions or comments on any items on tonight's agenda?

One other. Oh, yes. This is regarding the resolution for the comprehensive safety action plan for road safety in the city of Chattanooga, the zero tolerance policy. Have you all had a chance to review that, or has it been sent to us? I cannot remember.

Yeah, and we had a presentation on it last week, I believe, as well.

So I'm getting it confused with a dashboard. Sorry. All right. Thank you.

All right, council, let's look then at next week's agenda. And hit your lights as we go through here. Our ordinances. We're on for first reading tonight. We'll be on for final reading next week. And we do have one ordinance on first reading next week. And then we have also some resolutions. Any questions or comments on any of those items? I actually have a whole lot of resolutions for board appointments. All right. Well, I don't see any lights here. So we will take a look then at our purchasing items that are presented to us for this evening. We do have four items presented for approval. Are there any questions or comments on those items, counsel? Councilwoman Hill, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The first item, the Chattanooga transfer item related to increased construction material being transported, I'd like to better understand that. Is it pickup at the street? Is it we've got more people taking to our Recycle centers dump spots. Is it our city created construction material being transported? Is there an income stream associated with this on the other side? I just want to understand what we're really talking about here We have way in Heinz joining us at the podium.

Good evening We have noticed an increase in the construction material But I'll need to get you more details to give you the specifics you're asking for.

Okay, because this is This is an additional $750,000. I've been hearing how we've got more usage of our brush pickup, for example, and our bulky trash pickup. But construction material is, you know, that's a little bit of a red flag if we've got people taking advantage of something that should be put in a dumpster. So if we could have that information before our voting session. Thank you very much. That's all, Mr. Chair. Okay.

Any other questions or comments on the purchasing items on tonight's agenda council? All right. Seeing none, let's look at future considerations. And please hit your lights if you have any questions or comments. Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. On the public works item, I believe it's item four, which is referencing closing and abandoning an unopened alleyway as a mandatory referral. Can I get more information on that? It's recommended for denial by planning. I don't believe. I don't recall us covering this in our planning committee, and it's on the agenda before our next planning committee, I believe. So could I have just some general information about that one, if y'all don't mind? I could just get that out, you know, just send it to me. I just wanted to note that because I may need to move that one. Sure. Okay. So thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. Thank you, administration. Okay. Thank you.

Councilman Clark, you're recognized.

Yes, this is in regards to future consideration items. I guess eight. It's the federal funding totaling $3.5 million that's been directed to the Broad Street Improvement Project, and there's a local match of $875,000. Can someone give an update? I'm not familiar with what's ongoing with that project and what

that match would go towards. Sure. So thank you, Councilman Kevin Roy, Chief of Staff. I do have an update. We were going to pull that one back for one more week to finalize a one-pager that I wanted to distribute before we actually talked about it here. But in brief, we went and sought and were successful to obtain a federal earmark, congressionally directed spending for the Reimagining Broad Street project a few years ago. We are approaching... the deadline by which the city needs to actually obligate that funding. There were some rules in place that are in rule in general for these types of federal grants that require full funding for the entire project. The Reimagining Broad Street project runs from Aquarium Way all the way to MLK. And the total cost for the project is in excess of $20 million probably at this point. We don't have that funding for the full project identified at this juncture. And so we basically had to pivot our strategy. We didn't want to lose that funding. And so this resolution is going to be you guys basically approving of that reworked strategy. But again, I wanted to have it in writing for you guys. I apologize that it's on there today, but if, if you could give me another week, we will get that in writing to you guys.

I have some additional questions.

Okay.

Um, one of those questions is in the re-imagine. So it's from the aquarium way to MLK, but not any projects developed on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Is that correct?

That is correct. It is for a specific project that, um, Contemplates Broad Street only from Aquarium Way to MLK.

So the $875,000, what economic development fund is that coming from?

I do not know the answer to that, but I can find out for you. It's a match. Yeah, and I just don't know the specific source for that match, but I presume that there's a dedicated account for it. Yes.

So the money is sitting in Capital Projects Fund.

I was like, if it's on our future considerations... for consideration, and it's going to be for question, I would assume that you all would know what call center is coming from.

Yes. And I think the future considerations, it has the specific project number, C10551, something along those lines, which is a specific project set up for this reimagining Broad Street that, as Kevin mentioned, we've known that it was coming. We've put some money aside to that that will help cover that match. Got you. Yep.

I just don't remember seeing it listed as a capital project.

It was a few years back. I want to say 22 or 23 maybe that that money was set aside in that particular project, just knowing that we were going to have to match it at some point.

Cool. Yep.

I'd like to learn more about the specifics of the project. And I understand that this was some allocations from two years back, but I'd like to understand a little bit more about As far as how we carry over money into what fund balance. No offense, Weston, I don't know what that call center is by number. I don't think any of us do. And I appreciate it. I think that was a request of Vice Chairman Elliott to associate those call centers to these line items. That's perfectly fine, but I'd like to know the name of it as well. Sure.

And, Councilman, just to clarify, absolutely, we should have information readily available for things on future considerations. I thought that we had some internal confusion, and I did not think that the printed version of future considerations that you have would contain that item.

No. One thing about you, Kevin, you're very forthcoming in information, especially when it's in writing. But I'm also watching downtown funds development like a hawk. And, you know, some of us are concerned about the disproportionate funding or even the funding levels of sometimes what goes into our downtown in relation to other parts of the city. And so I was just curious about where we found $875,000 and where it was carried over from.

Got it.

So, but I support this. Sure. But I think for general public knowledge, I think we should know the specifics of a project. THAT WE'VE HAD ON THE BOOKS I GUESS FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS. NEW SPEAKER Absolutely. NEW SPEAKER ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER IS THAT ALL, COUNSELOR? NEW SPEAKER YES, MR. CHAIR, THAT IS IT. NEW SPEAKER OKAY.

COUNSEL, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS? Seeing none, we do have a committee meeting today. Before we do that, though, I do want to recognize Erica Collins, who is our newly hired Chief Human Resources Officer, who is here today, I believe, for your first council meeting since you've started. I know you were here when you were appointed, but just wanted to welcome you today.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Yes. All right. And with that, I will turn over the chair here to Councilwoman Hill. Thank you. who lead us in our Economic Development Committee meeting.

you mr chair i'd like to call our economic development committee to order can i get a minute a motion on the minutes please thank you the minutes will stand as recorded okay council today we have one item to receive a presentation on the economic development department has been working for several months on a neighborhood retail corridor program the I think connected to what Councilman Clark just mentioned, I want to point out to everyone that this is a program that does not include our downtown core. This is expressly for other corridors of our community that are in need of revitalization. So I'd like to welcome Winston Brooks to the podium. He has a presentation for us, and then we will open the floor for questions afterward.

Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. It's a great day to be in Chattanooga. Good afternoon. I'm Winston Brooks, Director of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship. It's a pleasure to be before you today to launch the Chattanooga Commercial Corridor Revitalization Grant Program. And before we dive into the details, I want to clarify a key point. As Chair Member Hill just clarified, this program is distinct from the River City Company's Scenic City Storefronts Initiative, which is strictly focused on downtown. Our program targets the other vital commercial corridors throughout our city that the economic development team has been identifying and assessing. A corridor strategy was identified three years ago, and last year this body authorized $1.3 million to the Industrial Development Board to make this happen. And today we're ready to begin deploying those funds directly to our small businesses. This effort is a true team sport. We could not do this without City Council, the IDB, internal departments, and external organizations. I'm grateful for all of their cooperation. And I want to recognize our partners who are here with us tonight, Lynn Chestnut, He's the executive director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. Lynn's team does the heavy lifting when it comes to small business technical assistance. And I also want to thank Emmalynn Porter, our business development specialist from the Southeast Tennessee Development District, who unfortunately had a last-minute conflict but remains an invaluable administrative partner. Our commercial corridors are the gateways to Chattanooga's neighborhoods, well-kept storefronts, stabilized neighborhoods, protect local tax revenues, and directly advance our One Chattanooga goals of economic vitality and responsive government. Today, we'll quickly walk through the data that drove this program, give you an overview of the grant tiers, explain eligibility, and preview our brand-new application pipeline. So we didn't design this program in a vacuum. It's heavily backed by data, specifically the 2023 HR&A study, Economic Development in Chattanooga, explicitly recommended that we activate our commercial corridors as the fastest way to support local entrepreneurs and build local neighborhood wealth. So with that roadmap in hand, we are ready to help merchants breathe new life into their properties. So the four grant tiers. As you can see here on this slide, this is the high-level breakdown of the four funding tiers we've designed to create maximum impact. So the first one is signage and security cameras, a grant up to $5,000, and this covers updated exterior signage and places cameras that sync directly with the CPD's Dragonfly network to boost public safety. The next level is facade improvements up to $10,000 for street-facing structural cosmetic updates like windows, doors, and lighting. The next one is storefront activation up to $25,000 specifically designed to fill vacancies. It uses a formula of $10 per square foot to get new businesses into empty spaces. And then the next level is the business retention which is up to $50,000, our highest tier, using a $15 per square foot formula to help our existing legacy merchants grow and expand right where they are. The top tiers require more rigorous planning from the applicant because we want to ensure taxpayer dollars are invested wisely. Once an applicant consults with our department and gets approved, they have a strict nine-month window to finish the project. So every project will be evaluated on four clear standards. Location on identified corridors that have blight and vacancies. street activation, projects must visibly improve the public facing facades, design standards, it must comply with city codes and use quality lasting materials, and community impact. So it must address an unmet neighborhood need or support overall corridor growth, and we encourage neighborhood association support. And this is a map of the priority corridors that we're looking at, and those green dots represent the center points of the corridors. And then we can also drill down into more granular level detail to show you how this data is being used parcel by parcel, like this is the Glass Street corridor, and we know exactly which properties qualify. However, to protect funds, we also have strict guardrails on what we will not fund. So to be clear, certain properties and uses are explicitly ineligible. We will not fund tax-exempt properties, buildings and receivership, home-based businesses. Additionally, grant funds cannot be used for national franchises, religious assemblies, fixed routine maintenance, or outstanding building code violations. It also cannot be used to repair something that would be covered under insurance. And we want to make sure that everybody has a chance to use this funding. So if you've received funding, you have to wait 12 months before you can apply again. On slide 10, this is really exciting. We have a new economic development portal. So I'm pleased to announce that we are moving away from tracking these projects on manual spreadsheets. Our new... I appreciate that. Our new economic development portal, CivicServe, will be live very soon. CivicServe will centralize our data, projects, and people into one secure digital hub. Through this portal, Chattanooga businesses can seamlessly apply for grants, loans, other incentives like TIFFs and pilots, track their application status in real time, and communicate directly with our team. And then we also will have a partnership with the Southeast Tennessee Development District for administration. We've used this model several times in other successful programs. So once live, the Southeast Tennessee Development District will handle the third party administration to keep the pipeline moving slowly. So what type of information are we looking at to receive from the applicant to apply for this program? And our checklist ensures accountability. We're requiring itemized quotes from three independent licensed contractors, professional renderings, and an active city business license, as well as other requirements. So this program is about execution, holding investments to high standards, revitalizing our neighborhoods that our families call home. And thank you, and I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Winston. We do have a question on the board. Vice Chair Elliott.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Winston, thank you for this work. I know we've been working on this for some time. Has this been approved by legal?

So it will be approved by legal before it goes out the door, yes, sir.

Okay.

When are we anticipating that? I plan to take it to the IDB in September. Okay, but our legal department has already approved it. Our legal department will approve it before it goes out the door.

I've seen it, yes. Okay. Can you explain exactly how the funds are directly dispersed? Sometimes we have these programs where business owners have to be reimbursed. Can you just make sure that's clarified for the public as a whole? Sure.

Councilmember Elliott, that's a great question. So based on discussions and feedback that we received through developing this process, we felt like to have reimbursement barriers was not the best practice for these corridors that are in dire need of development and revitalization. So this is 100% grant money.

Okay, great. And I think that is all for now. Any other questions I have, I'll reach out. Okay.

Councilman Harvey.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate what you do. Thank you. Thanks for your work. This is important in taking, like you said, some of the blighted areas and areas where we can put some improvement and help businesses thrive there. That's what we want in our city. Question, when it comes to the grants, where do those dollar amounts come from? Is that from the general fund or is that through a partnership with the state? Tell me where those... grants come from?

Sure. So last fiscal year, the City Council authorized $1.3 million to be transferred to the IDB, and it's sitting in the Renewing Chattanooga account at the IDB now. Very good. Okay. Excellent. And I apologize. I thought I had a slide up here on the budget. Let's back up for a second. Sorry. If you will... Grant me a little bit of a waiver. This is the budget projection here. And again, this money is sitting in the IDB account, renewing Chattanooga. So if we anticipate 15 signed grants, it would be $37,000. And you can look at what I think the projection will be as soon as we begin to market and announce this program. with the larger amount, five business retention ones at $250,000, a set D fee of $32,000 to administer. So they're going to help us administer, monitor, and then also write the checks, cut the checks to them, and then we will be using direct mail to market directly to the corridors, and we plan on sending information directly to the business and the property owner.

Very good. Council, I'd like to add on this slide the 10 vacant sites. These are not pop-up kind of grants the way that sometimes we'll see in our downtown corridor where there would be an art installation or something. This is actually for a business to move into a site that is already vacant. And the business retention grants are also something that you might be interested to look into a little bit more. Those are the larger grants, a max of $50,000, and they are for businesses that already exist that have been doing the hard work of being in some of these corridors that are a little more difficult to run a business on and encouraging them to grow their businesses and beautify their businesses. Okay, we've got Councilman Clark.

Thank you, Councilwoman Hill. Could you go back to the previous slide where it shows the graphics? Keep going, please. Thank you. The overview. There we go. A quick question. I think Councilwoman Hill may have just answered the question regarding the business retention funding. Are there restrictions on, like, the age of the business? I know Councilman Elliott and I got a phone call from a business owner, and I didn't even know this until today, that we actually – do have some funding set aside to help retain businesses, but are there restrictions on like how much money they should bring in or what they're, you know, what are some of the qualifications for that? Like, or restrictions that would disqualify business and existing business from accessing that type of money?

Sure. Great question. So the restrictions are built into the application. So at that level of business retention, they will have to meet with a counselor at the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, develop a business plan, provide financials. And if it's a new business, they have to provide, you know, projections because they wouldn't have that. But there's no age. And obviously, we want to incentivize those businesses, as Council Member Hill said, that have been there all along and give them assistance to expand or grow their business. If it's a business that's in a location that's new, we will work with them as well. But we are trying to reduce those barriers to, again, to stabilize these neighborhoods. And so the, you know, as long as they're not an ineligible business or an ineligible use, we're going to work with the property owner and the business to make sure that we can.

And Chairwoman Hill, may I ask one more of the question, please? I think. That's what I wanted to hear, that word barrier, because when I look at some of these corridors, I think about historic African-American businesses that may not have access to this type of capital. Yes, sir. I guess my question to you would be what type of consideration is given to different minority groups, veterans, women, African-Americans who have issues or barriers of access to capital, would that be something to be considered in preserving? Because, you know, I'm into historic preservations and you've got the historic ML King District, which is registered as a historic district by the U.S. government. What are some ways that we are taking that into consideration? When we think about those left out minority groups who typically historically do not have access to those capitals, because most of the districts and if you can go back to that, your slide where it shows the district overlays has little green dots. Go back there. You know, all of those green dots, two of which are in my district, actually. I know Councilman Elliott would probably debate me on the green dot between Brainerd Road and Tom Boulevard, but either way, still in my district. Those are some very economically depressed areas that's primarily comprised of African-American residents. What type of consideration or deference are we giving to that different population group to ensure that there's equity in distribution of these funds? And is that something that you would take recommendations from the council on?

Sure. Of course, I would take any recommendation from the council and I'm willing to look at that. Right now, the barrier, I mean, the application is requiring financial data and they're not looking at any of that other demographic data to take into consideration. So what we want to do is we've tried to identify the areas that need revitalization have vacancies that have blight and then we've really reduced most of the barriers except for i mean 25 000 50 000 it's a lot of money so we want to make sure that we partner with people who can do the project and get the money invested into the corridor So in terms of adding any other types of requirements, we would need to take a look at that.

I just don't want people left out that live in that community. I don't know how other simple way to say that. It's to make sure that inclusivity, I know we've tried to erasure that language out of our ideology and lexicon of public policy, but on this council, we take that, I take that very serious, that inclusivity with women veterans and African-Americans in these areas are included. And oftentimes when we start looking at financial data, like, oh, you got to make sure you bring in $20 million of revenue to qualify for this. So I'm having this conversation in advance as an expectation that, you know, we would like for whatever entryway for access to these types of funding to make sure that it is a commensurate to the type of neighborhoods you're looking to serve, meaning don't leave brown people out. Or I will not vote for it. Go ahead, sir.

Councilman, I just wanted to add to that. When they work with us, they register with us, and we can track all that demographic information to provide to people who do reply so that we know which different ethnicities, women, veteran, whatever, We track all that. We're required to. Who's we and who are you? I'm with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. So we're a technical assistance provider. I work with Councilman Elliott and his area. And that's why we're partnering so that we can help with that lift to make sure that you will know who has applied. And then we try to work with them. on the front end. And then we work with them after to make sure that these monies, they use these monies most wisely and then help them beyond. Gotcha. So if that helps.

I just wanted to put those comments into public record that that's my sentiment. Thank you. That's all, Chairwoman Hill.

Okay. Thank you. Council, do we have any other questions? Looks like the board is quiet. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate your efforts on this. You're welcome. Mr. Chair, when would you like to return?

Okay, we will recess until 445.

And we do have a client attorney meeting, please counsel.

We are back in session.

Madam Clerk, if you would please read item 7A.

An ordinance granting onto Pike Properties LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, a franchise to construct and maintain a roadway that enters through the existing building located at 2501 Chestnut Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and associated infrastructure shown on the plans attached here to and made a part hereof by reference subject to certain conditions.

Second. Council, we have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance on final reading. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on final reading. Item 7B, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance of many Chattanooga City Code Part 2, Chapter 10, Buildings, Article 3, Technology and Credit Card Fees, Section 1031A through E. Second.

Council, we have a motion properly seconded on this. Ordinance on final reading. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on final reading. And then item 7C, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance closing and abandoning an eight inch PVC sanitary sewer main and subject easement located in the 6400 block of Middle Valley Road beginning zero feet from manhole number S1091M611 and ending at zero feet from manhole number 091M050 for a total of 103 linear feet on tax map number 091MC008 subject to continuity of flow for an existing service lines serving other properties.

Council, we have a motion properly seconded on this item. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on final reading. Madam Clerk, if you would please read item 8A.

In order to amend Chattanooga City Code Part 2 Chapter 38 Zoning Ordinance, so as to rezone property located at 518 East Manning Street from RN15 Residential Neighborhood Zone to TRN3 Traditional Residential Neighborhood Zone subject to certain conditions.

And this is planning item 2026-0086. Is the applicant present? Okay. Is there any opposition present? I don't see any opposition. Um, Councilwoman Hill, this is in your district.

Move to approve, Mr.

Chair.

Second. Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on first reading. Item 8B, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code Part 2 Chapter 38 zoning ordinance so as to rezone property located at 6340 Middle Valley Road from RN2 residential neighborhood zone to RN3 residential neighborhood zone subject to certain conditions.

And this is planning item 2026-0084. Is the applicant present? Here. Okay. And is there any opposition present? Okay. I don't see any opposition. Yes, please. Second. All right. Thank you. We do have a motion properly seconded on this item. Are there any questions or comments, council? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And ordinance passes on first reading. And then item 8C, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code Part 2 Chapter 38 Zone. The ordinance so as to rezone part of a property located at 3714 St. Elmo Avenue and a property located at 3717 Tennessee Avenue from CC Commercial Corridor Zone and RN15 Residential Neighborhood Zone to IMU Industrial Mixed Use Zone.

And this is planning item 2026-0080. Is the applicant present? Okay. Is there any opposition present? Councilwoman Dotley, I don't see any opposition. You're recognized.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I move to approve. Okay. Second.

All right, Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this item. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on first reading. Item 8D, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance closing an abandoned portion of an unopened alley in the 300 block of Chamberlain Street as detailed on the attached map subject to certain conditions.

Move to approve.

Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance. Are there any questions or comments? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on first reading. Item 8E, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance closing and abandoning part of the unopened 6,000 block of debris road as detailed on the attached map subject to conditions.

Move to approve the conditions.

Second. All right. Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this item. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? And the ordinance passes on first reading. And item 8F, please, Madam Clerk.

An ordinance closing and abandoning a portion of the unopened right-of-way in the 3600 block of Divine Avenue plus two adjacent alleys as detailed on the attached map subject to certain conditions.

Councilwoman Noll, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion to defer until August the 4th.

All right. Council, we do have a motion properly seconded to defer this item until our August 4th meeting. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And this item will be deferred until August 4th. Yes, ma'am. Item 9A, please, Madam Clerk.

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATIVE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO ENTER INTO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING RENEWAL AGREEMENT WITH THE HAMILTON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE FORM ATTACHED TO EXTEND THE TERM FOR AN ADDITIONAL YEAR BEGINNING ON MAY 23, 2026 AND ENDING ON MAY 22, 2027. with no monetary compensation by our party for the continued use of space at the Chris L. Ramsey Senior Community Center for Opportunity High, an alternative education path for students in Hamilton County.

Motion to approve. Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this resolution. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the resolution is adopted. And item 9B, please.

A resolution requests to make the third Friday in July Parks and Outdoors Day, July 17, 2026, following the national trend for this day as observance.

Second. Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this resolution. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the resolution is adopted. And at this time, I'd like to take a minute for David Johnson, our parks administrator, to make a few comments about this resolution.

Thank you, counsel. Appreciate it. Let me put on my jacket just so it looks nice. We do dress up for you. honored to be here today um thank you for that uh very intensive deliberation over parks and outdoors day it's important for our city as you know parks and outdoors is a critical part of what makes chattanooga chattanooga and i'm joined here by a wonderful group of people some of whom serve on our parks and outdoors advisory committee including Ms. Linda and Megan and Bob and Ms. Zelma. So we have four of our volunteers who lead that commission and we appreciate their service. They help keep us grounded. They tell us our blind spots. They tell us things that we miss. And I'm also joined today by our wonderful staff. We have Gail, Jason, Greta, and Joanne. And previously we did have Morgan, who many of you know. These are the people that every day do the wonderful work. I would love to take credit for some of that, and I can't. They're spectacular. I have been part of the Parks and Outdoors community for almost 16 years. And so I thought I had a good understanding of all the great work we do, and I was wrong. We do more, much more than I ever expected. Many of you get our semi-annual activity guides and you see all the great work that we do in each of your communities. We're the things that make your community special. We hope you have the opportunity to come and join us. And we have a lot of different divisions. We do a lot of different activities. We partner with a lot of different groups. I want to encourage each of you on Friday, if you can, go out, experience a park space, maybe one you haven't been to. We would love to go with you. We'd love to introduce you to some of these spaces that we're familiar with that you might not be. We'd love to invite you to programs we offer through the activity guide or ones you see on our social media. Actually, this Thursday, we have our end of summer camp celebration at Warner Park. It's Thursday morning. If you're available, please stop by and you'll see the kids, the families who are impacted by our work, who benefit from it. That's in partnership with a lot of different organizations and agencies that I won't be able to list today. I do have some small handouts that I shared with Councilman Davis. With his permission, I'd love to share these to not do a presentation. These were put together based on... Thank you. We appreciate it. These are just highlights from some of our work in spring and early summer, and it talks about our impact on the Chattanooga community. I'll call out a few of those things. In the last three months, we hosted over 700 youth in city basketball leagues. Many of those leagues are low or no cost to participants, which makes it as easy for you to participate as possible. That's the service we provide to many of our youth. Our golf courses had a record year last year. They generated over $3 million in revenue. And for the most part, they operate within that budget. So they are typically low or no cost to the public. I don't play golf very much. I have been to both our golf courses. They're wonderful, and especially for the value they provide. It's one of the most enjoyable, beautiful courses you can go to, and it's at very low cost. And we do that intentionally. So we want as many people as possible to participate. We want to make those barriers as low as possible. We conducted cross-training with the forestry team at Warner Park and Chattanooga State, and we added over 200 plants at Southside Community Park in District 7, one that I've worked on previously, one that the community advocated for, and we're continuing to invest in it. And our volunteers gave us over 1,200 hours of their time during this period. So those are things that they perform activities that we are not able to accomplish. They add quality. they plant they clean up they do many of the things that we rely on to make our park system great that's just a few of the highlights i encourage you look through these handouts if you have questions please let me know let our staff know we have just so much experience here and we are always looking to do more activities when i came in i was amazed at all the new things, all the activities that we're asked to do, and the willingness of our staff to take those on and to do more for the public. It's typically not a question of can we do it, it's how do we figure out what resources we need to do it. So I'd love to keep working with you to make sure that we're investing in our park spaces, our recreation programs. We hope to be a great partner with you. Do you have any questions?

I don't see any, so we're getting off easy tonight.

Thank you for the information. Thank you. I appreciate it, and I appreciate your time. Yes, sir.

I spoke too soon. We have Councilman Harvey.

No question. Just on behalf of myself as the Public Works and Parks and Outdoors Chairman Committee, thank you all for what you do to make Chattanooga and keep Chattanooga beautiful. Love enjoying our parks and excited to get another one in my district. So just congratulations. Look forward to celebrating this wonderful day with you all, and thank you for your work and what you do. Thank you. That's all, Mr. Chairman. Okay.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming here with Item 9C, please, Madam Clerk.

A resolution to adopt the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, CSAP, for road safety in the city of Chattanooga and a Vision Zero policy to reduce serious injury and or fatal crashes on or before 2050. Second.

Council, we do have a motion properly seconded on this resolution. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the resolution is adopted. And that takes us to purchases. Who do we have tonight for purchases? We had Weston earlier, but I guess he left.

Good evening, counsel. Earlier you asked a great but very specific set of questions on the initial purchase that I cannot adequately answer tonight, so I would like to request to pull that purchase this evening until I can fully answer those questions. Okay.

Brian Smart, I'm going to be reading the remainder of the purchases into the minutes. We have three. Wastewater has requested an increase of $216,000 with Mentec Resources for a total annual spend of $716,000. It's for additional lime kiln dust needed through September of this year. Wastewater also is seeking council approval for a name change from ENCO to AnswerNet so that we can pay those bills. ENCO was the company who does our billing for our sewer system. And then the library has got A one-year contract they'd like approved with four additional one-year renewals to spend $1 million. There are five vendors listed, Children's Plus, Folic Content Solutions, Ingram Library Services, Library Ideas, and Midwest Tape. And this $1 million is for reading material and audiovisual material for the patrons.

Okay. Second. Second. Just a point of order, council. I think what we need is a motion to amend the purchases to remove that first one.

I'll change my motion to amend the I'll make a motion to remove the public works item from the spreadsheet.

Alright, council. We do have a motion properly seconded to remove that first item on our purchasing list this evening, which is a Public Works item. Any questions or comments about that motion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. We do have a motion properly seconded to approve the purchases as amended. Any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? And the purchases are approved. We'll go around the dais now for committee reports. We'll start with Councilman Henderson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So our FY27 budget is in the books. And I want to thank the administration and this council again for a smooth process and a unanimous passage. We do have a few loose items that we need to address. regarding the 27 budget. Take your time. No problem. Yeah, it happens to me all the time, so I sympathize with you. I sympathize with you. All right. There are a couple of loose ends that we need to address through the remainder of the year. First of all, the administration met with the 911 this week and will continue working in partnership with the Emergency Communication District and hopefully find a path to improve wage competitiveness for our 911 telecommunicators. We also expect to see a resolution soon that will reallocate $35,000 of available ARPA dollars for ArtsBuild to make good on the commitment to bring ArtsBuild total funding for FY27 to parity with FY26. Also, I'm working with the administration on two additional items that we will address later on in the year. One will be a $250,000 one-time allocation for Chattanooga's PBS affiliate station WTCI to help create a legacy fund to help close a congressionally induced budget shortfall. And then, finally, I'm working with the administration to provide a holiday bonus for all of our employees on top of the 3% pay increase that we were able to provide in this year's budget. So that's my committee report. Okay.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Hill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had an Economic Development Committee meeting today where we received a report on the way that the neighborhood retail corridor program will roll out. So the public can be looking for that. Also, I'd just like to take a moment of privilege to thank Ethan Collier, who for many years was the chairperson of the Chattanooga Regional Planning Committee. Sorry. Regional.

Commission.

The Planning Commission, on which I sat while he was chair. Ethan Collier served on the Planning Commission for 12 years and was chairperson for many of those years. I found him to be a very fair, organized chair, and that public service requires an extraordinary amount of time and puts every one of those volunteers under a great deal of scrutiny and stress and i just want to say thank you very much to ethan for his service and his leadership in our community he he has been a person who consistently within his business has been willing to think creatively about problem solving whether it's becoming the first residential builder in our area to figure out brownfield development for residential to considering different ways to produce partnerships to build multifamily affordable housing in neighborhoods that otherwise would have, have no affordable housing. And, and that would be, you know, potentially a gentrifier in a neighborhood. I believe that he is guided by, by the principle of loving one's neighbor. And he certainly has, loved the city of chattanooga and hamilton county as a whole through his service on the count on the uh planning body so thank you all that's all councilman harvey

Chairman, we are celebrating on the third Friday of July, now Parks and Outdoors Day. So excited to celebrate that with our parks folks. And again, thank you for what you do. I do want to recognize Linda Moss Mines in the audience, my friend. And if you've been in Chattanooga a while, then you know she is a dignitary. She is a celebrity and she is our official city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian. And she does many things, but glad to see you out and about and here with us this evening. So thanks for being here.

All right.

Councilman Clark.

Thank you, Chairman Davis. I, too, want to take no committee report, but I want to take some time for personal privilege to echo some of what Councilman Harvey has mentioned. Because today, if you guys drive past Macaulay Avenue, the medical arts building, which was designed by historic architect RH Hunt is being demolished. And I know that breaks your heart like it does for many of us who are on this journey through historic preservation. So I just wanted to acknowledge your presence here today and also announcing that I did have a meeting today with Casey Klein. This council had a strategic planning meeting and a preservation town hall that you participated in as we figure out how to preserve buildings like that that are not being torn down as part of our history and our heritage as a city amongst all of the urban renewal that's happening around us. So I know our city attorney informed me that you serve on the State Historic Board, so we'll need you. So thank you for your service to the city. Today, my heart does break to see another historic structure that was designed by R.H. Hunt to be demolished. So anyway, I also have an announcement to make going back to Parks and Outdoors. Thank you to our wonderful newly appointed administrator, David Johnson, who's joined by his team, his admin, Joanne and Greta Hayes, director of sports and recreation. Somebody else. I like acknowledging all the staff when they're here because I don't get to see you guys on a daily basis. But the Brandon Golf Course that was built in 1926. Again, historic preservation probably should be on the list, Linda. It is celebrating 100 years, which is located in my district off Old Mission Road, which was designed, thanks to David telling me, and I did not know this, was designed by the renowned golf course architect, Donald Ross, who designed the nearby Chattanooga Golf and Country Club. So all of you country club goers who want to spend all of that money to go over across the river in Jenny Hill's district, you can come to my district. you can come to my district and golf at a substantially lower price with a golf course that's maintained and owned by the city of Chattanooga and our wonderful Parks and Outdoors Department. So kudos to all of you all who are preserving our parks and outdoor spaces. And for historic preservation, this is something that has become dear and near to my heart. And I thank Linda and David and Greta, all of you all who inspired this council through a policy perspective on how to do that. So congratulations. ANYWAY, I JUST WANT TO TAKE THAT PERSONAL PRIVILEGE TO MAKE THOSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS WHILE Y'ALL ARE HERE AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING US CELEBRATE THE 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOLF COURSE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.

VERY GOOD. COUNCILWOMAN NOE.

THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.

I DON'T HAVE A REPORT, BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DEPUTY CHIEF LATFORD. AM I CORRECT? Yes. Well, happy birthday to you. Yes. So your present here on this die is just greatly missed. Yes. But anyway, we still have you. So enjoy your day. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, ma'am. I'm with you.

I'm enjoying it. Yeah. Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you, Terri. Happy birthday to you, Terri.

Can't leave my board. Councilwoman Duck.

No report.

Councilwoman Burrs.

No report.

And Vice Chair Elliott.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On a lighter note, since we've been here, Spain has made it into the World Cup. We're going to be a proud host city of the World Cup winner this year. They made it to the World Cup. They made it to the World Cup. The final. The final. They just beat France.

And they beat France.

They beat France.

And just for the record, they beat France because they were a charity. For their charity. Yes. They made it to the World Cup.

That's it.

Thank you for that SportsCenter update, Vice Chair. It helps. We are now to that portion of the meeting where we're happy to hear from members of the public who are here to address the council. And so if you're here for that purpose, please line up at the podium down front here while our attorney reads the rules. And we just ask that you listen and abide by those rules.

Yes, sir. And at the end of each business meeting by the council, the chair will recognize members of the public who wish to address the council up front. You have to be at the microphone up front provided for that purpose. You can't have more than three minutes to speak. and you can address the council only upon matters within their legislative and quasi-judicial authority and not on matters which are not under their authority or regulated by other governmental bodies or agencies, can engage in any vulgar or obscene language nor use the floor to personally attack or personally denigrate others, and address the council... as a whole and not make comments directed towards individual council members and lastly do not engage in disorderly conduct or disrupting a public meeting which is prohibited by tennessee law and a person commits that offense if a person substantially obstructs or interferes with the meeting by physical action or verbal utterance with the intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting or gathering having stated those rules sir please state your name and your district

Chris Temple. I live in East Ridge currently. I'm from Chattanooga. I'm not sure of my district. All right, sir. Good afternoon, council members. My name is Chris Temple, owner of Beacon Electrical Services and a licensed electrical contractor here in Chattanooga. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight about an issue that directly affects the safety of our community. I've lived in Chattanooga my entire life. I'm now raising my family here. I love this city, and I'm proud to see it grow. But as it grows, I'm also seeing a glaring problem. Many licensed electrical contractors in Chattanooga have gone through the rigorous process required to earn the proper credentials to perform electrical work. That includes years of training, testing, and a commitment to doing things the right way. Unfortunately, there is also a growing number of companies operating in our city without any license at all, performing electrical work that puts homeowners, tenants, and first responders at risk. Electrical work cannot be done safely without proper training. When unqualified individuals perform installations or repairs, the consequences can be severe. fires, equipment failures, electrocution hazards, and long-term damage that may not be discovered until it's too late. As someone who works inside these homes every day, I can tell you the risks are real and they are increasing. I'm here today to suggest a simple, practical solution to help mitigate this risk, a process that is already in place in many jurisdictions across the country, including our neighboring city of Cleveland, Tennessee. In Chattanooga, we already have a permitting system designed to ensure that only licensed professionals perform electrical work. The challenge is enforcement. Whenever an electrician such as myself needs to perform certain types of work, they often must de-energize the home, meaning it must be taken off the utility grid. This requires a utility worker to physically come to the property and disconnect power. An effective step would be to require the power board, whenever they disconnect or reconnect power, to simply ask the electricians on site to show the electrical permit for the work that is being done. It's a quick, straightforward check, and because you must have a license to obtain a permit, this one action would immediately reduce unlicensed activity. This is about protecting the people who live in our city and ensuring that everyone performing electrical work is held to the same professional standard. Licensed contractors follow codes, pull permits, and take responsibility for the safety of their work. Unlicensed operators do not. I'm asking the council to consider strengthening enforcement of our existing permitting laws so that Chattanooga remains a safe place to live and work. A small change in procedure can make a major difference in public safety. Thank you for your time and your commitment to our community.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Hello, good evening, Councilman. Appreciate your time. My name is Rodney Roach. I just moved here from Denver, Colorado. was homeless in 2020. I got down here and I've seen the homeless and the disability of people and the mental health issues that are going on down here on East 11th Street. The reason I'm here today is to talk to you about opening a 24-hour center access for the people in wheelchairs, mental health, and people that are struggling, that have jobs or living out of their vehicles, that don't have a safe place to go. This 24-hour center that I want here and I want help with I don't want no money. I'm not looking for no money. I want donations for help people with computers to access to get jobs. I've been beating these streets from day one since I've got here. I've got lined up with Buffalo Wild Wings, Puckett's Barbecue, Gala Mexican Restaurant. And Giorgio's suits on Market Street have all volunteered their time to help me with food and to talk to Giorgio today about getting people some nice outreach. fits a suit to go for a job interview so they look good, they feel good. If you look good and you got nice clothes on, you feel good. And you look like a million bucks, man. And they're going to see that. You're trying to survive. I guess I'm going to hurry and make this short and sweet. a center, there's a building on 10th or East 10th or East 11th and I say Houston, but they call it Houston. There's an abandoned building there. It's been sitting there for I don't know how long. It's an eyesore. I've been the last two weeks taking my time We're going there and cleaning it up and making it presentable to turn into a 24-hour center where people have access to a psychiatrist, counseling, whatever you need to get off the streets and get back up on your feet. I see that you guys don't have that here. Down at the chat center... They're treating them like animals. If you drive down there, you got about 10 people, handicapped chairs, living on the corner in front of the center. They kick you out at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It's the hottest part of the day. 110 degrees, and you got handicapped mental health people running the streets, nowhere to go. I feel like they don't care because at 3 o'clock they're going home to their air conditioning and whatever. And, you know, they're there trying to do a little bit, but they're not doing what they can do. I'm here to make a change because I've been through it. I've been homeless in 2020 and a dent behind the Denver City Mission, dealing with 300 to 400 people. Homeless people. You guys have a drug problem here with methamphetamines and fentanyl. But the more I see it, you got more mental health people here that need help to get off the streets. They don't have access. They come in and get off the street, get set up with a counselor, get up with a psychiatrist, maybe get put on disability just to help people get back on their feet and get out of the streets. I ain't got time for people to come that want to do drugs and all that. No, we ain't got time for that. I'm here to help people. And I'm looking for your help and advice to what to do to move forward.

Yes, sir.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That wasn't enough time.

Good evening, council. Sorry. Good evening, council. My name is Jake Logan. This is my first time coming to a city council. I didn't know what to expect or where it was even until I had to ask somebody across the street. So I appreciate your time and consideration. The only thing I wanted to address was the look of religion into schools. I've been noticing in Texas, they're moving to incorporate the Ten Commandments into schools next to historical documents. And I don't know if this can be a question or if it's just a comment on whether our schools are going to participate in that or not. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask that as a question.

So this is a time for comments about anything.

Just a comment taking into consideration either not placing those things or including more religions into those things. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. My name is Joshua David Capellish. I am an advocate for veterans and a chaplain. And I'm making an announcement today for July 16th. It is coming up on Thursday. There is an official event at the Wreath of Honor for the Fallen Five. It marks 11 years since the attack. So it's at 11 o'clock off Amnicola. I call Chattanooga home for many reasons and for many years. They say home is where the heart is, and Chattanooga has been blessed by God's paintbrush and many years of history rewrite every day. We enjoy rich military heritage as well. The most prominent example would be the Civil War fought 163 years ago right here in Chattanooga. There would be 152 years of peace before another Purple Heart Medal was earned in Chattanooga. July 16, 2015 was the day almost 11 years ago when a terrorist attack on our Marines and sailors in Chattanooga. Peace is a delicate balance we humans eternally embrace. I've thought a lot about the fallen five over the past 11 years. I've put on an annual event each year to honor them in a meaningful way. This year, I'm running with the American flag for the fifth time from the Wreath of Honor across Veterans Bridge because they never became veterans. Later this year, I'm driving four Chattanooga American flags coast to coast, and Lord willing, I'll fly another American flag off the Golden Gate Bridge on September 11th for the fourth time. I've got one of y'all's flags from the council here to fly, and I'll bring that back home and disperse it. Y'all have been doing a great job in Chattanooga, so thank you for everything you're doing. And so in the next 10 years, I'd like to see more permanent monuments set up, but also the upkeep of monuments that we currently have. So that includes flags and different things. And I think we can involve and teach scouts, different groups, little young people to take care of simple things like flags and lead them to what we embrace as Americans. And I think that's to love each other. And I read this in a book recently, too. The love of Christ manifested into unselfish ministry will be more effective in reforming the evildoer than the will of the sword of court of justice. And so I think what I've been trying to do is embrace public service and fitness, personal accountability, embodying the Marines in action and doing something. So this run started when COVID happened. You know, we had to wear masks. We couldn't assemble. So I decided to just run. with 18 hours notice. And so, you know, for me, it's an accountability thing all year long. But I've seen some of y'all at the event. Last year was a great showing. The families were there. I've gotten to meet a lot of folks across the country in Chattanooga. But thank you all for everything that you're doing to keep this community safe every single day that maybe people don't appreciate. But God bless all of you and our service providers, firefighters, police, and EMS. And God bless y'all. God bless Chattanooga.

Thank you.

Good evening. I'm not able to make it very often, so I apologize if these remarks are a little bit dated. I'm Jacob from District 9, Menlo Park. I'm here to speak about the proposed taxpayer-funded land trust in the existing state of housing in Chattanooga. I understand the intention is to suppress property values in historically low-income communities. Capping appreciation at 2% annually is a great way to, regardless of inflation or other market forces, drag down property values across an entire neighborhood. An admirable plan for an evil villain. Using your wealthy constituents' property taxes to ensure low-income neighborhoods like Menlo Park and Brainerd can be the permanent home of the poor peasantry. Council won't have to worry about those who live in these neighborhoods ever being able to afford a home in a neighborhood like Missionary Ridge or creating generational wealth, because creating generational wealth would require owning something. I understand taxpayer dollars aren't actually supposed to help the poor people and are destined to the pockets of the wealthy slumlords the city plays host to. So I ask, why do we need to further suppress property values? We already permit slums funded by taxpayers through Section 8 housing vouchers and homelessness programs. A great example in my community being the apartments at Tunnel in Germantown. with glowing reviews like, it's a step up from homelessness, but not by much, or there is a colony of rats living in the walls, or little Iraq. And lastly, the Homeless Coalition of Chattanooga, Tennessee gave me a voucher for rent for a year with an apartment that would accept the voucher. This place did, and I was able to move in that very minute. There is nothing good I can say about this place. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not actually paying to live here and I'll go homeless again before I do. Just what the poor people deserve in the perfect place to spend untold hundreds of thousands of dollars of our money. I encourage you all to visit. The police have 21 times over the past 14 days You know, this is an assumption, but that's about 450 visits a year. Maybe you guys could carpool with them. No, no, no. How about $600,000 on security for a European soccer team? That's what Mayor Kelly, his business, and his old private school, I'm sorry, I mean, the city, that's what we really need right now. FIFA makes $14 billion. Spanish national team worth over $100 million. The taxpayers of Chattanooga, a city with a median income of $45,000 a year. We're the ones that are paying for security. I know it's from a tourism tax, but they can pay it themselves. Use that anywhere else. My point is, you're already doing more than enough to waste money and suppress quality of life and home values in your low-income neighborhoods. The system is working perfectly as it was designed. Please, no more. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Hill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hey, Jacob. Will you please, if you're interested in understanding the Tennessee Valley Community Land Trust better, because what you introduced into the conversation was factually inaccurate, if you'd like to understand it better, I'd love for you to email me at jhill at chattanooga.gov. If you'd like to stay, I can give you that again. But I will get you connected with the community land outreach coordinator for the Tennessee Valley Land Trust, which she is employed by Caleb. That's Chattanooga's in Action for Love, Equity, and Benevolence, I believe. They've been active in our community for many years. And the land trust, community land trusts, are actually by law something that helps maintain property values throughout a neighborhood while holding the cost of a home for a homeowner. If you want to reach out, you're welcome to. Thank you. That's all, Mr. Chair.

Council, it seems that that's all of the business in front of us this evening. Okay. We have a motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

We're adjourned.