City Council - Special Meeting

The June 29th, 2026 special session of the Clarksville City Council is now called to order. The chaplain of the day will be our own Chief of Staff, James Halford. Councilman Streetman will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to please stand and remain standing through the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come for you today with gratitude for this community and for the opportunity to serve. We ask for your wisdom, discernment, and guidance to be upon the mayor, the city council, and all city staff as they begin throughout and all the way even after this meeting. Grant them the clarity to make decisions that promote justice, fairness, and the wellbeing of every resident of Clarksville, Tennessee. Help them to listen to one another with open minds, to navigate challenges with grace, and to work together in unity for the betterment of our city. Protect our city and all who work to keep it safe, healthy, and thriving. May our actions and discussions tonight reflect the true spirit of service and bring about positive progress. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Mr. Whitley, my extreme apology to you. I did not see you sitting back there, sir. Members, please register your attendance. Madam Clerk, take the roll.

All members are present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. First and only item on our agenda is Ordinance 97-2025-26. Members, the posture we're in is Ordinance 97 sets the effective property tax rate at $1.03 and has the amendments just as we left it last week. And it's an ordinance amending the operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2025-26 and adopting the operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 26-27 for the governmental funds for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027. I'll entertain a motion and a second. Motion made and properly seconded in favor of Ordinance 97. Without objection, we're going to start with Ward 12 and work our way around for amendments. Councilman Lovato, you're recognized on amendments.

Thank you, Mayor. I have one amendment tonight.

All right. If you'll pass them around. Councilman Lovato, you're recognized on your amendment.

Thank you, Mayor. This is taking the $2.4 million that was previously removed from the fire department and adding it back into the capital. This should not affect the current debt, and it should not affect the current tax rate, because this is not paid until the fire truck is actually delivered, and we are about three years behind until that fire truck is actually delivered. But it will lock in the price for those fire trucks at today's price.

Okay, that's a motion. Do I hear a second? Properly seconded. It will not impact the tax rate? I'm not...

It will not because the money will not be paid until the truck is delivered.

But it has to be properly appropriated, which means it has to be in the budget and it has to have the revenue to match the expense.

So in previous years, from what I understood from Ms. Mattis, is that the money, even though it was promised, just like we have had other capital projects this most recent year where they were put on hold, it's just put on hold until the year that the truck is actually delivered, and then it is appropriated.

Okay. It's different from what I remember. Ms. Wilcox? Not that I'm doubting you, I just want to make sure we get things squared away.

I think it might be helpful to have Chief Montgomery come up as well and explain the process of ordering the truck and when it's paid for.

Yeah, we know it takes two lifetimes to get those things in. Ms. Wilcox, the question about money appropriated and making sure we have the revenue in this year's budget, am I off?

Correct, no, because... the fire department cannot issue a purchase order without it being appropriated and he can't order anything without a purchase order.

Okay.

And we cannot issue an unbalanced budget.

Okay.

So we would need the revenue.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Chief Montgomery, your name was called. Can you explain the process for these trucks?

Yes, so when we put the truck out, they will build a truck off a PO. So we lock in the price of that truck. They build it off the PO. I guess she knows the background of how that PO works.

PO, purchase order.

Yes, that purchase order. And it takes about three years. They always sell us three to five. Sometimes we're lucky we're able to get it a little earlier, but when they build a truck, it'll take about three to five years.

Okay. In the past, have we had to have any amendments for previous purchase orders to fund that fire truck?

So in the past we've, we've had them both in operating and in capital and we just do a PO. Uh, once the budget is approved, we do a PO and they build off that PO and then we pay them when the truck is delivered. So I don't know how the, the, does that answer your question?

Yes, it does. I think the confusion is based on previous advice, based on advice that we're getting right now, is the capital, yes, it's approved, but it's not actually funded until the truck is delivered, which would be about three years from now. So I understand that we need a balanced budget, but this is not different than what we've done in years past. Is that right? Correct, yeah.

Other questions for Chief Montgomery? Councilman Streetman, you're recognized.

Yes, sir. Chief Montgomery, I know you and I had talked about this, it seems like a couple of months ago now, but I know we had talked about this previously when it was cut, and even I understood from our conversations that we did have to have the funds held so we would have to budget for it to purchase it.

So I think the confusion is operations versus capital. I think that's what Councilman Lovato was getting at. When we talked, it was in operating. And like I said, I'm not aware of the background of getting a PO. I just know they build it off a PO, and we don't pay for it until it comes in. So I think that's probably where all the confusion is.

Okay, then, so I understand is this – we're talking – Purchasing as far as allocating the funds are we talking about making it a capital project? So Financing it. Yeah. Okay. How long is the life of a of a truck?

So basically 20 years 15 on the front line and then we put it in reserve for the last five years From the day we received it would be a 20-year When you say in reserve, what do you mean by that? It is in reserve status. It's not frontline at a station We use it if another truck breaks down or we have some kind of special detail or something like that. So we have to keep it up for that last five years. But, yeah, it's in reserve status. It's not ran every day.

So we'd be financing it 20 years for the 15 years of using it. Am I correct, just making sure? Okay, thank you.

Councilman Brown, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. This will be a question for. Accounts and budgets.

Okay. For finance.

Yes. That's finance.

Sure. You got your county.

All right. You're recognized. So to issue this, putting this in capital, we would have to issue the bonds for that now, or could it be done?

Well, we currently have the 42 and a half million dollar ban that has not been finalized. Um, there are, could possibly, depending on where this ends up, all these changes, there could be capacity in that to cover it.

But we don't know for sure then.

No, because there are other amendments to capital that might change that.

Okay, thank you.

But I did just want to clarify with Councilman Lovato, I think the clarification was the last few vehicles that we bought for fire have been in capital. So that's where we don't have to adjust the tax rate for that.

Capital as in capital outlay or capital as in?

The capital projects fund.

Debt. Debt.

Yes.

Okay. Any more questions? Councilman Lovato, final word on this amendment?

Yes. Can we have Chief Montgomery come back up for one more question?

You're recognized.

Yes, ma'am. The truck that was just delivered, how much did that one cost? Because my concern is if we wait a few years to put this truck on order, the price increase between now and a few years is going to be more than what it would cost to essentially finance this. So can you talk to us about those numbers and just the price increase that we've seen in the last few years?

Yes, I can. So if I'm not mistaken, it was about $1.8 million for that truck. And part of the reason that I brought that forward, I think I explained earlier that the two trucks that need to be replaced are 10 years old. And so while it seems like I'm a year early on requesting this truck, we've got two of them that are approaching 100,000 miles. And with the build time, we're looking at replacing two back-to-back. there's a lot of things going on in the background with truck pricing. So this is a single actual truck that is around 1.8. Um, we had a double ax, a dual axle, our tower, uh, that is, which is a much more substantial truck for 1.2 that we, uh, purchased in 2023. So, the last single axle truck that we purchased, uh, which is like the one that we have in the budget, that's 2.4 million. It was purchased in 21 at $970,000. So these prices are jumping up. Uh, and what I was initially trying to do is prevent having two purchases back to back because it, the time's going to come. We'll have to take those trucks out of service, uh, In the next couple years, so yeah, there's there's some big price jumps there And that's why I brought the purchase for the truck forward in the original budget Councilman she can't have you recognized.

Yes. I have a question for the chief chief These new trucks are there a thousand gallon tanks. They have ladders what size ladders they have and

Yes, so our basic standards for our smaller Indian trucks, we have 1,000-gallon tanks on them. They do not have an aerial apparatus or a ladder on them. The aerials, which is what this one is, will have about a 500-gallon tank. and it will have a 100-foot ladder on it. So we're trying to standardize those. Our engines are smaller. We're trying to get in for a more quick attack on those.

Okay. So we are going to maintain some 500-gallon trucks then?

Just in the big aerial trucks because they're mostly used for aerial operations and we'll have – Lines hooked to them to supply them our engines get in first and they deploy quicker And so the concept is that they they get in with a thousand gallons while help is on the way Thank you Councilman stream and you recognized.

Thank you. My question is actually for miss Wilcox While she's coming up I want to apologize to the sponsor it flat-out said capital on there and I shouldn't have asked that question I'm so sorry and But in regard to, you know, you mentioned as far as drawing it off the ban, but we wouldn't actually have to draw it off the ban if it wasn't, because the ban's only for a couple of years anyway. Right. So we wouldn't actually even have to draw it off the ban until, like the sponsor stated, until it was ready. Correct. So, like she said, there really is no cost force. Could we, if during that three times, I mean three years, decide to change it from capital to actually fund it? You mean moving it back into the general fund?

Correct. We could do that. If we had the capacity in the general fund, we could move it back. Okay. All right. Thank you. You're welcome.

All right. Any more comment or question regarding this amendment? Councilman Streetman, you recognize?

Mine's in agreement with the council person from Ward 12. I know that I had hated to see it go because of the fact that, I mean, it's $300,000 more this year than it would have been last year. like he was talking about with the expenses, and they're only going to continue to go up. It's not costing us anything at this point in time, and I do think we need to move forward, especially knowing that next year he's going to turn around and ask for another one.

Okay, any more comment or question regarding this amendment? I think I know where you're going, but I haven't gotten there with you yet. Okay. No more comment or question. Are you ready to vote? We're voting on the Lovato Amendment. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, take the vote.

Ten yes, two no, zero abstain.

That amendment passes, is adopted. Councilman Lovato, you're recognized on more amendments?

That's all I have.

Okay. Councilman Shekinah, amendments.

Yes, Mayor. I have one that's going to cost about $50 million. So I told the finance director, I'm not going to break it. Look how you're looking. You're like, Jesus Christ, $50 million.

I'm still working on a $2.5 million fire truck.

So I'm not going to pass out this amendment, but I just want to talk about it and talk specifically to some of the residents of Ward 11. This is for Rossview Road. It's a state road. The portion I'm talking about is from Keysburg down to Warfield. That will cost roughly about thirty million dollars to finish finish building it out, but There's going to be a debt issuance with that that are take that price to about fifty million So that'll take the tax increase probably over the two dollar mark, so I'm not going to do that but also I've been talking to a lot of constituents and Been trying to explain my stance on the budget A lot of people have been asking to vote no, no, no, no, no. And I've actually shared that while we're trying to reduce it as less as possible, there has to be some type of budget increase. So I think the 1.3, 1.4, even 1.5 is a good compromise from 92. So that's all I want to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Streetman for amendments.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, I do have one amendment. Mine's not $50 million. Thank you. I am passing it around. I do want, oh, and one of those, I passed them all, but I think some of those are going to go there. And I wanted to make sure that one also made its way to the back. What this is, is it's.

Hang on just a second.

I'm sorry. I'll let y'all get it around.

Madam Clerk, do you have. Okay. Councilman Streetman, you recognize your amendment.

Okay. What this is is understanding kind of goes along with what the council person for Ward 11 just stated and that needing to fund these different things. Well, I'm trying to find something because one of the things that I've heard so much about from individuals throughout our community, including in Ward 10, is the need to fund our infrastructure projects. we have got to get our infrastructure projects moving. And knowing that every year we delay these projects, they're just costing more and more and more. So what I have created here, there's several different things within this. I'll say more in a minute, but this is to purchase a new building and codes facility. It is not the build-out. It is only the purchase of the property. Again, I'll go into details in a moment. Continue the Needmore Road project, Memorial Drive project, and Rossview Road projects. as well as add back the nodes for IT and the abatement equipment for our building and codes, while also reducing transit $433,801. That $806 that we brought back last time, this would essentially cut that in half down to it. I want to go into detail on each of these, but first I make a motion for approval.

Motion been made and properly seconded in favor of this amendment. You're recognized.

Okay. So in regards to the building and codes purchase, they have the opportunity, and this is to purchase a new building and codes facility, allowing building and codes to have more room as they have more employees. Right now they are busting at the seams. And Mr. Crosby cannot move anything around. So in a year or two years, when more people are added, there's going to be no way for them all to fit in there. We have an opportunity to purchase some property with the shell of a building. Every, you know, the construction inside would need to be done, but the shell itself is there. That cost is $2.1 million. If we were to build the exact same building, the parking lot, everything involved with that, you're looking at a cost of $5.25 million for the building and $350,000 for the parking lot for a total of $5.6 million. Waiting a year on that because I can't say that the seller is just going to wait a whole year for us to be able to buy it at $2.1 million. If you wait a year, using the low end of inflation on construction projects in Tennessee, ranging from 3% to 5%, using the 3%, you're looking at a cost of $5.768 just for building the same exact building we can buy right now for $2.1 million. Now, the benefit is not only for building and codes to have a facility to move into, but there's also a benefit on the other side in regard to being able to expand the clinic. Right now, that would equate, let me clarify also, they would not be able to move into it this year because I'm not allocating the funding to do the construction inside. I'm just trying to keep from missing out on the opportunity we have at hand to be able to purchase the property and not cost taxpayers an additional $3.6 million in the future. But right now, we have to send out our physicals for our firefighters for new hire and their annual. That cost right now is $112,000 to the general fund. What I can't give you a number for that would also be a savings is that with the expanded clinic, we'd be able to provide additional diagnostic services by conducting x-rays and provide more on-site care for on-the-job injuries to streamline care and reduce medical expenses on our internal service fund and our OGI program. This would also reduce the city's overall health plan costs. Again, we can't associate a number to it. That would be dependent upon what year that ended up happening. But at least I can go ahead and tell you that a year from now you'd be looking at a savings of $112,675 once the construction was able to be completed on the inside to be able to build it out. That part is, there's 105 is what the interest on that would be for the ban for the capital project with building and codes. Now, to continue the Needmore Memorial Drive and Rossview capital projects, I took it straight off our CIP for what it would be in one year. You've got $1 million for Rossview. You've got, forgive me, I've got to flip through a couple of pages here to get to it. I think Memorial Extension was 4.5 and Needmore was 4.7 for the first year of moving forward in those projects. And in a minute when I get done, if you'd like, Mr. Smith can come up because he's going to speak much more technical on it than I am. I've already talked about IT. We talked about that last week and the need for the two nodes. We have four servers. Two of the servers are needing the nodes replaced, and that's $160,000. If we put it off another year, not only the funding hasn't been allocated in there for the warranty, but even if we spent money on the warranty, we would get a five-year warranty with the two new nodes anyway, and the other two nodes are going to need to be replaced next year as well. The last thing we want to risk is having servers go down without having all the backup that we need. So that was the $160,000. And then the $332,301 for vehicle and abatement equipment. These are specific to the abatement program. Again, I'd ask that maybe we could have Mr. Crosby talk a little bit more about that in detail than what I can because this is his area of expertise, not mine. And I already mentioned the reduction to transit of 433,801. I just rattled off a lot of numbers, and I do apologize to everybody. But I would ask that we don't divide the question on this, because this is all being calculated out to cost one penny. So when you add up and subtract out the transit, it's $676,000, one penny of funding this year to be able to move everything. And so that would go from where we are at 103 to 104 to be able to get projects started, keeping in mind this would be on the ban. So next year we would have to fund them as well because they're going to be transferred over into our debt service, and they'd have to not only be interest payments but interest and principal payments next year. And, again, you'd want to keep moving on them also.

Councilman Lovato, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. I was actually going to ask to divide the question, but since she asked for us not to, I won't. I'll just vote no on the whole thing. I understand that this might be just a penny this year, but this is a lot of debt and a lot of interest to go forward on. And I understand the need for Needmore Road to be started and completed, but Tylertown isn't even completed yet. Why are we going to keep going into debt on...

new road projects when we're not finishing the ones that we have currently that's my concern i won't divide the question i'll just vote now thank you councilman zacharias you're recognized on the amendment thank you mayor um if like if it's okay i'd like to get mr ringenberg up here and ask just sure mr ringenberg for his thoughts on

Councilman Zacharias, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, sir. I would like to hear from you the impact of the $433,000 decrease to your budget.

I can make basically $361,000 without cutting people. Above $361,000 I'm going to have to cut positions, which is going to be bodies. Whether it's going to be one or two, I don't know the exact number yet, but For me to get to 433, was that the right number? 433? Yeah, for me to get to 433, I'm going to have to cut at least one, if not two, positions. I can cut out all the new blessos and cut out all the extra stuff that we're just going to have to ask for again next year, and that will be 361 city match part.

All right.

Thank you very much. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Councilman Streetman, you're recognized.

Yes, sir. I would like, if we could, have Mr. Smith come up and talk specifically regarding the street projects.

Mr. Smith? Councilman Streetman, you're recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Smith, if we take these one at a time, could we start with just the order we have it on here, Needmore Road?

Sure. Okay, so our next phase, Needmore, we're in right-of-way. We've got right-of-way drawings. We need to revise those because, obviously, there's been some development over the time that the project's been dormant. But post any of that survey work, we'd have to reappraise. We'd have a number of months in reappraisal and the costs associated with that. Depending on how those appraisals come back, that could put a dent in or potentially acquire all of the needed right-of-way for that project, which would tee us up for construction, obviously the big part of that project.

Okay, and then Memorial Drive?

Same. We were actually sending out offer letters on Memorial Drive properties. We actually acquired some of those before the projects were paused. And so, again, same. I think some of those appraisals have at this point elapsed. They have to be within 12 months of the offer of acquisition, so we'd have to go out and do that work again. I don't know that we've had... as much development on that road so we wouldn't have to resurvey the preponderance of it. So it wouldn't be as painful or long in the tooth. But we'd be at that same point acquiring property.

And then Rossview Road, obviously that being a state road, our preference would be to

get t dot assistance with the church we we originally came forward with a singular phase of ross view that we then split into two phases and added some scope and i think the best case scenario when the mayor and i sat down with the mpo folks and even t dot was to add a third phase of that project and again apply to the shared partnership program uh... and again it really comes down to how good our application is And we can do a schematic, and we can do the bare bones environmental, and we can apply. But the more we draw that, the more elaborate, the more we counter any of their questions, the more likely it is for them to take that project on. And then we're at the 80-20 with the state carrying the lion's share of that.

Well, and in regard to we need to finish one project before we start another, if we do that with all the projects that we have, we've got quite a few capital projects on the list to be completed. If we just... line them all out, do one, everything at a time. I don't even know if you can answer this. How long is it before we could get everything completed?

We've got two or three projects that aren't even on the radar in the Transportation 2020 plan. Obviously, Spring Creek is running right now. Tower Town is dormant because of the soil conditions and the uncertainty of next steps on that, the best approach. Aside from that, Rossview just finished up, so we're not terribly active on those projects, reenergizing some of those other ones. Largely, the construction schedule on Needmore Memorial would be concurrent, I think, once we went to construction. Needmore's going to take a little while because the scope's a lot larger, but we'd be moving pretty quick on both of those.

And the statement I made before that these projects only get more expensive the longer we wait.

They do, and I think we find that largely with the state projects. You know, obviously we've got money, we allocate, we identify, and then by the time those things, we have any traction, it's five or six years from now, and Yeah, they're covering 80% of it, but we have to keep bumping that number, and our 20% becomes more every time. So, I mean, there is a cost associated with that, but, you know, again, the state's still floating the lion's share of that.

Well, I'm even referring to, you know, the need more and the at Memorial Drive as, I mean, like anything else with construction, the longer you wait, the more expensive the projects get, correct?

I'd love to say 3% to 5% is a good number in construction, but of late, I guess kind of like the fire truck, it's not a good number. That inflation number is getting worse. So, yeah, I mean, that's why as to the property values and stuff, I'd love to say, you know, hey, 3% more next year and we'll be able to acquire that, but I don't know if that's true.

So our citizens have to wait longer and pay more?

Indeed.

Okay.

All right. I don't know if anybody else has questions for him.

Well, you finish up, and then we'll go down my list.

I also wanted Mr. Crosby to come up and talk some specifically regarding the abatement equipment. Him and I have had several conversations, even again since last time, regarding it.

Mr. Crosby, your name was called? Councilman Streetman?

I think I've already talked quite a bit in regard to the building the building itself so unless others have questions that want to ask you on that but in regard to the abatement equipment can you talk a little bit about this equipment what the equipment is that it's going to replace and the effect that it has on our citizens our requests if we don't have this? Because I think from you and I talking, a majority of the equipment that's being replaced is around 16 years old, correct?

Yes, the equipment that is being replaced with this ask is equipment that we started out with originally. So it's 16-year-old equipment that we have kept running to date, but every year it gets a little worse. This year we were weeks. We had weeks' worth of downtime, months' worth of downtime with some of this equipment, and it doesn't You know, you don't have to replace everything at one time. We probably waited a little too long to replace some of this stuff. After 16 years, it takes a tremendous amount of wear and tear. You know, some of the stuff that we're working with every day is some of the other tools, lawnmowers, weed eaters, things like that we've replaced, but the bigger equipment we have not replaced. And we don't have any backups or spares. And I mentioned last time we had our equipment trailer go down. and had to borrow a dump truck from the street department to try to finish up some jobs that we were working on. I said that to say that when one of these pieces of equipment goes down, we're at a dead standstill. We can't do anything. We don't have a backup. We don't have anything else sitting around that can take up for some of this equipment. So it's very important to our day-to-day operation to have this equipment up and running and the ability to go hook to it and go to work. We do more and more stuff each year we do in-house, and this equipment will be key to that. We want to do as much stuff that we can. We want to do it ourselves. We do a better job. We can do it faster if we can have newer equipment that we can, different pieces of equipment. You know, what would take us a week to do, we can do in a day with some of this equipment.

And these are the jobs that you do with this equipment. These are requested from both?

council members and uh yes you know we obviously we place a level of importance on anything that comes from you guys because we assume if they're calling you they've already called us so if they if they're calling you and asking us to do stuff and you guys all know because we all talk throughout the year and there's some stuff that we have to say no to we don't want to say no when somebody's calling and they need their neighborhood cleaned up their neighbor cleaned up they need something picked up off the sidewalk we want to get to that stuff and and We're at a real need here for this equipment to do so.

Well, and with vehicles that are in excess of 16 years old, they're going to, I mean, even from talking to garage, they're going to spend more time in the garage than something that's only a few years old.

They do. We have a tremendous relationship with our garage. We wish it wasn't quite as good as it is, but we have a real good relationship with them. We spend a lot of time over there getting pieces fixed on equipment. It's just old equipment, and we're doing our best to keep it running. But it's hard to get your day started. Get the momentum going. You have a breakdown, you can't go get another piece of equipment to keep the day going. You're at a dead stop until that's fixed. And sometimes, you know, as we had this year, our equipment trailer was down five times. One of those times was for over six weeks.

Well, and I do know they prioritize in the garage. I talked to him about that as well. But so if they've got, you know, other higher priority vehicles that come in, yours is going to because they only have so much space. And they only have so many mechanics. So police, of course, they do have some that are allocated just for police. But if they have other departments that are going to be prioritized, that means yours is going to sit there and wait to be fixed.

as it should.

And how many jobs would you say that you did last year? Uh, maybe requested by us.

So last year we, there are, as you guys know, we just had a birthday, our restoring Clarksville initiative turned a year old and through that in the last year we did roughly 200 cases solely related to the restoring Clarksville initiative. And it, that's a tremendous amount of work, but we did leave a lot of things on the table. We said no to a lot of things that we wish we could have done. because we didn't have the equipment to do it, and we don't want to say no.

That's all the questions I have for you, sir. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Crosby. Councilman Stringman? Councilman Chandler, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm kind of leery of the $2.1 million for the purchase of a facility. I just don't know enough about it, where it is, what it is. Again, I feel like the council is left out in the dark on asking us to commit to $2.1 million, and, well, it's a good buy. I'm not saying it's not. I'm not saying it's a great idea. All I'm saying is I just don't have enough information to do a yes vote on that. And lastly is there will be no way that I'll vote to reduce transit. If it means laying a half a person off, we're not accomplishing anything. We're trying to save the citizens money, but we don't want to do it on the back of our workers. So I'll be totally against that. Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Shekinah, have you recognized?

Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we divide the question.

Okay. All right. How would you like to divide the question?

I want building and codes, both of those items for building and codes to be in one. I want reduced transit to be in one and then all the rest of it to be in the other.

Okay. Hang on just one second. You got the two items for building codes is one? Yes. Give me the next part.

Reduced transit.

be in one so that's the second question yep and then all the rest of them locked together okay any objection to dividing the question okay we're gonna put it on the board the motion is to divide the question according to councilman shekinah suggestion that is the two building and codes items would be the first question the reduction of transit funds would be the second question And everything else is third question. I get it close.

Yes, sir.

Okay. All right. Any question about dividing the question? All right. We're going to vote on dividing the question into three parts. And as soon as the clerk gets it teed up, we will be voting to divide the question into three parts. Okay. We're voting to divide the question. All members, please cast your vote. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, take the vote.

Eight yes, five no, zero abstain.

That question has been divided into three. So we are now going to address... the two building codes items, the vehicle and abatement equipment, and the capital project for a purchase of a new facility. Councilman Clonch, on the first question, did you wish to be recognized? Okay. You're recognized on the first question.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Before it was divided, it was one, and I understand now it's divided. I would like to address the building and code stuff. So I do know the new building, and I understand Mr. Crosby and I had multiple conversations about kind of the domino effect. Building and codes gets to move. That provides an opportunity for other services to be provided for firefighters, which I don't think is bad, but I agree with my fellow council member that Collectively it was not known and had an opportunity to go over there and that's not my business to tell the building or where it's at however with the Vehicle and abatement equipment purchase. I brought this up last week We have an internal service fund a vehicle replacement of four point seven five million dollars Why are we not able to take that four point seven five million dollars and and take that out of the budget and fund that with monies that we already have so that he can have the vehicles that he needs and arguably any vehicle because the fund is called vehicle replacement fund. I'm not a smart man, but the words line up the same. Uh, so I guess that would be my point about that. And then Last week, a council member wanted to pull $2.3 million to have funds looked at for a third party to look at managing a golf course. Not to close a golf course, but to manage a golf course, which is the price of a fire truck. So we're sitting in this room, and everybody wants what they want, but there's no compromises being offered in the sense of, well, this is the most important. And I said this before, if everything is so important, nothing is important. There are monies in other places in our city government that we can pull things from a internal service fund labeled vehicle replacement fund to buy vehicles. I fail to understand.

Let's get some clarity on that. Ms. Wilcox, if you don't mind, come up and explain, just for my purpose, the vehicle replacement fund.

So each year, departments budget the vehicles they need, and that moves over to the vehicle replacement fund. So that $4.1 million or whatever number was given, that is vehicles that were budgeted in prior years that they have been unable to obtain. So those funds are already earmarked for specific vehicles. Like when we were talking about the fire truck. It takes three years to get. So they might have budgeted for it two years ago, and it's sitting in that $4 million, but it will be for that fire truck or dump trucks. We were having a hard time getting snow plows. All of those different vehicles are in that $4.1 million. $4.75. $7.5. Excuse me. So...

I appreciate that. I guess I would like to see a list then of $4.75 million, a little bit of money.

Now, that also was at June 30th, 2025. They have been able to get some of those vehicles in, so it has decreased from the $4.75 million over this fiscal year.

Okay. Well, I got that information from you, the $4.7 million. So then what is it now then? Is it $4.1 million? I mean, again, if we're still in the $4 million, that's... is not it's grown folks money it is not but I cannot tell you without looking at that fund what it is balanced at now and I can get that information to you I appreciate that thank you ma'am mr. Crosby we've had multiple conversations sir I will be a no and not because I don't know you need it and you do a lot of work in war two More recently than not with same-day service, and I apologize for that, but I will be a no sir Councilman Streetman on the first part of the question yes in regard to not Having enough information about this.

Mr. Crosby was up here. Any question could have been asked of him regarding the building and I do know that Both him and miss Lance talked about this during our Budget Committee meetings back in May so this is not a new for us to be able to hear about this anybody that wanted to attend our budget committee meetings could have been there learned about it asked further questions afterwards so again this is this is not a surprise and we have you know it's listed as one of our cip projects but again this mr crosby was right here and would have been happy to answer any questions about this building that's located in our downtown area. And keep in mind what I've already stated, that they're not just going to hold it to sell it to us forever. If we're not going to be buying it, presumably they're going to move on from us and somebody else is going to be buying it. And we could be looking at, in a year, spending $5.7 million to build what we can buy for $2.1 million. In the long run, it is considerably cheaper and uses far less of our tax dollars.

Councilman Marquis, you're recognized on this question.

Yes. So I just wanted clarity here on the two projects. The purchase to the facility building, that is capital projects, so that's debt that we're taking out for that one. And then the vehicle and abatement equipment, that's going to general funds, so we'll be increasing. Is that the penny that we're discussing?

Councilman Stringman, that's directed to you.

The penny was for all of it. The penny was for the reduction to transit and for everything else altogether. I calculated it down, working with finance, going through everything, so it was going to cost us one penny to reduce transit and do all of the other projects. So it's $105,000 is what the cost is that's associated with the interest on the $2.1 million purchase and then the $332,301. So it's a total of $437,301 is the cost that we would be looking at for the building and codes part of it. Okay. But I guess let's say this goes through and the debt one doesn't. I mean, it's still as a penny. It all depends on, I mean, it's still going to be a penny. If we pass this and don't pass the, really it all depends now how it all shakes out. Like I said, I was really trying to get it to where it was very simple. You either voted up or voted down the whole thing, plus I was concerned with seven voting for one, seven voting for another, and seven voting for another, and no compromise actually being made. Mine was actually offered up together as a compromise.

Okay. All right. Well, thank you.

I always get a little nervous when we talk about purchasing real estate in the open, which I know we have to because that's the way government functions. But although we have identified a building, we're just putting this on the capital projects list and appropriating the money should we decide at the end of our due diligence to purchase the building. But we're a long way from that and doesn't mean we're going to pay what they're asking either. So I just get a little nervous. Councilman Clonch, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Forgive me, I don't even remember. Oh, with what you just said, I will refrain from my statement.

Okay. Thank you. Any other comment or question regarding question number one, which is the two building and codes items? Seeing none, hearing none, are you ready to vote? We're voting on Amendment 2A. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, take the vote.

Two yes, ten no, zero at the same.

That amendment fails. We're now, Councilman Streetman, we are now on the other, the second question, which is the reduction in transit funding. You're recognized on that? Anything else?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Anyone have a question regarding that part of this question, which is the Reduction of the transit funding by $433,801. Councilman Streetman, do you recognize?

I apologize. I do have something I want to add to that. In understanding that it would reduce what they have, this is just like what had been cut before it came back to us last time. It was $860,000. taken from the Clarksville Transit System operating. I understand, and I talked to him in advance and understood that it meant cuts. But looking at fiscal year 2026, the budget was $4.9 million. The amended was $4.1 million. And the amount available, the amount we currently have it in there at is $5.9 million. So this is reducing it to $5.5 million. So that's still considerably more than the budget as well as the amended budget number. So knowing that we do have road projects, we've got a whole lot more people that are in cars than are riding the buses, that's all I'm trying to do because, again, trying to find a compromise that will work for everyone here for us to do the things we need to do in order to get a budget passed.

Councilman Zacharias on this portion of the budget or amendment. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I was at this conference last week, and an attendee said something. He said a city councilman is somebody who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. And that hit pretty close to home as we're in this budget process. Because we're talking about a city employee or two. laying off a city employee. That is a reduction in services provided in a department that, let's be honest, is already struggling to serve this community. I cannot support a portion, a split amendment that is going to cost a city employee their livelihood. Thank you. Councilman Clonch, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I also share in that sentiment. I believe when we spoke, it was 127 cars come off the road a day going to Nashville. So we're concerned about cars, so let's take away public transit and then put more cars on the road. I will not be in support of this as well.

Any more comment or question regarding this portion of the amendment? All right, we're voting on this portion of the amendment. All members, please cast your vote. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, take the vote.

One yes, 11 no, zero abstain.

Amendment fails. We are now on the remaining part of this amendment, which is everything else. Councilman Streetman, would you kind of go over what's remaining?

That leaves the Needmore Road project, the Memorial Drive project, and the Rossview Road capital projects. So that was the... I closed my book. That was the $4.7 million for Needmore, $4.5 million for Memorial, and $1 million for Rossview.

And the IT?

Oh, and $160,000 for IT. I apologize. I was forgetting part of what we had taken out there. So, yes, sir.

Okay.

So the three road projects would go on the ban, and then next year we'd need to roll over as bonded to the debt service. The $160,000 is... straight out of the general fund to replace the nodes on two of the four servers that'll be left unprotected at this point.

Okay, that's a motion to hear second. Properly seconded. Any discussion regarding this portion of the amendment? All right, let's vote on this portion of the amendment. All members, please cast your vote. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, please take the vote.

Five, yes. Eight, no. Zero, abstain.

Amendment fails. Councilman Streetman.

That's all I got, sir.

Okay. Councilman Brown, any amendments?

No. No, Mayor.

Councilman Haywood, amendments?

No.

Councilman Holloman, you're recognized for amendments? No, Mayor. Councilman Smith, you're recognized for amendments?

No.

Councilman Markey, you're recognized for amendments?

Just one.

All right. Let's get it passed out, and then we will...

Councilman Marquis you're recognized on your amendment all right so nothing's changed on this amendment same as you guys have all seen before so I will make it real quick tonight since I know we've already discussed this a in death, but I will start by making a motion for my amendment.

Motion been made and properly seconded. You're recognized.

So I know that there's been a lot of allegations that have been presented to the council, but I would argue back that there has been hardly any evidence supporting the allegations outside of three particular pieces that have been provided to us, one being maintenance requests that the city has received, the safety inspection that we did back in March, and a few days ago, the financial audit. Outside of that, we have received no instances of misuse of funds, any abuse. And so all that stuff at this point is honestly hearsay because we have not seen the evidence of that. So I would say that if there is evidence that exists, it should be presented to the council so that way we can make an appropriate decision based on those facts and not just he said, she said things. That's all.

Councilman Lovato, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. I will not repeat everything that I said last week, but I do want to remind the council that we do have evidence. We have three years of a third party audit that came back and told us the corrections that they needed to make and the corrections were not made. We do have evidence because we have access to their bank statements. We have had access to their checkbook and their credit card statements. And that may not be fraud, but there are absolutely areas of concern with just those things. Since our last council meeting, I do want to bring the attention to two emails that I received. And I'm going to omit names. But this one says, first of all, I want to thank you for standing up for this center. We really need the city to take it over. I have also been sexually harassed, and when I went to tell Rita and told her, she did absolutely nothing to help me. I really need my job, so quitting wasn't an option for me. I have witnessed so much that Rita, Sabina, Marissa, Lois, and Gilbert have been doing shredding files, and also, I'll leave that part out. I'll leave the rest out. That's one email. The next email, this is from a lady who did an interview with News Channel 5, and this email is actually to the news reporter who did it. It says, I'm writing regarding to the segment that aired concerning the Ajax Adult Center closure and the interview conducted in my home involving my father. The aired segment didn't accurately reflect my statements nor my position. During the interview, I made it clear that my concern was for my father and the other vulnerable seniors affected at the sudden closure of the adult day center. I also made it clear that I wanted the city to step in and stabilize the situation because the seniors and caregivers shouldn't be caught in the middle of an internal board and leadership conflict. It is going to be a huge mistake if we return the funding in that building to the current leadership of that senior center. We're not in a position to substantiate it, but we have been given enough firsthand experience, not just from employees, disgruntled, whatever they want to call them, or just members. We have it from both. And we do have these other factual statements from third-party auditors and their bank statements. We're just not looking closely enough. If the goal is to save a penny, then we should just not allocate any funding. If we are not going to turn it over to Parks and Rec, we should cut all funding, and if they want to do it on their own, let them do it on their own. That's all I have.

Councilman Zacharias, you're recognized. Mayor.

Last week the previous speaker stole a lot of what I was gonna say, so I made sure to write everything down this time. I wanna walk this council through what has come to light about the Ajax Turner Senior Citizens Center just in the last week. Not over the last year, not since this whole thing started, I'm talking about one week. And when you see it all, I think you'll understand why I cannot support sending this organization another dollar. This, or sorry, last Monday when we came here for this meeting, we all had a letter on our desk. And that letter was a copy of a letter sent by an attorney that has appeared before this council on the nonprofit's behalf. And that letter said that a personnel action that the nonprofit took is invalid because the board violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act and their own bylaws when they took it. I want to be clear about who's saying that. Okay, it's not me, it's not the city, it's their own attorney in writing telling us that they met in violation of state law. When an organization's own lawyer has to put that on paper, that is not something that we can keep ignoring. This week, after a colleague and I pointed out that an independent third party audit documented financial discrepancies and noted that a credit card was used to make a child support payment in Texas, a member of that board stood up during public comment and called us liars. So let me say what we can back up. That audit carries the director's signature. Its findings are not something we invented. And the credit card charge is not a rumor that we are floating. It's available. It's in my inbox. It could be in your inbox, too, if you wanted it. We have the card statement. We were contacted by the person who that card was issued to, and they told us that that charge was fraudulent, and they reported it immediately, which raises the real question, reported to who? Not to the city, and as far as we can tell, not to the board. Remember, they called us liars when we brought it up. A charge serious enough that the cardholder calls it fraud and the people charged with overseeing this organization either did not know or did not act. This week we learned that cash was paid for room rentals at the center, so I have a simple question. How much cash? How much of it was deposited? I've gone through the bank statements that the city was provided and I cannot find any evidence of those cash deposits. And here's the part that everybody needs to understand. Even if I could find them, I still wouldn't know how much cash was collected in the first place. Neither would you, neither would anyone else. There is no way for the city to reconcile what came in against what was banked. And then this week, a board member told us that a member of the community had promised them a brand new facility, not a brand new facility, but a new space, so the nonprofit could keep operating under its current name. Sounds like a solution, except within a couple hours, we got an email from the very person who supposedly made that promise saying that it wasn't accurate. They had guaranteed no such thing. So that's five things, and every one of them has landed in the span of a week. an attorney's letter saying they broke the state law, being called liars for citing a signed audit, a fraud the cardholder allegedly reported but not to us and not anywhere that can be verified, cash that can't be accounted for, and a building that the person who was supposedly offering it says was never offered. That's one week. That's not a stable organization having a hard stretch. That is chaos coming out of the center under its current leadership, and we're the ones funding it. That's the problem. Not any single allegation. We are funding an operation that we cannot audit, cannot reconcile, cannot hold to account, and when we raise it, the answer is to get called liars while the records stay out of reach. I did not take an oath to fund what I cannot verify. Moving these services under Parks and Rec puts the center under city employees, city financial controls, and public records that we, the public, and every reporter in the country can actually inspect. I'm asking this council to stop writing checks to the dark and finish the transition. Thank you.

Councilman Streetman, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. I apologize. This wants to keep moving on me. But one of the things I really wanted to point out was taking a look at our city financials that we receive. So looking at the component expenses, I mean, for our component units. So if you look at the most recent finance committee, you can actually click on the agenda and you can look at the component unit financials. And one thing I do want to point out is that they're showing their expenses at being total expense at $998,896. So they are $27,000 over at the end of March, the end of the third quarter, they're $27,000 over their income that they've got slated. But what I also really wanted to draw attention to that has definite concerns for me, and you can even just look at that to be able to see it. Again, I had the tab open, but if I switched to a tab, it went away. But I went back and looked at last year's budget and what they presented to us for their financials and what their costs were. One year ago, so 3-31-2025, their total expenditures were $450,000. 3-31-2026, one year later, we have expenditures of $998,000. Their expenditures have more than doubled. Some serious red flags for me was the expense for their audit and accounting at $84,000 through the first three quarters of the year. If you look at our other component units that have higher revenue, that cost is nowhere near same you could easily look at the airport authority and see that it's not the same another huge red flag for me is their uh benefits that they pay for for their employees medical uh allocation is twenty nine thousand four hundred and fourteen dollars on three thirty one twenty twenty five that was nine thousand dollars why is there twenty thousand dollars more in medical benefits expenditures when their payroll has not increased that much in that same period of time. And their budget for that was that they presented was $17,381. So nearly double what they had budgeted for their, I get insurance costs go up, but that's $20,000 is to increase 200%. So to go from $9,000 and add another $20,000 on it, that's a 200% increase. And the cost of it. I saw different things too from going back and forth between the two. Telephone, their telephone bill has greatly increased. So I have a lot of concerns myself as what's leading all of these huge amount of changes. Telephone for budget was $2,000. It's at the end of 331, $7,376.41. And really wish I could switch back and forth between my tabs. to be able to see what it was because that was another huge increase in one year. What's leading to that? So I would encourage you all to look for yourself at a lot of these costs and try and find yourself where this is all coming from because those are all things that led a lot of concern for me and even just taking what they have allocated. Also unsure is they've got $18,000 allocated or budgeted for expenses for adult daycare lunches but only showing $149.92. A lot of things that lead me to wonder what's going on there. Another thing, internet web homepage, they budgeted 750, which was more than where they were at this time last year, but yet they've spent $2,430. This is just a lot of things that definitely gives me pause and leads to concern for me in addition to everything else that we've talked about. And when we're talking about the 1.286 allocated, keep in mind some of that is for them to be able to purchase more equipment that they're going to have to replace. But I can also tell you, she has stood up here and told us, she has been, Ms. Letourneau has also been applying for grants in order to get some of this same grant funding that they get, the state $13,000. We can't get the United Way because we give money to that. Of course, that's only $3,000. They budgeted $20,000, but it's only showing that $3,400. So I'm not sure why the United Way doesn't appear to still be giving the same amount of money. But all of these others, these are grants that we can apply for as well. to be able to receive so that while it may be higher this year, going forward in future years, it's not going to be as high because you won't have to buy near as much of the replacement.

Councilman Marquis, you're recognized on your amendment.

Yes, so I just, I've heard a couple of council members mention that apparently we have credit card statements and checkbooks and bank statements. Is this the reference to the finance committee that was just discussed, or is this something else?

What was the question?

Well, several members have mentioned that there have been bank statements, checkbooks, and credit cards that have been provided, and I was just asking is this What was just discussed, these numbers, are those those statements at Finance Committee or are there other paperwork? I'm trying to clarify where this is coming from.

Councilman Lovato, you're recognized for a point of information.

Just for me personally, what I was referencing was I requested from the city attorney those documents and that is what was provided to me.

Councilman Streetman, you're recognized on the other part.

What I was referencing was the numbers I was just giving off was in relation to the income statement through March 31st, 2026, which is located in the, you can go to the agenda for the finance committee that was held on June 22nd. click on component unit financials and be able to locate that information there and then i was also going back to if you look at the budget book for um you look in the budget book for our fiscal year 26 you can see what was presented to us um last year for their budget for this year which shows all the various different numbers that i was uh just talking about for the numbers that they had in their expenses last year at this time.

Councilman Marquis, you have the floor.

Thank you. So, again, my statement still stands in regards to there seems to still be information that's only provided to a handful of us and not all of us. I think that, again, that should be given to every single one of us. And if this was a decision that we needed to discuss, it should have been given to us like binders we received in the past, showing us all of this in one place. That way we could evolve. had it and not have confusion here. They're here. Say, um, as far as certain bank statements, I did request them on my own from the banking question and it is in the fraud department so I can verify it. It was reported somewhere. Thank you.

Councilman Claude, she recognized on the amendment.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. Everyone up here has received lots of information, lots of phone calls. lots of heartfelt conversations about this issue. And what's really resonated with me this week is you've got two separate camps, Camp MPO, nonprofit organization, Camp Parks and Rec, right? And there's a large demographic of seniors in our community that are suffering because they want to go to a center and one camp or the other campus Attacking isn't the right way. Harassing them. Or they just want to be left alone. And I'm 48 years old. I've said this before. In two years, I would love to go there because I don't have any friends. I don't have any friends. So for me to be able to go there and to enjoy a facility where I can play pool that I enjoy, where I can learn how to sew, where I can go play cards in an environment that is inclusive, that is safe, that is free of bickering and bantering and this he said, she said, where I could go get my hair did, all of these things. And I think that collectively, I understand the passion. I'm very passionate about it as well. But we have forgotten the largest swath of the people that are paying a price for what is happening there. All the things, right? And it hurts my heart. It is disrespectful to a group of individuals that have reached a point in their life where they just want to live on island time and live out the remainder of their life in peace.

That's all I have, sir. Councilman Chandler, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. It's time for us to put this to bed. We have been fighting this and fighting this and fighting this. At the beginning, I'll admit, I got more contact from people wanting to keep it like it was. But then as the time has gone on, to me it appears to have gone down. We got to put this to bed, folks. I mean, not belittling anything over there, but we need to make a decision one way or the other so we can put this train back up on the tracks. And, you know, in a horse race, If a jockey beats a horse too much with his whip, they disqualify. Well, I feel like I'm the horse that's been beat with the whip. Let's just get it over with, come up with some decision, and if I vote against you, I apologize. That's the only thing I can tell you, is we've got to get it somewhere where it's beneficial to every single person. 1,500 members. I've never seen 1,500 members here. So evidently there's a large majority that are like me. Hey, y'all are my people. I'm 71 years old. But the large majority of people just want it over with and get back to something. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilman Streetman.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm not going to say a bunch more on everything we've already went through. I want to clarify, though, for everybody on the council and in the public, the numbers that I gave is readily available, not just to all of us, but to everybody in the public. Again, I gave information from the fiscal year 26 numbers that came straight out of the budget book, somewhere around page 800 and something. Because I'm looking at the digital version, so I can't tell you right where it is, but it goes in there. And then the other information that I gave you, it's from the finance agenda. Again, readily available for any one of us up here or in the public to be able to go out, look at the agenda, because they're all public. Click on the link. It's going to take you to the exact same information that I just pointed out. It's not special to me. It's available for anyone and everyone that wants to check it. It's just a matter of going out and finding it and getting to it to be able to see it.

All right. Any more comment or question regarding this amendment? Councilman Clonch, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There was a council member that spoke about third-party audits that weren't passed, credit cards for child support that are out there, cash for Room rentals, a new space that was discussed, increases in accounting costs, writing a check in the dark, and medical issues, allocations. An adult center that got shut down. We've heard from two different camps. We've all collectively gathered information. But if this is the criteria that we're going to use to take this funding away, from a senior center, I feel like I can't get a straight answer from our CFO about a vehicle fund and the dollar amount that's in it.

I think she gave you a straight answer.

Okay. Well, I would disagree with that, and I'm not allowed to have my opinion.

You are allowed to have your opinion, but don't disparage staff.

It was not an attempt to disparage any staff. I'm speaking on how I feel about things. We have heard from... department heads requesting funds for X, Y, and Z that have increased exponentially from several years ago, information that's getting disseminated to some council members, not some council members, budget conflicts with information that I've gotten from citizens about funding streams. So if you put all of that together, and we're going to use this as the matrix of what we need to take the funds away from, and this is going to be very unpopular what I'm about to say, then maybe the city needs to fall into parks and recs. That's all I have.

Councilman Zacharias, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. I just have to address this thing that keeps being brought up where only certain council members are getting access to information. I'm going to name that group the certain members. The group is the people that asked for it. Okay? It's the people that asked for it. And I would think that all of us would have asked for it since we're considering writing an $800,000 check to an organization that we have no control over.

Thank you. Councilman Marquis, you have final word on your amendment?

I guess just two things. Real quick, I know that in the past this council has had an issue with a different board, and that's also been a fight. And today, if we look at it, they now have a functional board and new director, and the situation has been stabilized. this particular organization here in Clarksville and I believe the same thing can happen with Ajax if we were to update perhaps the way that we do a board appointment and fill their board and have a more I guess meaningful conversation on how or our expectations of the organization and second to my

colleague is there are times where you don't know what you don't know so you don't know what to ask for until you figure that out thank you all right we're voting on the marquee amendment all members please cast your vote every member voted any member wish to change their vote madam clerk take the vote five yes eight no zero abstain amendment fails councilman marquee amendments nope i'm good councilman chandler amendments down your honor Councilman Peters, amendments? None, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Councilman Clotch, amendments? None, sir. Councilman Zacharias, amendments? No, sir. All right. We are back on the motion for Ordinance 97 as amended. Any final comment or question? Councilman Brown, you're recognized on 97 as amended.

So just making sure I get this straight, we're still at the $1.03?

Still at the $1.03, yes, sir. You're welcome. Councilman Chandler, you're recognized on 97 as amended.

I just urge everybody, we need to pass this budget. We're getting down to the zero hour. Today is the 29th. It's supposed to be passed by midnight tomorrow night. If you have voted no in the past, and failed to bring something to this body to let us know what it is, then I just don't see how it can be done. Thank you, Mayor. Councilman Streetman.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say a lot of people have talked about how we have so many more apartments and houses and everything, so that's a considerable increase in what we're bringing in, so asking why it is that we in turn need to increase our costs. For one, or increase our tax rate. For one, we have continued moving things from previous years to the next year, to the next year, to the next year. I'm just as guilty in doing that this year. And some of the eight cents that I brought was moving things to next year. However, but in response to we're getting more and more money every year, I'd like to point out that Again, I'm looking at the financials from the most recent finance committee meeting. Our actual fiscal year 2025 was that revenue collected, or general fund revenue, was $144 million. Through the same point in fiscal year 26, it's $148.9 million. million. That's a variance of 4.4 million, and 4 million is no small number. I 100% get that. But if you divide that 4.4 million by the 144.4 million, it's 2.9%. It's an increase of 2.9%, which is less than inflation. It doesn't take into account that we have increased our fire Well, we increased the fire department pay. For the starters, we have increased the pay for police, if I remember correctly and going off of my mind. But I believe that for just the police even alone, that was a cost of $2.5 million to be able to increase. And I got a nod to clarify that. Just like everyone else out in the community, fuel has gone up for us as well, and we've got vehicles on the road all day every day going to various different places. Everything has gone up, and it's not that I don't understand where our citizens are and that this is going to cost more. But I also have to look at the fact that if you go into a grocery store with $100 this year, it's not going to buy what $100 would buy you last year. And we're suffering that same thing like everyone else is. as well. I have got, um, something here to where I have calculated for us what we're looking at for our tax rates and the average home according, I believe, to the assessor's office it for the average homeowner in Clarksville is valued through the assessor's office at $319,000 with our current tax rate of 92 cents. that equates to city tax only $733.70 at the rate we're looking at right now that it's $821.43 which is an increase of $87.73 or totals out to $7.31 a month for what you would be paying in addition to be able to provide the services. The goal of this council is to get back down to that 92 cents. There's additional cuts that would have to be made to be able to do that, but understanding you're supplying less services. So what they're paying for is less of what they're going to be able to get for their 92 cents. I'm just asking, we have at some point got to come with something to get approved because continuing to hold our... Our citizens hostage, our city hostage, our employees hostage is not the route to go. We have got to get something done and move forward for everyone involved because it's ridiculous for us to just keep going through the same process and keep voting it down, down, down, down, down. And again, to speak to the person that spoke before me, you haven't brought anything forward then you're not making any difference there but everything that's been brought forward whether it was myself or anyone else it's all been voted on by this council believe we need to move forward do our job and our most important job and i ask this when i ask anybody that's important the most important thing we vote on every single year is this budget so Let's move forward in the process. If you've got something you want to change, do it in the second reading. But we're at a point we have got to get to work and get things done. Thank you.

Councilman Shekinah, have you recognized?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. I started off this evening saying that I had reached out or my constituents had reached out to me and I had communicated with them. And for all the ones that asked me to oppose any tax increase, I tried my best to explain. to them that some type of increase Well, it's going to be necessary, and I think this is a good compromise. So I think I'm in a good place to support the budget. However, I don't think that any council member should try to tell a council member to vote for it or vote against it. Let your own conscience be your own guide, and you answer to your constituents whether you're going to support this or not, and that's all I have to say, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Smith, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. The last time we had this budget meeting, I proposed the 3% increase. We vote that down. That would have made it 95 cent. Then we came back with the same dollar and three. We voted that down. That's 11% increase. Many of my constituents are telling me, please do not vote for increase in the taxes. We cannot afford it. And I understand that. gas is high, grosses is high, cost of living is high. And I know we need the money, but I think that 3% increase would have been a great deal to vote for. You voted down to $1.03, and you're telling us, please vote for this, vote for this. As I said, my... idea about raising taxes is just not good for the citizens that I represent. Three cent is all I can go. Thank you.

Councilman Brown, you recognized?

Thank you, Mayor. So, you know, looking at some different numbers, you know, I understand that there needs to be an increase. My concern is just how much. And what we're trying to explain and talk to our constituents is we're trying to get it down as far as we can to be reasonable for the citizens. So just looking at the fire and police raises that were given, the change in the EMRs, the raises for the boots on the ground, that's about four and a half cents increase just there. The health care cost that has went up is another about 2.13 cents. So just between those two, we're just over 6.5 cents of an increase in the budget. So we each just have to think about where's the number that we can live with. And the 103 is more than 6.5 cents and

know it's just going to be tough decisions and we're just going to have to work through it thank you councilman streetman you recognized thank you i just kind of want to point out saying that we're just proposing a tax rate without justifying it with any cuts to go along with it is not really proposing a tax rate because you haven't done anything to make an amendment to go along with where those cuts would be associated. So I just want to clarify that for everyone in the public that just throwing a number out there isn't us actually doing our jobs. Everything that most of us are sitting up here doing and bringing forward, it's actually us doing our jobs and trying to get the work done.

Councilman Smith, you're recognized.

I'd just like to say we can't do line item deductions. And so we can let the... People decide. The departments decide where they cut, what they can get rid of, or what they don't need. Thank you.

Councilman Chandler?

Call for the question. Second.

Question been called for. Properly seconded. Any objection to the question? Hearing none, we're voting on Ordinance 97. All members, please cast your vote. Every member voted. Any member wish to change their vote? Madam Clerk, take the vote. six yes seven no zero abstain ordinance 97 fails we now under public comment we have three people allow three people five minutes each any member of the public wish to address the council yes sir yes sir if you would you'll give us your name and you have five minutes If you'll wait a minute, wait a minute, and get to the microphone, please.

My name is Russell Kane. I write letters because I like to deal with things of injustices. What we've talked about here, and everybody forgot, how did we pick the center board representatives? Why did they do what they did? No one's asked that question. Where did they come by the bylaws? You know the four you've been questioning? We're all picked by the mayor. Read the board records. Understand, you stack the deck. You cripple the senior center because you pick the people for the board who made these decisions, the top four. We've been complaining about it for months. We notified everybody. We submitted documents to the city. No one's ever taken a look. How did we pick the center board reps to control it now? You say they've lied to you. falsified records, didn't do financials right. We told you that. Just go to your city records. Why do we allow that board to put the city logo when it's stationary and put it in their minutes? The biggest dollar value is this. We crippled the senior center by selecting the four who did everything you said, who did everything that was told was wrong and did it anyway. and didn't want any accountability for months. All you have to do is review their minute records. It's on file with the city. Thank you. Please make your decision and determination.

Anyone else wish to address the council? If you would, give us your name, and you have five minutes.

It's Ronnie Royal Parker.

And just so everyone knows, the mayor had made a suggestion through Mr. Halford, chief of staff. He had asked us to change the amount of members on our board. We had 14. Mr. Halford wrote to us and said, please, we believe that there should only be seven members from the community and only two members of our actual organization. We are still waiting for the city to give us the rest that they were supposed to supply. This has been going on not for three years, barely two years and one month. Where's the city on this? We asked. We never got an answer. One gentleman came in that was a lawyer, and he applied. He gave all the answers he had to, and the city rejected him. He said, I don't have time to wait for someone to ask a question, go back and forth, back and forth. So he said, I'm out of here. The city has never supplied the full number of seven. So where are we? We are stuck. We followed your asking, but you, the city, didn't react. I'm thoroughly upset about that. Why should we even ask you questions? Why should we even give you anything? Back. You're not helping anybody in the Senior Citizen Center at all. That's all I have to say. Failure on your part.

We have room for one more person to address the council. The purpose for which this special session of the Clarksville City Council having been accomplished, I will entertain a motion. Motion to adjourn. Motion been made. Properly seconded without objection. We are adjourned.