City Council - Regular Meeting

Next and last meeting, and I'm running late. I apologize. Are you ready? Public Football City Council meeting for Thursday, August 6th. May I have a roll call, please?

Councilman Bodgy? Here. Councilman Walker? Here. Mayor Wheaton? Here. Vice Mayor Eldridge? Here. Councilman Gilbert? Here. Five present.

Thank you. At this time, I would like to ask those who wish to do so stand for the invocation given tonight by Pastor Chris McMichael of Engrafted Word, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Father, I thank you for our great city. We thank you for our city council members and the leaders of this city. Thank you for keeping us safe. Thank you for granting our council members the wisdom they need to make the decisions that keep us all safe, protected, and prosperous. We thank you for this meeting tonight, and may your wisdom prevail, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. an individual with liberty and discipline.

Thank you, Pastor. Item three, consider approval of agenda as presented. Are there any changes?

Do I have a motion? So moved.

Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilman Gilbert. Any discussion from the Council?

All votes correct. 5-yes motion carries.

Thank you. For a presentation of Distinguished Citizen Award, Chief Whitbreed.

Federal Mayor, Council, all of the friends and family who braved this weather to get out here, we appreciate it. I have the privilege of giving these awards out and I'd like to start out with one of three Distinguished Citizens Awards. So this one goes to Peyton Norris. On February 16th at approximately 6.10 p.m., officers responded to a residential fire. on Eastwood Drive. While his mother assessed the situation, Peyton, who was 10 years old at the time, independently contacted emergency services, provided essential information along with his address. He brought the garden hose to his mother and then took his six-year-old sister and 21-month-old brother outside. He also alerted and directed emergency personnel when they arrived. As a direct result of Peyton's decisive and selfless actions, his mother was able to extinguish the fire. Peyton displayed exceptional courage, leadership, and maturity well beyond his years. His swift response contributed to minimizing property damage and ensuring the safety of his siblings. So Peyton, I would like to present you with this Distinguished Citizen Award. Thank you. My second and third Distinguished Citizens Award goes from husband and wife. So I guess you can all come on up here. This is Brian Reynolds and Sarah Keenan. So on June 12th, around 3.15 p.m., Sarah was in her backyard when she heard screaming coming from the creek behind the residence. She immediately notified her husband, Brian Reynolds, and they ran to the creek. They found a seven-year-old clinging to a tree in the creek. Brian jumped into the creek and rescued the child who was naked and non-verbally autistic. Sarah and Brian immediately provided medical care until EMS arrived. Brian and Sarah, thank you very much.

Thank you.

My next award is for Medal of Valor goes to Officer Chris Melton. He's coming up. Officer Melton is a veteran police officer with over 20 years of sworn service with the Cookville Police Department. On November the 3rd, 2025, Austin Melton responded to a disturbance on South Jefferson Avenue. He entered the business to find the female owner being held around the neck by a woman with a knife. She remained calm, or he remained calm and approached them slowly. The male owner of the business offered the suspect a phone, which caused her to turn her head. At that time, Officer Melton seized the opportunity to lunge for the knife and successfully pinned the suspect and knife against shelves in the aisle. He held the suspect in place until Officer Young assisted in placing her on the ground. Officer Melton received a small wound to his arm. uh he asked his actions saved the life of the store owner and prevented further use of force in this deadly force situation so chris presents you with the medal of valor and again My next presentation is for Officer of the Year. Would Detective Brandon Cooper come on up? Detective Brandon Cooper is a veteran law enforcement officer with over 16 years of swarm service. Eight of those years are with the Cookville Police Department. He is currently assigned to personal crime section of the Criminal Investigation Division and is tasked with investigating crimes related to child and adult sexual abuse, missing persons, felony assault cases, and homicides. During his tenure in CID, Detective Cooper has been the primary investigator on several significant cases which have led to lengthy terms of incarceration and justice for the victims involved. Most recently, Detective Cooper was assigned to investigate a homicide where all investigative leads had been exhausted and the case was considered cold. Detective Cooper began a thorough review of all available evidence and performed additional follow-up investigations. which ended with the indictment of two suspects for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. During this investigation, Detective Cooper uncovered a second planned homicide by the same two suspects, which led to additional conspiracy to commit first degree murder charges on both men. Detective Cooper subsequently uncovered the same two suspects and a previously unknown suspect that were involved in a 2022 arson of the hog barn on West Broad Street. Detective Cooper consistently seeks to aid other investigators whenever possible and is the gold standard for being a team player. He maintains professional relationships with outside agencies and often coordinates with the District Attorney's Office on complex investigations. Detective Cooper, Brandon, here you go.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Counsel, would you like to say anything? I know, I will say one. Peyton, I have seen you since you were a little kid playing baseball and watched you on the ball field, and I'm not surprised at all at what you did, sweetie. I'm so proud of you. I'm gonna get teary-eyed, sorry. This is gonna be an emotional few weeks here. But just to all of the citizens and the police officers, But I'm leaving football in good hands, to be honest. And I don't know why I'm crying. I'm so sorry, y'all. It's just, I'll just get over it. But thank you to our citizens, to our police officers. Y'all, again, y'all are what make football special. So thank you. Very proud of y'all. And congratulations.

Chief Young, watch this kid next couple years. He may need an application. Love to have you on the team, son. Good job. And everybody else, too. Thank you guys for what you did, sacrificing, helping that young man, young boy, and our officers. You guys are phenomenal. I hope we can continue to take care of you guys because you take care of us, the city. So I appreciate everything you guys do. And, Chief, you got a really good Team of police officers, and so you. I appreciate everything you guys do.

I've met some exceptional people in my time, and I think 1 of the best parts about living in this community is, is we have a lot exceptional people and I think. Everyone here today has shown how exceptional they really are and for you to be so young and be able to show that and. I just want to say you're an exceptional young man. And everyone else, you don't know when you're going to have that opportunity to stand out and show that ability. And we just thank you for doing that and being there for the citizens of our community and our officers for being exceptional officers. Thank you guys.

And I'd like to echo exactly what everybody else said. But, you know, courage really is exemplified when that moment arrives and you have to make a decision and act. And you did it and you did it selflessly. And I'm proud of you. And I look forward to seeing you grow up, be part of this community, and you're going to do amazing things. And for our officers as well, you guys are exceptional and you, you know, you do great things every day. So we appreciate you.

Yeah, just the two stories that both involve children are just almost like words to what you all do. And I know you do it again tomorrow and how tremendous that just represents what Cookville is about. And then, Peyton, what you did is so special. I run out of superlatives to add to what's already been said. For Officer of the Year, just a tremendous, I forgot, I've lost track of where he went, but that's just a tremendous, Tremendous resume to be presented there. And then I just want to take a quick second to embarrass my good friend Chris Melton, who he and I grew up together, played junior pro football together for my dad. And Chris has always been a special friend of mine, especially as special as he is as an officer. I'm honored to call you a friend as well. And these are just the things that make people so great. So thank you all.

All right, if y'all want to stay around for the meeting, I always welcome you, but I'll also give you a chance to exit, right? To stay right if you want to, or is that in page 11? I'm not sure. Yes, but thank y'all. Thank you. That's awesome. I wouldn't stay, but I would love to.

No, you're good. Sure, I'm going to go eat. We'll move on here to all business. Thank you. Good job. Thank you.

I promise I'm not going to cry this much. That's a lot. I know. All right.

You're going to miss me.

On to old business. I consider approval of minutes of council meeting held on July 18th, 2026.

Is there a motion? So moved.

Motion made by Vice Mayor Eldridge. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Bocci. Any discussion from the public? Question from council? We'll go ahead on that.

Still doing my hand.

All votes correct. 5 yes, motion carries.

Thank you. For the consent agenda, we have 6A, consider approval to purchase uniforms utilizing source well contract 011124, Flowers Manufacturing Company, approved vendor CMS uniform for equipment. And 6C, consider approval to purchase body armor and vest carrier system utilizing gas gall source well contract 091924. 6C, consider awarding bid for battery backup system. 6D, consider awarding bid for 100. Oh, wait.

Thank you, copper. I didn't follow it.

Yes. 500 copper wire, not cooper. 6E, consider awarding bid for 615 KVA CSP transformers. 6E, consider awarding bid for 1825 KVA CSP transformers. 6G, consider awarding bid for 1250 KVA CSP transformers. 6H, consider purchasing one transformer trailer from RJV Equipment, utilizing source well purchasing cooperative contract 092922. 6I, consider purchase of one 2027 Ford Super Duty F450 pre-capped 4x4 with, I'm not sad. Thank you, NAPI. I don't know that one either. We've got 6108D54F. Service body utilizing statewide contract number 209, contract ID 88762. 6J, consider approval to purchase one ram back HX9 hydro. I didn't read this before. I checked out with all this. Hydro excavator with kit work T880 chassis utilizing source goal contract ID 021726. And six pay Saturday nine three twenty six for public hearing on ordinance. Twenty six or eight one four resigning properties located within the newly annexed and branch road annexation area. Is there a motion on the consent agenda? So moved. Thank you. Motion made by her elders. Seconded by Councilman body. It is a special from the council. Okay.

All votes correct. 5 yes, motion carries.

Thank you. On to new business. 7A, consider a first reading ordinance 026-0813, amending the football municipal code, Title IX. Business, peddlers, solicitors, et cetera, Chapter 12, mobile food vendors, Mr. Coons.

Mayor and Council, the Cookville Municipal Code relating to mobile food vendors was last amended in 2018. Regulations for mobile food vendors are found in the Municipal Code and in a separate Department of Leisure Services policy. Effective at the beginning of July of this year, the Department of Leisure Services updated their policy relative to mobile food vendors in city parks and city parking lots. With the review and the revision of the Leisure Services policy, we took the opportunity to review the municipal code to see if any housekeeping was needed relative to mobile food vendors. Ordinance 026-0813 updates definitions, strengthens the tie between the municipal code and the leisure services policy, and clearly states some exemptions when mobile food vendor permits are not required for certain events. I'd be happy to answer any questions, and I recommend approval of Ordinance 026-813 on first reading.

Thank you. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Motion made by Councilman Gilbert. Is there a second?

Second.

Second by Vice Mayor Eldridge. Any discussion from the public? Discussion from council? All right, I'll vote.

All votes correct. Five yes, motion carries.

Thank you. 7B, consider resolution R26-0814, authorizing to receive a direct appropriation grant from the state of Tennessee and the distribution of said grant to the Joseph Worland Memorial Foundation for the construction of an all-inclusive youth soccer facility, Mr. Mills.

Mayor and council members, as we discussed on Monday, earlier this year, we were notified by the state that we would be receiving $500,000 from a special appropriation to go to the Joseph Ford Memorial Foundation. This resolution authorizes us to receive those funds and then to distribute said funds to said foundation. I'd recommend your approval of Resolution 2608-14.

Thank you. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Motion made by Vice Mayor Eldridge. Is there a second? Second. I know we have the words here. I'm not going to make you speak if you don't want to, but is there anything y'all want to say?

I think Laura has seen for more than a reason just hearing the community and it's just so encouraging that we decided to be a part of the community in so many ways and I just feel like I just returned tonight and I'm thankful for the community and And we appreciate all you do as elected individuals. And we can't wait to partner with you on many, many things for this season.

Thank you. Any other comments from public? Comments from council? Yeah, I just want to say thank you to you. Thank you all for what you're doing and for being a part of Cookville. I know this is going to be a wonderful thing for our community. And it's for a wonderful reason. So appreciate y'all being here.

Sam, I'm familiar with your message from before, and I think what you guys are doing is great, and anything we can do to support it.

Any other comments from council? All right, thank you.

All votes correct. 5-yes motion carries.

Thank you, 7C. Consider approval of change order number one for the Interstate Drive Winding Project. Ms. Elrod?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. So this is for our Interstate Drive lane widening project. We recently completed the drilling of the dip and it was left very rough and not not reversible at full speed of the roadway. So in order to quickly repair this project within a two to three week time frame, we've decided to change order it into the lane widening project using the existing quantities inside that lane widening project. It is estimated The change order increase is $221,220, and we'll verify that with final in-place quantities in the field. This will bring the total contract amount of this interstate drive lane widen project to $718,943.50. It will not increase the contract time in any way. They plan to do this work within the next two weeks. And so we'll have that road open and back accessible. So I do recommend your approval on this change order.

Thank you. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Made by Councilman Bocci, seconded by Councilor Walker. Any discussion from the public? Discussion from Council? Okay, all vote.

All votes correct. 5-yes motion carries.

Thank you. 7-D, consider authorizing the submission of an application to the Tennessee Department of Health Make Rural Tennessee Healthy Again grant program. Mr. Billings?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. The Community Development Department is requesting funding through the Tennessee Department of Health's Make Rural Tennessee Healthy Again grant program. This grant is part of a larger, newly launched initiative called the Rural Health Transformation Program, in which the state is administering approximately $200 million in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid funding to Tennessee communities. The grant program is federally funded and requires no match commitment from the city. The city of Cookville is requesting funding to scale and expand our existing Cookville Community Response Program. Specifically, we are requesting funding of three full-time and three part-time EMTs and a new upfitted vehicle to add to the Cookville Community Response Fleet. The total amount requested is $1,700,303 over a five-year contract period to support the expansion and continued operation of the program. Grant applications were due Monday, August 3rd, and the city has submitted for the grant. The Community Development Department is requesting that the city accept funding pending award of this proposal.

Thank you. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Vice Mayor Eldridge. Second. Second. Second from Councilman Walker. Any discussion from the public? Discussion from Council?

No.

Just important. Oh.

Did you want to? Yes. Please. Yeah, please come up. If you will, just state your name, whether you live in the city or county, and three-minute time limits.

My name is Caitlin Searcy. I live in the city. I just wanted to say I usually, I don't like people. I get nervous. I usually watch from home, but I have felt like insanely comfortable at this meeting. So I just wanted to thank you guys for making this such a comfortable situation. I care a lot about this town. I moved here because my parents decided to retire here. It's been amazing. I love it here. I don't want to move anytime soon. I'm nervous because this is my first time speaking. It's something I feel very strongly about. I want the people on our city council to be aware of the things that I wanted to speak on today. I'm sure you've heard about it already. Please don't roll your eyes. I brought with me today, this is the U.S. patent registered by the Flock Group. I'm sure most people here have heard of those cameras. What they do is they are an asset to our Law enforcement. It helps identify any vehicles that may be involved with a crime or a warrant. It does this by it takes a picture of a vehicle and then it says there's like a 60 percent. It identifies characteristics of the vehicle. And it uses that so when it takes another picture somewhere else, it can use those identified characteristics to say this vehicle was here, there, and this vehicle was there at this time. I'm not here today to argue about their effectiveness or their place in our community. I think everyone here can agree that in a case of an Amber Alert, being able to identify a specific vehicle like that is an incredible asset for us to have. What I did want to speak on was I think a lot of people have concerns, and I just wanted to bring attention to the specific things I would appreciate our city government watching out for specifically with these contractors. Let me catch up on my notes. I'm shaking. So I already discussed how it works. And also, these license plate readers are nothing new. They're very common for toll booths, if you had to put a tag when you cross a bridge or something. They've been around for a while. What I wanted to draw attention to in this specific case, this is from the US patent. It is in column 19, line 13. If the object class of the identified is a human being, then the object detection module further analyzes the image to identify different classes of people, male, female, race, etc. With aspects of the persons identified, the module may further identify aspects of the person, such as clothing types or height and weight.

Am I causing problems with that?

Yeah, I'll be I'll be quick to summarize. They do have the capacity to identify people specifically. Furthermore, and I'll get through this real quick. I just want us to be aware they can do individual identification. I feel like that rides a line a little bit. But I mainly wanted to talk about LSag Signal Trace, which is a more advanced version where each electronic you have with wireless capabilities has a unique address. The sensor will pick up these addresses, and then they can cross-reference them. So you will have a unique digital identifier. Just for reference, if anyone wants to look closer at this, If you want to discuss more and show us this afterward. Okay.

I'm so sorry for taking up the time. No, you've done an amazing job. Yes. I can't even pronounce half the words on this thing and I've read it before. So no, you are fine. So sorry. No, no, no. Thank you. No, we'll talk to you later for sure. That's okay. Yes. Thank you for speaking. Any other comments? We'll go ahead and vote on this.

Joe, did you want to say something? Yeah. I think this is a good program. And I'll be first saying that, like, this is a grant program. We haven't put in for it, so it's not good indeed. That's right. And so, but I think it was a five-year program, which is a substantial amount of time for a grant program. And I think it's well worth the city investing in that time and energy. And thank you for all your hard work. Thank you very much.

We'll go ahead and vote on it. We have a motioner, second right, yes.

All votes correct. Obvious motion carries.

Thank you. That will close the agenda portion of the meeting. Is there anyone else who would like to speak for council on any non-agenda items? Seeing none, Mr. Mills, you have an announcement?

I have a couple of things. My airfield indulges me. How long is this going to take? You can make it.

I've done it over here. Well, we're going to have to do that. This is what I feel like doing for anyone. Set that timer down. Set it. I'll be. All right.

So, at our last meeting, I shared my plan to establish the position of assistant city manager, and I want to point out that this was not a spur of the moment decision. It's something that I've thought about for quite a while, at least for the last couple of years. And as I said, last meeting that this position will assist me with the day to day operation of the city, but it's primarily to ensure that we have somebody prepared. At a minimum to serve as the interim city manager when I step down. And so my goal on this is for this individual to gain a thorough understanding of the city while I'm still here. The point, as I said, 2 weeks ago, doesn't guarantee that person is going to be our next city manager, but it does that will of course, be the next next council. I also want to clarify that I'm not creating a full time position. And you'd rather know me that Jim Shipley was my mentor, and I believe in the frugal use of tax dollars. So what this will be, it'll be a slash position where the employee will retain their existing position and duties while taking on additional responsibilities. And there will, of course, be compensation for those additional duties. So the person that I'm appointing is the city's first assistant city manager. He's been with the city for 10 years. He's somebody already familiar with many of the responsibilities of the city manager position and is involved in most of our ongoing projects and has basically served as the assistant city manager for the last couple of years. He's somebody I trust, somebody I believe who cares about the city as much as I do, and I'm pleased to announce that Mr. John Ward has agreed to serve as assistant city manager slash community development director.

You have to vote on that?

No.

Okay.

I should have called him today. I should have called him today.

Well, we have a lot more of that. We can call it now. Let's just call Josh. I've got one more thing. So, indulge me with this. I know everybody wants to go out and go to the watch parties, but in two weeks, it's going to be pretty hectic. What watch parties? What's going on?

I know everybody wants to go pond out.

So in two weeks it's going to be pretty hectic and I want to be selfish and I want to take an opportunity tonight to make sure that I have an opportunity to express my gratitude to Lauren and Eric for their eight years of service on the council. And when I look back to 2018 and where we are now, it's amazing to think about what all y'all have accomplished. I mean, it's truly, it is mind boggling if you think about it. You've dealt with issues that most councils never have to deal with. It's been a unique experience for you guys. One of the first things you had to do right out of the gate was appoint a city manager. I think you made a good decision there, but that was one of your first decisions. You get hit by the tornado, which devastated our community. And then in the middle of that, we had COVID. And your leadership, both of y'all, during these challenging times was exemplary. And I really appreciate everything you did for us through those times. You also had some other difficult issues you had to navigate, including protests, investigations, and parades. Who never thought that would be? But you've got to deal with stuff that nobody else has ever had to deal with. I'm almost finished here. And I'm not going to go through all the list of accomplishments. That will happen in two weeks. But you guys have done the number of street infrastructure and facility improvements completed is unprecedented. You've helped guide the city through probably its strongest period of growth in our history. all the while leading the city to have its highest financial standing ever. Guys, that's a pretty good balance of that. You've also been a part of a significant reorganization of our departments. You've seen every department head replaced during your tenure and your dedication to the city, and in particular, and this is from my heart, is that Your dedication to our employees has been greatly, greatly appreciated. I think you can speak to every individual here. And this also goes with our current council. You guys are part of this, too. You've done a lot for our employees. But I want to tell you, both of y'all, that it's been a true privilege to work alongside you for over the last eight years. And like my mama always told me, leave a place better off than you found it. And there's no doubt that both of y'all have done that.

And I appreciate you.

So thank you for your service to the city.

for the next meeting, if you'd like. Anything else there? Yes. Let me go.

So, James, we couldn't have done it without you either and the employees of the city. And so I'm proud to have served the past eight years with you guys. But it's the people who operate and run our city that make it what it is. Appreciate you for that.

just while it's a little bit less formal at the moment than probably be, you know, in a few weeks, just, oh yeah, just all the quorum's gone. Just while we're here, just one, just, I know we've got some candidates in the audience too, just best of luck to everyone on what's, on what's going on today and truly has been a good experience here. But just while we're here with you guys, truly, I can say just, just without a doubt, it's, it's the best council I've ever been on. Yeah.

Anyway, that's worth it.

But you guys have been great. Just the class you demonstrated, the statecraft, Eric, I mean, just nothing but a good experience. And I could not have drawn up or architected a better council experience when I didn't know what I didn't know. And thank you guys both for that.

I don't have a second. No, well, I will. We'll say it again. But it has been. It's been a real privilege for us. We haven't agreed on everything. But when we leave, we shake hands, we go on, we get looks. I've noticed that recently. That's fun. I've seen that look before. But that's all right. But you guys have been, it has been fun. It has been great. It's been refreshing. And I do appreciate wisdom obtained from both of you, even in tough situations and what we've done. But it's been a true honor. So I do appreciate it.

And I just want to echo what they said. I can't add to it anymore except for, you know, this has truly been a partnership. And to have successful partnerships starts with having good relationships. And, you know, none of us agree on everything, but at the end of the day, you know, I think we really – developed a strong friendship. And I really feel that we're going to be friends for years and years to come. So I appreciate y'all. And I really had, you know, it's been special to get to know you guys on a personal level. I appreciate the visit.

I'm not saving yet. We got one more meeting.

Yeah, I'll hold it. Let y'all get out and go see the results.

Anything else from anybody? Yeah. You still have time to vote. The poll closed at seven. Yeah. So if you haven't voted, go vote. Good luck to everybody. Peace out. Anything else?