City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening everyone.

It is August 3rd, 2026 at 6 p.m. It's time to call the City Council meeting to order. Ms. Jones, roll call please.

Present. Here.

Here. Here. Here.

Here. Here.

Here.

Thank you, ma'am. Prayer, please.

All right. I invite you to join me. Our Father, we come before you this evening and thank you for another evening here in City Hall. God, I pray that you would be with this agenda and just help it to go well. And just thank you for just our wonderful citizens in this city. Be with all our students as they head back to school and all of our teachers and school staff, a variety of types and administrators and all that. as they kick off a new school year. I just pray your blessings upon them, help them just to grow and see themselves stretched and to pursue their academic year and athletic year and arts year with excellence and just pray for a good school year. This year be with just all those serving on the council, bless them for their time tonight as they serve our city. It's in your name we pray, amen. I invite you to stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You may be seated.

Thank you, Brian. That's much appreciated. Is there any announcements or public comment that does not pertain to the agenda that someone would want to bring up? Hearing none, we will close that portion. Gets us to the consent agenda.

Move to approve the consent agenda for the July 20th City Council meeting as presented.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor by saying aye.

Aye.

Okay, we don't have any old business. We'll go right into new business.

Move to read new business by title only.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor by saying aye. Aye. Okay, so we'll go into our one special celebration item. It really is kind of a special night for Franklin, and I would like to ask Carolyn, would you come up and help me with this one? Just as we're getting here, tonight is the night that we do our Volunteer of the Year Award, so thank you. So this is named after Marty and Carolyn Williams, this voluntary peer award. This award is named after some remarkable, friendly couple who recognized the quest of heroes among us, the one who gave their time, energy, and hearts to serve our community, often without recognition or applause. Marty and Carolyn will set a beautiful example as servants servant leadership as the ward continues their legacy by honoring those who follow in their footsteps. What time did it start actually? I was thinking about that too.

It was 2016. 2016, oh my god.

2016. Marty and Carolyn, they were our first recipients and this is an example of what leadership is really all about. They are the heartbeat of our city, talking about the volunteers, They're the ones who show up, they pitch in, and lift others up. Often when no one's watching, they make Franklin stronger, kinder, and more connected, and tonight we celebrate one of those extraordinary individuals. In our nomination form, we asked a couple questions, and one of them is, tell me what the three best words describe this volunteer. And the recipient's answer was, outgoing, dedicated, and benevolent. This year's award winner. She has given herself countless ways, whether it's lending a hand at the Johnson County Food Pantry, Johnson County Animal Control, Franklin Farmer's Market, Historic Artcraft Theater, for helping during a brief sharing of Union Christian Church, Deb's presence is steady, humble, and impactful. Her friend, Tina, who I happened to go to school with, by the way, so I can go back again. Her friend, Tina, stated, as a retired teacher, Deb has always had a servant's heart. She has compassion for organizations and individuals and often works behind the scenes without the demand of expectations of recognition. Deb, your commitment to this community, your love for people, and your faithful leadership do not go unnoticed. This award is just a small token of our immense gratitude. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to announce Deb is our Margaret Carolyn Williams Volunteer of the Year recipient, and folks like you is what gives us the special sauce that we have in Franklin and makes it a place to live, work, and play for life. This one will go with you, and it just says, Marty and Carolyn Williams Volunteer of the Year Award, presented to Ed Stubingman. For outstanding dedication and commitment to volunteer service in the community, the volunteer award was named after a Franklin couple, Marty and Carolyn Williams, for their extraordinary commitment of time, energy, and efforts to ensure our events run smoothly. Signed, William. So that one's yours.

We'll bring that in here on this one for Matthew Pictures.

Is that okay?

Here, you want me to take it? You got it? Oh.

I'll just say it one more time. It does mean a lot, city of Franklin, to have people that volunteer. If it wasn't for the volunteers, I promise you Franklin would not be what it is today. So we've got a good heart in this city. So thank you for that. So there isn't any other new business. There isn't any other business. We have council member comments. And if it's okay, Jennifer, we'll start with you.

Congratulations and thank you for your service. That's all I have.

Irene? I'll just repeat what she said. Congratulations and we're lucky to have you. Todd?

Congratulations. I see you everywhere. We all received an email the other day from Eric Baer, I believe, about the waste management. I did email him back, told him I would get more information, which I did tonight through Sherry Phillips, and we'll take further steps to reply to him again with that information. Also, Raising Spirits is an annual fundraiser that we do for Johnson County nonprofits. It's coming up in October. We've already sold 300 tickets out of the 500. We raised $301,000 last year, and we hope to raise $350,000 this year. Wow. Thank you.

That's a big deal. Sean? Nothing tonight, sir. Ken?

I don't have anything other than congratulations.

Ann? Yep. Thank you so much.

Josh, nothing tonight. You're good.

Jan when all good here.

I just got one thing to report to the council and I probably could have done it under, uh, public comments. We just approved tonight at the board of works to do it, to fix another 150 headstones at the, uh, cemetery. There's been 612 fixed so far. And we're thinking, uh, maybe in another year, possibly two years, we can have it all under control to where our people can manage it from here on out. So we're getting there. Thanks to the council for that. to be able to do that. So with that being said, that's all I have.

Make a motion to adjourn.

Second. We have a motion to second. All those in favor. Aye. Thank you.