Boma - Regular Meeting

We're going to call the Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting for September 8, 2026 to order. We apologize for being a little late. We had a lot more discussion in the work session on an item we needed to talk about. So we're going to call the roll. Alderman Barnhill. Here. Alderman Blanton. Here. Alderman Caesar. Here. Alderman Peterson. Here. Alderman Berger. Present. Alderman Brown. Present. Alderman Potts. Present. Alderman Vice Mayor Baggett. Present. And the mayor's here, so everybody's here tonight. We're going to start with invocation. Alderman Barnhill, if you'll do that, I'll lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and so will please rise.

Would you bow, please? Heavenly Father, we come to you in prayer tonight. Thank you for this great country and this great nation that we live in. And for all the many freedoms and blessings that we have. We know that we are truly a blessed nation with freedoms that many, many other countries do not have. And the freedom of meetings. the freedom of speech, all those are freedoms that we should cherish because there are many places that do not have those freedoms. We ask your blessings upon the first responders. for the city of Franklin. We know that they are there for us when we need them. We thank you for their service. Also, Heavenly Father, we thank you for the military. We know that right now there's many military families that are separated. We ask that you be with those families. It is difficult. It's difficult to have the families split and part of the family be overseas serving our country. We ask that you be with those families as they go through the trials of that separation. We also ask your blessings upon each of us as aldermen. Give us the spiritual wisdom and guidance that we need to make the decisions that positively affect the city of Franklin. This prayer we offer in Christ's name. Amen.

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. Please be seated. And next tonight, we want to honor Tom Marsh, who's retiring. And I'd ask Tom and his wife, Michelle, to come up, and we'll read this proclamation. Whereas the city of Franklin wishes to recognize Tom Marsh for more than 25 years of dedicated service, distinguished by leadership, integrity, meticulous attention to detail, and an unwavering commitment to strengthening the partnership between the city and its residents, businesses, and development community. Whereas Tom began his career with the City of Franklin January 8th, 2001, serving first as a planner and steadily advancing through positions of increasing responsibility. He became interim director in 2009 and officially assumed the position of director of building and neighborhood services in April 2019, contributing through his career to the growth, character, and excellence of Franklin's built environment. Whereas throughout his tenure, Tom played an instrumental role in majority, I'm sorry, in major community developments including Westhaven, Berry Farms, and the McEwen development, helping guide the city's development process toward a more collaborative, transparent, and service-focused approach that has enhanced the quality of life for Franklin residents. And whereas Tom led significant improvements in permitting, inspections, and online services, technology integration and plan review while expanding department staffing and career opportunities that strengthen the city's organizational capacity and elevated the standard of public service provided to the community. And whereas Tom's lifelong commitment to services further demonstrated through 24 years of combined active and reserve duty in the United States Navy, where he retired as a commander, as well as through his academic and professional achievements, including a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University, a master's in public administration from Troy University, and extensive leadership, emergency management, and professional development training, And whereas Tom is well known throughout the city for his legendary red pen, serving as the department's unofficial editor-in-chief and guardian of the English language by correcting misplaced commas, providing awkward phrasing and intercepting typos before they ever reach the public, while his precision, professionalism, humor, and commitment to excellence have left a lasting impression on his colleagues and the organization. And now, therefore, I, Dr. Ken Moore, Mayor of the City of Franklin, and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen do hereby congratulate and commend Tom Marsh for his remarkable career and more than 25 years of dedicated service to the City of Franklin. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for his contributions in our community and wish him every happiness and success as he begins this well-earned retirement.

Yeah, go ahead. It's your prerogative. All right. Yeah, good. It's my turn to express my gratitude. Thank you all for the recognition in this moment. And thank you for the support and the participation over all the years that we have worked together. Appreciate that. You've always supported staff. We've had good discussions. We've had good challenges. And we've always worked for the betterment of the community across the board. So thank you all very much. We don't have very many members of the development community here this evening, but I also want to thank them for the work that they've done here over the years and the way they've partnered with us and allowed us to participate with them in their projects. And then finally, actually, to the citizens of the community, this was a great, fascinating place to work. I was happy to live here. When Michelle and I moved here about 30 years ago, we just thought it was a great community to be a part of, and we were happy to be here. And then thankful to Bob Martin, who gave me a chance to start out in the planning department to actually become a part of this organization and realize over all this time, as was mentioned in some of the earlier discussions, we're one of the leading cities across the state and the country in how we do things. Little did I know in January of 2001 the opportunities that would come along. So I'm grateful for that, grateful to be here. It's been a pleasure and just looking forward to the next stage. Certainly, as you know, congratulations to Shanna. We are leaving you in good shape. The department is in good shape. And I think I appreciate what you there again, what this board has done to help us to build the department and prepare it for transitions like this. I think I've said enough.

Let me add a quick comment. I've done this for over 33 years working in local government, and the job that Tom has done in that position overall is one of the hardest in city government. It is absolutely and incredibly important to maintaining the safety and integrity of And Tom has done it with excellence, with grace, with integrity and true professionalism. And we're so proud of him and the great work he's done and grateful for those many contributions and the team you've built. in the time you've been director, especially. The bar has been raised, and you played a critical role in doing that and creating career paths for our team. And just I could go on and on on those different small things that add up to a strong department and great performance in the community. And just thank you. Thank you for doing it so well and with such quality, excellence, and integrity. Thank you.

Tom, thank you. We go back a long time. You were here a few years before me. But you had a very public-facing position, and you did it so well. You always did it with a positive attitude, a smile on your face, and always that positive attitude. I can help people get things done. And it may end up turning into a no, but you never started out with a no. You always started out with, how can I help? And I love that, because that just made a huge difference. I'll never forget, in 2005, Rifter got elected, and I walked in the door, and you were working with Bob Martin, and you all sat down, and I said, Bob, I love planning, because in my day job, I'd worked with a lot of planning departments around the country. So I said, teach me about your planning department. And you were in that meeting, and he brought in his team, and I'll never forget how you responded and how well One of the things, you know, your red pen is phenomenal and famous, but the thing is you were always about educating and helping people understand, and I love that about you, and you're going to be missed. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, I have no citizen comments cards. Good job.

Now get out of here. That's right.

I have no citizen comments card. We'll move on to consent agenda and all items under the consent agenda are deemed to be non-controversial and routine in nature by the governing body. They'll be approved in the committee or staff by one motion of the governing body. We're looking at items number 9 through 16. I would entertain a motion.

Move to approve.

Second. Thank you. Second by Alderman Caesar. Any discussion? Ready to vote. Alderman Barnhill. Yes. Alderman Blanton. Yes. Alderman Caesar. Yes. Alderman Peterson. Yes. Alderman Berger. Yes. Alderman Brown. Yes. Alderman Potts. Yes. Vice Mayor Baggett. Yes. Passes unanimously. Next, we'll go to consideration of changes in the agenda and setting the agenda. Is there any modifications that need to occur or changes in order? If not, I would consider a motion to accept the agenda as printed. So moved. Thank you. Second. Second by Oliver Potts. Any discussion? Seeing none, ready to vote. Alderman Barnhill?

Yes.

Alderman Blanton? Yes. Alderman Caesar? Yes. Alderman Peterson? Yes. Alderman Burger? Yes. Alderman Brown? Yes. Alderman Potts? Yes. Vice Mayor Baggett? Yes. Passes unanimously. Are there any communications from the Williamson County Commission? I see no one here. We'll go on to miscellaneous reports, and I'll start out the miscellaneous reports, if I might. Having just returned from two of our sister cities, with a delegation of 25 people, which also included Alderman Brown, who is on the sister cities committee. We successfully completed the signing of a new sister city in Spain, Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, which is about three hours south of Madrid. We were treated like royalty. The only problem we had was we're not very good with our Spanish. We did interact with some of the students that have already been exchanged back and forth, and that's going to be a very promising thing because of the Spanish language. We then moved on to Bad Söder, Germany, where we were celebrating 10 years of a partnership there. We've had about 200 students that we've exchanged through that ten-year period of time. We re-signed those documents. We had a number of celebrations around that. I think the The biggest thing that we did is we actually had an exhibition or an exhibit, they called it the German-American Friendship Exhibit, which highlights so many things about Franklin. They had a record number of people visit on the first day, and so that exhibit will be up for about two months. We're still – Alderman Brown and I both had the opportunity to visit schools and interact with students. They were quite curious about a lot of the things that they've seen on the news, and they asked quite a few questions about – influences from Washington and also they ask about ICE and I enjoyed having that discussion with them. The challenge we have there is I think we can take what a dozen or 15 students a year and they're having about 50 applications for kids that want to come visit and do this. So we'll continue to explore that, and we still haven't really had a chance to sit down and critique the trip and critique the lessons that we learned and how we're going to continue to move forward. You know, the entire sister cities of Franklin and Williamson County has grown tremendously in the last eight-plus years. And I think it's a great opportunity to have our students do exchanges. There's great cultural opportunities for us. And long term, we'd love to see some Spanish or German companies create some economic opportunities. The organization, Franklin's and Williamson County Sister Cities, is a non-profit. The city does give them a very small stipend every year for the organization, as we do with many other nonprofits in the community. This trip was primarily paid for by the sister cities organization and the hosting cities. The city will reimburse or pay for coach airfare for Alderman Brown. I failed to mention that Communication Department and Melissa Ryerson went with us. It's really good stuff. And Alderman Brown, I'd allow you to, if you'd like, to expand on my comments.

No, I think you summarized it really well. And I think some of those conversations about exchanging companies that we had were great. Some of the, like in Spain and their entrepreneur center and ours. I think even exchanging firefighter training opportunities, it begins with students, but it goes far beyond that. And I would just say to all the citizens out there, even if you don't think that there's a direct benefit to you, to the city, remember you're part of a community. There's a lot of kids out there that are benefiting from those exchanges and that there's a reach of diplomatic relationships there that happen at a local level. that I think create connection that doesn't happen from a national level. And I think that's important for local governments to be connecting it that way. And so I think it's an important thing that we do. And, you know, we don't have 14 cities like Nashville, but four is a good number for Franklin. And I think a lot of good work is done. And it was very much a working trip. I'm still exhausted from the long days.

And I would mention that the Consul General of Germany was – at the celebration night, and he came back for the opening of the exhibit. I don't think he's ever been to Tennessee, but I think we're going to stimulate his interest in maybe coming in the future. Yeah, so I think this would be a great time for commercial. Sister Cities Board is constantly looking for new people to be on that board and work into leadership. And so if you're listening tonight, have an interest in being part of Sister Cities, just please reach out to me and I'll make sure that that group gets your name. So any other miscellaneous reports? Alderman Berger.

I would also encourage anyone listening at home, that Sister Cities is a nonprofit, as you said, and they are always in need of funding for various activities to continue to do our program very well and to make it a success. So I would encourage companies, individuals, citizens out there, if you'd like to give to Sister Cities, please, you can find them on our website, Sister Cities of Franklin. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other miscellaneous reports?

The website is not that. It's brentwoodtn.gov.

You have a couple things I want to touch on.

By the way, congratulations.

Yes. Grandpa. We had a new arrival in our family a week ago today. So we're very excited about a new grandson joining us. So let me touch on a couple things coming up. Really important this Friday. We'll be commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9-11 We have done that faithfully every year for many years and this year being a more of a milestone Recognition we will be holding it on the square. We're partnering with Williamson County as well, but our police department, fire department will be leading that recognition. Vice Mayor Baggett will be assisting us as well. Unfortunately, the mayor is out of town. So that is an important commemoration at 7.45 in the morning on Friday. That's our traditional time, and we invite you to join us in the squares. We remember that very important, impactful day and reflect on it. So that's going on. We did announce today the... the closure of our bridge for vehicle traffic at Liberty Park. We had an inspection from TDOT that drove us to say we would close that with their guidance and we have done so. The good news, the replacement of that bridge is already part of your Liberty Park project that you have approved and has awarded the bid already and will be proceeding in the next few weeks and we will Make our best efforts to advance that element of the project as soon as possible So that will be replaced along with a whole series of other improvements to the park including the ball fields the We're adding a cricket practice area. We're adding pickleball courts We're adding a general use field a whole a whole number of other things people still be able to access other park amenities through the by Pedestrian passageways as well as this has no impact on the parking area for the ball fields at Liberty So we're in good stead there, but wanted to make sure folks were aware of that We put that information also out on our social media channels Got to do a little bit of a spoiler But we will be working with the mayor to do a proclamation declaring a special day on September 25th in honor of Dolly Parton That's September 25th, happens to be 9 to 5, right? So that's also a Friday. And we'll have a movie in the park, a Dolly Parton movie in the park at Bicentennial Park. We're going to have a number of themed recognitions that day with music and some trivia and some other fun things to do to recognize Dolly Parton's legacy and impact in our community and beyond. So we did want to do that, and we wanted to be nimble in responding to that, and that seemed like a great date to do it. And there may be some other fun parts planned around that day to recognize her unique spirit and impact. So I wanted to share that with you as well. May that proclamation be on your desks soon.

Sounds good. Any other miscellaneous reports? If not, we'll go to approval of the minutes from the August 25th, 2026 work session and Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting. Is there a motion?

Move for approval.

Thank you, Alderman Peterson. Second. Thank you, Alderman Barnhill. Any discussion? Any changes? Seeing none, Alderman Barney, how do you vote?

Yes.

Alderman Blanton? Yes. Alderman Caesar? Yes. Alderman Peterson? Yes. Alderman Berger? Yes. Alderman Brown? Yes. Alderman Potts? Yes. Vice Mayor Baggett? Yes. Passes unanimously. We'll now go, there is no old business to consider, so we'll go to new business, which is a public hearing consideration resolution. 2026-57, amending the Franklin First United Methodist Church PUD subdivision to extend the vested rights for the property located south of Mack Hatcher Parkway, west of Daniel McMahon Lane, located at 110 Aldersgate Way.

Joey. Yes, thank you. This request is to extend the vesting period for the Franklin First United Methodist Church PD subdivision for an additional two years until October 10th of 2028 to allow the applicant to secure any necessary permits and commence site preparation. The development plan revision for this PUD was approved by the board on October 10th of 2023. The plan includes an additional 6,180 square feet of non-residential space for the development of a new county ambulance and emergency services facility on a site that is composed of over 104 acres. Staff recommended approval with conditions of the overall development plan revision, and it was approved unanimously. A site plan for the development was approved by the Planning Commission at its May 28, 2026 meeting, and as of last month, that site plan received final staff approval. So the project is moving forward. If the vesting period is not extended, the project entitlements would cease to exist, a new development plan would need to be approved and would be reviewed against current local development standards. In reviewing the approved plan against the current city regulations, the current plan generally complies. The difference in today's zoning ordinance versus their vested ordinance are minor and could be incorporated into the design without major changes to the plan. A certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Zoning Commission would have to be re-approved with any new plan should the vested rights not be extended. So staff recommends that the Board of Mayor Alderman approve Resolution 2026-57 should you determine that the continuation of vested rights is in the best interest of the community. Thank you. So this is a public hearing.

Does anybody want to speak to this body? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing and entertain a motion.

Move for approval.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Second.

Second by Alderman Peterson. Thank you. Any discussions? Alderman Caesar.

You go ahead.

I think this is a perfect example of what we talked about in the work session today and having a representative from this body be able to cover from this property be able to come and explain the justification. The first question that jumps out to me is why two years? Why not three? Typically if we extend the vesting it's they're asking for the three-year vestment and maybe there's a justification or a rationale behind that and we just don't know. I don't know. Maybe Joey knows. So I have those questions. I also, given the light of discussions we've also had tonight about the potential shift maybe in hospital and EMS transport, is this site necessary in the future if those things change? And so those are some questions, I think, just to underscore the importance of having that property owner here to answer those questions we have.

Alderman Berger, do you recognize this? Yeah, and this is... Actually, for the United Methodist Church, but is the applicant the church or the county here? Because this is the county ambulance emergency services facility. Whose jurisdiction is this under? Who's actually the applicant?

So the applicant was the design team for the project, and it's being funded by the county, but received approval from the church since it's on their property. So we have the owner. It's lease property. It's lease property, yes. Lease property.

Okay. They're not purchasing it?

Yes.

And all 104 acres? No.

Well, the PUD is 104 acres.

But it's 6,180 square feet.

Yes, it's going on, let me point out on the map. Yeah, so the facility is going right here at the end of the cul-de-sac for Spencer Creek Road. And then the 104 acres is just the entirety of the site where the church is.

Okay. All right. So they're asking for two years. Well, Greg brings up a good point, but we don't have, we're not privy to that. No one is yet. So if they've got two years, at least maybe they can hold off and make some decisions here and find out what's going on with Williamson Health first. Because that ambulance service, even though they're running it currently, the county's currently and has been paying $20 million a year on it. So I don't know how that's all going to plan out. So that was a good question.

And just to address your point, Alderman Caesar, we do have varying requests for vesting extensions. It's not always three years. That's just the maximum they can request. We do agree that... The reasoning for the period extension, it really is up to the applicant. And we can certainly work with them to flesh that out a little bit more in their request letter as well to kind of have that information in the exhibits as well. So we can work on that.

In my general understanding, this is a county project, and it's just like a capital-funded, slotting it in where you can do it when it makes sense from a financing and operational standpoint. So I think that's just generally how that fits in their own schedule for delivering the project. Alderman Potts. Thank you, sir.

Did I skip over you? I'll get you next.

I have similar concerns, and I'd really like the applicant to actually provide details. And part of this is also driven by the fact that when we looked at this 104 acres, that if this is not moving, we don't know right now, but if it's not going to move forward with ambulatory services right there, does that change how the church might approach this property? And is there ever an opportunity for us to be involved to... to obtain this property and extend Harlem's Dale. And I don't know if we're too far past that right now, but without the applicant here to hear more of those details, I would either encourage us to vote to defer this, to allow the applicant to come and speak on it, or possibly to not renew.

Do you have the date that the vesting expires? Yes, it's October 10th of this year. Vice Mayor, your recommendation.

I want to give... With all due respect to my fellow aldermen, this is about as straightforward of a vesting extension as we're ever going to see. I mean, and look at us. With all due respect, look at us. That's why I wanted a little bit more card rails on what we do. It doesn't matter what we think or what Williamson Medical might do with our decision right here whether or not we're going to extend this. It doesn't matter a hill of beans. I mean, truly, it's not our job to worry about that. It isn't. That's the county's job. They have figured all that out with the church. So if the county didn't think that this was going to work, the county worked with the property owner to determine this. In a private situation, we might not know that that is happening. But at the end of the day, this is about as straightforward as it gets. And I think we're waiting into really, really, like, will they sell the property? Again, a ton of respect. That's not the decision we have here. And nor should we use these vesting decisions to angle for property to be purchased or to impact or get into the middle of what happens to the ambulance service. This property owner right here talked to the county and determined that they wanted to move forward, and the county said yes, and then the church said, well, we'll get another extension. I don't know what else we need to know. I mean, just to be real honest, I don't know whether we're going to just sit here and talk a little bit more. And I'm fine to talk. Trust me. You all know that. But I think there are good examples of where we do need to dig into, and there are some where this just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

And just a reminder, the site plan for this project was approved by staff last month.

And I'll tell you what, because I sat and watched them. Historic Zoning dealt with this for about a year.

Yes, it did go through their process.

About a year. Oh, yeah, it did. It was almost a year curating this, and it's going to look spectacular. It's a very nice-looking ambulance facility. But, you know, again, this is great. It's a historic preservation overlay, but... I think we need to move forward with this right here. Alderman Barnhill.

Yeah, I think Alderman Baggins hit the nail on the head. I think what we are, unfortunately, you know, and I want to see the applicant come before us. But this is not the one because this is, we've already approved this and this, the word is not out. I don't think you would have gotten the word to them that they had to be here tonight to ask for the extension. And Alderman Baggett, the proper term is with all due respect. What did I say? With all due respect. Yeah. I heard that several times years ago.

Any other comments? Ready to vote? Alderman Barnhill? Yes. Alderman Blanton? Yes. Alderman Caesar? Yes. Alderman Peterson? Yes. Alderman Berger? Yes. Alderman Brown? Yes. Alderman Potts? Yes. Vice Mayor Baggett? Yes. Passes unanimously. Item 6 is Ordinance 2025-19, an ordinance to rezone. 20.33 acres from the State Residential ER District and Light Industrial District Plan PD, 9.2 per 75,000 district for the property located east of Franklin Road, north of Harpeth Industrial Court located at 318 Franklin Road, 1117, 1121, and 1123 Harpeth Industrial Court. Established public hearing on October 13, 2026. I do have Mr. Reeder. Do you want to make any more comments?

Just a quick comment, if I can.

Please.

Y'all are gracious at the work session, so I appreciate that. So I'll keep my comments brief. I wanted to talk a little bit about traffic and what we heard tonight. We welcome the opportunity to bring that to you at the next meeting. A couple things I just wanted to speak to, and I would be remiss not to. We did go with the same company that the factory did for traffic study to look at it as a more regional approach rather than picking a company and going through the city. specifically to try to get their data. So KCI, the company we used, also did the traffic study for the factory for the first development plan and the second development plan with the hotel. The other thing was I just wanted to speak to staff and David and Jimmy's review of The traffic study. It was a thorough review. We met with them multiple times. They asked a lot of the same questions that you brought before us tonight. We actually deferred a month to have another meeting with them to talk through potential for roundabout or light or if this develops at 25% of the existing traffic. Entitlements if we used our entitlements across all of harpeth industrial what kind of traffic would that generate? How long of a span would that be before improvements are required? So I just wanted to say we we felt it would be appropriate if Jimmy could be here to speak to some of that because I think it would mean more coming from him than for I so hopefully the next Meeting we would have the opportunity.

Thank you There's our motion Second Seconded by Alderman Burger. Any discussion? Alderman Brown.

Just a quick comment. My comment on the traffic is I would like you to bring something back on, and I would like us to think about road improvement. Here's the thing. Regardless of whether or not all that traffic's going to the factory or not, regardless if it's Liberty or Franklin Road, Google Maps still sends you down Franklin Road. There's still a lot coming down Franklin Road. And a lot has changed with hotels coming in and factory growth. Middle 8 now is moving forward. There's just been a lot. There's a lot more going on in that space. And we know there's a lot more coming in and on. And I think the mayor's comments earlier were fair. There's a lot of entry points now coming in. And I don't think we can just assume, we know what's going to happen. We know we're breaking through to the factory from this area at some point. I don't think we just assume that's not happening. I think we need to, I think we should assume it is happening and therefore what does that look like? Where does the traffic enter the factory? How much of that traffic gets diverted coming through this way? And does that mean those three lanes need to get extended further down to Harlinsdale Court? Do we need a different kind of traffic Management mechanism, I don't know those answers. I think that's where I would lean on Paul and Jimmy and David, but I don't think we just assume that a couple of turn lanes is going to do the job, given all that has transpired here. That cured my comment a little bit better, maybe.

Alderman Caesar. I would just say there's a reason there's three readings for items like this. My vote of support is not necessarily a vote of long-term support. There's still quite a few bridges that I think we need to cross in order for this project to make sense for our community in that area. I think that the factory district is an important part of the future of Franklin. I think the one thing that we could try to control here is how we make it more convenient for people who are riding by car. And I didn't make this comment earlier, so I apologize for taking a couple extra minutes today. to say that the people who are interacting here shouldn't just be interacting on car. We should be thinking about them being able to interact on foot and on bike and other modes of transportation. Right across the street, without any kind of intersection or roundabout, is our crown jewel, the Harlinsdale Park. We must incorporate the way that these folks can get from this area and the factory across the street safely as we think about developing out the factory district. Thank you, Mayor. Vice Mayor.

I agree with everything Gov said. I do think I want this. This is kind of a bit of a vision that's broadcast for the factory district. It's very important that it gets done right. And I think part of that is that it gets done in the right order. And this is not anything new. I've talked to the folks about it. This is a big deal. And I really think that what they're doing to save the Redan is amazing. Connectivity is key. This thing works best when we have that north-south connection. The applicant does have property, has most of the property, a lot of the property on that side. I want this to be a comprehensive plan of what this is going to look like. And I think that benefits the property owner. Frankly, it probably looks a lot like you see here, what we see right here. And I think a lot of the concern we have would be solved with a master plan of that south side of the street. And I think a lot of issues get resolved with that north-south. I'd be open to voting for this now. I wouldn't vote in favor of it right now. But I also would entertain a deferral. to one of the meetings in October if other aldermen concur and think that is the direction we need to go and let them come back before we start voting down a line here that isn't the final option. No sense in us continuing to vote and push down if these are the kinds of concerns that are going to ultimately waste their time if we do this and these issues are a big concern for us. I would put forward a motion to defer this until the October 13th.

They're talking about having a public hearing on that time anyway.

I understand.

Would you want this on the work session as well to facilitate some dialogue? I'm trying to understand.

Here's what I've heard. I've heard from Mayor Moore and a lot of these same, and I've heard from Alderman Blanton, a lot of the same themes. And we can vote for this next one and move it forward, but then there needs to be, I think, some more substantial discussion around the development plan. Okay. which maybe a month in a work session can do it. But I would put forward the 13th, and I would withdraw if there's other conversation that would... Is there a second to the motion to defer?

Well, second.

Thank you, Alderman Brown. Discussion on the deferral?

Yes.

On the bird so Patrick are you asking that it be put on the work session and the voting session both for the 13th? All right, so and then we would vote if that goes through then it would go to public hearing Sorry, okay, so I make sure it was both work session.

Oh my gosh a question of clarification for alderman bagot is your focus on moving this to work session and then making having this being deferred is to One of the focuses is connectivity. You mentioned bicycle walk. Are you looking for additional details on that along Franklin Road? No, mine was the north-south connection to the factory is really what I've been talking mostly about. Okay, so yours is more internal to the development.

And I'd be open to having another, because here's what happens. If we go ahead, if we just vote and don't defer the full process, then your public hearing is going to be on something that the public isn't even aware of. We've seen this before. But the public hearing is on the night we have the discussion of the changes that we would like to be making on the development plan. I think putting some more space gives the public more time to respond and giving another work session in the middle. This is important enough to have that conversation. I don't want to have that again where we have to double up and all that. I think that gives this to the applicants more conversation to occur before that.

Okay, you got a motion to defer. Other comments? Alderman Peterson.

The only thing is that if we're talking, you know, it says the public hearing is going to be October 13th. Well, that would be, what, a month from now.

Well, we would be deferring the first reading to the 13th, so then the public hearing would then be the following month. So it would give the public the full month to review any changes that are made. Yes. It pushes everything a month. If you recall during Harlan, we had this situation, and we were in some ways legally forced to or recommended to do it a whole other month because the changes weren't able to be made public because during the work session. I'm trying to avoid that.

Okay. Any other discussion on the motion to defer? We're ready to vote. Alderman Barnhill, did you want to make a comment?

Yeah. I don't disagree with what we're discussing. What I do disagree is that that can be handled as the schedule is right now. We vote tonight. We've got a public hearing at the next meeting. You've got an opportunity to put it on work session then and cover anything and everything that you need to cover on that. I won't support the... deferral simply because I think within the process of what we've gotten, we just got through spending 30 minutes discussing what the state says they want us to do and approve a project within 60 days of whatever it is, this and that, submittal. And I'm not sure how all of that works now. Probably doesn't know how the state probably doesn't know how it works either, or would work. But, you know, they've gone through every step, every process, and made the improvements that we've requested of them to make. And I'm going to support the project, but I won't support the deferrals.

And I might make the comment that a lot of what I said was based on the fact that we didn't have all the information that we needed and the applicant has said that he felt pretty confident whenever staff came forward that we'd have a better understanding. So anyway, you ready to vote on the deferral? Alderman Barnett.

Mr. Mayor, one more point.

I think Alderman Baggett does make a good point because we have to be cautious about making sure the public does have the information. And the information that we're going to be discussing, they're going to be working to bring us back some information. solid information for what you've heard here tonight. And when they do, the public has that opportunity to hear that along with us. So then when we get to the public comment or the public hearing in November, then your valid point, it's a very valid point. And that's why I'll support it. Thank you.

We're voting on the deferral to October the 13th, 2026. Alderman Barnhill. No. Alderman Blanton.

Yes.

Alderman Caesar.

Yes.

Alderman Peterson.

No.

Alderman Berger.

Yes.

Alderman Brown.

Yes.

Alderman Potts. Yes. And Vice Mayor Baggett.

Yes.

The motion passes 6-2. We'll now go to item number 7, which is ordinance 2026-19, an ordinance demanding certain sections of the Franklin Municipal Code relative to e-bicycles and play vehicles. Is there a motion?

So moved to approve.

Thank you. All in favor? Seconded. I'll second. Alderman Caesar, any discussion? Yes. Alderman Brown.

I do have some edits that need to be made. Some of it's just for some consistency and some cleanup and then a couple of questions. On number two, we say e-bikes in bike lanes. We say 16... We state the age, but it really should be 16 and over or at least 16, not over 16. That would assume 17 or above. So just a little cleanup on the language on number two. 16 or over. So it should be 16 and over and or at least 16 years of age. Number four, just for the sake of clarity, a question on number four. We say not allowed. Should we add prohibited language, not just follow the law? I know Emotos and motorcycles have different laws, but should we not also, just for the sake of clarity, say they are prohibited on sidewalks and that kind of thing? To be very, very clear that these are, because people don't understand which is which, should we just, for the sake of clarity, be over redundant maybe on that one? That's more of a question. On numbers six through nine, we don't actually say e-bikes. We say bicycles and whatever. We just have kind of omitted the e-bike. I think we just should probably have that in there, especially number eight, where we talk about helmets. I just think we need to make sure that language of e-bikes is stated in there. Again, just a little cleanup thing there. And then maybe the bigger question is we talk about posted paths. A question on sort of timing of when this goes into effect, what is our timing for actually having posted signage? And are we thinking about making that in the affirmative? you have signage every place where these are allowed, or would it actually be easier for us to put signage up for where it's prohibited? I don't know the math on that in terms of which would be easier or cheaper, quite honestly, but that was sort of another question on that is... Once we enact this, there's a whole lot of signage that probably needs to happen, and I don't know which way we want to go. So those are my edits, and then a couple of questions in there for you. And if that requires us to maybe push this, then so be it. Maybe this needs a referral too, but I'll throw that out there too.

I also received comments, and I think I appreciate staff putting this on here tonight, and the urgency was warranted. I do think there are a lot of quick and easy things. I think a deferral is something we should do on this just to get this cleaned up and not rely on the four motions. The signage on the multiuse path I do think is worthy of additional discussion. Because I think there could be some mixed opinions. And I think that on these, we're not talking about the Emotos, which are the little things that look like little dirt bikes. Motorcycles, yeah. That's motorcycles. They're already not allowed on sidewalks. We're talking about, you know, the e-bikes that you can rent downtown at some of our establishments where you may have your own. Some of them in their class one and two. But I think that there are going to be a lot of people that ride those because they're like bikes. Now, these are not the super fast ones. It's under 20 miles an hour. Now I can ride a bike 20 miles an hour without an electric. But I do think though, this right here, the way it's placed is, we're gonna have to put up a whole lot of signs to let people ride these. And I'm of the opinion, and I think that probably the responsible users of these bikes, that community, is of the opinion that having signs where you are not allowed for safety reasons and whatnot would be the more probably efficient, less signs. And I think that's one of those things that I think is also easy to tweak if we get a lot of complaints from the residents. And then we don't have all the signs that are put up. We're starting with the least intrusive kind of option. And then it becomes a systemic problem where we have these e-bikes that are just not e-motos for you public out there that's thinking, it's not the little scooters with the kids running up and down. You probably know that they're a bike or a regular bike or e-bike. Let's start with the least invasive sign littering option and then move up from there. And I'd be open to, in the future, coming back to this if we see a systemic problem. But without one, I think I'd go to, like you said, the default.

Was that a motion to defer?

Motion to defer, Mayor.

To what day? October the 13th.

Second.

Mr. Mayor?

Alderman Burger seconded and you can address the deferral.

As we think about deferring this, I'm going to pontificate, but more briefly. The only other recommendation I would want us to include as we think about deferral is we don't talk about e-scooters and helmets. And I'm of the belief that if you're under 16 and you're riding one of these things, you should probably wear a helmet. And if you don't, then we need to have a regulation there to help. guide parents that make those decisions and riders that make those decisions.

And I would say, why 16? Shouldn't it be under 18?

I want you to speak to the deferral.

Would that be part of the thing? We're deferring this.

You can tie it in, I think. Well, 16 is the state law, if that helps.

It is state law?

Yeah.

Well, I don't like it.

Well, go talk to the state.

We can't do something different than the state. But we can make it more stringent.

You cannot.

We make things more stringent all the time.

State law. We cannot go against the state law.

Well, if you're 18 or 17, well, if you're 17, then ride at your own peril.

Okay, we have a motion to defer. Is there any other discussion about the motion to defer? Ready to vote. Alderman Barnhill. No. Alderman Blanton. Yes. Alderman Seaton. Yes. Alderman Peterson. Yes. Alderman Berger. Yes. Alderman Brown. Yes. Alderman Potts. Yes. Vice Mayor Baggett. Yes. Referral passes 7-1. Yeah. Item 8 is City of Franklin Contract 2026-0094 with Franklin Noon Rotary Club for Rotary Plaza at Jim Warren Park. I know this one will not be deferred.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Is there a second by Alderman Brown? Any discussion? Alderman Barnhill? Yes. Alderman Blanton? Yes. Alderman Peterson? Yes. Alderman Brown? Yes. Alderman Potts? Yes. And Vice Mayor Baggett, how would you vote? Thank you. Passes unanimously. Is there any other business to be discussed tonight? If not, I would entertain a motion by Alderman Blanton. I move that we get out of here.

Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. We're done.