City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. It is February 3rd. It is 6 o'clock on the dot and time to call to order this meeting of the Gallatin City Council. Um, we begin each of our meetings with an invocation and a pledge of allegiance. So, I'm going to ask that you stand with me, please. And Councilman Alexander is going to offer our prayer and then lead us in the pledge. Thank you, Mayor. Father, thank you for always watching over us. Thank you for caring. Your word says that you care for the sparrow that falls from the nest. How much more you must care for us. We thank you for that. Thank you for how you watched over our city and our workers, Father God, this past week during the during the storms, Father. Thank you, God, for all of your provision. We ask tonight, Lord, that you'd be with us in this place, Father, that the words of our mouth, the meditation of our heart would be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. I pray in the strong name of Jesus. 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.

And Miss Kitrol, would you please call the role for us? [clears throat] Vice Mayor Hayes. Councilman Alexander, present. Councilman Carter, present. Councilman Fan here. Councilman Fenel here. Councilman Jones here. And Councilman Juvants is absent, but we do have a quorum.

Thank you. We have no minutes for your consideration for approval this evening. So, we'll move on to public recognition on agenda related items. Ladies and gentlemen, there is an opportunity at the end of the meeting for public recognition for items that are not on the evening's agenda, but the beginning of the meeting is for items that are on the agenda. If you would like to speak, you'll come to the podium. You'll give us your name and your address for the record. You'll speak to the item that you're interested in. Um I think you said you'll have five minutes and then you will um we'll proceed with the meeting. So with that, public recognition on agenda related items is open and you may come forward if you wish to speak and the crowd is not jumping to their feet to rush forward. That's lovely. Um, I'm going to move on then to mayor's comments. Um, certainly I want to talk just a little bit about the the the storm last week. I um I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of our city departments. And at the top of that list is certainly our public works department. Um truly and I've been doing this a long time but I want this council to know and I want citizens to know that until this event I had no idea how well we compared with what we have in the way of equipment with what um our planning looks like with the skills of our staff with I shouldn't say I had no idea I did not I had no idea how well we compared and when I learned more about the preparation that was done the amount of salt that we put on the roads so that we would be able to clear as quickly as possible. And then the hours that the public works folks worked um not just clearing roads because as you know there was so so much damage. Um and the equipment that they had to assist them in their work. It has really made a difference for our community. Um the diligence, the commitment, the personal

care. I talk about that a lot, but I felt that a lot this weekend. And those folks over there certainly did work around the clock. And I'm not discounting what the other departments did, and I'll talk about the Department of Electricity in just a minute. Certainly, our police and fire were there. GPUs had their fill of water breaks since um the temperatures started to thaw. But the public works department working to make sure that things could be cleared, things could be accessed as quickly as possible has made a tremendous difference. And for people's information, they are going to be beginning brush removal. We will not be doing bulk pickup this month. We will be focusing strictly on brush removal. U Mr. Dri has u moved really swiftly to make sure that we have a site so that we can collect and unload as quickly as possible. But um residents do need to be aware that it's not all going to be cleared up in a week. It's going to take quite some time because there was a ton of damage done in our community and all the surrounding areas. Um, I would also mention that our departments were very, very generous and our city was very, very generous. Our citizens were very, very generous in helping the areas around us who fared worse than we did. Um, and I appreciate that. Um, talking a little bit about the Gallatin Department of Electricity. We certainly hold the record for getting the power back on quicker than any around us. Again, I think public works is a big piece of that because they could work in concert with one another. where Gallatton Electric needed to go, public works could go and help make sure that the access was there. Um, one of the things that I want to point out because every year I get the great pleasure of taking phone calls from citizens who are I rate because we have butchered their trees. And now in the future I will have the opportunity to say, "Remember that storm in 2026?" Because truly that has made a difference. And you may hear other departments talking about how they'd

abandon tree um tree trimming programs and you look around our city and there are still some, you know, branches around lines and stuff, but by and large our lines were clear. Um they fell in some yards, they hit some poles, some different things happened that did affect some power and obviously we did have a lot of power outage, but that tree trimming really made a difference for our community. And so while it's painful to see when it happens, there is a good reason for it. And I think this proves that. And so I'm very, very grateful that they have invested in that, that they have stayed diligent with it, and that they worked also around the clock to get our power restored as soon as possible. And they could give me an update at any given minute, how many people were without power, how many were large outages, how many were, you know, oneoff outages, and what they were doing to address them. So, um, just so many compliments to our city staff, you know, police, fire, public works, GPU, um, our Gallton Department of Electricity and everyone else that contributed. Certainly, um, our I mean, even our finance department, they had to be here on Monday. Our parks department was having to take care of their facilities so we could get reopened as quickly as possible. And we did get reopened quickly and so I'm grateful for that as well. Um, I mentioned certainly to the Center County EMA and Gallatton Free Methodist Church, a group I'd never ever met before. And and one lady there just decided that she wanted to open um a shelter because it was going to be freezing for anybody that might need to seek refuge from the cold, having no idea that it was going to become a refuge for a whole lot of people that lost power and even someone who lost their home in a fire. But um they their congregation and many many community members apparently responded to meet the needs of people who needed help. And so my compliments to a very small church that has worked really hard to serve our community. Um and to give

you all an update, we did stand up Galton City Hall as a shelter for a brief period of time with the Red Cross. We only had one person come here. Northfield also then opened thinking there there was going to be more need because the extended power outage in the surrounding areas. But I think what we see is a lot of people in our community, they have friends, they have neighbors, they have places that they can go because again they really didn't have any people to come to their facility. But this facility was utilized a lot and they certainly took care of people and I'm very very grateful for that. I think that's it about the storm unless anybody has any specific questions or comments or anything that you want to know that I haven't addressed. Mr. Fenel,

yes. I'd like to piggyback off what you said, Paige. I know that I tried to call you a couple of times and found out you was making sure some of our employees was fed during the uh hours that they was working. But one thing that that made me proud was that um I had 20 people that stayed in my house and lived in my house while their power uh and and water was out and they was from Hendersonville and they was from Nashville. So, uh, it never made me feel as well and as grateful to our employees and to also, uh, the infrastructure that we got in place. Thank y'all. Mayor, I had an interesting, uh, lunch today. I was was ordering lunch and uh the owner of the restaurant recognized me and said, "Would you please pass on um that as a small business owner had this the public works not so quickly treated everything and got everything open, said we lost zero business." Um obviously Monday probably wasn't a huge day for them, but she said we were open every day. we could feed whoever came in and would you please pass that on and I did that to Mr. Dri. Excellent. Excellent job. I even Strange Circle was blocked. Both houses were blocked for a while. So, [laughter] uh, street department got that. Public works did hail froze over avenue [clears throat] froze over. So, it was a bad storm.

Well, I know. I looked out the window and it was very very late at night or early in the morning and there was a track going down my street pushing branches out of the way and I thought, "Oh, bless their hearts. They're still working." But you did mentioning that there have been so many businesses and so many individuals that have complimented our city workers, our city staff, and I'm grateful for their acknowledgement of their work. And um there are also several businesses that have helped our departments. And so, um, Prince Street opened just so they could feed all of the people out working and they were staying in a camper on site that was not very warm and then someone was walking to work so that they could make pizzas to feed people. There were other places that fixed big orders that were open that were filling big orders just trying to make sure that people were fed because the normal resources weren't out there. Um, so we've had we've had too many crises, too many disasters in our community, but every single time, um, the sweet part of it is to see how the community responds and comes together and helps one another and cares for one another. And so for everyone that had a hand in helping someone, just thank you so so much for that. Um, couple of events that I do want to mention for you all. I know they're here somewhere. Um, which we are also working, just FYI, we are also working on um, if you'll look on our website, you will see on our social media. What do you Oh, I've got here. You will see on our social media that there are some resources. There's SNAP benefit replacement resources. There is a cleanup resource. Um, there is a damage reporting or resource through tea.

[snorts and clears throat]

That doesn't mean that you will get um any kind of benefit but it's a way to measure so that we can understand if public assistance or government assistance is available. So it's important to do that. The crisis cleanup information that is there is actually a national organization that connects volunteers with people in need especially for like tree tree help. And we are we had a meeting today. We're talking about trying to figure out a more local resource, but that national resource does exist. They are focused on the winter storm in this area and there are people who are volunteering from there through there. And so, while I can't make any promises, if you are in need of assistance, you might try that crisis clean up. There's a hotline number and a way that you can submit either as a volunteer or as someone who needs help through their um through the hotline number or the portal online. Um, so the events I want to mention to you coming up tomorrow, a Red Cross blood drive at the civic center 12 to 4. There's a will awareness workshop on the 5th. Also at the civic center, 10:00 a.m. to 2 and 4 to 6. This um Friday, the Sun County NAACP is going to present the best of enemies at the Palace Theater. Saturday, the Bre American Legion is having their always amazing breakfast. There's also a community fest at the Shalom Zone. That's from 2 until 4. The Center County Museum will host their night at the museum. Tours are at 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30. And you can call the museum for more information. Um the legal aid clinic is having a um um an assistance um opportunity on the 10th at the civic center. That's from 4 until 7. And then coming up on the 16th is President's Day. And most city offices are closed on that day. Um, I would ask this council. I do have several road closures and there may be people here for those. Do you want me to go through those really quickly or do you want them at the end of the meeting?

Okay. All right. So, the first one, this is for a music video. It is um um a Sony music artist, a well-known artist. They want to do a video in downtown. It would be closing from 900 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. East Franklin from water to Boyers, Franklin from Water to Enlow, and then water from public square to Prince Street. Um, for your information, because we typically don't have videos associated with street closures for y'all, very, very rarely, but [snorts] when someone comes in, we have companies that we've worked with a lot. They come in, we ask them the the storyboard or the treatment for the music video and we ask them for the lyrics for the song because we don't want anything runchy recorded here, you know. Um, so that's their request. It's for the 18th 9 to 11. And this is a company that we've had very, very good experience working with and I'm proud that they keep coming back here. Does have all the signatures that don't affect any businesses because it is after hours. So

motion to approve. Second motion by Councilman Fenel, second by Councilman Carter. Are there any questions? Okay. All in favor of approving, please say I. I.

Oppose say no. Okay. And then the others are that are coming up. I think these are all for the chamber. Um the first is for we'll work backwards. [clears throat] The Gallton Christmas parade on the 12th of December. It's only February, but hey, appreciate it. Um, closing the streets from 12 until 2. Steam plant from airport to Hartsville Pike. Cartsville Pike from Craft to Maine. Maine from Maine to Broadway. Broadway from Broadway to Oscar Smith. I think you all know what that event is all about. Motion by Vice Mayor Hayes, second by Councilman Carter. Okay. All in favor, please say I. I.

Opposed. Okay, that one's going to be considered approved as well. This next one is for the Galton Shamrock Run. It starts on the 14th. Um, it is from 6:45 until 9:30 a.m. closes Main Street from Hartsville Pike to Locust. Locust from Main Street to Broadway. Franklin from Locust to Boyers. Craft from East Main to Hartsville Pike. Hartsville Pike from Craft to East Maine. The city hall parking lot from 600 p. p.m. Friday until 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Um, there are signatures on here. I have had one inquiry from a business that I will follow up with the chamber about, but beyond that, um, it's for the 14th. I don't know if I said that. Motion by Vice Mayor Hayes, second by Councilman Jones. Are there questions? Is there any discussion?

All in favor say I. I. Okay. Oppose say no. It is approved. This next one is for a pep rally on the square. It happens on to be determined. Yeah. To be I'm in and invite Miss Baker or Mr. Vaughn to the podium.

Hi, good evening. Uh, still to be determined. I think there's a letter in the packet. It's got a description of the dates that we're looking at right now. We're still working on finalizing that. On March 23rd, we'll meet with the principles of all three high schools and then pick a date that day. So, it could be on Monday, August 10th or 17th, Tuesday, August 11th or 18th, Thursday, August 13th or 20th. Yes, ma'am. So, it's one of those six days. And that letter was given to all of the businesses that'll be open.

Okay. You will follow up with the businesses to let them know. Yes, ma'am. So, it's from 400 p.m. until 1000 p.m. Um, you want to close Public Square from Northwater to East Maine, Northwater from Franklin to Maine, and East Franklin from North Water to North Boyers. The problem is is getting cars out of there before 4:30. Um, we ran into this in the past because most of those businesses do um the courthouse closes at 4:30 and I don't know that we can accommodate it before then. I mean, you're certainly welcome to start trying to load in there, but trying to close the road and get everybody out of there is always there's going to have to be some flexibility, right? That's just me talking. You guys weigh in.

We also flyer like the night before, the day before and just like stick flyers on cars so people know that this is happening. But if they're in there while we're setting up, we'll happily let them out. Okay. In the public square. And and can I ask you, Mr. Vaughn, to introduce yourself for the record? Yes, ma'am. Paul Von Galsson Chamber of Commerce. I love it. 246 Bait Avenue.

Hey, I'll also add on the pep rally. Oh, I'm Kim Baker. Um 366 Wildens Drive, Gallatin, Tennessee. Um one thing on the pep rally is the other roads. We need the L of the square and we did a really good job, I think this year, flying cars and letting people know. And we actually had somebody stand out there during the day just say, "Hey, if you're here after 4:30, your car will be blocked in." Um, but the other clo other other road closures are mainly for safety. If you were at the event or you saw the event, we poured into the streets and we want to make sure that everybody is just safe. Um, we also need to be able to park some vehicles along Franklin for unloading um because we bus in a lot of students. This is a huge event and it it caught um attention all over the region. So, we're really excited to bring it back.

Yeah. I don't think we got to see it cuz I think you had it during a council had it on a Tuesday and there's a lot of citizens wanting to speak that night that we heard it was a really long meeting. We had a lot of fun over on the square. I don't know if y'all did. We're hopeful that we don't wind up on a Tuesday again. Well, that would be a prompt not to. How about that? Yep. That's and that is the end goal. Um we are going to there was a lot of different feedback from the principal so we're going to let them all weigh in. That's something we didn't do last year but we have more time this year. She's right. I mean last year I mean when it was last time it was a much appreciated and welll [clears throat] liked and it it spread around social media. Unbelievable. So that's kind of the deal y'all. Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilman Penel. Second by Councilman Alexander. Any questions? All in favor say I. Post say no. It is approved. The next one is for the Gallatton Farm to Table. That's on the 19th of September. They want to close from Friday at 10:00 p.m. till [sighs] Sunday at 200 a.m. And this is closing only the L of the square. And this does have the signatures from the businesses on that L of the square. And they've done this for several years and I think people are kind of used to the rhythm of it. Motion to approve.

Motion by Vice Mayor Hayes, second by Councilman Jones. Any Carter. Okay. He pointed at you and Okay. Okay. Um, all in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Say no. Okay. It is approved as well. Hey, that's it. No. Now we will go to the regular agenda. Chamber representatives, you are welcome. Um, thank you. [laughter] Um, so the first item on the agenda is second reading on ordinance 02512-68. Councilman Pan, you're introduced for that.

Thank you, Mayor. This is an ordinance appropriating $16,91 for repairs to the 2021 and 2025 Pierce Enforcer Fire Engine. I so move. Second. Motion by Councilman Van, second by Councilman Fenel. Are there any questions? Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of second reading on ordinance 02512-68, please say I. I. Say no. Second reading passes unanimously. Item two is second reading on ordinance 02512-72. Councilman Alexander. Thank you, mayor. This is an ordinance appropriating $5,400 for employee training expenses. I so move.

Second. Motion by Councilman Alexander. Second by Councilman Carter. Are there questions? Is there discussion? This is second reading on ordinance 02512-72. All in favor say I. Post say no. Passes unanimously. Item three is second reading on ordinance 02512-74. Councilman Jones.

Thank you mayor. An ordinance of the city of Gallatin, Sumar County, Tennessee, amending plan Gallatin community character map and sub area designations map by changing the community character areas from the rural and suburban character areas to the general urban character area and expanding the number four Gallatin Gateway Industrial Center sub area onto a portion of a parcel totaling 325 plus or minus acres located south of Highway 31 and north of Gateway Drive. Motion to move. Second motion by Councilman Jones, second by Councilman Fan. Are there any questions? Any discussion?

Okay, seeing none, um this is second reading on ordinance 02512-74. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed, say no. Does pass unanimously. That moves us now to item number four, second reading on ordinance 02512-76. Council Vice Mayor Hayes. Yes. This an ordinance amending Gallatin Municipal Code Chapter 12 regulating the use of tobacco and vapor products. Motion to approve. Second. Okay. There's a motion to approve by Vice Mayor Hayes. Second by Councilman Jones. Mrs. Carter. Keep guessing. Finel. Finel or Carter.

Okay. Pick one. Miss Kendrick, um I have one request associated with that. Um can we set a date for it to take effect because um I feel like we need to send out some notification to I don't even I I don't know what businesses it might affect. The only thing that I can say I was at a music venue Saturday night that typically has smoking inside [clears throat] of it. They quit smoking and I had one person that I guess knew I was on city council and I told them that we was addressing the issue but I thought it was because of this one establishment. Okay.

But anyways, it it was already out into the community. Yeah. They were one of the ones that um I visited with early on and they told it was interesting. I mean, since this conversation started with all you guys a while ago, three of the places in Gallatin that had smoking all chose to know go non-smoking. I am aware of one, but I've heard there are a few others that I'm not aware of. I think a lot of people appreciate that though uh just for them doing it. There there's one business that I'm not sure is going to appreciate it, and I've tried to call them multiple times. Well, that wouldn't that wouldn't be effective for the cigar bar at all.

No, no, no, no, no. That it doesn't apply for that. And this is for, you know, venues where they 21 and over establishments that um allow smoking in addition to their other activities. It doesn't apply to vape shops. It don't apply to cigar bars. What else? That's about it. Okay. So, what date? A few weeks, a month, I don't know. I mean, and we would need a motion to amend um the the final passage to be further ordained. It says it's going to take effect immediately after April 1st. Would that work? I just don't want us to pass this tonight and then someone walk in

somewhere and them have no idea that it's been passed and and we wouldn't we wouldn't violate them. We'd inform them. But I first sound good. Sounds good. Okay. Motion to amend to April 1st effective date. Second by Y'all are all pointing at each other. You're just messing with me at some point. No, he made the motion. Motion. Second by Jones. Okay. Second by Councilman Jones. um on the amendment to make it effective April 1. All in favor say I.

Opposed say no. Okay, it is effective. Um we go back to the original motion which makes it effective April 1. Um all in uh any discussion on the original motion. Okay. All in favor of second reading on ordinance 02512-76 as amended, please say I.

Opposed say no. does pass unanimously, although there wasn't a strong voice to vote. Y'all, thank you so much. That that row of people there on the second row have been your advocates for this for a while. And I thought they might speak at some point. There's some interesting stories and a whole lot of heart that supports this and and so these are people that have great stories to tell. One of whom is a musician and and you know, I told you a little bit of that in the background. So, um, grateful for you all so much and and sorry to delay it, but I still feel like it's the right thing to do because there's still one I haven't chatted with directly. All right, we're going to move along to item number five, second reading on ordinance 02601-1. Um, Councilman Fan,

thank you, Mayor. This is an or an ordinance appropriating $442,372.65 for intersection [clears throat] improvements at Tula Popular and Bever Drive. And I so move. Second. Motion by Councilman Fan, second by Councilman Fenel. Any questions? Any discussion? All in favor of second reading on um 02601-1, say I. Oppose, say no. I think it will be a very good thing if you ever try to cross over that road. It passes unanimously. Um item number six is second reading on ordinance 02601-5. Councilman Alexander.

Thank you, mayor. is an ordinance appropriating $22,19.33 from revenue received from insurance for damaged vehicle and vehicle replacement. I so move second motion second by Councilman Carter. Any discussion, questions? It's second reading on ordinance 02601-5. All in favor say I. Oppos say no. Item passes unanimously. Item seven is second reading on ordinance 02601-7. Councilman Fenel. Thank you, Mayor. This is an ordinance appropriating $12,000 in donations from Gallatin Ford for the purpose of purchasing mobile K9 enclosures. Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilman Fenel, second by Councilman Fan. Any questions? Any discussion? Okay. At second reading on ordinance 02601-7. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say no. Moving along to resol. It passes unanimously. Item 8 is resolution R2512-96. Councilman Carter, you are recognized. Thank you, mayor. This is a resolution of the city of Gallatton, Sar County, Tennessee, adopting a plan of services for the annexation of a 5.09 plus or minus acre parcel located south of Highway 25 and east of Highway 109 and providing for an effective date. And I so move second.

Motion by Councilman Carter, second by Councilman Jones. Is there questions? Are there questions? Is there discussion coming? This is the Frank property. Is that correct? That who? Thank you. Mr. Rose shook in the firm. Okay. [laughter] But whose property? Said Frank. Frank is the last name. Anyone? All right. Um, resolution R2512-96. All in favor say I. I. Post say no. No.

Okay. This passes 5 to wait no six 5 to one. Thank you. My math passes 5 to one. Item nine is resolution R2512-97. Councilman Carter again.

Thank you, mayor. This is a resolution of the city of Gallatton, Sar County, Tennessee, annex in a 5.09 plus or minus acre parcel located south of Highway 25 and east of Highway 109 into the city of Gallatin. Authorizing the NX property to be indicated on the official zoning atlas, assigning the NX area to a council district, repealing conflicting ordinances, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. And I so move. Motion by Councilman Carter. Second.

Second by Vice Mayor Hayes. Questions, discussion? Okay. Okay, this is resolution R2512-97. All in favor, please indicate by saying I. Oppose, say no. No.

Okay, it passes 5 to one. Um, that concludes our regular agenda this evening. It brings us to other business. We do have some department heads with some reports. We'll start with Miss Rachel Nichols, our finance director, with her report on the 20 26 general obligation bond. Before the meeting this evening, I placed on your desk a report that we have to file with the state comprollers's office anytime we issue debt. The report gives the specifics about the bond issue that we made um that we had in January. The all-in true interest cost was 3.52 [snorts] on out several digits um interest rate. We did receive a premium on the [clears throat] bid. The um front page gives just basic information. Second page reports any closing um cost and cost to issue the bonds broken down by the type of service that was provided. The third page shows all of the maturities and dates and interest rates of the pieces of the bond. And then the [clears throat] fourth uh page is just the submission detail and signatures. Um, we're just required to present this. You don't have to vote on it or accept it or anything. We just have to be on record that you have been presented this document.

Would you expand a little bit and just talk about what a good rate it was for Gallatin and how many biders we actually had and how that compared to other

Yes. Um, we received 14 bids, which was unheard of for that ever. Um, normally we're really happy with seven or eight and we had double that amount. So, there was a lot of interest um in our deal. We have a really good credit rating and people were excited to participate. The first three bids, I believe, were within 0.0000 of each other in interest rates that they um submitted. So, it was very competitive. the um [clears throat] weren't all 14 like within one half of a point or something. I mean all

2 I believe was the difference from top to bottom. Um so it was very tight cost or rates. But you guys have questions about that? That's a real testament to you all and certainly to our finance department and good management and um really good management by all the department heads and and smart investing and the things that we've done right for a whole lot of years. So I know you've led that, Miss Nichols. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And thank y'all for approving the policies that we put before you because that strengthens um our standing with the credit credit rating agencies. they see that you are proactive and watching the city dollars and they appreciate that. Thank you.

Okay. And next, Mr. Brandon Howell has um his second quarter report and the Are you addressing the audit? Yeah. Okay. Mayor and council members, I have laid before you a couple of reports. Uh the first one if you'll see is your is a quarterly report from your evaluations and revenue from the building department since October 1 till the end of the year for 2025. The first pages you'll look and see the revenue amount for that those three months was over 1,48,25321. And you'll see as you go through it, you'll see it's divided up in your monthly report. The second page shows how many permits have been issued during that time. [snorts] Right at almost 400, I mean 4,400 permits were issued. Majority of those are electrical [clears throat] electrical permits. Uh we kind of got that divided out for you. I want to tell U Cheyenne, our administrative assistant, she done a real good job with this and getting it put together for us. Um a majority is electrical. Then you'll see we go into mechanical, plumbing, and fire. All those above. And uh then the last page you'll see is our inspections. And we've done almost 8,800 inspections during that quarter. And it's divided up. And I tried to do a little bit of math. And math ain't always my forte, but it's about a little over 1,100 inspections per inspector for a three-month time. So, if y'all see them, I give them a big shout if you don't mind. We appreciate it. Uh, the second one, if you will see, is a state audit report that we had this um past fall. It

started in September. This is a an exempt jurisdiction audit that we have to have from the state. It's supposed to be every three years. This time it was done uh within two years of the last time. And Councilman Carter said be before the meeting started, he had someone that wanted to know why we don't follow the state rules and all those things. This is why our our codes are more extreme than the states are. And they audit us every 3 years on it. And if you'll see, I've highlighted for you that everything is adequate. And there's somebody said, "Well, adequate ain't great." Well, when you are rated by adequate, marginal or inadequate, we got the best there is. So, uh, a lot of that was plan review. Myself and, uh, assistant director Harris, we do most of the plan reviews, which thank goodness I'm hiring somebody here in about two weeks for that. So, give us some help on that. But, uh, the state when they came in, it was a a day like today. It was raining outside and I've very well decided that from now on when they come I hope it's raining because they didn't stay long. We walked through an apartment complex. I really wanted to take them out to Simpson Strong Tie. That's one of our nicest buildings in town. If y'all haven't been out there, it's a wonderful place and I'm thankful that they built it here and we were able to go through and help them with it. Um, but we had they wanted to do an apartment complex so that's where we went to down here. the ones across from Lowe's, uh the GAP apartments, they walked through with us after they done their the study on the plan reviews, everything passed with flying colors. Um George Smith, one of the auditors, he walked through and he said, "We're done about two buildings and we were finished." He said, "Y'all passed everything." And we turned around and

got in our vehicles and left. Uh but if you if anybody questions and says things about why don't we follow the state? Well, we do to an extent. They audit us every 3 years and we have to pass that audit or we will not be in exempt jurisdiction. So yes sir. Where does the audit team come from? Are they appointed or it's come from the state? From the state fire marshall's office and there's several of them from east Tennessee, west Tennessee, even here in middle Tennessee. They have a certain team that's made up. They have one one person that does the audits, the plan reviewers, and he doesn't come on site. He does all that electronically.

Thank you. Other questions for Mr. Howell? Thank you. Thank you. And well done and congratulations. I Whenever I get an audit report for anything that's happening in the city, I'm always really nervous until I open it, but it's been very rare that I've opened it and had pain. So, I was excited to see although I don't like how they just like your your highest grade is adequate. I mean, you know, I'd like to see a stellar there because we had not one single problem with it. So, I'm grateful for that. Um, are there any other is there any other other business this evening? Okay, Councilman Carter, you're recognized.

Thank you, mayor. So, I wanted to address a post that was made on Facebook by one of my council colleagues. Um, as it pertains to me making the motion a couple of weeks ago to bring back the river bin I think project um because I was contacted by the developer. First and foremost, it's not my fault or any of our fault if a developer chooses to contact certain ones of us. Um, I will also say this too. If we feel that some if we feel some type of way about that or it bothers us, then maybe as council members and as people, we should take a deep dive and look itself instead of putting misinformation and lies out there. Um, I'm not being bought, pressured, or swayed by anybody, but I don't mind giving anybody a fair shake because one day I may have something that I want to do when I'm not on the council, and I would hope and pray to God that anybody would give me a fair chance. Um, so yeah, so I wanted to address that and then just to say too, it's highly offensive to me personally and professionally. Um, um, one of the comments was saying something about me and Paige being in being on the take or being for a developer. I didn't know Paige until I started on this council. I only knew of Paige. I didn't know anybody on this council until I got on the council but Linda Love because she was a teacher and adviser in a club that I was there. Um, but I don't have to be on the take. I don't have to have shady dealings because my mother raised a young man that is I think is wonderful and she thinks is wonderful. She also raised me to get up every single day to work hard and to make a way for myself and not to be shady and not to wait for anybody to do anything for me. So if anybody thinks that I'm on the take, I'm not on the take. I have a part-time job that I work when I need to. I have a second part-time job that I work when I need to. And I go to work every single day to make a difference for myself. and I work my butt off for other people when nobody

is looking and I don't have to make an announcement about it because that's not what I was taught to do. But certainly um I'm not for any developer, but I am for giving any and everybody that comes through these doors into this chamber and that contacts me via phone or email a fair chance at what they think that they need to address with this council. Thank you guys. Councilman Carter, um, you were very respectful in your comments and and I think as you were talking, it made me think, you know, that's probably one of the hardest things is to think that we for so long had a great reputation where everyone worked with mutual respect for one another. You know what they say in the South about not airing your dirty laundry. And so when we had differences for so long, um, we we we we, you know, we we talked them out and we worked through things. And every single one of you has done things that have made me mad. And I'm I have never once gone on social media and said anything ugly about any of you. I don't know, Councilman Alexander. I'm not sure if you have yet time. There's still time, I guess. But um but anyway, so I just um I I I I wish. And I saw so much grace this past week with the storm. Um, I it just makes me think, you know, we're so much better when we can be kind to one another and when we can show one another grace and and compassion and and

the benefit of the doubt. So, anyway, thank you. I didn't mean to cut you. No, go ahead. I I understand where Councilman Carter is coming from. I'm not on social media. I'm not on Facebook, but people screenshot and send me things and it's awful and it's hurtful. Uh, and a lot of people just don't know the truth. There are people out there that spin up or um insinuate things just to spin the public up. I just wish the public would be more aware and and watch or ask questions then you would really know what the truth is. But it's just sad when you have a person that spins up so much stuff out there in social media. Yeah.

And I fear that, you know, all individuals are are losing the the the power of discernment. But anyway, I digress. Anyone else with other business this evening? Okay, seeing none, we will move to public recognition on non-aggenda related items. If you have something that went on on tonight's agenda that you want to talk about, this is your time. Again, you come to the podium. You have five minutes and we need your name and address. And that's all there is to it. All right, seeing no one, you know what's next. Motion [laughter] second. I have a motion by Councilman Finel, second by Councilman Carter. All in favor say I. I.

Opposed. Ladies and gentlemen, we're adjourned. It is 6:43 p.m. Thank you all for being with us this evening. And I wish you all a lovely and warm rest of the week. would ask you to offer your prayer, support, and kindness to those who are still um suffering with the aftermath of the ice storm and often no power. Have a good night. Take care.