Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to welcome everybody to the regular scheduled Thursday, January 22nd city commission meeting held at 601 East Main Street at the Municipal and Safety Building in Johnson City. Um, I'd like to call the meeting to order. For the first item, I'd like to bring up the for the invocation and the pledge, Evangelist Tom Campbell with the Vineyard Fellowship. Um, please stand and remain standing for the pledge.

Thank you for allowing me to come. I appreciate this very much. Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, I want to read a verse of scripture if that's okay. Just for a second before we get started. 1 Timothy 2 says, 'I exhort you therefore first of all that supplication, prayers, and intercessions, giving of thanks may be made for all men, for kings, and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Christ Jesus. Let us pray. Father, I thank you. And Lord, I read in your scriptures that if we acknowledge you in all of our ways, you were to direct all of our steps and all of our path. And so tonight, Father, I ask and I invite the Holy Spirit into this room. Father, there's decisions to be made. There's counsels to look at. Father, there's advice to be given. There's things to be heard. And Father, they need your wisdom and their know your knowledge and your understanding. And Father, I pray for them. [clears throat] I pray for your blessings to rest upon them, their families, their spouses, their children. Lord, that you'd give them wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. That your name would be honored and glorified in their life. And that, Father, Johnson City would be a place that is known for righteousness, for truth, for justice, Father, for equity, Lord, and equality. So, Father, I just ask as they go through their meeting tonight and all the nights that God, you glorify your name and that you'd bless this meeting tonight. And Father, I ask that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um, Miss Paul, mayor, the first order the first order of business is to consider the approval of the minutes for the regularly scheduled city commission meeting held on Thursday, January 8th, 2026. Move approval. Second, Miss Louse. Commissioner Fowler? Yes. Commissioner Gats? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock? Yes.

Mayor Cox? Yes, commission. We have one person signed up under public comment. We have Silven Brun signed up under public comment. Mr. Brun, if you come up and state your name and um I'll remind you that we have three minutes um for your comment and keep it to an item germaine to the agenda and uh Mr. Willis be your timekeeper, but I guess Okay.

Thank you very much. So good morning. Uh thank you mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city manager for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here to comment on the proposed changes to the bylaws of the Washington County Johnson City Animal Shelter. This issue matters to me both personally and as a resident. I am a donor to the shelter, a customer of its services, and my family adopted our cat, Cadmas, from the shelter. Uh like many people in the community, I care deeply about how this shelter is governed and how well it reflects the values of the people it serves. On the proposed changes, I will address three items. First, I agree with equalizing representation between the city and the county to appointees each that feels balanced and fair. Second, adding a representative from the Humane Society makes sense given their expertise and long uh standing role in animal welfare. Third, and this is where my concern lies, I believe we need clarification from the commission on the language used in section 3.4 selection. As we stated, the bylaws allow Johnson City 2 representatives to be the city manager and a commissioner or alternatively a resident. In practice, that means that the commission can choose not to appoint any community representative at all. And this fundamentally changes whose voices are guaranteed a seat at the table. Shelter operations are not abstract policy areas. They do involve volunteers, donors, fosters, adopters, and everyday residents who interact with the shelter directly. When boards like those uh lose a guaranteed voice from the community, they may also lose some critical experiences. Community trust and informal accountability. Engagement can drop and decisions can then become very insular. I'm also concerned about this setting a precedent. In 2024 and 2025, the Washington County Commission repeatedly filled open board and committee seats with sitting commissioners instead of residents who were willing and qualified to serve. The result was fewer community voices and a growing sense that board exists

primarily for institutional convenience rather than public participation. And I don't want the city of Johnson City to move in that same direction. And I'm not questioning here the good faith of the city leadership, but bylaws exist to protect participation over time beyond the current set of office holders. So if residents representation is optional, experience shows that it can disappear. So I'll close with three questions for you to consider. First, if community engagement is a stated value of our city, why wouldn't we require at least one rep resident representative from the city on this board than rather merely uh allowing it? Second, what problem is solved by giving the city the option to appoint only internal officials instead of residents? And as how does that benefit the shelter or the public? And third, how will you ensure that this bylaw change does not become a model for reducing resident participation on other city boards and committees? Thank you again for your time and for considering the long-term impact of this decision on both public trust and community engagement. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Brunie. Commissioners, the next order of business is consideration of the consent agenda. I'll start to my right, see if there's anything we want to pull. Commissioner Fowler, 5.4, please. Commissioner or Vice Mayor Brooke? No, I'm good. Thank you, Commissioner G. 5.3.1, please. Sounds good. Uh, Miss Ball, let's just start with 5.3.

Yes. 5.3.1 which is building systems technology a division of Eagle Fire Inc. annual maintenance inspection and monitoring for Johnson City Schools. I think we have our assistant superintendent of schools here Dr. Wallace here and if you would I think the next item relates to schools as well. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I'm here to answer since we've been spending all our time thinking about weather the last couple of days. It's here to answer any questions you might have commissioner. So, um I think the question was possibly the single bid source. Correct. Is that question?

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Wallace. Just a little explanation. I know that um in reviewing the materials um this has been, you know, a long-standing relationship. I'd love to know are they kind of industry best? Are you happy with that? Knowing how important school safety is, especially uh to a mom of two kids in the John City School system. I would just love to know about the process and you know maybe the great work that you all are doing to further protect our kids.

So so thank you. I think it's something I don't think I know it's something we evaluate every year and so our technology supervisor miss she has a very close relationship with them and uh I think there's a couple things to consider is a industry standard. How do we make sure that we have the best? for continuing to evaluate that from a school's perspective. But there's also the practicality of uh my understanding is the last time it went out to bid, they were the only bidder. Uh they've had 15 years of successful relationship with our school system. And then there are three specific pieces of software uh um hardware that they provide. our locking system, our intercom system, um our camera system, our well actually four also our um our uh access control and all of those they are the sole provider outside the cameras. They're the sole provider in this region. So if somebody else was to bid, they'd still have to work through them. So essentially, she feels like it's taking out the middleman, but it is something that we do evaluate. That's why it's an annual contract. It's something we evaluate every year.

Dr. Mr. Wallace, what what uh physical um facilities will this be applied to? Uh it's all of our it's all of our buildings. They that this contract allows them um to work to support all of our all of our buildings. So, a lot of times rather than if we had an incident that would occur, rather than getting a bill, it's it's something that's covered under the contract. It just wasn't a great deal of money. So, it it does cover all of our billings. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. And then I think Commissioner Fowler had a question about RFP, excuse me, RFP 6871 stellar therapy services.

Sorry. Had a couple of questions. What type the stellar therapy services based out of Chattanooga? I'm sure they have offices here too, but that's where the group is. What kind of therapy are they going to be providing? Where are they going to do that? And for whom? So they're not providing any therapy. So they are, as Dr. Fer, I know you're aware, in order for us to receive uh the reimbursement from the billable services, we have to fall under a a nurse, our nurses can't do it, has to fall under a medical doctor in the agency. They're the agency that's going to provide that service for us. So they are essentially take they it's a 10% if we use both our sped services and our nursing services. they will provide all the all of the the leg work, all the paperwork, getting parental permission for the billable services. It's for what we already do. So, there's about 20 districts in the state of Tennessee that use them and including Washington County. Uh we've calculated for the services that we provide for that we would receive reimbursement of about 150,000 for our sped department and right now about 15 to 20,000 for our nursing department.

Okay. So, it's more just getting paid for what you've been doing than nursing. That's correct. It's money that's already on the table. Gotcha. That's correct. We've just not claimed in the past. No, it's it's smart use. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. Is there a motion? Move for approval. Second. Miss Low, call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gets, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes. Thank you. Miss Paul,

the next item for consideration is approval of the proposed amendments to the bylaws of the Washington count county Johnson City Animal Control Center, better uh better known as Washington County Johnson City Animal Shelter.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Megan Bell with the legal department. I'm happy to answer any questions or speak to the changes in bylaws generally, but I wanted to take direction from the commission first. I would like to just add a note and thank you Mr. Brun for for giving us food for thought for sure but uh I can tell you that in the appointments uh currently um Mrs. Ball has a design who is a citizen at large who is who is serving in that capacity. I serve as the commissioner uh level um on our second appointment. And likewise in the county, the county mayor is um is one of the board members, but their second appointment, which could be a commissioner, is a citizen at large. And this is a person who uh had volunteered at the animal shelter for a long long time. So, uh, anyway, we do we have the capacity within the way they're written to make those appointments within the city and the county. And then the other two is um, uh, certainly um, the opportunity for other appointments at large.

That's correct. And just to rephrase, I think one of the concerns was just it may leave a door open to leave a spot unfilled. I think there's somewhat of a standard because there has to be time for the right candidates to come along and make sure it's the right fit to we don't want to fill a spot just put a body in there. We want to make sure it's the right time. Is that a normal process? And

that's correct. And the purpose of this board is to support the shelter. And so the shelter is really going to say what their needs are. And so that's why the portion that is the appointments made by the the shelter is they're developing the criteria of what they need to best serve them moving forward. Just one final point of clarity too. In in the old bylaws, uh we had city appointments, county appointments, and then those in the middle and then um um humane society, which is kind of a a sitting uh appointment. Then the other two had to get the vote of both the city and the county for one candidate. Mhm.

And so it was very kind of problematic and took a long long time to advertise here, advertise there when they may not come up with the same candidate. And so this increases the efficiency that we can get seats filled in a very timely manner. That is

we do want one of those seats to be a veterinarian which has been which is currently uh the case and that has been added tremendous value to to the animal control board. Well, and I would like to just commend, you know, all of our community organizations and digging into bylaws that are opening a box of a lot of conversation that most people don't want to do to make sure organizations function as well. From what I understand, there was nine seats and there's only been seven max maybe for a long time. And this really this this one is seven seats. This one's seven seats. So, it was five up to nine, but there was a a difficult process to open up those additional seats between city and county. this. We know we're going to have seven.

This really lets us Johnson City decide who's best fit and not obstacles. So, I appreciate all the work. Is Is there a motion? Move for approval. Second. Miss Lass, you call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gets, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

yes. Mayor, the next items are under second reading and public hearing. Uh the first one is item 7.1. This is ordinance 4936-26. This is second reading and public hearing for an ordinance to amend the horizon 2045 future land use plan on on land identified by tax map 090038G parcel a parcel 032.02 located at the corner of Princeton Road and Nave Drive. And I'm going to go ahead and read the next item. uh they require a separate vote but they will be done as the same presentation and this item is 7.2 which is ordinance 4935-26. This is the second reading and public hearing of an ordinance for the reasonzoning of 2.64 64 acres at zero Princeton Road, which is at the corner of Princeton Road and Nave Drive from R2, R5, and I1 to dis districts to R3.

Sound. And just to clarify, Miss Hodgeges, we'll let you do a presentation and I'll open a public hearing for the first ordinance and close it and then the second ordinance. Even though they kind of mirror each other, I'll assume I'll do two public hearings. and I am grateful for those long title readings so I can get the right presentation up. Um, good evening. I'm Whitney Hodes. I'm the planning manager here in Johnson City. It's wonderful to be with you, mayor and commission. Uh, don't know where that just disappeared to, but that's okay. We'll get that presentation right back up. Just it decided to shut itself down. Maybe it wants to be on vacation, too. Okay, we're back up. So, um, what we're looking at is a public hearing and we're taking, um, the request before us is to take a site that has three different zones on it and to make that into one zone. And what the applicant would like to do is to put 14 town homes on this and to make it R3, which would allow that. just kind of give you an I'm gonna go over we've already done one first reading so I'll kind of but for the public we'll kind of go back over some high some high high spots. Um we are talking about 2.64 acres and kind of give it's in the kind of the middle of Princeton. You'll see where Evergreen Nursery is and where the Crazy Tomato are and where this property is, but it's right on the corner of Nave Drive. What I want to kind of explain with the concept plan is that it does at the first reading there had like one thing that was still left, but this concept plan is complete. Um, as far as meeting all of our needs for meeting the zoning requirements, the most that this could have would be seven units an acre and this is just under that. Um, sorry, it's 18 units. I had that wrong. 18 units. Um, could be up to 18 units. They're doing 16 with four structures. They're

going to enter from Nave and then they have um this private drive that includes parking from the first time this was around. That was one of the issues that the neighbors um kind of wanted to know more about and wanted to be more on site. So, they were able to do that. They're providing landscape buffers and they're also providing um they're 31% open space which is really in that greenway and they're putting a walking trail in there. So, they're able to do all of this on that twoacre site. Utility. Just again, utilities will be served by Johnson City and um this is the 16 town homes does not need a um transportation impact analysis. Just kind of a view of the site from both Princeton and Nave of where those houses would be. And then just a topography which shows you kind of the dip towards the um towards towards Princeton and how that relates to the site and why they're kind of choosing the upward land. the second. So we have two votes in front of us. One of them is with the horizon 2045 plan and um currently that land is employment flex and is one of the places where even in the where the the guidance would be let's take a look at it to see if that's really what it needs to be. And as we took a look at it with what employment flex is and where really mainly where this driveway would need to come in something more residential is more appropriate. So, we would recommend also amending the land use map if you were to approve this to compact residential and because we feel like that fits into the character of Nave Drive and what we think that the would be a better fit for that neighborhood. There was a neighborhood meeting and some of the same um comments from the last meeting were also brought up as well as um you know and they also appreciated some of the

efforts that the um current applicant had made to reduce some of the density. Um but there are some concern still some remaining concerns about traffic um and and the density. There are two recommendations. We would recommend um approving the the um both the change in the land use plan as well as the concept plan in the resoning and the planning commission um also recommended um recommended approval and those conditions from the planning commission have all been satisfied. So these are your decision items and there is two public hearings. I'll look to legal if they need to be open and closed at the same or if they can be in conjunction

separately. Okay, we'll do one and take a vote and do another and take a vote. I think sounds great. Any questions for staff?

I do. massage. Um just um clarification I guess uh that's really not the right word either, but on amending the 2045 uh horizon plan, we knew that that was a dynamic document. I mean, when you in 20 I guess 23 or however long ago you started, uh we don't know what's going to happen in 2030. So we uh the way it's set up is that it has to come back to the commission when there are amendments so that people can hear what those what those uh requests are that is going to change that that plan. So I I like that we're doing that. It's not just somebody in a in a room someplace making those changes whatsoever. So just want to say thanks. Thank you. Okay, with that, I'm going to open the public hearing. Um, if anybody's here to speak for or against amending the Horizon 2020 2045 plan, um, just come up and speak. State your name. Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Um, commissioners, can I get a motion?

Move for approval. Second. SL, we call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gets, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes. With that, we'll go ahead and move to the next item, which was the same presentation. Um, I'll open the public hearing. This is for the actual reasonzoning. So, the first one is just changing kind of our guideline and our plan. This one's for actually reszoning the property um from three different zones to the single zone that's requested. So, I'll open the public hearing if anybody's here to speak for or against. Come up.

Can you state your name and address? Gabe. Good evening, everybody. My name is Gabe Henley. I live at 603 East Mount Castle Drive. I'm the applicant for the reasonzoning. I'm just here to answer any questions you guys may have about the project. I just give a a kind of quick overview. You're going to have what? 16 units. Be 16 units. Yes. Uh-huh. And I think uh last time we saw how you're going to buffer the area and

um it it certainly looks very attractive in in terms of uh the the presentation that you're making in there and the parking and everything is so much better than what we've seen in the past. Yeah, that's the thought. And to leave the site on Princeton as natural as we can keep it, keep the creek, make a walking trail over there, and then buffer everything else around it. So,

um, there's been questions about materials that you're going to use. And then another question, and I've been looking at this little drawing that you have, and there there are 32 driveway parking spots. It's listed as 30 and then there are 10 in the middle of the circle. So it'll be 42. But the numbering is a little bit off just they got repeated. But just to clarify on the drawing, there are actually 32 in front of the town homes and then there are 10 in the middle. So it should be 42 parking spots total for this. There's a question about that and I just wanted to clarify. I've counted them up and I count that too. So it should be two spots per driveway. So 32 spots in each driveway throughout the entire complex plus six spaces in the middle. So 38 in total.

I think the dumpster may have taken a couple spot to have a good location for the dumpster. Yep. Um and materials wise uh still playing around with it. Don't want to put the cart before the horse. So um want to go through all our options trying to figure out what what the best thing is to make it timeless, classic, affordable. going through all those options and kind of go in with the neighborhood. Correct. Yes. Yes. Want it to blend in as perfectly as it can. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Um that with that um um thank you for coming up and if there's anyone else speak here to speak for or against.

Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Get a motion. I'll move for approval. Second. Second. Miss Laos, call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner gets, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

yes. And I just I'd love to see somebody young that is from our area coming back to the area and and taking on a project. So, I really commend you for for doing that. Um, and thanks for staying local and being involved, Miss Ball. The final item from staff is to provide you with an update um on our some of our facilities projects. Good evening, commissioners. Uh my name is Brian Ross. I'm the building services director for the city. We've highlighted uh five of our open building construction and improvement projects to to review with you this evening. So, I will begin with uh the Carver Recreation Center. We're replacing HVNC and lighting throughout the building. The existing HVAC equipment had reached the end of its useful life. Facilities uh staff has spent and and some contractors have spent considerable time making repairs to those. And so it was determined that that needed to be replaced. Um and that involved two replacing two split systems uh that serve the entire building. One of those systems serves the gymnasium area and the other serves the the balance of the building, the remainder of the building. Um and then also the project included replacing lighting with energy efficient LED. And this is a project that was uh designed and and is being overseen by uh a company called ESG Energy Services Group that has an excellent track record. They've done several facilities uh for us and have great track record of designing and putting in energy efficient uh systems for us. So the LED lighting is uh replacement is complete and one of the HVAC systems that serves the gym is also

complete and is operational and going going well. The second system they're poised to install. They're waiting until there's a little the weather is a little more favorable, less of a a heating demand. So that uh because that system has to be taken offline for a week or two uh in order to be replaced and we don't want to leave the building cold. And that's just a shot of inside the gymnasium. She kind of shows you the the bright LED lights that are now in place. Our next project is the Freedom Hall locker rooms. It's really just the restrooms that serve the player locker rooms. And this is uh some of the preparation that we're doing to make improvements uh you know to make facilities that are more conducive to collegiate athletes as opposed to middle school students. And so um that involves largely replacing replacing plumbing fixtures uh some of the toilet partitions and and paint and finishes and lighting and that type of thing. Um all that work is currently in progress and it is expected to be complete in time for the Big South tournament in March. And here's our I don't really have progress uh photos of the work because it's still kind of in the early stages, but just to give you an idea, we'll be replacing those sinks, mirrors, toilet partitions. Um this is interesting. These these are the entrances from the hallways into the restroom and shower areas. So, we are actually installing building walls and and and doors for privacy in those areas in the shower and restroom areas.

Erasing our childhood over there. think we all been in those different iterations. So, but are you getting the shower heads high top? And they did they did replace showerheads, so they're they're they're higher. I think they're probably at about my neck level. So, and I'm not a basketball player, so I think that'll serve them well. Just for me, I think. Yeah. [laughter] Well, I think those sinks were probably installed originally, weren't they? Probably. I would imagine. I don't We've gotten a lot of good life out of them.

Yeah. Gen a lot of useful life out of those fixtures. Sure. So our next project is the is is the fire training center. And so this project was done in two phase is being done in two phases. Phase one which is the classroom building and offices and locker rooms was completed almost a year ago. And and I think everyone who most people know that that's been a success. It's it's a great facility for the fire department long overdue and they're thrilled to be able to use that. Um phase two is the training tower that is also located on that site. It is under construction. Um it is estimated to be complete by June of this year. And then there are a few remaining site improvements that would be done at the same time. So this is the site of the tower. It's right in the middle of the complex if this this picture is taken more or less above the existing classroom building. So it's right across the way. These pictures were taken earlier this week, maybe late last week. So footers are in, masonry walls have begun and uh slab preparation in place for the interior concrete slabs. Our next project is the uh Johnson City Schools secure vestibules. This is actually four projects in one. We are we are updating the entrances to three elementary schools and Market Street School, formerly known as Topper Academy. And so these are all the improvements that are consistent with what we've done at other schools throughout the district. And that includes access controls, cameras, the security film, um the transaction windows and and and the vestibule itself. Um and then that did bring about some other um renovations which I'll show you here in just a second that that support that. Uh the three elementary schools are nearly complete. That is actually passed due. The contractor uh was due to be completed January 5th. they did not meet that deadline and and they are currently acrewing liquidated damages as a result. So, we're hoping

that motivates them to get done uh in in a timely manner. The punch lists have been complete, which is, as we know, that's a that's a that's a uh a big milestone for them to know what we expect for them to do to complete, but they have to finish their final inspections and have all systems operational before the schools can move into those three elementary those areas in those elementary schools. And then Market Street School, it's on a different timeline. It started later. Um, and that was by design. That was intentional so that we didn't have all four going at once. And that is uh currently under construction. It should be done by July of this year. So, this is a view of inside Mountain View Elementary. If you ever been there, you know it had a very large open area atrium in the at the entrance that's been enclosed. So, this would be standing kind of in front of the main office off to the side. So, all those windows that you see there are new. Uh the middle portion is the vestibule and because the area was so large we have the opportunity to enclose some flex spaces that can be conference rooms or classrooms. And then this picture on the right is within the secure vestibule entrance from the outside and the transaction window. And then the doors on the right that go into the school. On the left is a view from inside the reception area looking out into the vestibule. And on the right is a view inside one of those flex spaces on the on the ends. And then because we enclosed the lower level, it made sense to enclose the upper level as well. So this is a view of the second floor looking at the over the same over the vestibule itself with a nice large uh classroom, training or conference area, whatever they need to use it for still with a great view of those mountains. It's amazing. This is North Side Elementary. Uh the picture on the left on the right is the main entrance to the school. So that's that will remain the main entrance in terms of drop off and pickup for students once school is in session. That it's a little hard to see, but on the left there is a set of double doors that

will become the entrance for visitors to check in and a vestibule there. Excuse me. And that's a view of the vestibule on the right. Again, a view from the reception area looking out. And then this area took up their clinic space. So on the right, we renovated an office space for a new clinic for them. Cherokee Elementary, uh the picture on the left, if you can kind of see the glass that's behind that fencing. We enclosed about half of what was an existing open porch. So the roof structure and everything is existing. We just enclosed underneath it to create that foyer area, which you see on the right. That is once you come into the vestibule with the transaction window on the right and then the doors that go into the into the main area of the school right there. And so then they have access to administration and then a view again from reception looking back out into the uh foyer. And this is Market Street School. You can see it's still very much under construction. They're finishing drywall this week. Hopefully begin paint next week. So it'll come together. And then finally, we have Townacres Elementary School. It is humming right along. December was a rough month weather-wise for them. Um not terribly bad, but but but they did lose a little bit of time. Uh overall, they're still on track um on on on schedule. Um, and just to recap, this is a a new a new school building for town acres, 110,000 square feet to serve up to 750 students. All the site improvements that come along with that, and then once it's occupied, the existing school will be demolished. Um, most of the mass grading is complete. Um and they are beginning to undercut the foundations which I'll explain here in just a minute and excavate for footers and again on track

to for occupancy by August of next year for the 2728 school year. This is some drone shots. This is uh looking at the south south corner of the property. This would be uh this will become st the staff parking area. This is looking back in the opposite direction above that staff parking. So, the area that you see, you see that matting, and I again, I'll explain that here in a minute. That's about where the gymnasium and uh cafeteria areas are. Uh just below that, where you can kind of see some rocks and some lines, that's the main corridor, administration, and library, media center. And then below that is the classroom wing that kind of extending towards us. It will also receive that same geo grid uh that you see in that picture above. Here's a picture of the footings. Gives you a little bit of idea of the condition. This is this is a this is actually there was some rock. Obviously, you can see that. Um I think everything so far has been pretty much what we expected. We knew we'd have a combination of rock, some good soil, and also some unsuitable soil. And we're mitigating that just really as as we planned so far. So, this is the geo grid. um some of the areas that had unsuitable soil and also to help against differential settlement and when you have soil and then rock you know have a potential for those to settle differently and create structural issues. So this is a tactic that was designed by our geotechnical engineer. The those areas are cut down four feet. This geomat is laid for stabilization and then we bring back in clean fill up to fill in that four feet to have a nice stable uh uniform building pad for the for the for the structure. And that's all I have. Happy to entertain any questions that you have.

I know it wasn't on your on your slides, but Indian Trail had a new vestibule entrance made accidentally and just wondered where we are on on repairing what was done.

We've had a couple of meetings on site. We have met with u a structural engineer to evaluate the damage as well as the insurance adjuster. So, the good news is that the structural damage appears to be minimal. It's it's it's limited really mostly to just the brick veneer. Uh the brick itself is not structural for the school for the roof and and that type of thing. Uh and then they took out the doors and windows on one side of that. So the good news is there's not really any structural damage to the to the framing steel columns, beams of the of the school. Um the unfortunate side of that is that the lead time for those for like the door and window frame is is going to be quite long, probably several months. So we will get on that. We've already we're already talking with our purchasing department and uh risk management. We're going to try to expedite um having someone on board as soon as possible so we can get that rolling. Uh but yeah, it's it's uh we're tracking it down.

And I I I the structural damage is limited moving over the weekend and and making sure that kids could go back on Monday. Yeah. the a lot of um credit goes to the school uh facilities team. They were there Friday. It happened on a Friday and they were there that afternoon. I think they were there till about 7 p.m. cleaning up and stabilizing and and closing that thing. So, the building was secure and uh they could resume, but they have adapted their operations, drop off procedures a little bit, but it's it's stable so that um no one can be injured by uh because of those conditions.

Are there any thoughts about installing any ballards or anything like that? there are um that is that is a topic that has come up I know uh and a lot and and even more people are involved with that that's the SRO team and uh Dr. Wallace uh and I have had conversations about that. So, we're exploring that. It would be it's a great idea. Um we just need, you know, to explore that, find out exactly what that would look like and budget for it and uh and then and then discuss that. We're very fortunate that no one was injured at all. Very fortunate the speed of of that vehicle. Yeah, there are videos out there and if you if you see the video, it's kind of frightening when you see what actually happened, but yes, very thankful that there were no injuries uh as a result.

All right, thanks so much for that update. Lots of good stuff going on. And um I think that's um the last on our agenda. I do have a Well, I was I was just going to say uh commissioners, if you would like, we have our public works director here. if y'all would like to get an update on where we are in preparation for the storm event for this weekend. Um he could speak to where our crews are and how we're preparing and maybe give us the latest um update on what the the forecast is for this weekend as the past hour maybe. That sounds great. Mr. Miles.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. Jason Miles, public works director. Um, so conditions are changing and I suspect most people are probably aware of that. But, uh, what appears to be happening is that the the the severe weather is trending down, which is a good thing. At the same time, that the, uh, even though the snow, for instance, is trending down in terms of projected accumulation, there is a growing concern for ice, which is worse for us for sure. Um, we've been working on this, you know, throughout the week, of course, making sure our trucks ready to go. U setting up, uh, different schedules for solid waste pickup, that sort of thing, because we do some solid waste pickup on Saturday. So, um, some of those businesses, for instance, will be handling Friday evening, Friday afternoon versus picking up on Saturday. Um, we've started putting Brian down, Brian Solution. It's a cost-effective way to try and, you know, reduce risk. Um, it's it it doesn't take much salt, you know, to make up a brine solution and put that down on the roads. Uh, kind of assuming worst case scenario, right? So, uh, but the big push will come Saturday. And what it looks like is Saturday afternoon through Sunday is when we're going to see the worst impacts. So, um, we'll schedule crews accordingly. We have two teams that handle all of this, blue team and red team. They're scheduled accordingly. Uh we even reduce hours if we have to during the day, send them home so they can get rest and they can work through the night, that sort of thing. So um try to keep the overtime to a minimum, but safety is the biggest concern of course. So um you know I guess the bright side is it is happening on a weekend so we've got time to handle it you know without a lot of people on the roads you know typical work traffic so that's good and even you

know our own operations are reduced obviously we're only doing solid waste you know limited on Saturdays typically so any questions that you have glad to answer them when you when are we expecting ing it's going to hit. What are we expecting to get? Where where when it's going to hit?

Uh Saturday morning the light stuff will start from what I understand. And this is the latest update from the National Weather Service as of about 1:30 this afternoon. So we'll keep you all informed of course, but Saturday morning the light stuff will start, but around noon on Saturday what they're projecting is the the heavier stuff will start and that's when we'll see more impacts to the roads. the concern with ice and this happened back in Janu January 24 when I soon after I got here. It's you know our our trucks start running off the road. Um so again fortunately on a weekend we don't have many on the road for solid waste pickup and things like that. Obviously the greater concern is for the general public. So um you know we hit it hard. We we make sure that we uh you know we we I guess that that we always have a budget to work through you know or work with but um we we we we definitely don't skimp on you know putting down salt brine all those things and when the weather gets even colder the temperatures and that's projected for I believe Sunday night into Monday the temperatures start to drop severely u we switch to a different type of solution because it deals with that better. So, um, any other questions?

I I just have a comment. I I think um over half of our workforce work outside, right?

Police, fire, public works, um, parks and wreck, and of course, they won't be having a lot of events, but they have to take care of the facilities. And um so I hope everyone will be safe and they get uh enough intervals to to uh go somewhere and get warmed up and um but it it's it's going to be a kind of a treacherous time. I hope people will stay home if they can since it's the weekend. That'd be the best thing if you don't want to wind up in a ditch. Don't take your car out, right? Um, but also it just helps with, you know, our emergency services and public services that we're what we're trying to do to keep keep the streets um in in good shape that we don't have the other cars that we have to worry about. So, um I I do um have I'm I'm concerned about our homeless population. I hope they they go in. The white flag should be up even now. I would think that they'll get in off the streets, uh, for sure. And since we've been talking about the animal shelter, uh, everybody, uh, if it's too cold for you to stay outside, it's too cold for your animals to stay outside. So, bring your dogs in. They'll love sleeping up on the couch with you and all that kind of stuff. But, uh, they can get, uh, frostbite really, really easily. So, anybody, everybody take care and look out after each other. That's what we need to do. particularly if you have some older folks in your neighborhood, you know, check in on them. People will also, if they get too cold in their house, they may, you know, bring out old heaters and and things like that. We just have to be really really careful because uh I think our fire department will tell you a lot of fires at this time are started by u kind of small plug-in heaters,

right? So, we just need to all pull together here, take care of each other, and let's get through this. Thank you. Thank you, Jason, for for all. And um make sure you guys get lots of hot chocolate. Um one thing, Mr. Miles, um if there is any disruption in services on Monday, where would you encourage our residents to find out that information?

We'll put out public releases, I guess, for any uh any significant issues that come up. Um, again, the National Weather Service kind of tracks all that stuff, and I'm sure people have apps on their phones. It's probably a good first look, for sure. But, uh, if if if we're suspending operations, like, you know, that year we had to pull our our garbage trucks off the road because they were sliding off the road. Um, we'll put out public releases and that sort of thing using social media, whatever means we have available. Um, one other quick point, we also recognize that this can in fact or impact, you know, traffic operations when it gets bad, especially the ice. So, we'll have generators staged at significant intersections uh to deal with that just in case. But we really just ask for patience. let us do our job getting the streets cleared because what concerns me is you know if if having enough time and uh you know to get all that done and then when the the really cold uh temperatures set in you know we need the streets cleared so that stuff doesn't freeze up come Monday morning. So we'll be busy this weekend.

Thanks Jason. I think one one last thing is is our power grid here. I mean it doesn't like ice, you know. So, uh, everybody kind of stay tuned to Bright Ridge. They'll be putting out announcements if, uh, if if, um, there's a need to kind of dial back a little bit on your power. So, anyway, we'll just plan for the worst and hope for the best. Right. Thank you.

Thanks. With that, I do have one other thing that I want to tell everybody about, and I think it's the most important thing that we'll say today, and it's easy to get missed, and everybody needs to tell a friend, is that we got a new fire truck today. And usually, um, we're there to do a pushin ceremony and celebrate our fire department and, you know, previous commissions allocating funds, but this one is really special. And there is a lady named Carol Lawler who felt um called to donate a fire truck to our city. And it had nothing to do with um I I think she met with Chief Bell. And I think public safety and the fire department and the police department are really who she was donating that to. It wasn't to us up here. um she really um felt drawn to do it. But she said something really special today and that's is just whenever you feel a little spark and she's always had a little spark here and there to to do what you can to give. And that was her little comment and thought was if you feel a spark or a pool, even if you don't have the resources or the financial resources to give your time and effort and um to have her and her family support somebody to make a donation that is the size of more people's retirement accounts um that can only wish for is really really a big deal and it's special to the police department and the fire department. Um, and so I just really wanted to make sure that she is celebrated and there's not a lot of people here, but I still think people need to know um, that kind of stuff because that that impacts all the taxpayers because that's a truck that had to be bought at at some point. So, I just wanted to reiterate that. So, please remember that and tell somebody and have a great week and I'll close the meeting.