Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Hello. I'd like to welcome everybody to the regular scheduled city commission meeting for Johnson City at 601 East Main Street. Um, I'd like to call the meeting to order. Um, first, can I ask Miss Georgina Washington from Thankful Baptist to come up and lead us with the invocation followed by the pledge. If everybody stand.

Good evening everyone. Um thank you for the opportunity for um to be able to do the opening prayer. May we bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for all the grace, mercy, and blessings that you have allowed us to see in this day. And we thank you Lord for these who have gathered to do the business conduct the business of this city. We ask Lord that you send your presence that you sit with us so that we can act in decency and in order and that those who are involved in this business can do so with clear hearts and minds. We ask for listening and intent of ears and knowing that you are in control of all things. We thank you and we say um we praise you and we love you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Dr. Miss Paul. Yes, commissioners. The first order of business is to consider approval of the minutes from the regularly scheduled city commission meeting held on Thursday, February the 5th, 2026. Move approval. Second last, we call the role. Commissioner Fowler, sorry. Yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

abstain. Uh, mayor, we have um the next item on the agenda, which is public comment. We have two uh individuals signed up to speak. We have Silven Brunie signed up to speak on item 6.1, which is our RFQ for 2025-14, which is for JPM Acoustics.

Mr. Brun, as you come up, um, and when you get to the podium, if you don't care to state your name, just want to remind you that public comment is limited to people that have signed up at least 12 hours in advance. It must be about an item on the agenda and you'll have three minutes to discuss and as you know is our time to listen and it um, we won't respond, but we'll take notes and appreciate everything you have to say.

Sounds good. So, Silvin Bruny 166 Garland Way in Johnson City, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Miss Bowl, Miss Laos, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. It has now been 258 days since this commission voted for a moratorum on I2 developments and committed to conducting an impact study on the related heavy industries. For eight and a half months, residents have waited patiently for the city to move from promise to action. And tonight with item 6.1, you can take that next step by approving the contract with JPM Acoustics. So, I strongly encourage you to vote yes on that item. The impact study committee, composed of city staff and myself as a community representative, work collaboratively and in good faith over the last month to recommend the most qualified team. The proposed scope focuses primarily on noise, but it also addresses issues that residents consistently raised such as vibrations and potential health impacts. It also includes consulting support to the staff to craft ordinances and code updates that will protect us from the incompatible industries, particularly AI, data centers, and crypto mining facilities. And this matters because of scale and proximity. Based on a manual review of the zoning map, there are 16 I2 zones in Johnson City and our entire population lives within two miles of an I2 zone. So, it is a citywide quality of life issue and this effort obviously aligns directly with horizon 2045 which I deeply support and this study is a practical step towards its proactive implementation uh within a responsible vision. So, I do have three questions for the commission tonight. First, if the study timeline extends beyond the expectations or if delays occur as part of the process to review the ordinance and code updates, will you commit to extending the moratorum to ensure that residents remain protected? Two, will you commit

to attending at least one of the public engagement events that are associated with this study? uh in particular starting with the March 17th community meeting at the Langston Center at 6 PM. And three, as the study progresses, will you provide the means for regular public updates, for example, in the form of an actionable item on the commission meeting agenda so residents can track milestones, understand emerging findings, and also have an opportunity to provide direct feedback through public comments while remaining meaningfully informed throughout the process. In closing, I want to share the community's appreciation of all the city staff has done and contributed to this work. They have been nothing but caring and professional. They have been excellent listeners and always acted diligently on the community feedback to address concerns. So, thank you to Whitney, Heath, Megan, Jim, and Joseph for your hard work on behalf of our citizens. Approving this contract signals that the city is ready to move from discussion to data and from concern to clarity. So, I look forward to a thorough, transparent process that reflects the seriousness of this issue. Thank you again for your consideration.

Thanks so much, Silvin, for those comments. Commissioner, the next commissioners, the next um citizen signed up to speak is Terisha um Kurad Cured on item number 5.1.1, which is the juvenile court judge compensation and benefits.

There, if you don't mind to restate your name. Hi, I'm Trisha Ked. Uh, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, manager ball. Thanks for the time. Um, two points I'd like to raise. First, when this resolution was previously before you two weeks ago, the salary was noted as as budget neutral. The salary has now been increased. I'm asking someone on the commission to pull this for discussion so that someone on staff can address how the overrun is going to be covered and what is driving the increase. The second thing I ask the commission to consider supporting not a guaranteed 3% cost of living adjustment over the term but a cost of living adjustment that anchors to the approved budgeted cost of living adjustment that city employees themselves will receive. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Um, with that, just um, I do appreciate the comments and when there's kind of direction in them, it helps us know what you guys are looking for. Um, also just about staff and, um, it's it's good for us to know if how the staff is responding, um, and things with the city and, um, we'll also try to keep in mind about getting actionable items on the agenda just so the public, not just for this item, but just in general for as things kind of move forward as we're working on. So, thank you, mayor. The next item for consideration is the consent agenda. I'll start to my right. Dr. Fowler,

I don't think I have anything. Vice Mayor Brock, I will pull 5.1.1 and um the 5.2.1 2.1 on the mowing and also real quick overview of the Northfor Southern on 5.1.3. Commissioner Weiss, I will ditto 5.1.1. Same on 5.1.1, but also um if someone's available for 5.3.2. Just a quick question. That sounds good. Miss Ball, will you set those up?

Yes. Um, item 5.1.1, consider approval of resolution to establish the compensation and benefits of the juvenile court judge of the city of Johnson City for an 8-year term. We have Deputy City Manager Steve Willis to answer any questions you may have on this item.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Miss Ball. As was alluded to earlier when this item was first before you two weeks ago and the commission elected to defer this item to ask staff to do some additional research regarding the compensation. It is accurate that the previous agenda item was budget neutral. Uh essentially it was just a continuation of uh Judge Green's salary that had been in place uh over the past physical year. And I must say that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this. Uh this is an eight-year term. When Judge Green notified us that she would not be seeking another term, certainly that is a uh that's a blow not only to the court but our to our community because she has done a fantastic job over the past 24 years to serve our children, our families, and this community. She's done a wonderful job. In 2018, what should have happened and I was the human resource director at that time. We should have con conducted some market analysis on that salary, but we failed to do so. At the direction of the commission, we have now performed that and it's very difficult to get data points on these types of positions because we are the only municipality in the state that operates a juvenile court. Most of the juvenile courts are handled through the county system. So, we're unusual in that regard. So, leaning on Judge Green for her expertise, really being a subject matter expert along these lines. And then with the assistance of city attorney Tom Cely, we do have a couple of data points that we used to set this salary that you have before you this evening. The Sessions Court judge in Washington County, there are three that hear cases

typically a day and a half per week, juvenile cases. Whereas our court system, we're Judge Green is hearing cases five days a week. The salary for that position is 201,546. Also, the circuit court judges in the county are at 220,000. So, in consultation with Judge Green, we felt like the salary that's before you tonight is appropriate and will attract the the right type of candidates for this position, recognizing that this is an elected position and it will be on the ballot in August for the voters to decide who should serve in that capacity. And I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have.

How are the county judge salaries determined? I would have to defer to Mr. Celely on on that. The

Sessions Court and the Sessions Court judges in Washington County also handle juvenile court. And so I I spoke with uh the circuit court clerk Brenda DS and again they handle the Sessions Court handles criminal, civil and juvenile court. I think part of their salary there is a stopping for the juvenile aspect and then their salary is set by the county commission. Then the circuit court and chancery court they think are set by the state and they're considered the state employees.

So one of the courts does not follow the state the way the constitutional officers do. Like I know the county commission doesn't get to pick what the sheriff is paid. the state discernes what the sheriff is paid and I just didn't know if that was how the county judges worked. She Brenda DS gave me the salaries for the sessions court judges and again that's what included and I don't know that we got into exactly how that was set either from the state

but I only ask it because I think it's relevant to maybe how we got to here and how the change is so significant. Um the city's juvenile court exists almost like an island in that it doesn't have peers. You know, not every county has it, not every city has it. The the way other salaries are set is either annually through a budget or I I believe all the county constitutional officers are set by the state according to the population of the county. So bigger counties may pay their officers more than smaller counties. And so I think that probably goes a long way to explaining um how that happened. And then it's an eight-year term. And so it's one of those things that we have been very fortunate as a community that we've had a highly competent and talented juvenile court judge. And so we haven't had a reason to really look at it and say whether this is an issue that needs attention. And now we find ourselves

in that position. And I I just think for the sake of those who are concerned or interested in knowing what the backstory is, that's an important piece of information. And Commissioner Wise, I think you're 100% accurate in that probably what should have happened. And it's easy for us to look retrospectively. Each of those eight-year terms, there should have been an analysis analysis performed to determine really what the market rate should have been. And quite honestly, I feel terrible being here in 2018 and not doing that, recognizing the work that Judge Green was doing. We should have looked at it at that time, but we failed to do so. So, it was really just a continuation and and we've probably been behind for a great number of years. And I think that's part of the comments that that Miss Crad made were with respect to ha has the juvenile judge how have annual pay adjustments that happened to city staff translated to the juvenile court. They closely align, but there have been years in the past, probably I would I would I would guess probably in Judge Green's first term, where perhaps that set amount was greater than what city employees may have received at that time. But the the 3% is generally following CPI based on what we know today. And historically, the eight-year term had been set at a fixed rate each year, not dependent upon what other city employees might receive.

Thank you. And where this is an elected position, I'm assuming there's not quite the same setup as an annual review and where you talk about those things. And so having a set um increase for cost of living adjustments is probably pretty common for more of a elected role that

Yes, sir. because typically there's a merit portion on the city employee side that's not available to this position because to your point it's an elected position. So those voters who elect that person is tr they are the ones truly determining whether or not they're satisfied and if they aren't when they go to the polls eight years at the end of that term then then that's how they influence that. It's not a situation where the judge is given an annual performance appraisal like other city employees are.

Well, with that can remind the community that there are open seats for that and I'm sure they have to pull papers pretty quick if they want to run and hopefully we can be blessed with another judge that has been as good for the community as Judge Green. I believe the petition filing deadline is March 10th, I believe. Uh before I vote, Judge Green, you still have a chance to change your mind.

You know, I I am so proud of Johnson City for I mean, as you mentioned, Mr. Willis, we're very unique and a city having our own juvenile court. um which to me prioritizes the importance of our children uh in this area and to be able to to you know unfortunately there there are many many many situations that wind up in court and that we have one that's so specialized and have had for 24 years just the most wonderful um person adjudicating these cases and I think always with the goal of trying to get these children back into good homes. And so I just want to say thank you so much for all that you've done there. And I want to thank Johnson City for prioritizing this. And this this is something that we pay out of our budget

since 1939. Yes. In the city charter. Yes, sir. So with that, uh, mayor, I will make a motion to We're in consent agenda. Yeah. Well, we Well, you still have other items pulled from Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. We're Yeah. Yes. The next item um requested to be pulled was item 5.1.3, which is to consider approval of the Norfick Southern License Agreement uh for the installation of water distribution line and steel casing on Green Pond Road near Kinley Drive.

Yeah. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. John Lane, water and sewer director. So before you tonight is the agreement with Norfolk Southern for crossing the uh crossing the railroad tracks for a new 12-in water line and 24in steel casing. So actually last year you all approved an agreement for Thompson Linton to do a design of seven different railroad crossings. Three of them were Norfolk Southern crossings and four were CSX crossings. This is the first of that of that step which is Norfolk Southern. We actually have our in-house construction crews that have already started on the installation of this project where they've done right at 40% a little over 3,000 feet installed of the 8,000 feet. So, the one piece that they can't do though is actually crossing the railroad. So, the first step of that is before you tonight is the railroad agreement. And if that goes before you tonight as an approved, then we'll move forward then with two more in the coming weeks for commission approval that are both Norfolk Southern permits. And then I'll have that bid out for a contractor to do the installation for the railroad crossings on the Norfolk Southern side. We actually looked at it as part of our master plan. There were kind of seven critical areas in our water system that were cut off based on the railroad uh the way the existing water lines were. So this one would actually strengthen the westernmost portion of our 2009 pressure zone which is the one that feeds ETSU the VA campus and Johnson City Medical Center.

We have to pay, excuse me, we have to pay North Norick Southern what $13,000 for a license to be able to do this. And is this do we bore under the railroad tracks? Yes, ma'am. So, this one's on on Green Pond Road almost to West Market Street. So, our our staff have already been installing the line going north from West Walnut Street. So, this will be a jacket board. So, it' be underneath the railroad tracks right there. $13,000 has already been paid, but they won't process the the check until the agreement is signed by both parties. And then they would have to have a flagger on site whenever we have it bid out at that point. I'm sorry, you may have mentioned this. Do we get a third party to do this or do we do the work?

We would get a third party. So they installed the line, but for these crossings at the railroads, I would hire a contractor. Right. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And thank you. These don't necessarily follow street crossings, right? They can be at variable points or do they typically follow a street like a road crossing as well? Very close to it. So if you cross right there, Green Pond Road is an at grade crossing. when you're crossing Green Pond towards West Market Street, this will be crossing just to the left of the roadway going towards West Market Street. So, but typically do the water lines follow usually they try to. Otherwise, we would have to get some type of uh permanent easement if it's off of rideway or off of the permanent property. Okay. Thanks. Thank you,

Miss Ball. I think there was one more. Yes, Mayor. Um the next item is under bids and it's item 5.2.1. 2.1. It's an item for um item 64 6743 for Katie Phillips and company for mowing and litter contract. We have Jason Miles or Andy Andy Best.

Uh yes, good evening uh mayor, vice mayor, commission. Andy Best, assistant director of public works. And uh I guess a little bit about this contract or the change. Uh this is a the last year of a three-year contract. Uh we are changing our vendor uh to a uh to the second uh bidder. Our uh first contractor that we've had for the last two years uh just had some consistency and and other issues and we thought it would be best for uh the mowing of the interstate to to change the contract and they also are responsible for picking up litter along the roadway and where they where they mow. Yes. Well, I had to pull this. She's asking for Jeff B.

For Jeff Bases, former mayor Jeff Bas. That was one of his things. And uh um have we been having issues with some of our former contracts that we've had with third parties to do the mowing? Correct. Um, with this one, it was just, uh, great guy, but getting out there on time, communicating back, uh, and just getting some of the mowing done in a timely manner or getting through the whole, uh, interstate within a month was just challenging sometimes. Um, he's a good contractor. Just had a lot on his plate. Well, we take care of a lot of mowing for the state,

correct? Yes, we do get uh reimbured for a portion of this mowing on the interstate uh per year. I think the state allows would pay us for once like every three months like they would the rest of their interstates but but the commission and and city wants a better look. So that's why we try to do it at least monthly. Um I think if you look in here it was up two years ago we decided two months or try to do it every twice a month. Sorry. And but um it it's really about once a month um just with current money.

And the new contractor that we're voting on in the consent agenda already does this sort of work elsewhere for us just not on the interstate. Cor correct, but in the past 10 years he was the only bidder and then this last three-ear cycle we had two um and so he he had done a good job. We have a history with him mowing the interstate and he does it in a very timely manner and does a good job. Thank you. Well, one one suggestion to the public on helping with um the litter issue. Stop throwing paper and stuff out of your car. Correct. Yes, litter. We do spend a lot on litter. Back to the truck. And just to kind of reiterate on that one, we you know, we bid it out. I'm assuming we have to go with the low bidder. Correct.

And a lot of times there's not experience with that bidder, but we don't have a choice. And this is looks like a good situation where you guys have found a good solution after struggling. Yes. Um just for consistency. And if we could focus on those uh fence lines on those interstates would be terrific. Um and for the community to know on our maps page, there's a great map that says who mows that. And if you pull it up, it's surprising how many places have to be mowed by or public spots that get mowed and there's schools mow some public works mow some parks and recrecks. Then you have situations like this and so um it's just a nice resource that we have on our websites. It is water sewer also most give them credit. So there's another entity that moves. Well, thank you.

Thank you, M. Anything else for

mayor? The final item requested to get more information about is item 5.3.2, which is uh the Dell Chromebooks for the Johnson City School System. I think we have Melanie Surret with the school system to answer questions that you may have. Ask Hi, Miss Thank you so much for being here. Um, my question it kind of relates to both 5.1 I'm sorry 5.3.1 and 5.3.2. As I read the materials in 5.3.2, I noticed that the purchase of these Chromebooks. And I should say I'm very much in support of of technology enhancements for our students was um a discount of uh 5.3% off the list price. And in the earlier item of the 5.3.1, there was a note that there is a requirement of 6.5%. Was there a reason for this item being below that requirement or was the requirement mentioned in 5.3.1 just for that type of purchase?

I'm not sure I can answer that. Those percentages um were pulled from the purchasing department. Okay. Okay. It's it's not a concern of of needing to hold this up. I just was wondering from the I do know the issue or maybe just let me know a little bit about the process for purchasing these

Chromebooks and I think it is noted in the um notes there is recently there is a shortage of components okay for all manufacturers not just Dell it's all computer components and that's the reason this quote is only valid for two weeks okay because the prices are fluctuating and that's the reason we're purchasing earlier than we typically do to try to get the best price we can helpful so that may have something to do with the discount, right? But I'm not I'm not sure. That that makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for that explanation. That is their motion. Move approval. Second. Miss Laos, you call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes.

Mayor Cox,

yes. Commissioners, the next item for consideration is under other is item 6.1 which is an RFQ 2025-14 for JPM acoustics for noise and vibration study contract. Good evening, mayor, commissioners. Um the item before you is whether to approve a contract um with a consultant that will be performing a noise and vibration study here in Johnson City. We um are looking at this in order to um kind of as part of the moratorum that was came out from that in June of saying let's let's study this so that we can put an a ordinance together that has a little more teeth than what is currently there. Um so we're trying to support um with this study support those um ordinance changes and we also want to make sure that we are compatible with the surrounding area. We um note that we're trying to also stay on a timeline and so we think that what we can do is we've been working on an ordinance in that eight months um and so we can use this consultant to help us with that ordinance as well as study um some areas of Johnson Johnson City. So, there are two primary tasks with this um contract. One is an actual study that we hope will start in March and um the next part is kind of a two-parter as well. Um they'll be providing us technical assistance as well as ordinance support. Um the there is a a do not exceed um for a cost there um which is in your contract and they will have they have a deliverable schedule um that they will be giving us. And to um kind of go through the timeline, those in green are what the um consultant will need to be providing on a regular basis and the things in blue

are what um are ongoing as well as through um through the end of it. So we started um there was a a meeting with a community group and that was last night. We have today as far as getting that contract. Um we would like to have a kickoff very soon with the consultant. Uh we will be updating because that we are looking at ordinance changes to both the code of ordinances which has one one way of being approved and the zoning ordinance which has another way of being approved. They both have three readings but one would require going to the planning commission. We want to um also have a workshop with the planning commission to explain some of those changes before they start their adoption process in April. But we hope to still have this um we have an aggressive timeline so that we can get this accomplished by June. And I am here for any questions that you may have and look forward to a motion. I'm going to make a motion to approve. I think this this whole question around Bitcoin or more broadly data centers is one that the commission has been grappling with really for several years. um it came to a four last year at the time the moratorum was adopted because it became much more tangible and specific. Um, but if if if you go back in YouTube video world and watch meetings from 2 or 3 years ago, at the time this became an issue in the county, um, we had a conversation here in one of our meetings tasking staff with recognizing that our zoning code was silent on questions of things like data centers and Bitcoin and in an an attempt to narrow that down. And so um you know I think based on what you indicated in an earlier presentation you feel confident that we should be able to have this project wrapped up by June and be

in a position to act on

I do and if there are if if there are a delay we will be coming immediately here. Um, one of the things that I'd kind of highlight or I kind of glossed over um, when it comes to public um, involvement because we've had um, public in our work group u, you know, somebody from the public, it's been um, refreshing and we can say things like, you know, maybe we need to have a website so that this ordinance has a life somewhere that people can make comments um, in that time. And so I think that as we're working through this process, if there is any type of hiccup, we have a way to, you know, get to get to to the public to say, hey, we might need a month and this is these are the steps we need to take in order to do that. But I really am pretty confident that we will be able to get it done.

And the moratorum ends at the end of June. I should know that it I want to say it's June 6th. Okay. So it's early June. Okay. It's early June.

I think uh also uh Mr. Brun asked his three things and one of them was could it be extended and I think anything um we would listen to your recommendation committee's recommendation to see how the project has has has uh gone on but I want to thank um your committee I want to thank Mr. Bruno for being a a civilian representative on that and I think it's probably has a a lot of strength to it. I do want to also say that um and I think many people are trying to keep up with it, but there is work being done at the federal government level on this very topic. So, we're going to have to keep an eye on what's happening there and if it's imminent or if it's just falls off the table, u that that may be the case. But I think the work that we're doing here is uh the right work.

And I just want to add to what the vice mayor said. I think the concern that she's speaking to is one of nullification. Um, we can go through all the code and ordinance around noise and around our zoning, but if federal or state laws change around what we are and are not allowed to regulate, that can all be for not. And there's quite a bit of chatter in both of those environments around this. I think, you know, this commission rightly recognizes, I think, one of the points Mr. Brun made. Um, we all live within 2 miles of an I2 zone. And before we limited it to the I2 zone, it could have gone a dozen or more places. It could have been in B4 and MS1. There are a lot. And when you get down to that level of granularity is probably within a half a mile of virtually all of us. And so I think the real threat is not what happens at the city level. It's whether what's happening right now at the city level gets undone by some higher authority. And just we have a motion and um if we get a second I'll call for some discussion as well.

Give a second.

All right. So does any discussion? I have a few comments I want to make um and so I'll jump in there. But one is this is um a new situation and a unique situation and I know other communities are dealing the same thing and so just really want to ask about the process of even finding a consultant. Um, and you know, I feel like our staff and the community has helped us guide us to find a solution to an answer that um, other communities haven't found one yet. A lot of times we want to look to other communities at what are they doing. I think right now other communities might end up looking at us at what we're doing. So just talk a little bit about finding the consultant and the price and um showing the community that when we hear their voices that we're willing to make an investment with consultants like these.

So this was an RFQ process. So we looked at qualifications. So um we put out the RFQ and had two respondents. Um we uh interviewed those respondents twice. We had some staff change over through there. So that's one of the reasons we needed to interview them twice so that everybody was making that decision was um can make it from the same place and um we ranked them and the one that was that met most of the criteria that we set out in that RFQ was JPM and so then we went for a scope of work and that's how we came with the price.

Thank thank you. Um, and then just to uh kind of echo what I've said, I talked to some leadership in Mountain City, the small little community in Mountain City, and I know they were waiting to see what we did before they figured out what they were going to do. And I have a feeling they're just going to keep dragging their feet to see what we do down here. And so, make sure that the work you're doing and Silven's doing and the community will um um echo to other communities. And uh so, thank you for that and thank you for working with the community. Um, it's great to hear compliments when that our staff is uh listening.

Miss Hodgeges, I also echo the compliments of the process and involving voices from um outside. I really appreciate that thoughtful nature of of compiling this process. Um, as as we've discussed, you know, the areas that could be impacted are vast and across the city. Will you kind of touch on the process for selecting the different sites that will be evaluated if those have been determined or if that's going to be recommended by the consultant?

Uh they have not been determined. We have some ex we've looked at examples in order to get a pricing function of you know maybe where that could go. But we're hoping at this kickoff meeting we can get those down to 10 really good sites that are a cross-section of noise in the city so that we it's not just everywhere that has that could possibly have noise, but we also kind of temper that with places that are um maybe a little quieter because that is some of the community concern is that they feel as though they have a peaceful little pocket of Johnson City and would like to maintain that. So we're kind of looking at all of it. So, with that, I'll call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Wise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock,

yes. Mayor Cox, yes. As to the public meetings on the topic. Um, I can't be there on the 17th, but I'm certainly open to attending if you'll send invitations as the dates are known. Miss Paul

mayor, the only other item from staff is a city manager's report and Kesha Sh, our public affairs director, will be presenting on the uh employee survey um results for 202526. Mayor, commissioners, thank you for having me. I'm excited to share with you the results of our 2025 employee survey. My name is Kesha Shia. I'm the public affairs director for the city of Johnson City. Just by way of background, uh this is a national benchmark survey that compares us to 60,000 local government employees across the country. It's conducted by PCO, who also does our uh national community survey. It evaluates the categories you see here. Uh, PCO likes to shoot for a 30 to 50% response rate. That's considered a reliable sample. We had a 37% response rate. Uh, this survey is conducted every two years with the exception of 2021. We were in a leadership transition and so uh our previous uh we went from 2019 to 2023. I'm sorry.

This was October. It's when the survey was conducted in 2025. Yes, ma'am. So, we we had extremely positive uh responses in 2023. Uh really had seen great gains from our 2019 survey. It was the first survey that was conducted under Miss Ball's leadership and we were wondering if it was a bit of an anomaly with our with our new city manager. And I'm happy to report that um our results have held very steady that we saw those significant jumps. Um our results from 2025 remain higher than or similar to our national benchmarks. And as a reminder, in 2019, 60% of the responses were lower than our national benchmarks. Uh the the work being done overall is very steady. These these numbers have remained the same. quality of work, quality of work in the work group, quality of services provided by the city of Johnson City, and confidence in leadership and senior staff. Our employees really like it here. Uh 92% of them feel positive about working for the city. 90% are satisfied with their job. 81% said the mission and vision of their organization makes them feel their job's important. 87% said their values match our values. 95% plan on working for us a year from now. 92% have good friends at work and 75% have a healthy work life balance. That last number is a little lower than those others, but we did see a 5% gain uh in that category. So, that's great. Our supervisors are doing amazing work. Every single category related to supervisor saw improvement with 11 of 19 categories exceeding the national benchmark. 79% of our employees said their supervisor communicates information in a timely manner. 78% said their supervisor encourages employees to come up with innovative solutions. 78% said their supervisor fosters an

atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence. And 84% said their supervisor promotes a positive working relationship amongst employees. Uh we have a very safe, respectful, and supportive atmosphere here. Maintaining a work environment that's free of drug or alcohol abuse, free of violence or harassment, and protecting employees from health and safety hazards were among the highest rated work essentials. Demonstrating respect for employees of different cultures and belief systems. And respecting individual cultural beliefs and values were among the highest rated equity items. And fostering a respectful atmosphere exceeded the national average. So some areas that saw a slight decline um still remain really high numbers. Uh they are at or higher than benchmarks. Examples include overall quality of life, direction of city confidence in government and governance. These results are in line with our national community survey which might speak to a broader sentiment and employees um generally had higher responses than community in those areas. Some department specific notes. Uh our police department responses remained really high despite their challenges over the last few years. Transit saw significant jumps particularly in the supervisor categories. Uh fostering an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence went from 38 to 71%. And while not apples to apples, we did um split our development services department into our building services department and economic development. The numbers from both of those departments are are much higher than the development services of the previous survey. Some areas of focus, uh 78% had positive responses to how their supervisor encourages innovative solutions, but only 53% felt the organization as a whole was open to new ideas. So, we're working on some programs that will help address that. Uh the greatest declines we saw were overall confidence in government and elected officials, but

these do remain similar to benchmarks and are still higher than 2019. Compensation and showing employee appreciation both declined, but remain uh similar to benchmarks and significantly higher than 2019 as well. Some some items to consider. 70 76% of our employees would be interested in remote work at least part-time. While generally happy with city benefits, the TCRS bridge was mentioned several times as a need. Uh many employees would like more hands-on training and conferences and professional development were the most desired additional training. And that's what I have for you. Any questions? Well, of course, you know, um I've worked in HR for a number of years and um organizations that don't want to know never do an employee survey because, you know, you have to take the good with the bad. But I think um and Miss Ball, I really want to um thank you and and Miss Shan and all the the department uh directors for taking this information and then crafting action plans. You know, it it's it's been a challenging couple of years. There's no doubt about it. It's been rough patch for for the city. And so um and we can see that you know the the our citizens feelings about elected leadership is you know things that we have to take into consideration and look at how we can be more open and communicate and and uh we we are certainly working on that. But I think um in spite of a lot of the um uh issues we've been dealing with that local government is your most transparent government that you will that you will find. And we'll continue to work very very hard, you know, to make sure that we're addressing uh citizen issues that we are making the best decisions we possibly can on behalf of the health and

well-being of the city both financially and with the kinds of u quality of life issues that we deal with with with our employees. So, um, I look forward to us, uh, we've already been talking about a lot of a lot of these things that we can do as a commission. I'll turn it over and let some other people say some things about that. I just add to what the vice mayor said. When we're looking at these survey results and comparing ourselves to the benchmark, we are not comparing ourselves to every municipal employee. we are comparing ourselves only to municipal employees in municipalities and counties that care to ask. And so that already has changed. So when you're at or above benchmark, you're at or above benchmark. And that's already not a whole universe. It's a self- selected universe of people who value what their employees think. And I think the one thing I would add on on the higher marks for supervisors, I think that speaks volumes. Our residents experience city government by who they encounter when the when they call for first response or when their garbage is picked up or when their street is being fixed. And our employees experience their employment not with who sits up here, but who their direct supervisor is. And this survey speaks volumes about them. I have a comment as well just echo compliments given to our leadership but I also wanted to point out um I think it says a lot about our culture and as somebody that's kind of spent the majority of their career working in different levels of government this it's a great way to to make a living but also to make a life and I think the fact that our employees find this as good work and meaningful work but love what they're doing I think translates in this which in turn translates to the experience that our residents have. So, thank you

to our supervisors, our leadership, but especially those that are on the front lines that responded, were honest about their feedback, uh, but really enjoy what they do. So, Johnson City is a great place to work and we're just recruiting the best and brightest, and I look forward to that continuing. So, thank you. Yeah, and I'll just kind of echo, you know, we we spend the time to do it and I think a little over 400 people responded and so just um and I know we are I know you are just listen to that and I know one of the biggest spots to work on is it us being open to new ideas. Um and then also just their trust in us as as elected officials and um so we want to be open ears to how we can do that better and make sure they have confidence in us as well. So, but thank you for doing it and um um don't don't be scared to ask the hard questions from it.

Thank you. Uh Kesha, when is the community survey? When will we do that next? Community survey will be next year. Next year. And then the year after that, we'll do the employee survey again. Okay. Forward to it. Thank you. Thank you. I think that's it. Miss Ball on the agenda. Is there anything? Um, Commissioner Fowler, you want to add anything?

Um, we have a bull riding rodeo thing going on and I've walked around today. I was looking for the new showers, the new locker rooms, everything else for the Big South tournament coming up that starts a week from yesterday is the first games. So, we got a lot of stuff going on at Freedom Hall and in Johnson City. So, better get those bulls out of there. Yeah, we got to clean it up because it's going to be so 12 inches of dirt in the gym on the concrete. Thankfully, they take up the basketball court and they don't put it back till they get it cleaned up. But, but it's going to be quite a quite a thing. So, in Johnson City, so come out and enjoy.

That sounds great, Vice Mayor Brock.

Well, I just hope everybody weathered uh the last couple of weeks of weather. It's it it was a really hard challenging time. Um, I think we have to be thankful for the fact that we generally speaking, we did not lose power in this community. We didn't lose our internet connections in this community. And so many of us were at home, which was great. And but we had all we we still had access to our heat and and um and and what what what we do with these devices right here that we can keep them charged. But hopefully the the weather I think we're supposed to have another little patch coming up and hopefully it's not what we had in the past. But again, I know we thank public works at at the last one, but you guys have done a stellar job and um I I've received the most calls on on you guys more than anything uh just for how you kept the streets, you know, and and they were and it was so cold. I know that that um you know the the um salt didn't work there until it till it warmed up enough for it to work. So you guys were down to scraping. So but thank you

Commissioner Weiss.

Um I would add to that um from a Brightidge perspective we as a community sent crews to Nashville um after the storm to assist NES in restoring power. Um, we were spared in part because of a very qualified crew of people who maintain lines with Bright Ridge, but also because the ice storm went 100 miles to the north. Um, any way you slice it, if the ice storm can go somewhere else, that is best. We'd much rather have snow than ice, but um, Bright Ridge was in a position after the storms to offer mutual aid to to NES, and that was also appreciated. All right. Well, thanks everybody for coming and with that I'll adjourn the