Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to welcome everybody to our city commission meeting for Johnson City held on Thursday, April 9th, 2026 at 603 held at the municipal and safety building. I'd like to call the meeting to order. First, I'd like to bring up Greg Salier, assistant manager at Martell Christian Store for the invocation and the pledge. if everybody'd stand up.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. God, we lift up this meeting to you. God, we ask that everything that takes place here tonight bring you honor and glory. Father, we thank you that we live in a nation, a state, and a city in which we can lift our petitions to you and we can honor you in a public place. Father, tonight we lift up the discussions that will be taking place here. We ask that everything that is said bring honor to each other and to you. God, we thank you for what you do in our lives. And God, we just thank you for the prosperity of our city. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. I pledge algiance 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. Miss Miss Bald. Um, mayor, the first order of business is to consider approval of the minutes for the regularly scheduled city commission meeting held on Thursday, March 5th, 2026. Move approval. Second. Miss L, you call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Wise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes.

Mayor Cox, yes. Mayor, the next item is under proclamations, resolutions, and presentations. Item 4.1 is a presentation of proclamation of donate life month. Accepting this proclamation is Nick Shepard.

Hey there, Mr. Sheepard. Thanks for being here today. Thank you. I'd like to read this proclamation to you.

Whereas Tennessee donor services is a donate life agency and nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and improving lives through organ eye and tissue donation throughout Tennessee and is one of 57 organ procurement organizations throughout the nation. And whereas each organ do donor hero can give the gift of life to eight people and each tissue donor can improve another 75 lives. And whereas Tennessee had 485 organ donors in 2025 with 45 donor heroes coming from our region to help assist as their last act. And whereas Johnson City Medical Center had 32 donors last year with 124 organs recovered for life-saving transplants, putting it in the top 10% of hospitals in the country for organ donation. And whereas more than 100,000 American men, women, and children, 3,000 of whom are Tennessans, continue to wait for life-saving organ transplants. And whereas the most effective way to address this health crisis is to educate and to encourage Tennessans to commit to registering their decision to be an organ eye and tissue donor in the donate life Tennessee registry donate Tennessee.org or at their local drivers driver center. Now therefore I Greg Cox, mayor of the city of Johnson City, Tennessee, do hereby proclaim April Donate Life Month. Um, I'd love for you to say a little words about it. And but before I do, my wife is a nurse and she's gotten to participate in a couple of these and has always commented how beautiful it is and how respected everything is treated. Um, so if you can mention something about that too, it'd be awesome.

Uh, hello everybody. My name is Nick Shepard. I'm with Tennessee Donor Services and Donate Life Tennessee. First, let me say this is a beautiful space. This first time I've been here. Last year we were in that uh building. Yeah. And so this is gorgeous space. Um but April is donate life month and right now there's currently 100,000 people awaiting a life-saving transplant. Um and so with 3,000 of those being in Tennessee, I would encourage everyone here to consider registering to become an organ and tissue donor. Um you know, one organ donor can save up to eight lives. One tissue donor can save the lives of 75 people. Uh last year I had the opportunity to witness an organ recovery at the Johnson City Medical Center. Um it was a very heartbreaking thing. It was a a man who had was at work and had fallen and hit his head and unfortunately he passed away. But he was able to give the gift of life to five people. Um and then his family came to a remembrance ceremony we held earlier this month at the John City Medical Center on April 1st. um I got to talk to them and just realize that organ donation provides a little bit of hope in a time of tragedy for somebody else. And so I just appreciate your time. I appreciate the city of Johnson City. This is the fourth year in a row they proclaimed April Donate Life Month. And uh I just encourage everybody to register. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Mayor, the next uh presentation of proclamation is to Jack Boyd Strickland. Uh accepting this proclamation will be Mr. Strickland and David Strickland, his son. All right, Mr. Strickland, thank you for being here and I'd love to read you this proclamation. Whereas on April 8th, 1933, Jack Boyd Strickland was born and throughout his life has exemplified dedication to public service, community planning, and family. And in July 1961, Mr. Strickland was selected as the first Johnson City Planner, helping guide the city during a period of important growth and development. and his leadership and contributions were recognized in August 1965 when as the city's population reached 34,053 residents, he received a salary increased to $16,000 acknowledging the value of his professional expertise and service to the community and additionally served as assistant city manager holding dual tile titles. And in 1966, Mr. Strickland became the initial director of the First Tennessee Development District where he was widely described as possessing creative planning skills in a strong

technical background. Qualities that helped shape regional cooperation and development. And in addition to civic engagement, he served on local boards such as the board of zoning appeals and housing authority. And whereas Mr. Strickland has contributed to the economic growth of Johnson City with the creation of his numerous business ventures. And whereas Mr. Strickland is also a veteran of the United States Navy and throughout his life has been a devoted supporter of the PTA, the Boy Scouts, his faith community, and many activities of his five children and numerous grandchildren. and where his life reflects a legacy of vision, civic leadership, and service that has positively influenced Johnson City and the region for decades, many decades. Now therefore, I, Greg Cox, mayor of the city of Johnson City, Tennessee, do hereby recognize and celebrate April 8th, 2026, as a day honoring Jack Boyd Strickland on the occasion of his 93rd birthday and extend sincere appreciation for his many years of dedication, leadership, and service to our community. Thank you so much. And I'd love for Jenny to pop in there and share.

Good. Thank you. Uh, Jack, I always knew we had something in common. Your birthday was yesterday, right? Mine's today. So, isn't that great?

You know, I I know we won't know all the things you've ever done for this city, but there many. I kind of have a feeling that you and some of your um cronies sat in a restaurant on the back of a napkin and drew out where state of Franklin Road should go or the I26 should go. But, it's been many, many things. I know the um the industrial area out at Piney Flats was one of those things that you guys came up with and it really set us on a course to uh be that industrial area that um Johnson City's always been. But thank you so much for that. Um, I I just want to tell you thank you from my heart because today uh these citizens and this commission are really on the shoulders of the work that y'all did and planting the seeds on what Johnson City was going to be like. And you know, the 1960s was a real time of economic expansion in Johnson City. And now we're trying to replace some of those things y'all built in the 60s. We've we've used them for, you know, all these many many years, but it was a great place and, you know, Legion Street Pool came online and, you know, all the things that really made Johnson City the place where people want to come. So, I want to say thank you and happy birthday to you. I hope your family, your whole family's here and y'all may want to come up and get some pictures because they'll they'll take some here in just a minute with the mayor. But uh thank you so much for what you've done and and uh wish you the best of health and enjoy Johnson City. Mr. Mayor, I want to I want to make one observation

about progress. When Interstate 26 was proposed, um it came my responsibility to decide what where it was going to be and then and the Department of Transportation wanted to do a bypass. No, couldn't do that. If it was going to be here, it needed. So I drove I that where it is located now I just drew that on the map there people now that's what 60 years or something they still don't speak to me and I mean those that stayed were mad and those that had to move were mad. So you know but it's where the highway should have been and I'm glad that we did it. Well, it's those hard decisions that are the right decisions that have left a legacy. And downtown and Johnson City might look completely different if it didn't run through there. So,

let's kind of split. Come on over here. We're the outlaws.

We'll let you like Good to see you. Thank you very much. I think it's worth noting that when we look around our community, there's a lot of things we have a tendency to take for granted until we go to another community. Um, and I, you know, I was in Knoxville a few weeks ago and I wanted to cross the street and if I were not in a car, there was no way to safely cross the street because nobody had planned for that. And when you compare that to Johnson City where there's been a much more concerted effort, have we gotten it right all the time? No. But have we gotten it right many, many times, particularly in relation to neighboring communities and other cities? Yes. And that's to the credit of people like Mr. Strickland.

Miss Ball, I think next item is public comment. Yes. The next item on the agenda is under public comment for items that are on the agenda. This is item someone has signed up to speak under item 8.1 which is ordinance 4938-26. This is an ordinance for the resoning of zero Antioch Road uh from A1 to RP2. And this is a Mr. Steven Crossweight. I hope I got your name correct. That's right.

Mr. Crossweight, as you come up, um I want to mention something. So, you may have noticed that we have two separate public comment periods on our agenda. One is specific to items that will be voted on tonight as usual. And the other is general. Um it's reflective of a recent change in state law that opens comments to any topic gerain to the city. There's got to be derain to the city business, but not necessarily what's on the agenda. Um the general comment period will be at the end of our agenda going forward. Um to ensure that anyone here to conduct city business can do so in a timely manner and the time limit for comments remains the same of 3 minutes. The process to sign up for comments remain the same. There's a form on our website that should be submitted at least 12 hours prior to our meeting start time. You may also request public comment by calling 423-434602. And as a reminder, public comments and public hearings typically held during the second reading of an ordinance are separate from public comment periods and they do not require advanced registration or is there a limit for the number of people. And so we do ask that you speak one time per meeting on a given topic and that you keep your comments respectful. And with that, we'll start the timer. And thanks for letting me read that while you stood there patiently. So go. Do I need do I need to press this to talk?

I guess not.

Yes, you're good. Well, my name is Mr. Steven Crossway. I live at four Beachwood Circle and I've passed out some documents that the city has given me uh earlier about sinkholes because it's been well documented for the this area that we're talking about has been requested to be reszoned three times over the last 41 years to now. And each of the commissioners that were on the commission then went to the site, looked at it, collected the evidence and and the facts, and they talked with the people around the area, and they made an informed decision that this area was not stable, was not safe to build on. And so they haven't. Right now, there's between 700 and 1,000 trees on the area. Each one of those trees produces 550 lers of oxygen a day between the spring and the fall. And also that those trees are stabilizing that hill because every time it rains, the trees drink up the water and it doesn't get down to the subs soil and erode. So once you start removing those trees, there will be a chain reaction that will start. Um the water will get down the subs soil of a road. When you build houses on it, you're going to be putting heat and weight between 20 and 30 tons per house. They're going to build 48 houses on there. And that's the formula for creating sinkhole. the water that erodess the soil, the heat and the weight, the pressure that puts it down. And if you wanted to see a microcosm of that, you could look at Beachwood Circle. There are eight houses on that circle. Over 41 years, there's been 21 different families live in that

neighborhood because the soil is eroding. There's sink holes all around there. And yet there, every one of those houses has had or has had is having or will have structural and foundational problems. And all the sink holes I that I gave you and it are indicated in orange. And u I have at least two on my property in Fort Beachwood Circle. I think I've got another one under my house because my 6 in concrete slab has cracked in two. But anyway, that's the way it goes. So, I have to disclose that to anybody who want to purchase my home. Just like anybody who want to purchase an $800,000 home in this area that's going to be reszoned would have to be disclosed that there are sink holes all around there. So, and my question to the commissioner is if you had a million dollars and somebody gave you a million dollars for your house and you were going to buy it in one of these new houses, would you do it?

So, thank you. Thanks for being here. Okay, commissioners. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda for your consideration. I'm going to start to my right, see if there's anything that wants to be pulled. I have nothing. Vice Mayor Brock, not at this time. Commissioner Wise, I would ask to pull 6.3.1 just to talk about cost and comparison of those costs over the last 8 to 10 years. Commissioner gets

um I'd like to pull 6.1.3 just to talk a little more about that program for the benefit of the audience. Thanks. That one sounds great. Miss Paul. Yes. Um, item 6.1.3 is to consider approval of the annual 2026 letter of agreement with the Tennessee Main Street program. We have Lindsay Jones here to answer any questions you might have about that. Hi, Miss Jones. If you'd care to speak about that, maybe what that means for our community and then I'm sure Commissioner G.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you all for pulling that one off the agenda today. Um, so as many people know, we have a partnership with Connect Downtown Johnson City, which helps us operate our main street program here in downtown. And over the past year, we've worked really hard to implement a lot of new programs, instill new board members, as well as very active committee members. Um, so we work really hard to revitalize the downtown district, make it a vibrant place to live, work, and play. Um, but some of the really cool things that I think that is nice to share that we've accomplished over the past 12 months is new programs like paint the vacant. Um, so this past year we painted had hired local artists, seven local artists to paint on six different properties in downtown that sit vacant. And as a new tenant comes in, we've removed the paint and it really makes it look more beautiful and welcoming and inviting, much more so than empty storefront or boarded up windows. Um, we also purchased over 30 new bike racks for the downtown district, including West Walnut Street. Um, we fundraised over $172,000 from our events that we planned. Things like Fridays After 5, Candyland Christmas, as well as Main Street Days. Um, and if you haven't heard of Main Street Days, that's something new that our program also started last year. Um, and it is now a street festival in downtown. We do it twice a year, so in the spring and in the fall. We average around 10 to 13,000 people in attendance, making it the largest one in our area now, which is really cool for a brand new event, much less right in downtown supporting our merchants. And of course, we keep things going like Fridays after five, acoustic autumn, and many other things in downtown. I just wanted to thank you and your board members um that have just taken that uh organization and I'm just so thrilled to see the growth and thank you for the work that you're doing. So um that is all.

Yeah. And the programming I mean it's I know it's a lot of work and you've got great staff and and a lot of volunteers. We have 30 plus volunteers at every single event and they're doing it just because they love our community. So it's a great program and we're happy that the city supports it. the the culture of our community. So, thank you for your hard work. Thank you all.

The next item um for um to answer some questions on is item 6.3.1. This is Central States bus sales uh 78 and 30 passenger school buses from the transit department. I don't know if we have Jeff RS here from transit to speak on this. Um I do have the staff report in front of me if there are any questions. Commissioner Wise. Yeah. I just thought it would be worth noting what are these buses costing in the current year as compared to let's say five or six years ago.

So the and the 2026 Bluebird 78 passengers are 147,000 each. So um I think I recall hearing that they were 85,000 previously when the last ones were purchased. So they've gone up significantly. uh the 30 passenger bus which are the smaller ones of course are 120,000 almost 121,000 and those were around 65,000 prior so when you see them rolling down the street there goes 150 grand

you know I I think it's noteworthy u while we're talking about this to um you know let the public know Johnson City is the only city in the state of Tennessee that provides transportation for the school system. So, uh, we have city employees who drive the bus. So, the supervisor of the program is is a city employee and that's a big that's a big relief off of school systems and allows them to to teach. That's what they do best and so we operate that. We also fund the u replenishment of the school buses as well as part of the city budget. So, this helps the school system kind of uh not have to worry about something that's tangible like transportation. And it's been um a great program, I think, not only for the school system. And I know they appreciate it, but it's it's a great thing for the city to be able to provide that for for our our youth in this in this uh city that can get them to school

and and have kind of professional fleet management. the schools aren't in charge of running kind of a whole fleet that they're having to maintain and train. So, I agree. I'd make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second. Miss L, will you call the role? Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Wise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

yes. The next item for consideration is the monthly report which is a preliminary general fund uh financial statement for January 31st, 2026. Uh, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, Miss Ball. My name is Stephanie Laos. I'm your finance director, and I'm just going to give you a quick update on the general fund financial statements. This is only the general fund, and it is through January 31st because of the delay in getting some of our state money. Um, that takes a couple months to get in. This is the most recent uh month that is completely final with all actual numbers. Um so just a quick overview. Um right now we are showing a $2 million decrease in fund balance after the the first seven months of the year. Um seven months of the year should be around 58.3% of our budget. A majority of our revenues should fall around that u except for property taxes which are not due until February. And then our expenditures, we don't expect those to fall right in that number because they fluctuate depending on the department um at the time of year. And I'd also like to note that a decrease of this number is very reasonable, very expected at this time of the year because we have so many revenues that haven't hit yet. We have property taxes that are not fully recognized. Um we have business taxes that are not due until May, so those won't be recognized. Mobile food vendors aren't due until February. So there's a lot of money that comes in in that last the third and fourth quarter of the year. So just a a quick review of revenue. Um overall the revenues are about where they're expected to be year to date. They're 56.3.

Um if you notice the property taxes are 61.9. Um our current property taxes, the 2025 assessment, we had uh collected 62.4% of those. Uh, and that's one of the reasons that you see that revenue below the expected 58%. By the end of the the fiscal year, we typically collect 98% of our current property taxes. So, we'll see that number jump up significantly to most likely at the budgeted number. Um, other key things, local sales tax, I know you guys are always interested in that. That is remaining very strong. uh it looks that that it will be around the 3% that we budgeted if not a little bit more uh increase over the the last year. Uh hotel motel we expect to pick up significantly in March because of Big South. Uh we won't see the results of that until April or May when the the um businesses start filing those taxes. Um business taxes like I mentioned before are collected in May. licenses and permits. Uh the development in the city continues to be very strong and most of those department most of those permits in the various areas are above or at um at budget. State revenues are trending to where they're expected and almost all of those are hitting the budgeted expectation of 58% at this time of year. Uh one of the positives is that our interest income is coming in significantly higher than what we had budgeted. It's already hit about 71% of our budget as of the end of January. So that's a very positive um look. Could you address the payment in lie and how it's out of whack but like what the timing of those payments are?

Absolutely. So payment in lie of taxes are the um some of the agreements that we make with industry when they're coming in uh as part of our economic development to draw them into the city to where there are other they make these payments in lie of actually having their property taxes increase. Um we have some significant very large ones that are paid in June. um those it's a there's at least four or five million that's going to come in between now and then. So the timing of those is also another another reason that the revenues are down. Uh expenses are about 58%. So right now they look to be exactly where they should. Um we're at 69.7 million for the year to date. Um if you notice debt service looks really low. A lot of our debt service is due in the spring or late late uh early summer. So we'll pay a lot of that in June. Um all the other departments, you know, they're depending on the department, they have some expenses that hit earlier in the year. They may have some expenses that hit later in the year. So if we look at those uh departments that are looking like they may be a little over budget, those we expect to to even out by the end of the year. Um the department directors and management is doing a fantastic job of of monitoring their budgets and staying within those expected expenses of where we need to be, where we budgeted for the year. Um, so I expect that we will come in uh under budget for the year with our expenses. And that's all I have right now for you guys unless you have any questions.

Well, it's a great update. It's hard to have too many when it's still early on in the year and a lot of the revenues haven't come in um come out, but the sales tax number is always interesting and um I love to see that number where it is. This this is the we we changed the date u that property taxes are due this year. How's that how is that working?

Well, this is actually the second year that we had those due. Um, and it is it's been fantastic. We did see a lot shift to later in the year for our payments. Um, you know, when they were due in December, we saw a huge influx in December, which is always with the holidays and people being out of town and things, it just was a little more difficult. Um, we have seen a lot of the collections shift to January and February, but February was a revolving door um downstairs for my my front desk ladies. I think they were processing five $6 million a week um in property taxes. Now, can people pay the property taxes online?

Yes, property taxes can be paid online or they can come in, they can um now once they're delinquent, they cannot pay online. Um but when they're paying before the delinquency date, they can pay online. But we also started a program where they can break it down and pay it. Uh how's Have you had a lot u sign up for that?

We have not. Um and they don't they don't have to do anything extra. They can just go in and pay any amount that they want to on their taxes. As soon as the assessments are released, um which are typically typically around October 1st, they can begin making payments uh up until the due date of February 28th. And we have had some people that have taken advantage of that and have really u appreciated having that strung AC sprung across those months and making it a little easier. And so I do thank you guys for for allowing us to do that program last year and getting that started. It's we have had a lot of citizens that are appreciative.

And could you just make a couple of comments? We do also have um for seniors uh that qualify. What what's the procedure there that they need to do you know to learn more about it? Number one is if they qualify. So, the state tax relief for the elderly, disabled, and veterans, um the state provides a relief for um a certain amount of money for for the elderly and disabled, and then an additional amount of money if you're a veteran, a widow or widowerower of a veteran or a disabled veteran. Um there is an application process. We have a property tax specialist down in my department who knows that program in and out and is able to take she'll meet with you guys meet with them uh go over all the required documents make sure that they're getting qualified. We also work with Carter Sullivan in Washington County so that you don't have to apply in both places. If you apply in Washington County they share your information with us and vice versa so that you're not having to duplicate that time. Um, and then you go through just a certification process and if you qualify, they uh the state will either send you your check once your taxes are paid or they'll send us the check and we deduct it off.

Good. That's great. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you, Miss Ball. Is that We don't have to That's just a report. I think there's no voting on it, right?

No. Uh the next item for consideration is under ordinances with first reading. It is uh an ordinance 4938-26. It's an ordinance for the reasonzoning of zero Antioch Road from A1 to RP2. Good evening mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. I'm Riley Putney, development coordinator with the planning division, and I will be presenting on the request for the resoning at zero Antioch Road. Just to familiarize the commission with the timeline, the here the request did go to the March 10th planning commission where they recommended approval to the city commission. We're at the first reading tonight. Next Thursday, the 16th, is the public hearing and second reading with a final action on May 7th. The site is depicted in the red and is north of Willow Springs Park and you have the ETSU campus to the northeast. The request, as previously mentioned, is to reszone 24.64 acres from agricultural A1 to RP2 for a 48 lot single family home development. The current zoning of the surrounding properties are similar A1 to the direct east and then you have R2 in your lighter yellows which is low density residential and then your darker yellows are R4 medium density highdensity residential and RP3 which is a planned residential. The current land the current land use the site is vacant and heavily wooded. Um and again the uses are surrounding by residential.

Due to an RP3 or an RP2 uh reszoning request, a concept plan is required and once if approved, that plan does become binding. The concept plan submitted does meet the request of the RP2 zoning district with 20 uh excuse me, 48 single family lots. The open space requirement is met with 3.6 6 acres depicted as act uh open space and 1.8 of that as active space with walking trails and picnic areas and playgrounds. There are two entrances on the concept plan. The primary entrance on Antioch Road and then an access off of Dresden Avenue. And just a comparison of the what the concept plan is showing and what would be allowed at the RP to uh max density. Currently at the A1 it's one lot single family lot for 3 acres. So that lot would have to be 3 acres. So that equates to.33 units per acre. They're proposing with their RP2 1.9 units and where their RP2 they would have the total aotment of 3.4. So they're well under um roughly half of what they could be building. This map just highlights some residential developments in the surrounding areas and the units per acre to give the commission and the public a general idea of the surrounding density and how this proposed development is in line with density in the area. Um so the number nine is the actual site that we are discussing. Eight is the adjacent property Woodland Grove development which is the additional uh RP3 development. So that's just kind of a a visual description of units per acre and the density.

So what this map does show us is that the the proposal is in line with the density in the area. Water and sewer services are available. There was no issues or concerns and schools have adequate capacity for the additional 48 homes. A traffic study was provided and it was triggered in addition with the Woodland Grove development. The Woodland Grove came in 2024 and so the traffic study looked at expansion of Dresden Avenue up to West Walnut. that Dresen Avenue expansion and widening would not have a sidewalk requirement and that is right here. And the traffic study for this site as well, how it worked out is the Dresden Avenue improvements in depicted in this would be completed by the development that came to the road development phase first. So, their Woodland Grove is currently grading and moving dirt and if this project were to move forward, whoever would be the one to get to the road improvements first would be responsible for the traffic um impact and that would be monitored by our city traffic engineer. what that traffic study depicted. And this is not a north uh uh picture. The site in question that we're looking at is off to the side here and Woodlands here. So, Dresden Avenue and West Walnut just to orient. Uh this shows the uh required widening that was per that traffic study. And so again, previously mentioned, there would be no sidewalks on this part of the the widening. There is an existing rideway in of Dresden Avenue that comes to the site in question. It is a 50- foot rideaway that

was recorded in 1957 and that was incorporated into both traffic studies. There will be no sidewalk requirement on this specific section of the rideway as well. And that sidewalk requirement would begin at the development property line of this new development. And that meets the subdivisions requirements and policy of section 4-2.2 where street stubs where there is existing street stubs next to proposed development connection shall be required and that is the reason for that uh additional access point.

So can we just kind of go back to that a minute? I I went out there today to look at that. So that will be another point of entry into the subdivision. You you talked about two. Yes. This will be three. Two. So this is one of the two. Yes. Okay. And I could just to show that. So this is Dresden Avenue that access point that we're with the rightway and the second access point or the other primary is off of Annoch Road. Okay. So, and it it's right away because it basically when that development occurred many years ago in the 50s, I guess it was that was kind of a stubbed in.

Yes. Correct. That would allow access to any development behind that neighborhood. Correct. Okay. And so our subdivision rec recommendations um require then that that be activated. Correct. If something's being built back there.

Yes. Since there is an existing stub to that undeveloped property, the request for reszoning the property is uh has a place type of neighborhood residential in the horizon 2045 land use map. And this request is in line with the place type of neighborhood residential, single family homes with larger lots, open space um and single use. So, the request is in line. Notifications, letters were sent out January 20th and February 5th. We did hold two neighborhood meetings on February 4th and the February 25th. Uh, this was just due to uh error um in the addressing labels of the first letter. So, we wanted to ensure everybody in the 200t radius got the correct letter and had the opportunity to come out. And two signs were placed on the property on January 16th. The neighborhood meeting we had 31 total uh citizens in attendance. Their concerns included additional traffic and potential cutthrough on Woodhill Road in Dresden, the increase in residential density, concerns of opening the Dresden Avenue Road having a public road, impact on the creek and wildlife, and the rightway impact on the adjoining uh property owners of Dresden Avenue. So what we're trying to depict in this the next two slides um is the connection point that right away that would be Dresden Avenue. So currently that rightway is wooded. There's not an existing road. Um you can see here that is essentially the location and the two existing houses on the side. And this is our attempt of showing the actual pavement width of the road that would be in place. It is a 50-ft

rideway, but due to the fact that there are no sidewalks being um required, the actual pavement width is only 24 ft. Um so you have a 50ft rideway with 24 ft of pavement and the setbacks, the houses are approximately 20 to 25 ft on both side setbacks. So that equates to roughly 30 plus 33 plus feet from the their edge of their house to a pavement. And further that would uh I included the right the cross-section for the road. It's a local road just not having the sidewalk uh requirement. So you see that 24 ft of pavement and then the required 6 ft grass strip on the side. So staff would recommend approval of the proposed resoning due to it being in line with the future land use map and the proposed RP2 zoning district is similar to the surrounding area in density and provides an adequate transitional zone from the neighboring RP3 property and I'm here to answer any questions.

Is any of this property in the flood zone? I do not believe so. No. Okay. I I noticed a creek down in kind of the the low part of the of the property. And so I'm I'm guessing the developer has done an environmental study. I think it was on the rideway the the might the older pl the rideway plant maybe. Rightway plant that's over here. Excuse me.

Is that the recruit you're referring to? So from my understanding from engineering um and if Jason wants to come up or Andy best uh to further answer it's believe it's a wet weather conveyance um as of right now and so there have not been any concerns of it being in a flood area in the proposed concept plan. Um there is no development along that creek. There's a significant buffer from the creek depicted and the actual homes that are going to be built.

In the public comment earlier, Mr. Crossweight said that it this had come up twice before and had been turned down. Do you know what reasons for being turned down in the past? What what happened to make that not go through before? I should have asked Jack Strickland when he was here. Yeah. I do not have that uh information with me, but we can definitely have that answer for you by the second hearing next Thursday. Sounds great.

The Dresden connection at the stub, you mentioned not having a sidewalk, but then sidewalks would exist inside the develop. I'm assuming they would just begin what the minute you get past that stub, then there would be sidewalks through that whole network of roads. Okay. Yes. So the connection point here that is the Dresden rightway there would be no sidewalks required and then the moment they're inside their their development property it would be built to the actual local road standards with sidewalks on both sides. And I noticed there was a mixed recommendation from planning that there were some who did not or maybe two can would not to make you speak on their behalf but if you could characterize what perhaps their hesitancy was.

I believe if I remember correctly that it was the the density and the dresden connection. um they that we had a really good neighborhood turnout to that and the planning commission took their concerns and and made a recommendation based on the Dresden connection and the proposed density of the development. So there was opposition to the Dresden connection by the public. Yes.

Okay. And All right. Thank you. There there was also comments made on the sidewalks um or not having the sidewalks on the the Dresdston part that was also uh expressed during planning. But I I do appreciate you pointing out that not having those sidewalks does allow uh for additional uh buffer with those residents because that is one of the um points that we that we heard during planning and from uh constituent feedback via email. So, thank you for sharing that, clarifying. You're welcome. Go ahead.

Do we know about school buses and where they would be? Would they come into the neighborhood to pick people up? Would the Would they walk out to the other to the new tea that you're forming from Dresden? Would they go out? Were there no sidewalks out to get picked up on the main road or would the buses come into that neighborhood? From preliminary conversations that I've had with Eldana, she believes that the pickup points would be at Antioch and this area of uh Woodhill and Dresden. That connection and there are sidewalks going out there.

Correct. There's no existing sidewalks out there.

That the new stub then. Did I hear you say it was only going to be 24 feet wide? Yes. And what we can do is I can have before next Thursday uh engineering help us actually overlay what a road um would look like rather than a blue bar. Um but it would be the 24 ft of pavement, two foot curb and gutter and then a 6ft grass strip on both sides. And I can appreciate not requiring sidewalks, especially if the with the neighbors and but is is there a specific reason why sidewalks aren't required on this one? I understand because Dresden's not all the way improved and we're not going to have them there, but it is it to accommodate neighbors or is it requirement? So typically it is a requirement of the local road standards to lessen the impact of the improvement to Dresen Avenue. There it was determined that we would not require sidewalks for that accommodation. And as well since there is no existing sidewalks in the area that it would connect to. Um we determined that those two uh discussion points were were enough to wave that requirement.

Okay. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion.

So, this is first reading. We'll hear it next week and then we'll hear it again the first meeting of May. Yes. Correct. And next week is the public hearing. All right. Thank you.

Could I have one more request before we get into the motion? And I I I would really appreciate if uh if public works could um look look at um you know the the flood plane or floodway or what just to verify that. I'd like to know because there have been a lot of issues over in that area particularly on Antioch and on the lower side of that those houses seem to get flooded all the time and this almost looks like a parallel kind of elevation thing. Uh the other thing is um where where the um students would get picked up and now if it's on Wood Hill that's at the end of the new stub that would be uh done there or if they would have to walk all the way to West Walnut and then there would be no sidewalks. So that's a pretty tight area in there. Um, the final comment is, you know, when I when I look at that stub being now turned into a road, it's very close to the two houses that are there. I mean, it literally goes right down in between them and it and it almost appears as if the houses over um, you know, 65 years have started using a part of that ride of way as well. So, um, anyway, it's I'm I'm just curious as to how when it's really built out, how close that will be to those houses.

Absolutely. And I'll have that uh those additional information for you next Thursday. I'll make a motion to approve it on first reading. Second. Miss W, will you call the role? Commissioner Fowler, I will vote yes just to hear the answers to the questions that we had. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. For the same reasons as well, want the questions answered. Thank you. Mayor Cox, yes.

The next item for consideration is a second reading of the ordinance and public hearing of ordinance number 4937-26. This is an ordinance for the reszoning of 2590 People Street from R3 uh density to MS1. Good evening, mayor, commissioners, Winnie Hodes, planning manager. I'm here to present um on this request. It's its second reading. Again, to orient you to the timeline, um planning commission met with this one in February and we had our first reading in March and so we're at our our public hearing. Um notifications have been made according to um state law and our ordinances to orient you to the site. We are there is our mouse. We are the proposed resoning is here. Hobby Lobby um former Kmart there and then Everlane is across the street. The reasonzoning um is currently R. The current land use is R3. They would like to have MS1 to accommodate for a restaurant and any uses allowed in the MS1 district. The surrounding area, we just had a resoning request probably six months ago that also went from MS1 or R3 to MS1 for a hotel. Um and then planned businesses around it as well as some residential. And it's also bordered by it's kind of sandwiched in between People's Street and I26. Just some views of the site. And then the site plan um it is a 42,000 square foot building u with appropriate parking. Um the site plan meets the requirements with the exception of the area shaded in green. they need to essentially redesign their storm water area in order to pull that out of a water and sewer easement. Um so that is

one um condition to any approval that we would like to see. Like I said, water and water and sewer is at site and a traffic study will be done at the time of site plan with the at the first reading. We had a a public comment about the um horizon 2045 plan. I said I would come back with some larger maps. So one of these is that initial map in the plan that says and has a little highlight of when you're in an edge, we kind of look at things. We have to look at things case by case and kind of see what we're doing with that. So kind of broadening out of why this was compact residential versus something else is because it was really important to keep this area here as as residential as possible. And with this being a very small sliver of land and People Street being a commercial connect a commercial corridor, what we really tried to do was to keep that at to basically keep that as a whole knowing that as these uses came in on a usually a case by case basis or if it came in as one use together, we could look at that on to see how it matched with compact residential. So wanting to preserve this larger area especially I'll zone in it'll zoom in a little bit in a second but this is I believe a the whole track is 10 acres and I think that's about seven acres on this on the south side of the road that that would be some really good potential for residential development. So can kind of keeping that in mind and keeping the considerations for uh compact residential in mind which is why we wanted to keep that the way that it was the way that with compact residential versus a regional mixed use because we can look at some limited uses on a case-byase basis and that's what we're doing right now.

So this is that larger track that I wanted to show. staff does recommend approval of the re request with the condition that the site that the concept plan have that um storm water uh area moved outside of the water and sewer rightway. Accidentally hitting something there. And this is we did we did not have citizen comment at um at the neighborhood meeting, but we did have citizen comment at the planning commission meeting as well as for first reading. And I'm here for any questions as well as this is a public hearing. Miss Hodgej, this I'm sorry. Go ahead.

It it would seem to me that backing up to an interstate would be better for a restaurant than it would be for residential to me. So I understand why we might change something right along that corridor on the other side of People Street to a restaurant instead of being a compact residential area. So that was, I'm sure, part of your thinking when we were doing this. Yes, you very you have a very constrained area between those two roads. And then all the properties that are to the north there, I guess that's north. Um, that's all commercial, isn't it? This? Yeah. Yes, it's MS1. Okay. So,

any other questions for staff? With that, I'm going to open public hearing. Anybody here to speak in favor or against the item? Come up to the stand, state your name and address. Dave Adams, Three Coventry Court, Johnson City. Uh don't have a long speech planned or anything. I just wanted to make the note, of course, not not against this, a restaurant makes sense there. But I did wanted to make make the note, make sure it's in everyone's mind that the remainder of these lots that we're pointing to that we're saying could potentially be residential in the future. Currently, they are planned business. They they are not currently zoned residential. And that concerns me that we still longer term may see the entirety of this turned into commercial. and the residential planning that we had sort of in mind for this edge use case is just going to be erased in favor of commercial. So, I just want that to be in the back of the mind when we approve this and when we go forward to look at what's going to be in the rest of this that we don't just down the road forget that this discussion happened that these were thought of as potentially residential.

Thank you, Mr. Adams. Anyone else here to speak for or against the item? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Move approval. Second. This allows you to call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes. Thanks, Miss Hodgees. Commissioners, the uh last item on our formal meeting is public comment under other as the mayor spoke of which was a change in in the state law that occurred in the last two weeks.

Yeah, I'll go ahead and call the names also on this one. Um I do think um we um we schedule people as they sign up, but I think in this case it is appropriate for to move the first person that signed up to the rear. However, they still have a three-minute time limit even if you're at the end. So, um just make that comment. So, the first person I'd like to call up to speak is Megan Williams. And as you come up, please remember that we've got three minutes um to hear um what you have to say. And

good evening. My name is Megan Williams. I live at 110 East 11th Avenue. I would like to express my opinion that repairing Freedom Hall pool is the best option for the city and the school board at this time. I'm a Johnson City citizen, a swim coach of uh the new um city wreck otter swim program, the Providence Academy middle school and high school swim coach, a parent of a former Science Hill swimmer, a parks and wreck advisory board member, and a master swimmer. The opinions that I express tonight are solely my own thoughts and opinions apart from my work contracting with the city in the coaching role that I have with the otter swim team and my role on the parks and wreck advisory board. I would also like to thank you for your willingness to discuss this issue and work towards solutions. I appreciate the time that many of you have already given to me um via email and via meetings. Thank you very much. My first point, moving Johnson City School programs over to the MPCC causes its own set of issues for those that were using that space. Several programs will be drastically impacted um or even having having to be discontinued due due to this. This includes swim lessons, afterchool daycare, swim times, citizens and families using that pool for laps and for open swim. the Providence Academy high school and middle school team. This is shifting a problem and it's just isn't a good long-term solution. Number two, there is not really another adequate facility that we can hold competitive swim in Johnson City. All the coaches in the area have been scurrying feverishly over the last month to find pool space elsewhere for our programs, and we've discovered there just is not that much out there. um all of our programs, all of our programs will suffer if um if we actually can continue to exist. Commissioner Wise, you stated at the last work session uh last week that we have great facilities for our athletes

in Johnson City except for our swimmers. Um, last night I went on a run around the high school campus and I saw tennis players, I saw track athletes, I saw soccer players, um, all competing at really great facilities that we have and then I peered into the windows at Freedom Hall wondering what the status was and saw an empty pool. Now, we don't have a substandard facility. We don't have any facility for our swimmers to use, any competitive facility. repairing Freedom Hall would give us a stop gap and and give us time to do a new pool, right? Um my last point, there's already a huge desire and need for more aquatics programming. Um including things like lessons and more teams. Last year, we filled our space in this new otter program with a lengthy waiting list after a very short amount of time. I know our recck department has plans that they want to implement and they now we just don't have the time and space. We're not just talking about middle school and high school athletes here. We're talking about all of the citizens of Johnson City. Um, our feasibility study has pointed to this and I would ask that we could continue to work towards a timely solution to reopen Freedom Hall. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next, I'd like to call up Regina Guess. I hope I pronounced it correctly.

And is it Miss Miss Guest? Yes. Okay. Yes. I am Regina Guest. I live at 2210 Lakeland Drive here in Johnson City. Am I supposed to push one of these buttons? No, you're good to go.

Good to go. Good. Um, at the last meeting, you guys were a lot of confusion in regards to um the whole Freedom Pod pool thing. Um, the statement that Kathy Ball made that uh she made an executive decision to close the pool. Okay. um your decision as a as our city manager, you make this executive decision. Who else did you incorporate any people in this in here or ask any citizens for for that specifically?

Well, address the board if you don't. I won't address all of you, but one at a time right now. But I'm addressing her specifically of what she said because for one, I felt like you were u I think you're overstepping your boundaries in regards to that cuz uh I feel like you necessarily and some of the other statements made Dr. Fer made. Would you address the the board please wear your representatives? So please, we're here to hear you and your

concerns. Some she just made I wanted to address the thing that she made her and Dr. Fowler also made the statement that when they were the students were here, they were coming to support their team, Freedom Hall Pool. Um, you guys made a statement, board did, oh well, okay, you can't swim there, but we're going to suggest you to go watch a basketball game there. Okay, you made that suggestion. Um, several like Dr. Bor did, Miss Ball did. Okay, they can't go there to swim. You're not going to allow them to swim, but you're going to recommend them to go watch a basketball game. And that's what where they swim. They can't go swim, but they can go watch a basketball game. Do you understand the the concept that just kind of it perturbed me? I don't know about other parents in this situation, but it did upset me that you made that decision by closing the pool and recommending them to go to a basketball game. Okay. Again, you guys, this is the only thing that we have available for them to swim is at Freedom Hall Pool. Okay, the you say, "Oh, we can't we have you can't um you it's because the filter that has to be changed once a month. We can't risk someone's life." I understand that. I work in the medical field. I understand that. But also, is there not something you could have looked into into moving that above ground to keep that pool available for these kids to swim? I mean, I I know we live in a high tech society that someone could figured out a way to move that filter system above ground to where these kids can still swim and still have this facility available for them until we can figure out what else to do with this. I mean, with trying to keep it going for these kids to be able to swim. Okay. Number two, the other item on it is what is

your solution? I I've heard I've heard other things. I want a solution. Yeah. Thank you for your comments. Um, next up, I would like to call Annalie Price up. Thanks for being here. And just remember, we got three minutes minutes and we really genuinely want to hear um good concerns and opportunities for resolutions. So, thanks for being here.

Um good evening. My name is Annalie Price. I will be talking about the closing of Freedom Hall from a student athlete perspective. Um today after school, I was walking to my car where it was parked at the Freedom Hall parking lot. What I saw when I got there was the last of the water from Freedom Hall Pool being drained onto the pavement. Freedom Hall has been my second home for the past 11 years. And it was really hard to see it just in on the ground, no more pool. Um, as the closing of Freedom Hall becomes more real, it also becomes more painful. I think about all the memories I have there. The end of my first practice when I couldn't wait to tell my mom how much fun I'd had. The times I was so excited to practice and show off a new skill. Meeting many new people my first year of middle school swim. Memorizing every detail of the ceiling when I was bored doing backstroke. Having an awful day but knowing I would be able to go to Freedom Hall and swim it off later. Walking out of practice every morning to see the sunrise and at nights to see the stars. My wins and losses and struggles and achievements all centered around the pool that is now being taken away from our community. Freedom Hall was our space, a space where every kid on the team felt like they belonged and where we could host meets and learn new things and have enough room for every swimmer who wanted to join. Looking back, having Freedom Hall was something I took for granted. Sure, it's old. There's no way to hide that, but never once did I feel that Freedom Hall was not good enough. It has always been special to me, and it is where I have grown up. My eighth grade year, I was training with the Liberty Bell Middle School swim team, but I was attending uh so I couldn't participate in relays or celebrate a win with my friends. Um because of that, I decided to transfer to Science Hill to be a part of the team in a way that I had never experienced before. And now that Science Hill does not have a sustainable pool to practice in, I believe that other kids will leave the school for the same reason that I enrolled. Young swimmers that I know personally

who have so much potential and desire to improve are already talking about transferring to Dobins Bennett High School or Elizabethan to be able to continue the sport that they love and that is heartbreaking. Taking away Freedom Hall is hurting the Barracuda Swim Club and the Science Hill Swim Team for years to come. The children that could be able to start swimming now don't have the opportunity and then there won't be many kids who want to swim in the future. and not having a feasible solution is unacceptable to the continuation of our program. Thank you for your time. All right. Thanks, Miss Price. Good for you to come.

Next up, if I could have Andy Morse. I think I just saw you about an hour ago. So, Hello, my name is Andy Morse and I'm a Johnson City resident, a parent of four kids in the JC schools, and a huge believer in this community and the good things that we can do around here. I'm also very concerned about the abrupt loss of Freedom Hall Pool. But I'm excited to come before you tonight to advocate for immediate repair work at Freedom Hall Pool to get us 8 to 10 more years in this facility. eight to 10 more years from a facility that already has a parking lot, locker rooms, bathrooms, and a four-season structure. Not to mention six lanes, starting blocks, a warm-up pool, a diving board, and bleachers for competitive events. All the assets already in place for a strong competitive program. I applaud the sentiment that I have heard from folks in our community and even on this commission that Johnson City deserves a better competitive pool. But we must be honest and pragmatic. To select, design, finance, and build a pool will probably take four to six years. So, a city that deserves a better competitive pool will instead be a city with no competitive pool at all. And for those on the commission who want us to be more ambitious in our aquatics planning, I'll ask you to remember when y'all decided to build great baseball and softball facilities at Wing Deer Park, you did not walk away from investments in lighting and quality at Keystone or Kowanas. When you invested in the Indian Trail turf facilities, you did not abandon Science Hill. When you invested in the Tannery Knobs trail infrastructure, you did not walk away from our magnificent Tweetsy Trail. So, let's look forward to the state-of-the-art aquatics facility, but let's buy ourselves the time to get that

done right by getting another decade out of the very valuable facility we have now. It's estimated that repairing Freedom Hall will cost $750,000 and will yield only 8 to 10 more years of use. For many of us, only 8 to 10 more years of use sounds pretty good. And in fact, even the financials sound pretty good. Using the conservative lifespan of eight years, we're talking about an annual amortization of less than $100,000. Freedom Hall Pool is used on the order of 2,000 hours per year by competitive swimmers in our community. So to support an entire swim program, we're paying less than $50 per hour of usage to keep this robust facility open for another decade for the hundreds of kids who are part of these programs. less than $50 per hour, an hour that might see 25 to 50 kids in the pool. Some of those kids will represent Science Hill, University High, or homeschool teams in meets across Tennessee. Some of those kids may even swim in college. All will learn hard work, team spirit, and a critical life skill. Not to mention the master swimmers, lifeguard trainees, birthday parties, and regional swim meets that bring economic activity into the heart of our city multiple times per year. So, I hope that you will proceed with repairs to Freedom Hall Pool Rightway to make it safe and useful for city employees and residents alike. We recognize that these repairs will take some months, so let's get going and work urgently to bring this great city asset back to use. Thank you.

Thank you. MR. JOHN HUGHES. YES, SIR. It was unexpected. My mom always makes me go to the dinner table. You come up. State your name. Sir,

you have three minutes to share a message. My name is John Hughes. I'm a resident of Johnson City, 1604 ID Wild Drive. I wear a lot of hats in the community, so I know need to go ahead and clean up some things first. I am an educator with the great school board that we have here, and I wouldn't trade that for anything or the school system. Um, but please know that my thoughts are not representative of the school board, but of my own experience, and I will not bore you with a ton of doctor's work level statistics, but rather my own anecdotal evidence. I am a father of a swimmer. I'm an educator and in local apprentice of many student athletes every single day. They come to me with problems. They come to me with counseling issues. They come to me with everything they can. And oftentimes this also translates after their time in my classroom. I will see students out here. And that's one of the reasons that I come here today is I watch my own daughter swim at the MPCC. I saw a former student lamenting and crying over the fact that she did not have diving blocks at the new facility and she said, "But where will I dive?" So, I do ask that we keep that in mind about our facilities. I won't argue over keeping open or closing. That's they're much better at it than I am. Um, this program isn't an academic support system. I believe wholeheartedly as a recovering boy growing up and not being able to sit still in a classroom. There is a marked difference between students who participate in an activity and a student that does not in their ability to concentrate the next day. Um, also, you can't have a screen in a pool. So that helps us out a lot. This athletic support system that we call swimming, it sets students up for a lifetime of success by providing discipline, time management, and a mental fortitude that most swimmers in this building will know. As I've already mentioned, we usually eat last when it comes time to facilitate workouts. We come after school when we are tired and we manage to still put in

the extra wraps so that we can go and do our thing. Uh, all of this basically kind of comes down to student athletes learn to focus on short and long-term goals. And right now, I know a lot of these students who I've had in my classroom and others that I have not had the pleasure of having in there eight years ago when they came to me in fourth grade math, I saw them. I see them at these swim tournaments and they focused on swim as a young child and now they need my help to come here and ask you guys please consider to keep this open because they put in 10 years of work of their life and now at high school they need us more than ever. So with all of that said I can't say anything else better than Miss Price did when she mentioned that Betsy had a swim team and I really can't stand to lose to those guys. So, if we could please just keep this open if nothing else to defeat the cyclones. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. I'd like Chris Carajio to come up.

If you don't care to state your name, you have three minutes.

My name is Chris Karajio. I live at one south Brook Lane in Johnson City. First of all, I want to thank the commission for the time and the thought you have given to consider the value of Freedom Hall and what it can still provide to our community. It's greatly and personally appreciated. Freedom Hall pool is going to cost us money regardless of what we do, either in the cost of shutting it down and filling it in or repairing it so it can continue to serve as a viable asset for the Johnson City community. some economic realities of the situation. To maintain the structural integrity of the building, that wall is going to have to be repaired. Regardless of what we do in the overall city budget, the cost difference between the two alternative is negligible. I think Mr. Norris did a good job with that. So either way, the city is going to have to invest money in Freedom Hall Pool. When making an investment, it is not the initial financial outlay which determines whether or not that investment is prudent. Rather, it is the yield that one will realize from their investment. Using the money to repair Freedom Hall pool will yield one, a viable competition pool for our schools. As we've heard, there is no other competition pool in the city. Two, it will provide the necessary time and space to continue the quality of training that k the kids need and deserve. Three, it will relieve the burden at Memorial Park Community Center pool caused when you combine programming from two pools and put them into one. Four, it will buy us valuable time to move forward on building the planned aquatic center that we all seem to agree is the endgame result that we desire. Five, it will continue to provide our

kids with the valuable life skills and opportunities and lessons that they receive from our quality swimming and diving teams. These skills will be with them long after they decide to hang up their speedos. Let's look at the elephant in the room, financing. There are constituencies in the community have approached me about fundraising and grant writing to help with the repairs of Freedom Hall. However, before such a campaign can even be started, they need the assurance that the city is committed to that course of action. We've had a lot of valuable and enlightening discussions these past five weeks. Tonight, I am respectfully asking that we listen to the concerns of our citizens, that we realize the benefits of investing our resources and investing them in the repair of Freedom Hall Pool, not in its destruction, and that for the commission to vote to commit to that repair, and then together we can move forward and get the job done. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your service. And thank you for listening to me.

THANKS, COACH. WITH THAT, is there any other business anyone would like to speak about? Go ahead, Dr. Peller.

I know we're not supposed to answer when we're having that, but I'm going to make a little speech now. So, I don't know what I said that Miss Guest took misconstrued or if I spoke wrongly, but I have never ever been a proponent for basketball above swimming. I was a swimmer. I am one of coach Garajio's biggest fans. I have helped hopefully a lot of swimmers get back to swimming that have been injured. I've been the team doctor for Science Hill for 33 years. And anything I said that made it sound like I didn't want swimming, I'm sorry, cuz that is farthest from the truth it could be. So, I'm probably the largest proponent for swimming up here in this commission. So, I'm going to be behind trying to get a solution as soon as possible and get it started. So, just wanted to say that. So, thanks. Thank you.

Um, spring spring leaf cleanup is underway and it's worth remembering. Those trucks are running. Yeah, you skipped over me. Well, I gave you the the Well, I was slow. Well, it's your birthday. I've given you I know. I was going to ask if we were going to recognize the vice mayor's birthday.

I think I've been recognized enough today on it. I do want to I I actually want to recognize our mayor today. Um, we had the state of the city, the city, state, and county um, today that was put on by the Chamber of Commerce. I just want to tell you, you did a fantastic job. And the the neat thing that Mayor Cox did was to start talking about our city based on our history. I mean, he started with Henry Johnson. And when you think about the development of Johnson City because of some railroad tracks that passed through here, it was the entrepreneurs who came here and saw the opportunity and that started the whole um I I guess culture of economic development in Johnson City. The only mistake Henry Johnson made, y'all probably heard us say this, is the first council uh you know probably voted to build Johnson City over the top of two creeks. So that was not, you know, 150 years later, we've been dealing with that. So, uh, but anyway, great job today, uh, Greg. You, you made us proud and, uh, I'm I'm glad to call you mayor.

Well, thanks for saying that. I'm was a little out of my comfort zone, but enjoyed the process of putting my thoughts together and working with some good folk to help gather those, uh, thoughts up. Anything else? And just follow up on the full comment there. There's a lot of moving parts with it and I hope that everyone in the community knows none of this was taken lightly. And when we talk about looking for other solutions, I think that's been done for a long time. Um, and I think we did ask parks and wreck if there was some shorter term fix or some possibility. But as far as the pool closing and whose decision and how that went, this is a a safety decision. No different than, you know, right now Kingsport pool is about to be closed down for 9 months. Um, other pools have to be shut down for repairs. It it's um how we handle that is what we've been trying to solve. Um, so appreciate everybody being here. Um, appreciate the respectful people that stood up and talked and we we listen and we'll keep looking at what we can do. Um, and if I've not gone back to some emails on it, there's been a lot and some are of similar people and so I want to make sure I will get to them over time. Thanks. With that, I'll close the meeting. Thank you.