Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to welcome everybody to the regular scheduled city commission meeting held at the municipal and safety building at 601 East Main Street in Johnson City on Thursday, December 4th at 6:00. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Um, first order of business, I'd love for everybody to stand and welcome James McNeel with the well for our invocation and pledge. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this uh great city where we have the opportunity to live and work. Lord, in this season when we celebrate your birth, I pray that there would be an awakening to your grace and mercy and all would believe that salvation comes through faith in your finished work on the cross. Lord, we pray for these leaders, men and women who you've established to do the work of our city. As they meet tonight, Lord, I pray that you would give them wisdom and direction, compassion, and creativity as they make decisions that impact all of our lives. Thank you so much for what you're going to do. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray and ask these things. Amen.

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 Paul Mayor, the first order of business is consideration of approval of the minutes for the regularly scheduled city commission meeting held on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Move approval. Second. Miss Louse, will you call the role? Commissioner Fowler, I abstain. I wasn't here. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

yes. Commission. The next order of business is consideration of proclamations, resolutions, and presentations. The first item is item 4.1 was which is the presentation of a proclamation recognizing Piper Parley Sharp as the 2026 Miss Johnson City teen. Hi there. Hi. Well, congratulations. I got a proclamation for you.

You can stand right over here in the in the middle of this. You can come on so everybody can.

Okay. Whereas the Miss Johnson City tradition has been carried forward by the dedication of local directors and volunteers committed to the values of the Miss America organization and established in the 1930s and later organized by the Johnson City Junior Chamber of Commerce or the JC's from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The Miss America organization expanded its program to include a team division offering young women additional opportunities to serve their communities through Miss Johnson City's team competition. And whereas Miss Piper Peril Perily

Peril Lee, I want to make sure I get it right. Sharp has been selected as Miss Johnson City's team 2026, a title earned through her dedication to academic excellence and community service. and Miss Sharp will represent Johnson City in the Miss Tennessee team competition, continuing the long-standing tradition of mentorship, scholarship, and service established by generations of title holders who proudly carry the city's name. Now, therefore, I, Greg Cox, mayor of the city of Johnson City, Tennessee, do hereby congratulate Miss Johnson City teen Piper Sharp for her accomplishments and commitment to our community. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Um, do you have anything you want to talk about or say? Um, put me on the spot here. Yeah. Well, just just just checking. Well, thank you for participating and um we look forward to supporting you um at the state. Thank you, [applause]

mayor. The next presentation is a proclamation recognizing Zoe Bailey Stout as the 2026 Miss Johnson City. Hi there. Whereas Johnson City has traditionally been a young whereas Miss Johnson City has traditionally been a young woman of poise, intelligence, and leadership serving as a role model and an as an ambassador for our community. And since the 1930s, the title of Miss Johnson City has been a proud local tradition organized and produced by the Johnson City Junior Chamber of Commerce, the JC's from the 1960s into the early 2000s and later continued through the dedication of local directors committed to the Miss America organization's mission. And whereas the Miss Johnson City program in affiliation with the Miss Tennessee and Miss America organizations can continue to inspire participants to achieve excellence in all acts of service while promoting personal growth and building leadership skills. And whereas Miss Zoe Bailey Stout has been selected as Miss Johnson City 2026, earning this distinction through her commitment to serving as an ambassador for the values and spirit of Johnson City. And whereas Miss Stout will represent Johnson City in the Miss Tennessee competition, continuing a decadesl long legacy of young women who have proudly carried the city's name and upheld the ideals of Miss America organization. Now therefore, I, Greg Cox, mayor of the city of Johnson City, Tennessee, do hereby cor congratulate Miss Johnson City Zoe Bailey Stout for her accomplishments and commitment to bettering our community. Thank you so much. You have anything [applause] you'd like to say? I just want to say thank you guys so much for letting me represent Johnson City. I hope to make you all proud at Miss Tennessee in June in Nashville this

year. I hope that you'll be able to watch and follow me along as I represent this amazing city as Miss Johnson City 2026. Thank you all so much. [applause] Thank you.

Mayor, the next item is the recognition of the Johnson City Leadership Academy graduates. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. I'm Cooper Eeves, special projects manager for the city, and it is my pleasure to be here tonight to celebrate the graduation of the second cohort of the Johnson City Leadership Academy. The John City Leadership Academy was launched in 2024 to strengthen the city's organizational culture and intentionally prepare future leaders within our workforce. As a professional development initiative, the JCLA provides employees with a collaborative learning environment where they focus on leadership, connection to the city's mission, and engagement with colleagues across departments. The second JCLA cohort began in August of this year and included 18 employees from a broad range of roles from across our organization. They were nominated by department heads and participants took place in weekly class sessions led by city leadership gaining meaningful insight into city functions, leadership practices in the community that we are lucky to serve. Myself and Melanie Rice and Juan Cardona Santiago from our HR team had the privilege of watching this group grow closer together um as colleagues grow in their leadership skills and fully embody the mission of JCLA. We are grateful for their dedication to the program and we are also grateful to the many city staff members who contributed their time and their expertise to support the academyy's classes and our activities. So at this time I will call up our graduates um one at a time. They will receive their certificates from Melanie and mayor if you would like to greet them. Um so we'll start with Allison Licero from our communications and engagement department. [applause]

Amy Sanders from risk management, [applause] Billy Flannry with building services, [applause] David Grub from water and sewer services, [applause] John Steedman from economic development, [applause]

Johnny Isac's public work solid waste division. [applause] Lexi Vance, economic development. [applause] Melinda Stills with the finance department. [applause] Marshall Hardy Hardy with the fire department. [applause]

Rachel Evans with Parks and Recreation. [applause] Riley Pudney with economic development planning division. [applause] Shanda Sergeant with human resources. [applause] Thaad McMillan with water and sewer services. Teresa Carter with public works stormwater division. Tyler Morris, public works traffic division. [applause] Wayne Douglas, parks and recreation [applause] and Wayne Lions with economic development [applause] commissioners. as you I'm so sorry. And Ricky Carter from our fire department. [applause] Let's give Ricky another round of applause cuz I left him out. [applause] Uh commissioners, as you can see, this is an incredible group of our staff leaders. So, we want to say thank you to you for your service to a city government that supports employees, to our city management. Thank you for building a culture as an organization that focuses on employees and to our employees. You guys are the best thing a part um about the city and what we do. You guys every single day go into a role where you truly go all out for our citizens and we thank you for going through the program and we thank you for the incredible amount of dedication and passion you bring to your jobs. So, Mayor, if you'd like to say anything.

Yeah, just follow up with Cooper. Thank you so much. I mean, you guys are what makes our city great and um stand out. And anyone that wants to go the extra mile and get more leadership skills, personal growth skills, just shows how you want to improve, not just as an employee, but as a person. Um and that's just so valuable in life. And as a family member and to your family and friends, um just that personal growth is always so important. And um Cooper took my line about going all out. It's just another example about going all out for our community. So, thank you so much, [applause] scoot. We'll do I'd say go all the way to the end of the day.

[applause]

Mayor, as you make your way back up, the next item on the agenda is public comment. We have one person signed up under item number 8.1 under ordinance 4932-25. This is an ordinance for the resoning of 4.81 81 acres located at 2121 Simol Drive from R2 to R2Z. And we we have AF Nelson signed up to speak. Mr. Nelson, if you could come to the podium, I'd like to remind everybody that public comment is limited to those who have signed up at least 12 hours in advance. Comments must be about an actionable item on the agenda. You have three minutes. Mr. Mr. Willis will be our timekeeper and if you could state your name.

Yes. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. My name is Alf Nelson. I live at 11:05 Cherokee Road in Johnson City. I also have the opportunity and privilege to serve as the executive pastor of Grace Fellowship Church. And so my desire tonight was just to give you a bit of context for item 8.1 that you'll be hearing for the first reading this evening. Our church in January of this year launched a launched a partnership with ASP, Appalachin Service Project to uh raise funds to provide homes for those who lost theirs in Hurricane Helen. And it was a very successful initiative for us. We have a great partnership with ASP and we raised enough money to subsidize 20 homes. In addition to that, as we were walking through the process, we learned that one of the challenges ASP currently faces is land on which to build homes for those who maybe lost their homes or don't lost their land as well. And so this piece of property is a piece that we as a church have owned for a very long time, over 20 years now, and it's just sat there. And so during this process, one of our elders uh had the idea and the suggestion that perhaps we could donate this piece of property to ASP and allow them to build homes on it. And so the issue with the reszoning is that the the land itself uh is the topography of it is challenging. And so while we can build on it, there's a big chunk of it that we can't build on. And so our goal in having it reszoned from R2 to R2C is really to increase the number of families that we're able to build homes for. And so this reszoning would allow us, technically we could build a nine homes on the property, but it would be very cost prohibitive. Uh the really buildable part of the land would allow for seven homes with the current zoning. The new zoning that we're applying for, R2C, would allow for 11 homes. And so our desire is just to be able to build more homes for more families, those who lost uh their homes

in Helen and others in our community who are in need of homes. So uh I'm here as well as Anie Boyd with ASP and available to answer any questions you guys might have about that process. Thank you, Mr. Nelson. Thank you very much. Commissioners, the next item on the agenda is consideration of the consent agenda. Start to my right. Commissioner Fowler, anything you'd like to pull? Vice Mayor? No, sir. Commissioner Weise? No, sir. Commissioner Gats. No. Thanks. Being that, is there a motion?

Motion to approve. Second. Discussion. Miss L, will you call the role? Commissioner Fowler. Yes. Commissioner Gats. Yes. Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor C Brock. Yes. Mayor Cox. Yes. Commissioners, the next item uh item block on the agenda is other. Um item 7.1 is to consider approval of the agreement of sale between the city of Johnson City and trustees of Muny Memorial United Methodist Church for 0.37 acres of property located at 100 South Ron Street, Johnson City, Tennessee in the amount of $75,000.

Good evening, mayor, commissioners. I'm Alicia Summers, assistant city manager. Tonight we have in front of you for your consideration agreement of sale and the purpose of the purchase of this property is to create a landscape plaza at the entrance to the redeveloped John Seavir Center and the city will retain control and responsibility for the maintenance of that property. So it's located there at the corner kind of diamond shaped. You'll see another slide here in just a second. Uh, but it's located at 100 South Rome. It's about 37 of an acre. It's in a blighted area and it's currently owned by Muny Memorial United Methodist Church. It was appraised at 71,000 and the negotiated offer was 7 $75,000. So that's a conceptual rendering of the John Seavir Center and the property for the agreement of sale is outlined in yellow. And again, here's an aerial view of that property. So, the request is to consider approval of the agreement between the city of Johnson City and Muny Memorial United Methodist Church for that property in the amount of $75,000.

Does anybody have any questions for staff? Uh, Miss Summers, um, if there will be three readings on this, just this three or just one. I think this is just one. It's not an ordinance.

Just one. Okay. Okay. Uh, assuming it passes tonight. What will the timeline be before something's actually done on that property? So the due diligence on the overall project will the redevelopment of the John Spir Center will take until about September of 2026 and then the property assuming that it goes through the due diligence period. Uh there should be a closing on that property sometime in the fall early winter. Um I think this piece um and that's about a 24-month construction project. Um, so sometime within the next 24 months, we should see some activity on that specific small parcel.

We wouldn't close until a year from now on the John Seir. No, no, I'm talking about on this this prop on this parcel, we'd close right away. Okay. So, we could theoretically go in there and kind of clean it up a little bit. Yes. Uh, right away, which I think is probably needed. Yes. I apologize. I misunderstood. Yeah. I'm sorry. All right. Thank you. Um, I'll move for approval. Second. Any discussion? Miss Louse, will you call the role? Commissioner Fowler? Yes. Commissioner Gets? Yes. Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock? Yes. Mayor Cox?

Yes. Commissioners, the next order of business is to consider approval of the prominade development agreement for the new shopping center on undeveloped land located at the northwest corner of Boone Creek Road and Christian Church Road. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. Jason Miles, public works director. [clears throat] The prominade at Boones Creek uh development agreement is uh before you tonight uh for the intention of the city to develop uh new infrastructure at that location of Northwest Corner Boones Creek Road and Christian Church Road. Um Horn Properties is uh intending to develop a shopping center there. Uh John Baker with Horn Properties is here tonight and we'll be glad to share any details that you'd like to hear about the development itself. Uh the city improvements, infrastructure improvements have been planned and budgeted in previous years to accommodate future growth in this area. Uh the city and the developer will collaboratively address uh the project needs, challenges, and opportunities. And we project the uh completion of this project to be May 2027. The agreement uh in your packet encompasses significant commitments to enhance infrastructure and public access. Uh the infrastructure upgrades uh include essential improvements to roadways, utilities, and drainage. The rightway dedication that we've requested from the property owner will ensure appropriate land allocation for future growth and public accessibility. Uh public access features uh will be

integrated uh to include pedestrian friendly design and public amenities for community enjoyment. Responsibilities and cost sharing uh for this project. Um we're working with the developer on the design, construction and maintenance future maintenance uh to be equitably shared between the developer and the city. uh we have in that development agreement a clear division of responsibilities to ensure project efficiency and accountability. U cost sharing arrangement reflects a balanced partnership with the developer uh and the commitment to quality design and construction standards will be had as well. uh community impact and benefits. The prominade of Boon Creek is anticipated to generate significant positive outcomes uh for the community. Uh improved access will be enhancing transportation with the roadway improvements that we'll be doing at that intersection to include uh widening Christian Church Road and Boone Creek Road, which I'll uh indicate to you with a graphic uh shortly. Uh economic vitality will be increased with business activity, job creation, and tax revenue. Uh this also aligns with our growth objectives uh supporting Johnson City's strategic vision for responsible and sustainable growth. This first graphic here is the Christian Church road widening. Uh what we're proposing to do is widen this to accommodate the turn lanes that you see there as you're coming down Christian Church Road and approaching the intersection with Boone Creek Road. Uh the city obligations here include extending the box covert which you can kind of see with those black lines there. That's a existing bridge but it's essentially a box covert. Uh we would extend that to uh accommodate the the

the lane widenings uh the road widening but also uh for future growth in that area which we project and and we've all talked about in the past with previous developments that have come forward for this area. Um, you know, we're we're obviously going to accommodate that with the bridge widening. Um, again, widening Christen Church Road for turn lanes. Uh, we'll provide traffic control for the project on Christen Church Road and we intend to complete the work by May 15, 2027 as indicated in the development agreement. [clears throat] Boon Creek Road widening is also part of this project. the there'll be two entrances essentially and you'll see those on the next graphic. This is the one that's proposed off of Boone Creek Road. Uh city obligations here will be to acquire the entrance permit from T dot uh widen Boones Creek Road to three lanes and construct the right and left turn lanes into this entrance. Um also provide traffic control and complete this work by May of 2027 as well. This is the essentially the the site plan for the development. Um so the developer's obligations here of course are uh the traffic impact analysis which uh has already been presented to us and has driven what we know to be the road improvements on Christian Church Road and Boon Creek Road. And so the graphics that you see indicate those traffic improvements that are needed already uh per the study. uh they'll have to provide an engineering study for the no- rise certification. The creek that runs through that covert is a flood way. Uh it's more restrictive in terms of FEMA requirement. So uh it requires an engineering study. It's very detailed to acquire a no- rise certification which essentially means

that uh the development will not create a rising creek essentially with with what they propose to do. Uh they'll of course have to construct all of the on-site improvements as shown. Um part of the shared cost that we have uh I should say the part of the cost that they're bearing for us which is a huge benefit for the city uh especially if you've seen the topograph topography out there is the the back fill and grading that will be necessary for the widening of Christian Church Road and Boone Creek Road. That's not insignificant. If if you if you're familiar with the area, there's quite a drop off off of both of those roads. The 10- foot shared use path along Boon Creek Road was negotiated with the developer as well. That's the part of the pedestrian uh amenity that we've we've worked out with them and um helps with, you know, developing our parks uh master plan as well. 8oot sidewalk along Christristen Church Road will also be constructed. Uh and again uh both the developer and the city intend to complete the improvements by miday 2027. Again I mentioned John Baker with Horn Properties developer is here if you have any specific questions about the development. Um and if John if you'd like to come up I'm sure he'd like to introduce what they're proposing to do there. So

Mr. Miles I have a question. Yes sir. Um, we're not planning on a light at Boon at Boone Creek right now. It's just the desellane and the turn lanes off of Boon Creek. We're we're aware that in the future uh I've heard rumors that Bright Ridge may be doing something out there eventually. Uh uh so those future developments may trigger a light at Boon Creek Road at the entrance that we were we were showing you. Uh but not for this development that we're talking about tonight. Yes, sir. And Jason, this is more of a long range question, but are you do you know if we do we already have kind of a trail easement along that creek along that

a trail easement? I recall some time having an easement granted when they were doing the school or something on the lower rodway through there. And so I just saw the path and wondered how long that's going. Yeah. Where's it going? And is there potential for it to carry on that creek is really the question. I don't know if there's a sewer easement that goes down through that creek with Boone Creek front end or not. I'm a little bit I'm not sure if Wallace if you know anything about that. I know we we we really wanted this trail to be along Boones Creek and Whitney may know something about that as well, but um and that's minor detail, but just while we're talking about it and see Creek just to understand for the community what

in our development agreement, we we've agreed to a 20ft easement to maintain that that multi-use path through there. But as to a spec, you know, an easement sewer easement along the the creek itself, I'm not entirely sure of that.

Dr. There's not an e an existing easement there. There was a a master plan to extend um or to widen Boon Creek Road down through there, which included a 10-ft shared use path. And so that would be along the edge of the the road. We felt like in in this development it was beneficial to everybody if we turned down Christian sheep Christian Church Road and then along the creek and then back up to the road at where their other entrance is. And so that's kind of the way it's it's planned right now. And they'll continue that shared use path as they develop the next phase of their project to the west. And so as things continue down to the west that will continue. That that's great. Thank you. That's okay.

And I don't know, mayor, if you want um director of water and sewer to address the easement along the sewer and water line because I think he was nodding that there is an easement along that area. I didn't mean to open up a trail and parks conversation, but yeah, this is a great start.

It is. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, and Miss Ball. Yes, there is. It's an existing 20th sewer line. when when the ridges was developed in the 1990s, this line was extended to that time frame. Uh you go back to I26 and exit 17, we we actually replaced that as part of the T dot road widening and a 24 inch line. But parallel in Boon Creek, we have this there's an existing sewer line with an easement uh that that follows that whole topography right there. Okay, that that sounds great. It was important to staff that we bring that multi-use path along the creek for obvious reasons as well. So again,

Mr. Riley, I would would like to hear Mr. Baker's thoughts on or to let us know what his plans are, which would be great. And um then my second second question to that we can answer at the end is when will we start the infrastructure parts of this? Good evening. I'm John Baker with Horn Properties. Uh mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, management. Appreciate all your help and assistance. The city has been great to work with throughout this process. Uh we a little bit of background about Horn Properties. We have been developing for over 43 years. We have in 25 states. We have done 22 million square feet of retail. So we we know the business. We have a lot of uh national anchors that follow us and we build directly for them. One in particular at this location is a uh 54k Publix. We do do a lot of Publix work and this is a very desired zone for them to service the community. So we we're very excited about that. But I'm happy to answer any questions on what our projections are. You mentioned our timeline. We are projecting uh to start probably mid-March of next year would be our start site work. Now we got to get permits and everything once that's in place. That's our projection.

You referenced it as a 54k. How would that compare to the existing Publix we have in town? I believe in um that is a 48 or 50. So this is their biggest prototype. Initially when we started the process it was a smaller but they they felt that they needed to do the bigger one because of the ne the service. It services a lot of area and they felt like it would perform very well at this location and then you'll have out parcels that you will get this.

Yeah. So we're doing some very nice finishes, stone work, things like that. And then we have to go through a process with Publix for the approval. This is kind of we've been through three different versions, but this is the latest the process and this is just a front view of what the the schematic would look like. Do I need to go back? Got it.

But we do have we have the outlot set and we have a lot of interest so far for the outlots. Um but that will cons there are restrictions involved with Publix that we have to follow for the specific uses. Um but it will be prominent type uses for those locations based on those restrictions. So you'll be actively constructing then on Publix in 2026. Yes ma'am. Good. Move approval. Second. Any discussion? Miss call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gets, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox,

yes.

Next item for consideration is item 7.3, which is to consider approval of an increase of rates for solid waste fees effective February 1st, 2026. Okay, good evening again. Jason Miles, public works director. Uh, so I'm going to present to you the solid waste rate study and financial plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2029, which we discussed with you all at the work session on November 6. Of course, also with me is meat Olsen with Raphelis, our consultant, uh that did just a great work on the study that they did for this rate increase. They've done work in the past, as you know, for the water and sewer department for years. This is our first uh call it professional financial study for solid ways. So, we're glad to have them on board for this purpose. So uh the purpose of this is to ensure financial sustainability of salow waste operations. Um salow waste is an enterprise fund as you all know and must be self-supporting. No property tax revenue. This is a long-term plan for our operational capital and reserve needs. Our key financial goals include fully fund operations and reinvestment, implement fair and consistent rate structure. We want to maintain a minimum of 120 days of operating revenue, sorry, operating reserves. Um, and we need to replace our aging fleet to reduce maintenance costs. I know we went over that in quite a bit of detail. Um again

just to repeat some of the highlights from our work session discussion um we had spent approximately 13.5 million dollars on our current fleet. U you'll recall we came to you um I think a couple of months ago about adding three lease trucks to our fleet because at one time we had and and not just one time but multiple times we had 14 trucks down at any given time. So that's an awful lot to absorb even with all the backup trucks that we have. Um the average hours of these trucks is 9,800 plus and the average mileage. Commissioner Brock, you had asked this question before is 112,000 miles. So

yeah, total on each of the average per truck right now. So

and you'll recall uh the average age of our trucks is about nine years now. Uh so we're definitely at the end of the cycle for a lot of these vehicles. Again, aging vehicles. U one of our current challenges. Some are nearly 20 years old. The average age is nearly nine years and we recently leased those three trucks that I mentioned due to excessive downtime repairs. Rising truck replacement costs. This has been quite a bitter pill to swallow over the last few years. Uh from FY21 to FY25, we've seen $110,000 increase uh in truck costs, 35% on average. Um inflationdriven operational costs have been doubledigit annual percentage increases from FY22 to 24. Uh inflation is normalizing, but that's only one rate of change. Capital and operational needs. Uh this uh rate increase is front-loaded. Um it's a 12.7 million capital plan for FY26 to 29. The majority of this cost is to replace our trucks. That's where the bulk of our costs are for sure. $6.4 million in truck replacements is projected for or planned for FY26 alone. So, um, again, we can't get these trucks in fast enough to replace, you know, the ones that are breaking down constantly.

How long is it taking to get to get a truck once it once the order's placed?

So, that's gotten better. That's improved. At one time, I think at the worst worst case, at one time it was about 16 months once we put the order in for a new truck. And of course, we have to go through a bidding process for that. And then, uh, once, you know, that's approved, then we order them. And it's 16 months to get them delivered. that's been stepped up now. I think it's been cut in half basically. Um, still longer than we'd like to see, but we have found other options like leasing vehicles and things like that to get us out of a jam. So, and we've also made relationships or developed relationships with new vendors that hadn't bid trucks in 20 years here. You know, Autocar is one for example. And so, I've developed a relationship with a gentleman I met at the Swana conference. Solid Waste Association of North America conference in Chattanooga. Um so they're interested in bidding trucks and uh I know our fleet director is tickled to death about that because they're excellent trucks with a great safety record and safety features in their trucks. No new debt is proposed. All cash funded as you know uh the PGO approach our financial plan and again I'm glad Mr. Olsson is here to answer any specific questions you have about this. But this uh [clears throat] again for fiscal year 26 24.6 million to fiscal year 2029 20.8 million declines as capital tapers. Uh operating expenses approximately 17.6 million rising to 19.6 million by fiscal year 29. Uh this is a front-loaded plan for 12.7 million uh through fiscal year 29. Uh recurs I'm sorry reserves will recover after the initial draw down. And I need to stress to you that these are

projections that will be monitored every year moving forward. Residential customer impact. So what you see here are the proposed rates. The current current rates is the 2025 rate column which you see there is for municipal $13 per month and the regional rate is $19 per month. As you know that's for the folks outside of city limits in Washington County. Um at February 1st which is what we're requesting approval of is for these new rates to take effect. The municipal rate would go up $3.25 25 to$,625 and for regional it will go up $4.75. Um just want to clarify that that's at February 1st 2026. The next rate increase would automatically kick in through this approval at July 1st 2027. So then the municipal rate goes up to 1675, regional rate goes up to 2450. So again, the front-loaded piece is is the February 1 rate increase. Benchmarking is a comparison here of what other uh regional cities are doing. What I've shown in red here, and I won't read through all of this, but um what I've shown in red here indicates the differences between what other uh communities are doing versus us. Um, so you can see municipal and regional for Johnson City down at the bottom and all the services that we provide. Of course, as you know, we don't provide brush and bulk item collection for county residents, but we do for all of our city residents. And that's a common theme for all of these uh communities, but in red

is the difference. So when you look at their rates, monthly fees, you know, it can be misleading because some of them supplement, you know, their operational costs with their general fund. We of course have an enterprise fund that pays for everything. If there's anything specifically here you want me to discuss, I'm glad to, but I'll give you a minute to kind of browse through that. And it's also important to note that under the municipal services that we provide under the notes section, there's quite a bit we do. Um that I I know citizens appreciate it for sure and we appreciate providing these services, but um sometimes it amazes me that, you know, we can't get out there fast enough sometime, you know, for lead pickup and things like that. But we we certainly do the best that we can and we'll continue to improve. Um, again, we we're dealing with uh sometimes broken down vehicles and things like that. So, on occasion, we're late picking up leaves at people's homes, but we try to get out there immediately after we get the truck repaired or what have you. So, it's a challenge this time.

We also [clears throat] pick up like when people put furniture out on the curb and Yes, ma'am. Um, so I I don't see where that's covered under that, but um that's what we call bulk item pickup. Okay. Bulk it. But not everybody does that, right? uh most of them do and and that's kind of a common theme that you see provides brush bulk collection um for each of these other locations. Um again, we don't do that for the Washington County residents, but we do that for the city residents.

But we should also make a distinction. These are all municipal or county services, but an hour away from here, there are municipalities that don't provide solid waste service at all, and they're provided by the private sector. And so homeowners make arrangements with any number of waste haulers. And in many a neighborhood that I see, every day is garbage day because waste management comes one day and laid law another and rovers another and ward a different. So there's trash cans out every day.

And they're paying 20 and $25 per month for one trash can. They get no curbside recycling for that. none of the brush, none of the leaves, none, you know, and so you're showing benchmarking to municipal systems, but there's a broader benchmarking that really needs to be made. There are other ways municipalities can deal with solid waste that don't look quite as similar. All of these are have some similarities to them and I just want to point that out. Yeah, thank you.

Great point. And Jason, if you're on if you're in the county and on city water, are you required to be part of solid waste as well or can they opt out? If you're in the county, if that's a I I believe they can opt out. I think they can choose to have and that's partly why it's an enterprise fund is I think anybody can basically opt out. They can have their own private service. is just nobody's going to do it cheaper and better than we do, you know, in the city or in the county. I may be wrong about that about the city, but I know in the county they they do have the option to uh opt out for sure

and and I just was making that clarification. It's not necessarily required. This is a a great service that we provide, not necessarily um but and and so just kind of reiterate that it's a service that we're providing. Yeah. Uh, can you comment on I mean a few years ago we seriously considered maybe we need to rethink curbside recycling. We decided no, we wanted to continue to offer that. Are the markets for recyclable goods improving?

It it it fluctuates for sure. Um, I' I'd say at best, you know, we we probably break even on recycling. You know, we do we do it efficiently, as efficiently as you can, but certainly there's a reason why a lot of other municipalities do not provide recycling services, curbside recycling. Um, and again, you know, as an enterprise fund, it is essentially an opt-in system, right? You know, that's why it's considered a fee and not a a tax, I guess. But uh um yeah, the recycling thing is uh interesting because there's a big push now by the state to do more of it, but um you know, it just seems to fall on deaf ears in a lot of locations, especially talking to people at the swan conference and that sort of thing. So, uh my understanding is talking to some folks from TEC, they're really pushing hard for municipalities to get back into the recycling business or start it for the first time. Uh so uh my what I hear from other people is they're taking baby steps toward that but u you know we with Domar and Eastman and those folks we have a market for it but it's not a very big market. And it I'm sorry. Sorry.

I was just going to remind everybody too that if we break even on recycling, that's awesome because of the extension of our landfill, how many years more we can use our landfill by not filling it up with all the recyclable materials. So it it may even if we don't make any money on it, it's still saving us so much so many years of our landfill by not putting that all in with the landfill stuff. That's absolutely correct. Yes, sir. that so the air space that we don't use at the landfill for the recyclables is you know I guess an unaccounted for cost but we know it's there or benefit but we certainly know it's there just hard to put a number to that of course yeah

well one number was when Iris Glenn was built in 1993 or four it was to have a 30-year life expectancy right and so if you do the math that would be now and so we're not talking about Iris Glenn being full and that has a lot to do with the diversion that Commissioner Fowler is referencing. That's correct. Yeah. And would you remind us when we started the recycling program here? Boy, that's before my time. Yeah. I'm sorry. I think it was I don't think he was born yet. 19 [laughter] I think it was 1988. We were the first in the state started [music] program state. Thank you.

The other thing Mr. miles. I think it's important for our customers of the enterprise fund. It takes a totally different truck for the recycling to be picked up and so that's on top of the the capital that we have to invest in just the regular physical trash that we pick up. Um, are those trucks more expensive? They look it. I don't know why because maybe they're bigger, but uh Yeah. And how many of those do we have?

I believe we have five. They're not all operating at the same time, but um and I'll I'll double check that and get back to you, but the you're you're you're right. They they are different trucks and they require more manpower. I believe we have three people on those trucks, a driver and uh two curbside attendants at all times. So, u sorry maybe two people, the driver and one. Um and it's it's dangerous work. Those guys are jumping in and out of the trucks all the time. Um, you all may be aware that we've had a, you know, an incident recently with a gentleman who uh who who died, you know, falling off one of those trucks and and uh that's something that was um not something the city could have done anything about. It was uh and I don't want to get into too much detail with that, but it's it's just it's a stark reminder of how dangerous this business is. I know Miss Baker indicated to me recently that Salowace has been the most dangerous uh department or division in the city for many many years since she's been here 40ome years. So,

and the best thing we ever did was stop having people lift trash cans and let machines lift trash cans. Exactly. So that's why we have we call them side loaders or automated trucks. It's it's one driver and it's a mechanical arm that that lifts the carts into the into the vehicle. But the recycling trucks are not built that way. They still require, you know, with curbside recycling a lot of manpower, if you will.

I guess I would uh acknowledge Rafalis. Um, these sorts of studies are critical to running an enterprise fund effectively because they're where we come to terms with what the real cost of operating the system is going to be. And because it's an enterprise fund, that's ultimately the the goal is for it to net out. And so absent a a rate study of this nature, you're kind of guessing

and you're waiting and see and and and you get yourself in a position where your enterprise fund may be operating in the here and now, but then your fleet is aging and you're not reckoning with the actual true cost of the wear and the tear and the eventual replacement. And so I want to just commend you for pursuing the rate study and I want to encourage us to continue that practice so that we can um you know build that planning into our models going forward. And with that I would make a motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? Ml you call the role. Commissioner Fowler. Yes. Commissioner gets yes.

Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock. Yes, Mayor Cox. Yes,

commissioners. The next item is 7.4. This one does not require a vote, but it is a presentation of the unudited financial statements for September 30th, 2025. Uh good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. I'm Stephanie Laos. I'm your finance director and I'm going to give you a little bit of a financial update as of September 30th, uh the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year. Um so we'll start out with just an overview of the general fund. Um I do want to caution anyone looking at this that it it does look um artificially low. Um it does look like there's an artificially uh significant decrease in fund balance. Uh I'll point that out point out the reasoning for that when we talk about revenues. Um so if you look up here at our revenues, re uh property taxes look really low. Um our property taxes are not even allowed to be paid until October 1st. Um so the the $43,000 that's been collected up there is all delinquent from previous tax years. So, as of September 30th, we had zero zero current property tax revenue. Um, that will increase significantly. We've seen a a very good uptick in the first couple of months of collections. And by the end of um property tax season when they're due, February 28th, we typically collect between 97 and 98% of current property taxes every every year. So, we will get uh at or above that $44 million by the end of February. Um other revenues that are in there, uh compared to last year, the biggest difference is our um our business our bu building permits are

about $200,000 less than they were this time last year. Um it looks like there were some significant developments. You know, we'd have some significant developments going on right now. Uh but those permits were purchased back in FY25. Um and the the work is still ongoing. So um but we do know that there's a lot of significant development still continuing to come. So I expect those numbers to increase but we are um for most revenues around 25% which is where we would expect everything to be after three months uh for the for the budget. Uh local sales tax I know that's always a a big question. Um we are currently trending about 6% over what last year's prop uh local sales tax collections were for the first three months. Uh our historic historically the growth 24 over 23 was about 2%. Uh 24 five over 24 was about four and we budgeted a 3% increase. So um you can see that that top line for FY26 is trending well above uh where we were last year. expenditures. We do expect expenditures to be around 25% as well. However, there are some departments that are front-loaded with their with their expenses. For instance, my department in finance, we have to pay for our audit um periodically throughout the year and a lot of that is upfront. Um so, we do still look good on expenses being only at 23.7% of our total budget. And I will note there's an one of the big things that is automatically paid at the beginning of the year is all of the money we allocate for capital is moved on the first day of the fiscal year. So a 100% of that money of that budget is shown as being expended already. It's moved into the capital funds. General fund balance. Um I don't we don't report this as the as the year goes on because of that artificial decrease with not having the revenues collected. But I wanted to show you what

we had as of the beginning of the fiscal year, June 30, 2025. Um, our fund balance is $31.5 million. Uh, the majority of that is in our stabilization, our rainy day fund. That is the com what is the commission has set aside for stabilizing the the the budget to make sure that we have ex have money in the reserves to pay the expenses as we go. Um, we do have some assigned some uh committed revenue. A lot of that's from grants or money that we've received from d from uh granting agencies that we have to spend on specific projects. Uh our enterprise funds, our water and sewer is our largest enterprise fund. Uh their revenue is slightly ahead of budget at 27.2%. All of our fees and sales are trending above budget. So it looks they're looking really good. Expenses um excluding depreciation, we're at 22.3%. We've got our contractual services and building materials expenses are coming in under budget. And uh but debt service will come in later in the year. That is only paid um paid twice a year and we've only paid a little bit of it at this point. And depreciation is only booked twice a year. It's booked in December and in June. So that will have to hit this uh so we won't be at you see 4.7 being the change in net position. that will be decreased significantly by um by some depreciation later in the year. Our other enterprise funds, the regional solid waste, city solid waste, and storm water, Jason just talked a lot about the uh solid waste. So, I won't dip too much into that. you there are trending um revenues are trending really well almost at the 25% where we would expect and expenses are a little higher in regional solid waste but like he said we're seeing some repairs and maintenance and those types of things we're having to do um solid waste expenses are under and so are storm water

um Freedom Hall I'm actually excited to tell you about Freedom Hall this uh this this period so our expenditures are in excess of revenues by about 124,000 But our revenues have already hit 48% of the total budgeted revenues for the year. Um I talked to the director of Freedom Hall and he said Redneck Brawl was a huge revenue boost for us. Um so we we like that apparently. Um and they've already rebooked for FY26. So um we'll be having that again next year. Um Shriner Circus and Skillet, you know, they had a rough time last year with because of Helen. We had a lot of shows that were cancelled. those have rebounded and have returned to the typical levels that we see. Um and in the spring we're looking forward to the Globe Trotters, Bull Riding, Big South. Um so we have some big things uh in the works there. So um expenses are up from budget as well, but we would expect that with shows requiring more staffing and more supplies. And also we're getting ready with some of the stuff we need to do for the Big South tournament to get ready for that. Um, so lastly, and in your packets that you received, you did receive at the end there's a a financial statement for our health insurance fund. And I just wanted to touch on that very briefly. I don't have anything to put up on the screen, but um it did show that we had a a negative fund balance of about $733,000. Um, the reasoning for that in this the first three months of the year, we've had two significant uh claims that we've had hit that were not expected. they hit in the first quarter. Um they've both hit stop-loss, so we've maximized our liability on those. Um so those will not be hitting us any harder as we go forward. And we do expect the fund balance to rebuild and come back um come back stronger with the continued contributions from the city employees, the city, all of the premiums that are paid. And we have a pharmacy rebate that we get annually that will be coming in

in October, November. And so we expect to see that rebound back up. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to. Thank you very much. This is very helpful. And um would like to hear the sales tax collections are looking good. Yes. Thank you,

commissioners. The next uh items up for your consideration are ordinances under first reading. Item 8.1 is ordinance number 4932-25. This is an ordinance for the reszoning of 4.81 acres located at 2121 Simol Drive from R2 to R2C. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. Sarah Flyfield and the new planner one presenting on this resoning tonight. So just a brief timeline of what's happened so far with this project. Uh it went before planning commission on November 11th approved and the first reading is tonight with second reading being held on December 18th and third and final reading on January 8th. So just some notifications that went out. Signs were placed on the property and letters sent out to owners within 200 feet on October 23rd. November 3rd was the neighborhood meeting and newspaper advertisements were printed on November 21st. So this is just an aerial view to kind of orient you to the area. So we have this blue star representing the property in question and then we have Antioch Road over here, Seinal Drive, and then Grace Fellowship Church right below. And this is just a little bit more of a zoomed in view. So these are just some site views we have looking west toward Antioch Road and looking east toward South Greenwood Drive. So as you heard uh this is reszone one parcel 4.81 acres from R2 to R2C both lowdensity residential and the reason is to accommodate a future 11 lot single family residential community and as was stated earlier the intent is to house those displaced by hurricane Helen.

So just to give some context on what is current versus what is being proposed. As you can see here, the biggest difference is lot size. So under the current R2 zoning, they're allotted 15,000 square feet and under proposed R2C, their m their minimum is 6,000. They're actually proposing 8,600. And that would take them from as was stated earlier a potential of nine units to 11 that they are proposing. So the concept plan we see 11 single family dwellings with new public road and culde-sac sidewalks on both sides of that walking trail that is approximately 0.33 miles wrapping around the west and lower portions of the property and around the storm water retention pond and 1.67 67 acres of open space with 1.37 of that being active which is 82% of the total open space. So current conditions of the subject site it's wooded vacant lot and kind of gently slopes upwards toward the east of the property by about 30 ft and the lowest elevation is going to be along that western property line. utilities, water and sewer service is available to the site. And per traffic, this development does not meet the requirements for a traffic study. As far as transit goes, there is a stop 0.21 miles away out the corner of South Greenwood and Colony Park on the purple ETSU line. So again, current zoning is R2 with adjacent R2 and R3 and pretty much all R2 and R2C nearby. And current land use is again vacant. Uh Seminal Drive is solely residential. So to tie this into the growth management plan, Horizon 2045 does designate this as neighborhood residential, which this would qualify as. And to kind of break that down a little bit further, what that means is single family is considered most

appropriate with larger lot sizes, residential and single family. So this does fit some more specific policies of Horizon 2045. Uh encouraging strong neighborhoods. So supporting the development of diverse housing choices that reflect the compatibility of scale and creation of place and encourage growth in areas already served by public utilities, transportation networks, and schools, which this is. So some citizen comments at neighborhood meeting held on uh November 3rd, 5:30 p.m. Concerns that were mentioned were density and traffic uh especially the impact on Antioch Road and Huffine Circle. Storm water runoff was mentioned uh in relation to that pond and some kind of runoff issues and it was brought up natural features. So removal of any existing foliage and effect on wildlife was mentioned as a concern. Staff does recommend to approve this resoning request and the rationale being that it is within the allowed density and comparable with the surrounding area and R2C is uh does support the horizon 2045 plan and is also supported by the future land use map. and your decision options are posted here and I'm here for any questions you have of me.

Commissioners, any questions for staff? No, I just want to commend the church for their vision and responding to a very real need in our community for housing. And ASP and Habitat for Humanity and any number of the groups that are attempting to build housing um are up against this same challenge and grace is to be commended for um for seeing that opportunity and I will make a motion to approve. I'll second. Any discussion? Miss Lass. Commissioner Fowler. Yes. Commissioner Gats. Yes. Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock. Yes. Mayor Cox.

Yes.

Commissioners, the next item is 8.2. It's an or ordinance number 4933-25. This is an ordinance for the resoning of 2.06 06 acres located at 2600 people street from R3 to MS1. Now I'll be presenting this as well. So same timeline here, same dates. Uh also approved at planning commission on November 11th. These are also just some frontage views from the subject site. So we have looking west towards Johnson City Center Shopping and looking east towards Browns Mill Road. So this is the site in question again. Reszone one parcel 2.06 acres from R3 to MS1 medical services and the reason is to accommodate a future hotel development. So current zoning is R3 and the requested is MS1. Adjacent zoning being R3, PB and MS1. nearby zoning and major roadways are three and of course we have I26 to the north. So permitted uses in this requested zoning clinics, hospitals and hotels, motel are all permitted. Front setback of 35 ft sideyards a minimum total depth of two or 12 feet for the first story eight additional for the next two and four additional for that final one. rear yard minimum depth of 30 feet. So the concept plan we see a 121 room four-story hotel with 128 standard parking spaces and five handicap and there's a 60x60 joint entrance governed by a transportation easement with the adjacent lot that you'll see right here and a sewer easement can be found all the way at the back right over here and the sidewalk along People Street

right down here. So, current conditions of the subject sites vacant with commercial and multifamily usage to the west and south. Single family and public usage are kind of farther to the east. Utilities, there's a water line along People Street and sewer extensions required by the developer. Traffic study will be done at the time of development permits and there is a transit stop about a half a mile away at 13 319 People Street along the Silver North Johnson City route. So to tie this back into Horizon 2045, this does designate as compact residential. And to break that down a little further, so this is what would kind of be considered a low impact uh commercial usage. So single use, which this is, it's a hotel and transportation. So autofocused, which this would fit with. So some Horizon 2045 policies that apply prosperous economy. We want to identify and promote key commercial corridors and retail nodes that align with the future Wayne use plan. and we want to align zoning regulations to facilitate this diverse development. So, citizen comments. A neighborhood meeting was held on November 3rd and no public were present. The recommendation is to approve based on the proposed development is in a commercial corridor and the zoning district and proposed development do support Horizon 2045 growth management plan. And once again, your decision options are posted here and I am here for any questions you have with me. Commissioners, any questions for staff?

I want to welcome you to Johnson City. Thank you. You've done a great job. And Sarah, we're we're thrilled that you're here. So, I appreciate that. Thank you for that. And this is a good use for the property in that area. For sure. I'll make a motion to approve. Second. Discussion. Miss call the role. Commissioner Fowler? Yes. Commissioner Gets? Yes. Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock. Yes. Mayor Cox. Yes. The next item for consideration is ordinance 4934-25. It's an ordinance to abandon 0.27 acres of public rideway at 2832 West Walnut Street.

Good evening, commissioners, mayor, vice mayor. I'm Riley Pudney, development coordinator with the planning division, and tonight we have a request first reading for a rightaway abandonment at 2832 West Walnut Street. A timeline for the abandonment, it went to November 11th, planning commission where it received a seven uh unanimous 70 recommendation for approval. Tonight is the first reading. The public hearing will be December 18th with a final action on January 8th. to orient the commission on where this request is. It is located at 2832 West Walnut, which is the uh Johnson City Fire Department training facility. The reason for the request is because the rideway is within actual training facility grounds and to clean up the site and allow new buildings to be put on the property without having to deal with rightaway setbacks. The request was made to have it abandoned. With the abandonment request, uh there were no concerns with other departments or agencies. uh water sewer has requested that a public utility easement be retained which is showed on the survey as well. Staff recommends approval of the rideway abandonment and to retain the public utility easement within that abandonment and your decision options are presented. Any questions for staff?

I'd make a motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? want to make sure that they got good fire protection there even after this. All right, this last call the roll. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes. And commissioners, the final uh formal item on the agenda under city manager report is an update from water sewer uh capital projects report to the board that's done annually. We have our uh water sewer director John Lane here to provide that report.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, uh commissioners, and Miss Ball, John Lane, Water, and Sew Services Director. So, what I have before you tonight is our our annual water and capital projects update. The last time I presented this was in December of 2024. So feel free to stop me along the way for any questions. Also know I'm the last item on the agenda, so I'll try to go quick. Not uh quick introduction. So just a reminder, we have two different types of projects in water sewer. We have our debt funded capital and our rate funed capital projects. Rate funed capital fall into more repetitive categories like our annual galvanized replacement or our tank recoding projects. And debtf funed capital projects are the ones that are longer duration and they that we use our road maps. We use our uh our master plans as road maps. And you see on here we have two different capital delivery plans that we're currently underway. Fiscal year 2019 through 2022 that's nearly complete. And then our current fiscal year 2026 through 2029 plan. So what you see here in bold are four current current master plans that were completed within the last two years. Uh we actually completed work sessions over on all four of those different uh ones listed here. But those are use those are significant ones that we're using now as a road mapaps for these current capital projects. So these are projects that have been completed since December of 2024 when we last met. So the first is the gray tank rehabilitation. So in our department we actually in our service area have 16 different water service uh water different tanks. So this one is actually located on exit 13 in the gray exit right above the interstate interchange. Uh on our our steel tanks, we usually want those recoded every 20 to 25 years. So you see this one was actually recoded in 1998. So it was due uh this one actually came in under budget and was uh closed out by commission after approval in April earlier this year. Walnut Street water and sewer replacement. So uh water and sewer was just one overall department involved in

the in the project itself. Uh but in the four years of construction that was involved in Walnut Street, we uh worked in coordination with public works and Summers Taylor and had over 11,000 feet of water line replaced and over 8,600 feet of sewer line replaced. So a significant effort that was undertaken on that project. Uh here's a few pictures obviously of the ribbon cutting that we had just two months ago in October and kind of the final streetscape that was involved. But but kind of just a reminder uh for the water and sewer infrastructure we were actually able to complete at $1.8 million under budget. the overall project on Walnut Street. Here's kind of just a few pictures of the overall construction over the last four years. So, the one in the middle was actually at the very end of the project scope. That is the University Parkway and West Walnut Street intersect intersection. So, you actually see there's a box cover there that had to be saw cut for the utility lines to cross there. So, that is a 12-in diameter water line that actually crossed to the ETSU side of University Parkway. And then on the West Wallet Street sewer line side, same same area, middle picture here that you see, the same box cover that was crossed with a 16inch diameter sewer line. So that was a significant undertaking when we crossed University Parkway. So Liberty Bell and Limestone Cove tanks rehabilitation. So these were two tanks that were both recoded this summer. This project actually kind of followed a different schedule. Normally we want to have our tanks drained and recoded annually during the fall after the summer months have already passed for for peak water usage. But because of the proximity of Liberty Bell tank to Freedom Hall, Liberty Bell Middle School, and Science Hill High School, we actually had that tank out of service during the summer. So, we actually condensed a 90 a 90-day project into 60 days so that they actually put the tank back in service the week after school started. So, that was a significant undertaking, but they did a fantastic job. Uh, we also worked with the fire department and JC uh police department during the the fireworks to make sure the construction area was safe and there was nothing that happened during that time frame as well. Uh both of these

tanks have been placed back into service now. Uh the second one you see is the Limestone Cove tank. So this is about a 100,000galon tank in Uncoy County. Uh but both of these projects will be closing out for commission approval in the coming weeks under budget. So projects currently under delivery. Uh Sinking Creek sewer pump station upgrades. So we have right at 100 sewer pump stations. This is by far our largest. This is actually the amount of flow similar to a sewer pump sewer uh wastewater treatment plant by itself. So this collects all the flow from Milligan College Cherokee Road Corridor all goes to this location here. So it's about 2 million gallons a day on average and can peak out about 7 million gallons a day in flow. So that's actually a significant amount. Uh because of that amount and all the growth in that area, what what this project is is a $9 million project to build a new screening structure on the front side of it, which is what you see in the picture here. It was a new roof, new standby generator, and then in the existing building, you see in these pictures here on the left, is brand new electrical equipment. And on the right, a significant piping network with new pumps uh and new motors. So, this one is actually almost complete. We're looking like completion probably in January, February of 2026. Uh it'll come in under budget and it's a $2 million EDA grant involved. So we actually have already received $1 million so far and I sent in for approval for the LA another half a million dollars for EDA grant reimbursement. A cuer lift station. So this is off of uh North Ron Street or Kingsport Highway off Boring Chapel Road. We have a series of sewer pump stations in this area, but this one was from the 1970s, and based on the amount of growth in that area, it needed to be replaced. So, Summers Taylor has been working on the construction of this for a little over a year. So, what you see in the picture here is a new control building, uh, a new chemical storage tank and a new standby generator. And to the right here, uh, in the back of the picture is actually a Reedi Creek. So Paradise

Acres is kind of right above the tree line kind of in comparison to where this is that we uh had Summers and Taylor also install a flood wall for flood protection for the control building. So this one is looking like a January February 2026 completion date as well and is trending to be under budget demolition of two structures. So I know Dr. Fowler uh Vice Mayor and Commissioner Wise, you all been to this complex before and previous Christmases. So, I actually have a contractor on site that is demoing what we call the blue and the yellow buildings. I know we've had Christmas dinners before in the yellow building. The yellow building here is actually was our previous uh warehouse and line maintenance construction offices and the building to the the top of the page is our blue building which was our machine shop and repair garage. So, the contractor is DH Griffin. They're located in Bristol, Virginia. So, they have begun the demo of both of those facilities. And then you can see the the the long-term plan is actually for when Brush Creek expands. This would be the location for that in the coming year. So we have three different wastewater plants, but Brush Creek is by far our largest. And based on topography, the the best location for it to grow is in this location. Uh Knob Creek Road, West Mountain View, and Oakland Avenue. So this is kind of a coordination with public works and the state of Tennessee with TOT. So, uh, the final product on Oakland turned out fantastic with public works in coordination with us. And so, we actually did a new water and sewer extension as part of that. Uh, we had crews out there in coordination with public works for about seven months doing water and sewer extensions in that same area. And then we will, uh, we will be mobilizing to Mountain View in the coming weeks to do a sewer extension to actually phase out one of our sewer pump stations on the north side of Mountain View. Knob Creek improvements. I know it was a little over a year ago we actually did a a work session at Langston Center with y'all in the Knob Creek wastewater treatment plant. So this is the the facility that's located off Austin Springs Road. It's a 4 million gallon per day uh plant, but this plant needs

significant improvements in the coming years based on the growth. This plant actually catches the flow from Piney Flats, the exit 19 state of Franklin exit and the exit 20 North Run Street Mall exit. So, we're in final design currently and for a new bisulfite building, uh, new blowers, new electrical equipment, and various architectural improvements. And this one is looking like probably a fall of 2026, uh, construction start time frame. We've been trying to do an annual galvanized replacement project. So, GRC has already been awarded that following commission approval a few months ago. So, they're looking like a probably a January, February of 2026 start date. And this is off of Brandonwood Road to the north of Indian Ridge. So kind of if you look at the picture, Woodland Elementary School would be kind of right here. So this is to the north of Woodland Elementary School replacing those water lines and then very close to Boone Lake out in the Oak Grove area. Uh this is our second phase we've been doing as part of the Washington County Water Task Force. So we're actually moving forward for four different roads. It's it's Cox Road, Bob Job Road, Payne Lane, and Buckingham Road. So, it's actually a little over 11,000 ft of waterline extensions in unserved areas. So, we will uh move forward with this. It's already been awarded by uh commission for Horizon Underground to start in early 2026. Uh our department will pay for the funds and then after the project is completed, Washington County will reimburse us as part of the the task force process. And that's been a significant undertaking, but it's turned out to be a fantastic opportunity to work with other other utilities doing that. H sewer lift station. So this is the one just near the gray fairgrounds. So this is one that we already had in our master planning process, but it kind of was expedited with the Keeler annex station. So it actually was on the last commission agenda toward a Morgan contracting the new sewer pump station, new gravity line, and the pressurized line. So Morgan is looking to start probably in spring of 2026. We're

working on getting contracts signed currently. And then if you've been in Uncoy recently, uh the Highway 107 bridge has been closed. This was on the state's list for several years to to replace the bridge and widen it. But when Hurricane Helen happened, they they delayed the the closing of it, but they closed it a few weeks ago. We have an existing 6-inch water line on the bridge. So, when this bridge project was happening, we made sure that we could upsize the existing line when they widen the road. So, we will have a new 8-in water line that they should be starting to install in the next couple weeks. And this one is chapter 86 eligible, which means T dot will be reimbursing us for the utility cost projects to be advertised next year. So this is one we've talked about for several years in a row, but it's a significant 30-inch diameter sewer pipeline project. So it's over 14,000 ft. It kind of parallels the TVA transmission line through there. It's taken a long time to get to this point because it had over 50 easements to obtain. We finally obtained our last one about two months ago. So we're looking like probably in the first quarter of 2026 we'll have it advertised to bid sewer rehabilitation. So our next sewer rehab project is in the north ran street corridor. So you kind of see in the picture here to the north is I26. To the south is uh science high school and Hunter Lake subdivision. So this will be our next you know pipe within a pipe project to to remove uh infiltration inflow into the existing sewer system that has been recently paved. So we'll make be making sure to coordinate that with the state of Tennessee when they do the work and when they pave the main sewer line in North R Street. That'll probably involve some significant traffic control. So probably night hours after hours to kind of make sure it's not impacting traffic when they're doing that. And then it's in design now, but our next galvanized project would out be kind of where the cliff subdivision is. It's Rangewood Road and Baywood. So, it's in final design now, but probably in summer or fall of 2026, we'll have it

advertised to bid. Uh 2009 pressure zone improvements. So, uh kind of getting your bearings, this is the corner of Sunset and State of Franklin Road. If you've seen this brick building, that is our West Hills Water Booster Station. So, that is a a fantastic booster station, but it needs some upgrades. It's right there in the corner of our 2009 pressure zone, but the the existing station's from the 1970s. And so this 2009 pressure zone is the one that actually feeds ETSU, the VA campus, and Johnson City Medical Center. So we actually are looking at this as a grant opportunity. I've submitted a $2 million grant to fund a good portion of this, but it's in final design now where we will have a new 16inch diameter water line up Knob Creek Road, and then it'll where Mahon is at Sunset, it'll be another 16inch diameter line. So, uh, Jason in public works has been assisting me to hold on the paving of Not Creek Road until this project has actually been installed so that we can make sure we have the space for that 16-inch diameter water line. And then we do have seven different railroad crossings that we're working on design for reinforcement for our water service area. Uh, three are Norfolk Southern crossings. You see there it's Green Pond Road, McKinley Road, and Woodland Road. And then we have four that are CSX railroad crossings. So Boon Station Road, Old Stage Road, Liberty Church Road, and Garland Way. So the the reason I bring these up is every individual crossing of a railway does require a separate agreement. So when I once I have each one of these, I'll bring those before y'all for for commission approval. I'm almost done. I promise. Uh lower Creek interceptor. So I know we just talked about the prominade. This is just downstream of the proomenade. So you have the 20-in or 21in sewer line to the west of I26. You have the I26 interchange here that was done as part of the T dot widening. If you know where the fire station is and where PAL is at, there's an existing 10-in sewer line that follows Boon Creek all the way to

Boone Lake. That's what this project is. So, this will be about 12,000 ft of new 24 in. So, with all the growth in Boone Creek, this would be upsizing that 10 inch to a 24inch diameter line. So, kind of like the the previous one we talked about that had 50 easements, this one has 40. So the one benefit for this one though is there's already an existing line. So we already have an existing easement. We're just trying to get wider ones as we we upsize the line there. And then stay route 34. This is West Market Street Bridge. So the Boys and Girls Club is right near this one. So the state of Tennessee plans to replace this in about 2028 2029 time frame, but they have several different milestones along the way before they get to that point. So, the first step is what they call their aate plans, and we submitted those right before Thanksgiving, but we will be upsizing that 12-in existing water line to a 60-in diameter line. So, kind of just current CIP delivery, we talked about most of these, but in the next couple weeks for commission approval, I'll have our fourth and final raw water pump uh rehabilitation. So, if you've been to our raw water intake facility right off of Wataga River uh during Hurricane Helena, it did a fantastic job. But we've been in the process of rehabbing those pumps one at a time every year, every other year. The fourth and final one is going to be have to be rehabbed and that gives us about a 20-year lifespan once it's been rehabbed and that happens. And then current CIP delivery on the wastewater side. We've talked about most of these, but I do have an engineering report underway for the line near Cheddar and Chili's and Barnes & Noble. Uh based on all the multif family development happening, we're actually looking at upsizing that sewer line paralleling Knob Creek right there. So kind of here's just a snapshot of all the debt funded capital projects that are in this fiscal year 2026 to 2029 time frame. If you see the ones here on this list that are kind of in bold and in color, they either have a grant opportunity involved or they have they're very close to a significant development project that's kind of expediting the schedule. So you kind of

see a station, the one we just mentioned, is near the Keebler annexation. Uh Brush Creek and Return Waste has a a grant opportunity. uh 2009 pressure zone which is that large diameter water line on Knob Creek also has a grant opportunity. And then finally on the force account projects so we have four in-house construction crews and water sewer. So throughout the year they are doing significant extensions and replacements throughout our system. So these are ones that have been completed since December of 2024. So if you see at the end SE it's a sewer line extension. SR is a sewer line replacement. WR is a water line replacement and WE is a waterline extension. So kind of just the ones to note here is West Oakland Avenue, you see SC sewer line extension and you also see it here on the waterline extension. So because of the timing of the road widening, we see we looked at that as an opportunity to upgrade what we had there as well. Uh then going to what's here's a couple pictures. So they actually did a poured what they called a concrete thrust block at the raw water intake building here. Uh that was a significant undertaking they did just a few months ago. and then in progress or staging. So these are ones that our crews are just getting ready to start now or in the coming months. Uh one mentioned here is the Birkshshire lift station that we will be phasing out on Mountain View Road. And then also Sinking Creek Road. This is actually connecting back to Lone Oak Road. So we're actually reinforcing that waterline grid there in the David Miller Road, Sinking Creek Road area. And that project is nearly complete. Any questions? John, do you know how many more galvanized lines we have to replace? Because we've been doing that. I know there's a lot of them out there, but

there are. So, I've been with us now 11 years. I think at that time frame, we thought we were about 250,000 200 250,000 feet still to go. What ends up happening is every time you you dig a hole, you find more galvanized. So, we weren't at 250,000 10 11 years ago. We were more like 800 900,000. We think we have about 200,000 feet to go. Okay. So, it's in the reach. It's in the reach. Okay. Any other questions? John, what are you all seeing in your industry about the cost of materials? And um

I know as mentioned and during the solid waste discussion, so what we've seen is inflation year-over-year is has stabilized, but precoid to postcoid is significant. I think we're seeing on the waterline diameter. So our our normal is 12 inch diameter water lines, 8 inch diameter water lines. It's 140 150% higher than it was 2019 2020. So that obviously has a significant impact on our operating cost. So in chemical supplies, it's usually about a 20 to 30% increase in the last couple years.

Uh the other question, you know, as a part of one of our elements of our strategic plan is future future ready infrastructure. So, and a lot of the projects that you're talking about is increasing the diameter of of the pipe that we're that we have in the ground. What's the capacity of that? I mean, how how you know, if we put in if we go from an 8 inch to a 12 in, how much time does that give us? Um, knowing that we're going to continue to grow

hopefully another 50 plus years. Every time we do that, 50 to 75 years. So, uh, going back to geometry and, you know, middle school and if everybody had that, it's not an 8 to 12 is actually it more than doubles the capacity when you do that. So, it it's, you know, pi over4 RD squared kind of looking at the area of that. And so, because of that, we're looking at we're looking at the diameter of them, making sure there's plenty of growth for there for another 75 years. And so, we're trying to prioritize what's happening growth related in Johnson City and also what still needs to be replaced and kind of looking at those at the same time. I want to commend you for introducing an equation. Yes. To the meeting. I mean, I've been here for nine years and no one has ever done that. Yeah. Thank you all very much.

Well, and I just want to thank you, too. I've spent a lot of time with you in the last month getting my water sewer hours and um the facilities are just immaculately maintained and clean and um it's really impressive to go to these large buildings and um have them that clean and wellmaintained. and you guys have provided a great service. Um we had great director. I mean now this one's your real first meeting really with um past director gone. So we're super excited that you're here and hopefully you'll have the same tenure length that uh Mr. Witherspoon had. Well, thank you. And he he uh set me up for success for sure. He was a fantastic mentor. Thank you all very much. Thanks. Any motions? Is that the information? Right.

Information. Yep. Is there anything else? Um, just does anybody have anything they want to close out with?

I do. Um, I've been serving um under Mayor Hunter to be our representative on the um joint economic um community de development board that that's in Carter County. And as as we can all see, Johnson City is a part of that because we have 1,800 uh homes, residential homes, and then some commercial businesses that are in the city but are in Carter County. Um they always had the meeting on the night I couldn't go, which was opposite the animal control board, but they've changed it to Monday night so I can go and I have been. Um, one of the uh projects they've been working on is a strategic vision for uh Carter County and which includes Johnson City, the city of Wataga, city of Elizabeth, and then Carter County in general. And so they've got a good document. They're trying to get out into the community. I'm going to leave this and have it put in your mailboxes for you just to review. They it's done a great job on it. And I think uh as we all know that um Carter County is in our MSA and so it's important that um you know their growth is is is a part of our growth as well. So um I've really enjoyed you know serving there. Uh Mayor uh Woodby is on on that. It's chaired by Logan um

Engel. That's right. Um and and so um it it's it's really good. A part of the big part of the conversation here lately has been the extension of the Tweetsy Trail in up in the Hampton watershed. So, uh they're trying to get a little bit more traction about how to move forward on that. But really enjoyed the group and I will keep reporting as as we get further. But I I want to leave this with you as well. Thank you.

I want to say something quickly. Um what a wonderful weekend we had in Johnson City. Uh, I think looking at our strategic plan, talking about quality of place was definitely on full display with the turkey trot and the lighting of the trees with Candyland Christmas. Um, so leaving both of those events, I was stopped by residents just complimenting our city staff, um, our public works division, um, the JCPD. So, um, I just want to encourage everyone throughout the holiday season to visit Candyland Christmas, um, and just make memories here in Johnson City. So, well done on a great uh weekend and look forward to the holiday season ahead.

On a more mundane note, um our meetings in January will not follow our customary pattern because the first Thursday is also January 1st, New Year's Day. And so for those of you who uh set your clock to when the commission meets in January, we will be meeting on the second and fourth Thursday as opposed to our customary first and third. So now basketball's in full swing now that we finished football and Science Hill has a round ball starting tomorrow night. So they already had their first home game. So we're we're swinging right into basketball, too. So be sure and go back the toppers.

Well, and just follow up on the weekend was great. 5450 almost 5500 runners 473

and the turkey trot. So huge uh turnout and the tree lighting it seems like it gets bigger every year. Um and u talk about our staff and it's a busy time of year when they're celebrating with our families but also pulling those together our Christmas parties. Um and then the parade is on Saturday morning. Um so encourage everyone to come out and watch the parade and um we do have um Sarah and staff now that handles some special events and she's really kind of helped lively those up and and Lindsay Jones and everybody that does that too. I don't want to leave anybody out, but um I've seen her dressed as Christmas a bunch now in the last two weeks. So um um just everybody come out and support the parade and I will close the meeting.