City Council - Special Meeting

Thank you.

and ask me if i care okay it's uh five o'clock um time starts start night special call city council meeting and i'll call the main order as lee carter lead the invitation

our dear most gracious heavenly father we just thank you for this day just thank you for the rain that we're receiving uh just be with this council tonight as we conduct business the city just uh whatever we do make it pleasing to you in jesus name we pray amen this place flag i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for

Roll call, please. Mack. Here. Jerry Ashley. Here. Camille Burdine. Chris Crow.

Here.

Chick Bryan. Here. Phil Moorhead. Here. Mayor Bell, you have a quorum.

Thank you. Now it's time for communication from citizens. So if anyone would like to speak tonight, now's the time to do that. And I ask you to step to the podium and state your name and address, and you'll have three minutes to speak. There's a light system on the podium that will give you an idea of how much time you have left. We do ask that... Treat each speaker with respect, no applause or booing or anything like that. And also, please don't form a line. When somebody sits down, just walk on up to the podium. So if you want to like to speak, now's the time.

i'm maria scalisi 1809 wellwood zone ward one i just wanted to speak with regard to the stewart sewer plant thing because i know you guys haven't made a final decision yet i'm a former school teacher and i wanted to say that on my first teaching assignment i was started off in a brand new build and it was downwind from a dairy farm And so you can imagine when it was downwind, we knew where the dairy farm was. When it was upwind, we didn't care. But all day long, you could smell when we were downwind, you could smell it at recess in the classroom. And you can imagine that the gas that the cows produced did attract quite a few flies. So even if, excuse me, in the faculty lounge, we would battle the flies as we're trying to eat our lunch. And I can imagine the students were as well because they typically ate outside. And I mention that because with regard to one of the properties that you're considering, if you're considering nearing a school and stuff like that, to consider what the students and staff will have to deal with. And the parents aren't going to be too thrilled either, to be honest. So I just think it would be nice if you'd consider not putting it near a school because of the impact it would have on the children. It would be rough to have that smell because upwind, downwind, it permeates. It don't matter on the wind. Second, I would like to say that with regard to the citizens and everybody that lives here and pays property taxes and everything in Lebanon, that you not consider putting it anywhere near anyone's residence because of the investment that people put in their houses. If you could imagine if you were next to them and your property value plummeted and you don't want to live next to that smell, imagine a window. It's a beautiful day and all of a sudden the wind comes by and you get that wonderful smell in your house and you're not opening your window for that fresh breeze because there's nothing fresh about it. So I would just seriously consider if you not put it near anyone's homes because their property values are going to go down because no one's going to want to buy their home. And considering the investment that they make in it, it could be financially devastating. So I just wanted you to consider those points when you consider the final location for it. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Council. Last time I was here was a month ago. My name is Chris Brodigham. I live at 1132 Fairways. Last time I was here, I was here to talk about the renovations to the Floyd Center. The flaws in the business plan or actually lack thereof of material components to make a justified business decision. Tonight, I'm here to talk to you about a personal side of the equation. Mayor, I'd like to thank you for your time for that meeting the day after. And I'd be curious to know what the readout was on the conversation with the engineer and Mr. Majors. I came to Lebanon in 2016. Don't have roots here, but what I have done is within this community become a member of a church family, member of a work family, member of a racquetball family. I know my teammates' parents, I know their spouses, I know their children, I even know their grandchildren, and they know about me. I told the mayor this story, and I think it's important for you as council members to hear this also. Between 2021 and the end of 2025, I lost six family members, four parents, a stepbrother who was six days younger than me to suicide by firearm, and my best friend from college and my best man at my wedding to alcoholism. So the reason I tell you this story and tell you about the families I've been able to become part of is because one of the important words in the Jimmy Floyd Family Center is family. Now, admittedly, I'm going to come here, and that was in 2016. And admittedly, I will probably be, and definitely will be, a was here. That'll probably be about five years, maybe six years from now. But that's my story, and I want to thank you for your time to listen to it. Councilman Carmack, you made the motion to keep the line item in the budget. Totally agree with that. I understand federal acquisition regulations And Ms. Wolfenberger, you don't want to read that volume. I will tell you straight up. Obviously, keep it in the budget. The facility does need renovation. It does need attention. There's no question about it. It's simple to see. I still challenge you on some of the corners of the building you do not know how are used because there's no studies, there's no traffic. I stopped over there tonight. There were two people in the racquetball courts, and I guarantee you they weren't on the register. So the logic to develop the attendance and usage is flawed. So absolutely continue the course, but Mayor, like you and I talked, the destination is known, F needs to be discussed. And we talked about that. Mr. Carmack, last to you, come to me when you return my call, not Paul's stop, please.

Thank you. Anyone else?

good evening mayor council members my name is eric lay 1332 maize lane this is my third time standing here before you on this issue and likely my last opportunity before a final vote over the last several meetings you've heard from racquetball players families and longtime members and citizens who care deeply about the jimmy floyd you've heard about the multi-generational impact these courts have had on families including my own You've heard concerns about turning Jimmy Floyd into something that looks more like every other fitness facility in our area. Tonight, I don't want to spend my talking time about racquetball. I want to talk about process. Because tonight you're not simply approving a budget item, you're approving a renovation plan. And that renovation plan was developed around the removal of the racquetball courts. What concerns many of us is that the public has never been shown a serious alternative plan that preserves the courts that already exists. To my knowledge, no survey was conducted of Jimmy Floyd members. No survey was conducted of the citizens who regularly use the facility. No public comparison of multiple renovation concepts has been presented. Instead, many of us have been told that the engineering firm was directed from the beginning to develop a plan that did not preserve the courts. If that information is accurate, then the engineers were never asked the questions citizens have been asking all along. How can Jimmy Floyd be renovated and improved while preserving the courts that already exist? Not moving a court, not building a new court, not spending an additional $300,000. Simply exploring alternatives that accomplish the improvements while preserving what already is there. What I find most telling is this over the last several meetings, dozens of citizens have shown up asking you to preserve the courts. Where are the citizens showing up asking you to remove them? Where are the members advocating for their elimination? We're the residents demanding this change. The only consistent public input this council has received has been from citizens asking you to slow down and explore alternatives. And as elected officials, your responsibility is not simply to approve recommendations, it is to represent the citizens you serve. Tonight, those citizens are here. We are sitting in this room We are taking time away from our families because we care about the facility and its future. I respectfully ask you not to approve the only plan you've been shown. I ask you to approve the best plan. And before anyone can know which plan is best, there must be more than one plan to consider. Renovate the facility, improve the facility, invest in the facility.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?

Good evening. My name is Katie Chaffin, 1228 Carthage Highway. I'm a regular at the Jimmy Floyd Fitness Center and wanted to share my thoughts in regards to removing the racquetball courts. I apologize. I'm only giving my opinion now. I really didn't think we would get to this point is why I'm only just now showing face. I do believe that renovations and changes would be great. I've been going regularly for about three years now, and one of the things that drew me to it was the racquetball court. I came from an apartment in Davidson County that had one, was a new player, excited to play, and that was a draw for me. As an athlete, I never want to see any sports removed unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm feeling very frustrated with the city. The fact of the matter is that gyms typically get a reconfiguration every five to 10 years. to stay competitive and keep up with changing trends. It's just not okay that the city waited this long to do updates. Even just moving equipment around is done often at other facilities. I think moving things around can help find other solutions for the current space and allows for change within the current building without even taking down walls. And it seems like the facility hasn't even attempted these options. There's so much unused space and rooms that aren't being utilized. If you go upstairs, you can peek in the windows. There's giant rooms that are never used. There's meeting rooms that I've never seen used. I actually will go and try to do the weight room and try to do abs. And we're forced to do abs in a tiny area because they lock the large fitness rooms that are being used for our workout classes. i was there today and i asked this fitness instructor about how she felt about it and she said i'm really sad for the racquetball players because i see them there playing every evening every day and i asked her why did they always lock this room why can't we do abs and stuff in here and use this space and she said because parents let their kids run around in this room and it's too much of a liability well in my opinion that's more with management Management should be able to talk to the parents and make sure kids aren't utilizing those spaces so us adults can utilize those spaces that we already have and not be crammed into a small weight room. We have. We have room. I think we're all telling you that the racquetball courts are being used and everyone who goes there sees how often. Bottom line, I feel like we have so much space around being unused or underused where the racquetball courts are used multiple times a day. And it is a bit mind blowing that you aren't listening to people who actually go to the gym and considering keeping the courts for all of us athletes.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Okay.

Seeing none, I'll move on to my communications. I don't have anything. Councillor Carmack.

I've just got a couple things. As far as the racquetball courts, at the last meeting, which was last week, I made a motion to divide the question and pulled the renovations out and had them voted on separately, and that's why it's listed that way on the agenda. The second thing is, and that failed, I think two of us voted for it and others voted against it. There were two plans at the request of a couple of other council members that we reviewed, and it was to keep one racquetball court there. That's the one I had made a motion to amend to keep that. and I wanted the one racquetball court kept. Two people voted for it, the rest voted against it. As far as returning your call and calling Paul, I talked to many people about it. If I missed you, I apologize. A lot of people call, especially with the sewer situation we have going on now. So I'm trying to do the best I can and work a full-time job as well. But if I missed your call, I do apologize. But we did try to keep at least one racquetball court in the Jimmy Floyd Center. And that's all I have.

Thank you. Councillor Ashley.

so i wanted to um address the comments about the racquetball court and obviously it's clear that they're this is a sport that a lot of people in the community enjoy um but i don't think this was a decision that was made in a vacuum we have work sessions that are um and they are open to the public to attend. And in those work sessions, we did get a lot of robust information about options. Racquetball is a sport, an overall sport. And I mean, it was a very robust discussion with a lot of different alternatives discussed. I think at the end of the day, at least from my perspective, feel that if we're going to spend $3.7 million in taxpayer money, that we need to make renovations that are relevant to what the majority of society is doing and what type of activities attract them. And and again, sometimes these kind of decisions are not always easy, but, you know, we have to make the decisions that make the most sense. And for me, that's how I arrived at the decision. A couple of other things. I wanted to make an announcement about something that's going on in my ward. The Juneteenth celebration is this Saturday. It starts at the Pickett Chapel Church at 1130 to five. I know there's gonna be some road closures and hopefully this year will not get rained out. There should be some good vendors and things of this sort. I also wanted to thank the police and fire department. I sponsored an event that took place on Market Street this week, this past weekend, and along with a local nonprofit, GGME, And it was just a wonderful event. I think that there were children that had the best time that they've had in a long time. And the fire and police department made it that way. They were great. And there was just a lot of joy that took place. And I'm very grateful for your participation. I have a couple other things that I wanted to talk about tonight. One of the issues is the budget. I did not vote for the budget last week and I kind of made a comment that I was I had some reservations and the reservations were based on some information that had been conveyed in a work session by our city attorney that once a budget is approved, then the city council would not have the ability to challenge any expenses. and i needed some time to chew on that and i have decided to exercise my good judgment and also per my discussions with mtask on multiple occasions that i am authorized to look at any expenses that do not put the taxpayers first and for that reason i am going to be voting for the budget this evening I had one other comment. We were also told in that work session that city council did not have the ability to get any information any different than any citizen without a Freedom of Information Act. And so, since i have not been able to get information that i have requested i have completed multiple freedom of information acts to get that information and i just wanted to point out that people cannot be singled out to get information and that needs to be a process that the whole council utilizes going forward when they've requested information thank you council crowe

Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate everyone coming out tonight. This is actually a pretty good crowd for a special called meeting, so it's good to see everyone. Along with the volume turned up tonight, I guess it seems kind of loud. Along with Councilor Carmack, I did vote to support separating the question, dividing the question on the Jimmy Floyd Center. I'm in full support of the Floyd Center. I think probably everybody in attendance tonight, including council and everybody here is. It's a question sometimes of how we do things. And as I pointed out in my comments last time, have come, most of the people who've come to support or to comment on the budget at all have been those in support of keeping at least a racquetball court. So in the interest of that, I've tried to support that effort and voted accordingly. I am going to vote to support the renovations tonight for the Floyd Center. And I think that will be a positive for our community. I do wonder if the item may come back because it's basically estimates at this point on how much it will cost. If it does, we may take another look at it then. So we'll see what happens. A couple of other comments. attended the Cumberland University Phoenix Ball on a Saturday night. I'm a proud Cumberland University alumnus. I received my MBA there a few years ago. We won't say how many, but it's been a few years. I know we've got, did you go to Cumberland? I'm trying to remember.

Yes, I'm a proud alumnus of Cumberland University. Yes, I am.

I thought you were, and Mayor Bell is as well, and he taught history there for a number of years. Lindsey is as well. So anybody else in the room here, proud Cumberland alum?

Back when I was there, they were the Cumberland Bulldogs.

Was it college then or university?

Well, it was just two years, but if it had been four, I would have still been there. I mean, I would have gotten, you know what I mean.

You'd still be getting a student discount. So anyway, it was a great event Saturday night and we're proud of Cumberland and appreciate having a university in our community. And a lot of universities can't say, a lot of communities can't say that they have a university in their community. And so I'm proud to be an alum and proud of what they offer in our community. And then lastly, Just a note toward the future there. We've gotten a couple of comments from the mayor's office that Sam's Club, I think, is going to be opening in late July. Of course, the gas pumps are already open. So go ahead and save a couple of pennies there or dollars in aggregate and get your gas, get your car filled down there because as expensive as gas is, it's every penny counts for sure. So a lot of positive things going on in our community and appreciate everyone coming out tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Brian.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make a comment about the proposed sewer plan. I know that we hadn't decided upon a location yet, but I just like for folks that are concerned about odor and things like that. I live probably 300 yards from the current sewer plan. I live in Weston Heights. And I know over the years, there were times when there was odor, but our, now that plant was built in 1962. You know, that's how long we're talking about here. And the staff and the engineers and the sewer plant operators, they have worked and upgraded that sewer plant to the, most that they could possibly do considering how old it is but i can attest to you today that i never i never detect an odor coming from the sewer plant ever and it's been years if i were you like i have done you know i was concerned about that too i would google modern municipal wastewater treatment plants and see how the technology has improved over all these years since 1962. There are wastewater treatment plants in places that nobody even knows they're there. In Murfreesboro that's right in the middle of a neighborhood with six, $700,000 homes, and you can't see it. You can't, there's no odor. People, they don't even know it's there. So there's a lot to consider, you know, when we're talking about, we're not talking about, you know, the septic tank that's in your backyard. You know, it's, this is something that has advanced technology, has advanced just like anything else, you know, over the years. I don't really think that's going to be a concern. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you.

Actually, I was going to touch on that as well, because every time I'm on that committee, I'm not sure why or how I got put on it, but I am. And we are not to the point where we have a list of five. We have yet to score the sites that are available. And once that's done, I believe somebody from the city would reach out to each of that short list to see if there's any interest on selling or not. But to go back to what Tick is saying and your thoughts, My mother grew up on a farm, so believe me, I know what it's like when you're downwind from the cows. And unfortunately, next to them was a hog farm. And you think cows are bad, get next to a hog farm. When the wind shifts, you know exactly what's going on. But to Tick's point, our technology that's out there now is 1963 technology is what I understand. 2000 and realistically 28 technology by the time anything would get going and be done is incredibly different. I am aware of one that, Virginia, you could tell me how old is that plant in Murfreesboro that when that went in, brand new plant, Immediately adjacent to that, a whole new subdivision went in. And those houses at the time, I think, were going for $500,000 to $700,000. I don't even think they're aware that there's a sewer plant behind them. I really think odor is a thing of the past, literally based on technology that is that old. That I don't think anybody, and I'm not even sure as far as being sightly or unsightly, what you would even be looking at today. I fully intend to go down to Murfreesboro just to see what that looks like. odor is definitely not an issue. And I definitely want to drive around there to see what do people see? I mean, if they have it nice berm, if they have a big buffer there, you know, I think that would tremendously people, nobody wants it in their backyard. I get that. But, but I think there, obviously we have to have a place for it. And, and based on today's technology and everything that's available to us, I think it will be as nice as possibly could be, uh, uh, and and not be a terrible distraction to others one other thing as far as jimmy floyd i too go there on a very regular basis and have for the last eight years since i moved to the city of lebanon that facility cannot be all things to all people and that's the sad part of it i mean i'm sure there are other sports other clubs where there might be 15 20 30 people that would like to have something and With a city of 50,000 people, we only have so many square feet to work with. There's only so much money available. You really have to try to do what is going to accommodate the largest numbers of people within the city. If you can get dual uses out of things, great, but you have to really look at the whole. I thought about it long and hard before I cast my vote the first time. I really believe the plan that they have put forward is the right plan for the vast majority of people that live in the city and hope that, you know, everybody will enjoy that new facility once it gets renovated. I think I was one of the people early on to say that the facility needed to be renovated since i moved to town and and part of the reason when i ran for office was it promised alex i don't think he was a director at that time but said you know if i get elected i want to do something here so we can fix this place up because it it really needs a facelift in a bad way and i am just very happy that we are to the point now that we are going to do that thank you mayor thank you we have a consent agenda five items on it i'll read each one of those and that's a question sure

I want to discuss one of these items. Do we have to put it on old business or?

Yeah, so we can. Does that require them to make a motion or can I do that? Okay, it requires a motion to put it on old business.

I want to make a motion to put number four on old business.

I have a motion to put number four on old business. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Ashley. You don't discuss that one. Very discussion, okay. Since there's five here, let's do a roll call on that. Kristen.

Joey Carmack. Yes. Jerry Ashley. Yes. Chris Crow. Yes. Dick Bryan. Yes. Phil Moorhead. Yes. Sir.

okay so we'll move number for an old business so we have four items on consent so i'll read each one of those we're somewhere 26 74 25 second reading to authorize budget amendments for the building maintenance department by lisa lane purchasing agent and lindsay wolfenbarger finance director we're 26 74 27 second reading to approve final change order and related budget amendment for the landfill pump station and force main project by regina santana utilities director Warrant Summary 26-74-29, second reading to amend Ordinance No. 22-64-38 relative to the Water Service Sinking Fund by Lindsey Wolfenbarger, Finance Director. Warrant Summary 26-74-32, second reading to authorize budget amendments for the lump sum payment to TCRS for the TCRS hazardous supplement pay by Lindsey Wolfenbarger, Finance Director.

Motion to approve.

Second. Motion by Councilor Morehead. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion on those four items? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Now Old Business, which is number four. Ordinance number 267431. Secondary to approve the Inter-Jurisdictional Wastewater Service Agreement by Regina Santana, Utilities Director. So moved. Second. Motion by Councilor Bryan. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion?

I just had a couple of questions. There's been a lot of question about whether or not what schools is on our city sewer and if the Wilson County wastewater is connected to our city sewer or not. Regina, could you elaborate a little bit on that and kind of clear the air?

Which schools are?

How many schools do we have that's county schools?

County schools that are in the county, not in the city limits, would be that are currently connected would be Gladeville Elementary and Gladeville Middle School. As far as county schools that are in the city limits, there are many of them. Lebanon High School, Wilson Central, Southside. um adult learning adult high school barry tatum academy maybe missing a couple and then the one that's on the agenda for not tonight that is this ordinance would be a new school at central pike elementary school um and the purpose you didn't specifically ask you want me to explain what this agreement is for So when they came to us, because they are in the Water Authority service area, or they were, and the county has what's called the South Wilson Business District, where they have capacity in the pump station at Stewart's Ferry and at Couchville Pike. City's pump stations, all of its public sewer are sewer. But the county, there's an agreement that dates back over 20 years ago that I think was updated sometime maybe in the last five years, where Their commercial and industrial growth along basically the 109840 corridor has capacity in those two pump stations. They asked to expand that service area to include the track that this school sits on and to utilize part of that capacity out of that Stewart's Ferry pump station. And we talked about it, and it's almost two miles away, and so I didn't want to burden our city ratepayers with the care and upkeep of that force main and that pump station. And so what we had them do was work with TDEC. They're getting a state operator's permit, which... That's where this agreement comes into play. TDEC required them to do that. So they're actually, the school system will function as a utility that is responsible for the maintenance of that force main and that pump station. So the agreement is just to say because the school system doesn't have a treatment plant, or any way to treat that sewer that once it gets to our public manhole that's along Duke Drive, that once it gets there, we'll take it, accept it. It'll go through our system and then to our plant. And so that's the purpose of this agreement. It's more that TDEC required it versus the city required it.

Okay. And Wilson County Wastewater Authority.

So they do have a connection that's not related to the school, to our sewer system in that same area, actually. There's a six inch forest main that goes from their logue treatment facility. It was, I think, an ordinance approved back in 2021 so that they could rehab their system, direct their flow from their treatment facility into our sewer, which, again, ultimately goes to our plant, to treat it while they took their system offline to rehab it. And so that agreement, if you go back and you read through it, it allowed for that one-time rehabilitation, but it also says future rehabilitation. And so there's a valve that could be turned on and off, essentially, just to... put it in layman's terms if they need to send it to our plant. And so it's not always turned on, always coming to us, but there is that ability to do so.

And how many subdivisions do you think that are outside the city limits that are connected to City Sewer?

Plantation South definitely is. I can't think of, I could research it for you, but I can't think of other subdivisions, but Plantation South is. When we adopted the urban growth boundary back 20 plus years ago, one part of that is if you're not in the city limits, we don't allow you to extend sewer to subdivisions like that any longer. they did back then, unless you're part of like the growth area that we've got in the county where we have a separate agreement with them.

That's all I have.

Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Now to business ordinance number 267430, second reading to adopt the annual budget and tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 ending June 30, 2027 by Lindsey Wolf and Barger, finance director and Rick Bell, mayor.

Motion approved.

Councilor Crowell. Second by Councilor Bryan. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Orsmore 267433. Second reading and approving of the Jimmy Floyd Family Center renovation project. We're funding for said project remaining in the annual budget ordinance by Jory Carmack, City Councilor. Motion. Second. Motion by Councilor Moorhead. Second by Councilor Ashley. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. That is the advice agenda.

Thank you.