Board of Mayor and Aldermen - Regular Meeting

No.

Oh, interlocal? Anybody? Anybody?

Okay, it's 6.30. We'll go ahead and get ready with our July Obama meeting. Let's call roll, please.

Hmm?

Not in. Got one more.

Okay, we have five tonight. Alderman French can't be here. Invocation tonight is by Minister Hilsman.

Let us bow our heads. Our Father which art in heaven, We come before you this evening with bowed heads and humble hearts. We come just thanking you for this day. We thank you for waking us up this morning, just allowing us to see and be part of another new beautiful day that we've never seen before. We come just thanking you for this opportunity to assemble together and to handle the business of this city. We ask that you will Just be with and bless all of the citizens of this city. We ask that you specifically be with the leadership here. We pray that you will give them wisdom in order to make decisions for this city that will be in the best interests of all of the citizens of this city. We just pray that you will just continue to be with us and just bless the lives of each individual here and bless all the lives of the citizens of this city. And these and all other blessings we ask in your son Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. We 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 all.

Okay, number four, approval of the agenda. Take a motion and a second, please. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion or changes to the agenda? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries five to zero. Number five, we have the minutes of the 6-2 OMAS meeting and beer board, and then the 6-16 special call meeting. Entertain a motion? A motion and a second. Any changes or discussion? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries five to zero. Comments from citizens?

Sarah Bradley, UGB resident, speaking about a matter that is germane to your jurisdiction. In March, all but one of you voted to pursue an injunction against me based on the demonstrably false and grossly misleading claims of a few misinformed individuals acting in their official capacity. To date, no petition has been filed. despite continuing threats of litigation. Unfortunately, it is actually the city that continues to violate the Public Records Act in multiple ways, despite prompting to improve and ample opportunity to do so. I have repeatedly requested mediation through the Office of Open Records Council in the hopes that it would help staff and officials alike understand the law, but the city consistently refuses to participate in this free service from the state. Regrettably, recent actions and recently revealed statements by staff make it clear that the city has not been operating in good faith for quite some time regarding the Public Records Act. The continued refusal to rectify clear violations of the Open Meetings Act is also highly concerning, particularly considering how many times these issues have been brought to the attention of the city without response or rectification. The refusal via the city attorney to firmly commit to following these laws moving forward, however, is the most concerning of all. Please remember that we the people have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Well, learning and finding solutions is my happiness. Denying access to available public records because someone wants my sorry ass out of here infringes on my personal pursuit of happiness. Serving others is also my happiness. A staff member interrupting my service to my community and the flag you all just pledged your allegiance to infringes on my pursuit of happiness. That employee then attempting to kick me off public property infringes on much more, specifically my liberty. Making my community better is also my happiness. Treating me with increasing hostility rather than allowing me to be an ally infringes on that particular pursuit of my happiness. To be clear, these are not mere mistakes or isolated incidents. These are patterns and practices of municipal malfeasance and official obstruction through a coordinated effort with several key players, who all happen to be in this room, against multiple individuals. It is imperative that this body decide tonight to initiate mediation with the Office of Open Records Council within 48 hours, post any capital plans you may or may not have within 24 hours at the most, and seek a performance audit from the comptroller to review the city's compliance with not only the Public Records Act, but also the Open Meetings Act. Additionally, it is imperative that you promptly hold disciplinary reviews for a small group of employees whose names, actions, and recorded statements will be provided to you via email in the near future as their misconduct is already evident, entirely unacceptable, and worthy of impartial review. I encourage all members of this body, particularly those who claim to value transparency and accountability, to take all actions necessary to ensure that the rights of we the people are not further infringed. It is beyond time for your official walk to match your media talk. In closing, don't tread on me. God bless America and everybody. Don't forget to vote next month.

Thank you, ma'am. That was excellent.

Can we say the city thanks you?

Yeah. The city thanks you. Okay. Any more comments? Speeches? Okay. Number seven, mayor's comments. So I'd like to start with good evening to everybody. Before we get started tonight, I want to take a minute to thank everyone who helped make the Fourth of July celebration such a great event. It was wonderful to see so many families, friends, and visitors out enjoying everything our community had to offer. Seeing people gather together, celebrating our country's independence, and spending time with one another is what makes Manchester a special place. I want to give a special thanks to our team council. These young leaders volunteered their time throughout the celebration, helping whenever they were needed, and representing our community with enthusiasm, professionalism, and pride. They did an outstanding job and we're grateful, we are grateful for their willingness to serve. They are a great example of the bright future of Manchester. I also want to thank our Parks and Rec Department for all the planning and hard work that went into the event. I'd also like to thank our Police Department, Fire, Rescue, Public Works, and all city employees who worked through the holidays to keep everyone safe and make sure everything ran smoothly. Thank you as well to our volunteers, sponsors, vendors, entertainers, and everyone who contributed their time and effort. Most importantly, thank you to the citizens. Your support, your patience, and your community spirit are what make Manchester such a great place to live. We couldn't have asked for a better turnout, and we're proud to host events that bring our community together. I also want to share another exciting update. The city has launched a newly redesigned website. Our goal was to make it easy for residents and visitors to find information they need. whether that's paying a bill, finding meeting and agenda minutes, learning about city services, or staying up to date on news and upcoming events. The new site has a cleaner look, is easier to navigate on both computer and mobile devices, and will help us communicate more effectively with our community. If you haven't had a chance to visit the new website yet, I encourage you to Take a look and explore everything it has to offer. We hope you'll find it to be a valuable resource, and we'll continue looking for ways to improve it based on feedback from our citizens. Thank you again for being here this evening. We appreciate the continued involvement in our community, and with that, we'll move on to tonight's agenda. Number eight, committee and commission report safety.

Good evening. I'd like to report for the month of June, we had 82 total responses during the month. We had four fires. We went to two mutual aid calls with Higgerson Station. We had one small fire at Kasai Manufacturing. We had a vehicle fire on Belmont Road. Our inspector conducted inspections at Bonnaroo from the 1st to the 14th, snow drive for pyro events at Bonnaroo, inspections at Wawa, Fairfield Inn, and follow-up inspections at various hotels for alarm activations during the month. We installed 25 smoke alarms in five homes, along with two CO alarms, and a safe awake alarm in a residence. We did a summer school day at Westwood Elementary. We had two personnel attend the fire officer one class. Firefighter Thompson resigned to go to work in Nolensville. We had two EMR calls that resulted in our people having to do CPR on two individuals, and those two individuals survived. They did a really good job. Our personnel volunteered to work Bonnaroo traffic along with our brothers and sisters throughout the city. Everybody did a great job. We responded to, let's see here. Personnel volunteered to assist the VFW the last Saturday of the month to cook for us. So that was awesome. Mr. Bradshaw and crew went over there and they were doing over easy and scrambled and French toast, the whole nine yards. They did a great job.

Took your job, huh? Yes, sir, it took my job.

Took three guys to do mine, but they did a great job. We had an agility test for potential new hires. We've hired two individuals that'll start this month. And that's really about it from us.

Good job.

Thanks, sir.

I got a question for you. Who won the first annual Battle of the Batches?

I think it was Rigged.

I had to rub that in a little bit. I actually have an answer for you. Fliving it up a little bit.

We did win the battle. There you go. The police department did, but I was honored to be part of that with our brothers and sisters at the fire department. We had a great turnout, had a great time, and we'll give this a good home for the next year. For the month of June, I'll try to be brief. We covered a lot of stuff in June. I'm proud to say our call volume went down. We responded to 1,962 calls. In 2025, it's 2,274, so that's a decrease of 312 calls. Super proud about that. Budget-wise, we've expended a little over 95% of our budget, which is good. We're at the end of the year. Some highlights, we had another stop stick deployment, a pursuit that came into our city from Franklin County. We successfully stopped it when it hit our city limits. Proud of that, saving lives. Officer Staldemeyer was invited on the first to play in the Rock and Jock Celebrity Softball Game at Horizon Park in Nashville with several celebrities. Black Rifle Coffee Company invited her and a firefighter to play. And that event supports fallen soldiers and first responders. So it was a great event. We're really honored that she was able to go. Investigator Alford and Investigator Meyers successfully had illegal, stopped an illegal drug operation that needed over two pounds of methamphetamine that would have been distributed in our community. We held a meeting in our conference center with the mayor and the district attorney's office and Unity Medical Center to talk about mental health issues that are plaguing our community, especially bogging down police departments and hospitals, and had a very productive meeting with those represented. We finished our employee evaluations ahead of schedule. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but we had Bonnaroo last month. And I do want to brag on, All the departments, this year's festival was a tremendous undertaking and every department in the city played a part in making that a success. They had a very vital role. I want to thank all the departments. Everybody sitting here had somebody representing, helping with traffic posts and the operational needs throughout the city. Everybody's willingness to step in, work long hours, and support one another really exemplifies what makes Manchester such a strong community. And Bonnaroo is a citywide effort, and the success we experienced wouldn't have been possible without all the department's contributions. And overall, I believe Bonnaroo 26 was a success, and Alderman Threat, we didn't shut any ramps down. Many, many months ahead of time of prep work go into making that a success. So we're proud we got through that. Officer Sam Pennington graduated the police academy, is on the road and is in his shadow phase, hopefully be turned loose shortly. Myself, Captain Sneed, Captain Newman, Officer Stoudemire attended his graduation. Sadly, on the 20th, we lost a longtime crossing guard, Mr. Z. Gary Zimmerman passed away unexpectedly. And we had to spend a lot of time with his wife and family during that time. He'll be truly missed by the police department and the community. He touched a lot of lives in his bucket hat out there with a stop sign. He did a great job for us. We attended AEDC's 75th anniversary by providing some officers to help with traffic and security on the base. We just concluded a Bonnaroo debriefing for all of our department who worked Bonnaroo and fed them, thanked them for their efforts. So we had some officers who had anniversaries last month, Officer Chatfield, Investigator Lindley, Officer Prater, and Major West in our training. It's a busy month, and we were able to log over 100 hours of training, numerous different, too many to mention what they all were, but quite a bit of training. I only had one complaint. We'll bring that up in safety next week about traffic on Interstate Drive in front of Unity Hospital, and our next safety committee is next week.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Congratulations. You can leave it to her. I like it. An ant.

I'm not gonna be able to top that, but on May 19th, the May 19th Finance Committee was canceled due to no quorum. In the Finance Department, our budget was submitted on time before June 30th. We're awaiting the state's response. They have 30 days to respond and tell us if there's something they don't like. We've begun closing the books on fiscal year 2026, which ended on June 30th. And we're getting ready to prepare our audit to the state. I want to say thank you to the IT department. We successfully moved all of the financial system over to the cloud, and also their work on the new finance website, which there's still some more work to do, but it's looking a lot better, I think. Well, along with the rest of the departments and the overall website, I think the public will find it much improved. June 29th, we assimilated the water billing department into the finance department. We started the workflow assessment and process improvement analysis in that department, and so far things are going really well. I'd like to also put out a thank you to Annette Foster, the owner of Crazy Daisy's Restaurant and As you know, after open bids, we contracted Crazy Daisy's to run the concession in the parks and rec area, and that's been a very successful partnership, both for the city, for Crazy Daisy, and the feedback we're getting on the quality of the concessions is much improved. So that has been a real example of the city partnering with either a private citizen or private industry who has expertise in something that we may not, and it's working out well. So again, thank you to Annette Foster at Crazy Daisy's. And our next Finance Committee meeting is July 21st at 4 p.m. right here. Thank you. Thanks, Anthony.

Street?

We are still continuing to work on sidewalks. We changed the banners around town to the 250th banners. We put up 250 flags along the Greenway for the Fourth of July. We are also cleaning up the debris from the recent storms. We had 265 complaints, which 86 of those were for the trash cans, and 23 were for roads and streets, and some were for high grass. Our meeting for July has been canceled, and our next meeting will be August 13th at 4.30 here in the boardroom.

Thank you. Order, sir.

Excuse me. For the month of June, our department had another productive month. maintained uninterrupted water and wastewater service throughout the city. We successfully completed all required state and federal water quality sampling, responded to both scheduled and emergency maintenance needs, and provided continuous utility support during the Bonnaroo event without any service interruptions. We also continued reducing our city work order backlog and expanding our asset management efforts. On the water distribution side, our teams completed six water main repairs, installed new isolation valves, a new automatic flushing hydrant, multiple fire hydrants, completed and serviced over 200—I'm sorry, completed and serviced and flushed over 200 fire hydrants in accordance with AWWA standards. Wastewater collection system crews completed 67 work orders. performed sewer main replacements, point repairs, and manhole repairs, and televised more than 9,400 feet of sanitary sewer. Of the 67 work orders, 50 were cleanouts that were identified through Duke's route control that were contributing to our I&I and helping us move forward with our long-term sewer rehab strategy. At the plant, staff continued major maintenance and capital improvement activities, addressed high-influence flows during storm events, coordinated SCADA upgrades, and worked closely with the engineering consultants. Our pretreatment program remained active through grease trap inspections, industrial sampling, and continued compliance monitoring. while our GIS and city work teams continue improving our asset mapping and reducing outstanding work order load. Employee development also remained a priority in the month of June. Staff completed training in pretreatment, backflow prevention, wastewater collection, and arc flash safety. We had our pre-treatment coordinator get his certification as well as one of the new distribution operators get his backflow license. Looking ahead, our focus remains on implementing sewer alert monitoring, expanding flow monitoring, and dye testing to help reduce some of the I&I that is going on through the city. We're also continuing development of our EPA required sewer system evaluation survey and long-term capital improvement planning. That's pretty much it for me. The Water and Sewer Commission meeting that was scheduled for Thursday has been canceled due to lack of quorum. And didn't we hire an assistant director? In July. In July.

Save that for next month.

Yeah.

OK. Thank you, Lonnie. Good job. Recreation?

Good evening, everyone.

For the month of June, the Rec Center had an estimated visitor count of 10,484 visitors. We in the Parks and Rec Department hosted four different baseball and softball tournaments, hosted a MAKO swim meet, had 42 open swim and private swim parties, and we also conducted a monthly in-service with 27 guards present. We also applied for a Tennessee Department of Health grant titled Healthy Active Rural Tennessee Grant. If funded, this grant will be used to contract with a professional service provider to create a system-wide master plan that meets or exceeds the Tennessee Department of Conservation and Environment requirements for master plans. Once our master plan is complete, we will not only use this to create a roadmap for the future, but it'll be used to apply for other grants. This is a non-matching grant valued up to $100,000. In way of recreation renovations, our aerobics room floor renovation is complete. That space opened back up on June the 22nd. The HVAC system for the pool pump room and wellness room have been ordered as of June the 23rd. Ship date for the pool pump room is August the 19th, and as of the 23rd, the HVAC for the wellness room is six to eight week lead time. We've also ordered a new ADA pool lift chair that is mobile that can be used at all of our pools. Currently, our lap pool motor and pump is down, so our lap pool is not operational. However, we do have a new pump and motor on hand. I'm currently working with the vendor on getting that installed, hopefully later this week, if not the first part of next week. In the way of programs, swim lessons, we have 59 participants enrolled in our year-round swim lesson program, 110 for our summer swim lesson program. As part of the July 4th festivities, we hosted our first annual pool party with 126 participants. We also hosted a dive-in movie for the month of June with 100 participants. Sensory Sensitive Saturday, members only swim both, hosting 50 attendees, and our Muscle Madness class for 42. We also introduced two new fitness classes this month, an intro to line dancing and a Hit That Core class. The regular scheduled rec commission meeting for July 8th has been canceled due to lack of quorum. We are hosting a town hall meeting tomorrow at 5.30 here in the boardroom. The next regular scheduled commission meeting is August the 12th at 4.30. And we also had news this afternoon from the Coffey County Commission that they have in their budget awarded $50,000, not awarded, but added $50,000 to their budget for the Parks and Rec Department for parks improvements. And we would like to thank the County Commission and Mayor Dennis Hunt for that.

Thanks, AJ. Tourism didn't meet for lack of quorum. Their meeting is the third week of July. Planning and zoning.

You all have a few of planning and zoning items under ordinances and resolutions tonight. From previous meetings, our next meeting, the July meeting, will take place Monday the 20th at 5.30 here in the boardroom. The agenda is rather short this month with only three minor plats on there. I was able to schedule the annual Planning Commission member training that is scheduled for August 13th. I've sent an invite to all of the Planning Commission members. They are required to get their four hours and staff will obtain eight hours. That is all for planning and zoning.

Historical zoning?

The historic zoning commission meeting, the July meeting last week was canceled due to lack of quorum. August meeting will take place August 6th at five o'clock here in the boardroom. During that meeting we will be, during an audit for the certified local government. That takes place every four years. Being a certified local government makes our downtown area eligible for a variety of grants.

Thank you. Thank you. Any questions, board? Number nine, resolutions and ordinances.

Resolution A, a resolution to approve a contract in the amount of $397,807.50 for Project 102-131 on State Route 2 Signalization Project, sponsored by Alderman Parsley.

Entertain a motion. Do we have a second? We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries five to zero.

Resolution B, a resolution to approve an agreement between the City of Manchester, Tennessee and Coffey County, Tennessee for the coordination of road maintenance and emergency services sponsored by Vice Mayor Messick. This is a public hearing.

We have a motion and a second. Any public comments? Any discussion from the board? Let's vote, please.

Motion carries 5-0. Resolution C, a resolution adopting a plan of services preliminary to annexation of a 1.49-acre and a 4.07-acre plot of property owned by Carolyn Clabo, located on Cat Creek Road and Perry Road, respectively, sponsored by Vice Mayor Messick. This is a public hearing.

Entertain a motion and a second. So we have a motion and a second. Any discussion public? Any public comments? Board? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries four to one.

Resolution D, resolution annexing the same 1.49 acre and 4.07 acre tracts of property owned by Carolyn Clayblow, located on Cat Creek Road and Perry Road, sponsored by Vice Mayor Messick. This is a public hearing.

I entertain a motion. Do we have a second? Okay, we have a motion and a second. This is a public hearing. Anybody from the public? Anybody from BOMA? Let's vote, please.

Motion carries, 4 to 1. DAVID BURRAGE. Resolution E, a resolution to authorize the amendment of the city's 457 and 401 deferred compensation plan sponsored by Alderman Crosland. DAVID BURRAGE. Entertain a motion, please.

A motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries five to zero.

Ordinance A, a second reading of an ordinance to amend MMC 18-201, 202, and 203 regarding water, sewer service, and equipment fees sponsored by Alderman Parsley. This is a public hearing.

And a motion and a second, please. Motion and a second. Any discussion? Let's vote, please.

Motion carries five to zero. Ordinance B, second rating of an ordinance rezoning property at 1309 Hills Chapel Road for Jean Ball and Jane Melton from R2 to R3, sponsored by Vice Mayor Messick. This is a public hearing.

I obtain a motion and a second. I have a motion and a second. Anybody from the public wishes to speak? Let's vote, please. Motion carries four to zero, or four to one.

Ordinance C, second reading of an ordinance rezoning property at 1310, 1312, 1314, and 1316 on MacArthur Street for Sven Lee Swanson from R3 to C3, map 85H, group A, parcels 12, 13, 14, and 15, sponsored by Vice Mayor Messick. This is also a public hearing.

We have a motion and a second. If the public wishes to speak, come on up, sir. If you would, just state your name.

My name is Lou Moncrion. I live at 1314, owned it since 1999. I don't know why you people keep including my property, which I'm going to inquire the house next door and hoping to inquire the house on 1310. I'm working to buy those other two houses. Okay? Now, last meeting we were here May 8th, this young lady, I know one of them, when we had the meeting back there, kept crying, we need houses. We need houses. Now I understand you're going to put a fast food restaurant in front of my house. Does this make sense? Right? Between residential houses, you're going to put a commercial building, fast food? I mean, I don't get this. I don't understand this. You want to put it by Speedway, by McDonald's, fine. But you're going to put it right between our development, which is a quiet little area? It's bad enough I got lied to about the apartments next to my house. It was supposed to be 11 duplexes. Now I got 22 apartments, police there twice a week, kids riding up and down with dirt bikes. I mean, do we really need this in the city? But you guys keep voting it in and nobody does anything about the water. We get told about the sewer lines can't handle this, the water lines can't handle that. But yet this stuff gets put in. We pay our taxes and you people spend our money the way you want. This is wrong. I lived there because I retired. You can hear a pin drop every day when I lived there. I got 52 cars riding up and down this narrow road, which when you got to pay, it's one of us got to get in the grass to get around each other. But nobody looked into to make sure the streets could handle the traffic. No, just build it back there. You know, man dies, mother sells the property, which wasn't really hers to sell. It was the niece, but nobody checked into that either. A man over here lied to me, said, oh, 11 duplexes, Lou, 11 duplexes. Would have rather had duplexes because people would have spent the money. We would have had good people living there that would take care of their property. But we keep getting garbage. Now I get told that I'm gonna have dry book windows, and I talked to the surveyor, and he said, oh, well, commercial, they gotta come in 45 feet from the property line on all sides. The man next to me has grandkids that play next door to this is gonna be. Does this make sense? We got kids living in apartments. You're gonna have all that noise. How are they gonna sleep at night to go to school the next day? It don't make sense. Girls yelling, we need houses, we need houses, and then you're going to let Swanson knock four houses. The one man that's living in there for nine years is a disabled veteran, and he got to pay the rent last week, and they told him, oh, we'll give you 90 days to find somewhere else. This is a disabled veteran. Okay? I thought this town was for the veterans. I do a lot for the veterans. And yet, you're willing to throw people out in the street. I don't get it. I really don't. I've been pondering on this since the last meeting, going, this don't make sense. I get lied to about duplexes. They even had a blueprint here showing me, oh, Coversack with 11 duplexes. Oh, great. And then I see 22 apartments being built next to me. It's crazy. You know, what am I supposed to do? Sell my property and go back out in the country because you people want to put in commercial buildings wherever? I mean, right between houses, you want to put a commercial building? It don't make sense. Why don't you just put it in my driveway? And this way I can just walk out and get a sandwich when I want. It doesn't make sense. Put it by Speedway? Yeah, put it by McDonald's. You guys let McDonald's put an out coming out of their thing. There's all traffic there. People come around off of 55. I almost got rear-ended twice because some idiot wants to make a left into McDonald's. That should be an out. That shouldn't be an in because it's bottlenecking traffic. But yet, you guys let it happen. Nobody looks at the road. Now you understand, if they put those three restaurants there, in the mornings it ain't too bad with the traffic, kids went to school. But when school lets out, that's bumper to bumper in front of that road right there. Now if you get these kids wanting to go in and get a sandwich, what about the neighborhood across the street that they want to make a left to get in that development? It's going to be a big massive traffic jam. But nobody talks about the roads. Nobody cares about the infrastructure. All you hear is put this up, put apartments here. Nobody pays attention to the roads. And then we, the people that live in that area, got to put up with all the traffic. It doesn't make sense. I mean, I know you guys are going to do whatever you're going to do, but, you know, I'm a taxpayer. I pay my taxes every year faithfully. I don't give partial. I pay it right on the spot.

I mean, you do understand that we don't make decisions about what goes in these places that people own, right?

Well, I understand that, but somebody's got to speak up for us and say no.

Absolutely, okay. I mean, the land use map and everything, labels that corridor as commercial. I mean, it's just because of growth over a period of time.

Oh, I understand that, but when you've got development, you've got people living, and you want to take four houses down, and you've got development. This man here has got grandkids every day to play in the yard. Well, are there going to be barriers? Are they going to fence it off so we don't hear the noise, and the cars so the kids don't run out and get run over by a car?

And listen, this is a process, right? We don't know exactly what it looks like. There's nothing been submitted to us. I mean, he did make a comment of what he was going to build, right? But, Brittany, have you seen plans and all those things?

Well, we talked to the surveyor right after that meeting.

Okay.

And he's the one that came to me and said, look, if they put the building in, they got to come off from the property line back 45 feet all the way around with a barrier. That's fine. You know what I'm saying? I live with that. I mean, that's fine. But when you're going to hear a loudspeaker and somebody screaming at 11 o'clock at night, my wife goes to work, you know, how are you going to sleep? Hearing these cars running up and down and, you know, screaming in them speakers. I'm sure I'd be greatly let you live at my house for a month and let you put up with it.

I think we all face the same type of voice. You know what I'm saying?

I know you wouldn't like it. I know you wouldn't like it as well as I wouldn't like it.

Well, I mean, and there again, the city of Manchester doesn't own those four pieces of property, and we can't tell him what to do with them.

Oh, I understand the one that's a VA that's disabled. We heard that he wants to tear the house down because they got mold in it. Well, they already contacted a lawyer saying, you know we got mold in this house, and you let us live in here and get sick. So I understand they're getting a lawyer to sue him. Okay. Yeah, fine.

I mean, I just, you seem... to think that we can control what people do with their own property. If it meets within the codes and it meets within what we're voting on, then that's our goals and our objectives. It's not to displace residents, make them unhappy about where they live now, but there again, the city doesn't own the property. We have zoning, and we have all those different hurdles they have to go through to make sure that the barriers and the things are there, right?

Well, that's what our concern is. Sure. That some kind of stockade fence on all three sides gets put up, and they follow the balance at 45 feet from the back of our property, and my street stays a dead end, which has always been a dead end until they put the apartments in there. Well, that's my concern. We don't want, you know, it's bad enough we got people riding in the big sign that says dead end, and they still come down, get in the COVID check, and they go back up. And we got kids on the street riding bicycles and all that. You know what I mean? It's got to be something to keep it safe. Because I always hate it, saying like the four-way stop over there on Hill Chapel Road. Somebody's going to get killed there one day. Oh, then they'll put a light up. But you got to always wait for somebody to die for action in this place. I've seen it many times. I'm 71 years old. I've seen much. I drove for Donald Trump. I drove him when I was in the limousine service. Which I do keep in fact with him. But, you know.

You want to get him to come visit us?

Well, I go see him when I go before. At least I stop in the main thing and they acknowledge me. He can't come down, but he'll just tell me, well, maybe I'll see him for lunch or something. That was back in the middle 80s. I'm just being concerned because they let those apartments come in, which they lied about what was going in there. And now we got kids there. They go to school, they walk down that road, I guess wherever they get the bus from. If they get a bus, I don't know. But I mean, come on, when I heard this, I couldn't believe it. Swanson still hasn't yet notified. We told the people what was going on from the last meeting. The fellow that's disabled said, what? I'm getting what? Because he's got PTSD too. And they don't like change. And he's all paranoid now. You know, because he said, where am I going to go? What are you going to tell somebody like that?

I don't have that answer.

I mean, we already notified because he claimed that he's got, what sub shop is it? Oh, God, I hate it in every state where I work. But I already contacted them and said, well, there you're coming. Not only are you coming, you're putting a veteran out in the street. And a lot of people said, we don't like that food. And now you watch television, the news, and by 2027, we're not going to have fast food restaurants because they're all claiming bankruptcy. So I don't know why we want to put something like that in here. You know? But we're more concerned about the margin, you know, and the fence around it because it has to be for the kids.

Brittany, is that part of the restrictions? I mean, is a barrier and then you come off 45 feet and commercial?

Well, the surveyor told me 45 feet because he said if it's commercial, it's got to be 45 feet. Okay. So it's 25. Well, cut the sound down and the traffic and the noise. Sure. You know, but like I said, I'm more worried about the kids, you know, so. We hope. Let's just put it this way. That's why I came tonight because, I mean, it doesn't make sense. It's like going to one of these other developments and knock three houses down and say, I'm going to put a car wash in here.

I think it's a little different because it's not really a subdivision and it is on a main highway, but I understand your point.

I can understand that there was no houses down by the gas stations and all that.

Sure, sure.

But to say that this one's saying, well, we need houses, and then here you let the main knock four houses down. I'm sitting here and I'm going, are they listening to themselves or hear what's going on? But like I said, people that got money think they own the world and they can do whatever they want to do. I don't know. Because the lady that bought those apartments came to me because I was remodeling the house that I had because I owned another house at the time. And she said, you're not going to let anybody come in? I said, lady, I got three offers of letting a guy wants to do a body shop here. I said, because you come up 200 feet from the highway. It's commercial. It's right in my garage. And she said, oh, please don't do that because then Who's going to rent my apartments? And now, I don't know if she knows about that food store, that going in. I thought she'd be here today, but I guess she didn't. So, all right. I said my piece, and I feel better. I can sleep at night now. Yeah. No, thank you for your comment, sir. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Any more comments? Come on up, sir.

All right. Just give us your name. I'm Danny Brand. I live at 1308 McArthur.

Okay.

My main question is, like Mr. Lewis was saying, the barrier to protect my grandkids, and what are we going to be about the traffic on 55? I got reentered five years ago pulling in my driveway on 55.

And Brittany, I assume there'll be a traffic study?

I think I'll put stop lights or something down that way.

Traffic's real bad now as it is. The school's starting back up next month. It's going to be, because of the high school, all that traffic coming down through there and the buses.

Highway 55 is a state highway, major thoroughfare. Traffic is expected on the street.

They won't put up a barrier like by Taco Bell or something like that between the restaurants and pre-existing houses.

As I stated earlier, there is a 25-foot

Okay, now is that from the property line or how's that done? It's from the property line. Okay, so 25 feet from the property line. All right.

Yes, sir. All right, that's pretty all I got to ask.

All right, thank you. Thank you. Any more comments? Any comments from BOMA? Let's vote, please. Motion carries four to one.

ORDINANCE D. FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE ZONING THAT PROPERTY OWNED BY CAROLINE CLABO LOCATED ON CATT CREEK ROAD AND PERRY ROAD 2R1 AND RECENTLY ANNEXED INTO THE CITY. SPONSORED BY VICE MAYOR MESSICK.

WE HAVE A MOTION. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION? HEAR NONE. LET'S VOTE, PLEASE. Motion carries 5 to 0.

DAVID BURRAGE. Resolution E, first reading of an ordinance of the city of Manchester amending MMC 1-111 and adopting rules for public comments pursuant to TCA 8-44-112 sponsored by Alderman Crosland. Can I say something? DAVID BURRAGE. Yes, please.

DAVID BURRAGE.

As we promised Mr. McLaurin last time, we went back and we looked at the current wording of 111 And how we amended it a couple times, we had prepared another amendment that never made it to BOMA and just thought it was a better idea to adopt language that's almost exactly the same as the state statute. Also in the state statute, it allows municipalities and counties and other governing bodies to adopt rules pursuant to that. And the language for these rules come from an MTAS recommended rule of promulgation.

So as Attorney Johnson says, I mean, we told Mr. McLaren that we would make sure at the last meeting that we had it all clean by the new law. And so that's what this is. It's cleaning it all up one time. Could I get a motion and a second, please? We have a motion and a second. Alderman Anderson?

There are additional restrictions on the public comments that weren't there the last time we voted on it. Is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay. I feel that the effect of this would be to discourage participation. I mean, that's my personal opinion, so I'll be voting against this. But I do appreciate you taking another look.

How do you feel it discourages it? It says basically you can talk about anything even if it ain't on the agenda.

I think there are restrictions here. It says in order to provide for a more diverse pool of comments, priority among those signing up shall be given to members of the public who have not commented during the preceding two meetings. I feel like I don't know. That doesn't seem reasonable to me. If someone were to be invested and come and, you know, give thoughtful commentary at meetings, I don't think their thoughts are any less important than another meeting.

I think that only applies if there's 10 or more applicants. Yeah. And I haven't seen that happen since I've been here. And the above.

Most of the people.

Well, I also personally, I mean, I don't like the declaration of the item the comment will address is required at sign-up. I mean, that's just my personal opinion. Other people may have different ones. So, thank you.

Thanks. Any more comments? Hearing none, let's vote, please. Motion carries four to one. Number 10, old business. Don't know that we have any. Number 11, new business. We don't, under the housing, education, and health board appointments, we have no applications submitted. Historical zoning, we had one application submitted, Steven Scarborough. I'm gonna appoint him to the historical zoning, or make a motion that we appoint him, if I can get a second. Seconded. Can I make a motion, I guess? You submitted. Oh, I submitted. I'm sorry. So I guess yours will be a motion, Tom. Thank you. Do we have a second? We have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? Let's vote, please. Motion carries five to zero. Tourism commission appointment, we do not have any applications at this time. Tourism director, you guys have all met Kim. I'm asking you to make a motion to let me enter into negotiations to hire Kim as the new tourism director in Manchester. So we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Yep, Alderman Anderson.

For the folks listening at home that may not understand where my vote's coming from, I'm just gonna say that I'm voting no against this not because I have any doubts about this person's professional qualifications. I personally would rather see our city fund a different type of position than this. like a city manager, a city administrator, or a planning professional to help us with the concerns that were raised by the other citizens. So it's not a personal vote at all, it's just priorities as far as my vision for the city might differ from other people's.

Any more comments? Let's vote please. Motion carries four to one. Number 12 items from board Alderman Anderson.

Yes, to Sarah Bradley's comments, would it be appropriate for us to discuss the possibility of entering into mediation with the comptroller rather than let this process? Continue as it has been. I think it's expensive for us to use the city attorney to sit with Miss Bradley to negotiate what records are available when the comptroller is available for free, and they also specialize in this. I mean, that's a motion I'd like to make that we discuss entering into mediation. It's a free service. Make sure we're doing everything correctly and being as open as possible as far as meetings and records go. And it would remove any personal animus from the situation that I believe has become charged. And I think, personally, I think Ms. Bradley is owed an apology from the city.

I personally don't think she is. But we'll definitely take your motion. Do we have a second?

Second. I'll second it.

So a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Will you restate your motion, please?

I would like to make a motion that the city enter into mediation using the Comptroller's Office of Open Records Council to resolve the ongoing disputes and help Ms. Bradley get the public records that should be available to her and any other citizen under the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act.

We have a motion and a second. Will you guys push your buttons so we can vote? Are you going to do voice? Okay. Any more comments? Call roll, please.

Alderman Anderson? Aye. Alderman Crosland?

No.

Alderman Three? Aye. Alderman French?

Absolutely not.

You know, I don't understand this. I mean, have you not been able to get all the records that you've requested?

Alderman Parsley, let's not intergage, please. No. Thank you. Motion fails. Anything else, Alderman Anderson?

No, that's all. I mean, I'd like to say it's great and all that we had a wonderful July 4th, and I appreciate all the hard work that went into that, but it's also important that we treat all citizens well. All employees and each other with respect, even the people that we don't agree with.

I'd ask the same of you when you start making disciplinary comments to the media that you have no authority to make.

I have authority to answer questions.

No, you don't have authority to recommend disciplination.

I have the authority to give my opinion.

You sure do, but not for discipline. Anything else? Alderman Crosland? No, sir. Alderman Threatt?

What is it about data centers that has the public so, I guess, enraged? I think Coffey County has made it clear that they don't, I don't even know it's a possibility to have a data center here, but to just foreclose the possibility? think it's a terrible mistake i've got a article i should have brought it with me tonight some in louisiana their parishes they had a data center built and they are giving teachers each fifty thousand dollars from the and i'll bring it tomorrow night from the from the tax proceeds of that data center i think it's just you know another example of this county uh You know, could it get any worse? I guess I shouldn't ask that because obviously it can, but just another example of the county foreclosing any interest in growth. And like I said, I think the almost hysterics around data centers is certainly not an expert, but it just seems not well-founded. I think I read that a data center uses less water than a golf course. Yeah. I don't know if that's accurate. But anyway, I think it's just, it's a bad look.

Vice Mayor Messick?

No, sir, I've got nothing.

Alderman Parsley?

No.

All right. Take motion to adjourn.

So moved.

We have a motion by Vice Mayor Messick, Alderman Crosland. Everybody say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Meeting is closed. Sanderson, will you be able to make that tomorrow? Since you're on the rec commission? Yes, not. Yes, not.