City Council - Regular Meeting

No, you're fine. Don't get you very far.

OK, it's 5.55, and we have a public hearing tonight before our scheduled city council meeting. So we have two items for tonight's public hearing. If you would like to speak on either one of these items, when I read the item, please step to the podium, state your name and address. And we have three minutes to speak. There is a timer up there that'll give you an idea of how much time you have left. We do ask that if you want to speak, do not form a line. Just one of the first person sits down, then you can walk on up there. And we also do ask to treat every speaker with respect, no booing or cheering, anything like that. So number one is request by staff for zoning code amendment approval for 14.504. d10 landscaping screening and buffering to change permitted wall and fence materials my commission recommend approval by vote of eight zero at their june 23rd meeting this represents order number 26 74 48. anyone like to speak on this okay seeing none i'll move number two request by staff for zoning code amendment approval to change 14 .303, residential zoning districts accessory building tables. RPI, residential public institutional accessory building table. UC University campus accessory building table. And 14.503, supplemental bulk regulations for accessory buildings to establish uniform standards for accessory buildings. Planning Commission recommend approval by vote of 8-0 of the June 23rd meeting. This represents Ordinance Number 267449. Anyone would like to speak on this? Okay. Seeing none, I'll declare the public meeting closed. And here in a few minutes, we will begin our city council meeting.

Thank you.

I think I'm going to end up, I'm going back to America.

It's 6 o'clock, so it's time for my city council meeting. I will call the meeting to order. I ask Lee Clark to lead the invocation.

Our dear and most gracious Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this day. Just thank you for the many blessings of life that you give us each and every day. Just thank you for all these boys and girls that are here today and what they mean to this city as futures. Just be with this council as they do conduct business of the city tonight. Lead and guide us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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 all.

Mack? Here. Jerry Ashley? Here. Camille Burdine? Here. Chris Crowe?

Here.

Chick Bryan? Here. Gil Moorhead?

Present.

Mayor Bell, you have a quorum.

Thank you. We also have minutes to approve. The first are from the July 16th work session. Motion to approve. Moorhead, second by Councilor Crowe. Any discussion on those minutes? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Also from the July 21st regularly called city council meeting. Motion to approve. Okay.

Councilor Carmack, seconded by Councilor Crowell, discussion.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Before we move to communication of citizens, as Councilor can see, we have some special guests here tonight. And so we have a proclamation to read in a few minutes, but I didn't tell them the order we're going to do this, but I'd like to ask Wayne Oakley, who is part of our local baseball and softball organization up here, to come and tell us who's here tonight.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. We've got some very special guests, as Mayor said. And these are people that we are very, very proud of. If you don't know, I am the co-director of softball for the Leaveney Youth Baseball Softball Association tonight. Also, Bill Potter is here. He's our director of baseball. And Amanda Lester is the other co-director of softball. Some of you may have heard that Little League World Series is going on right now for the softball division. And Before I get to that, I'm going to go to a younger age division that did not have a tournament to go to beyond the state tournament. And that's our 8U girls softball team, Coach Pitch. So girls, if you would stand up, please. And the coaches. So this team right here, this is our eight and under coach pitch division, as I said. They won the Little League District 2 Championship. They went undefeated. And Joey, I believe we've unruled everybody in district. Is that correct? Yes. So that was back at the end of June. July 4, no, I'm sorry. They went July 11 weekend to Maryville. or let me say that right, Merrill. And they went to the state tournament, and they also went undefeated at the state tournament and run ruled everybody at the state tournament as well. So this team is very accomplished in what they did this year. They went as far as Little League has. We are sanctioned with Little League and softball and some of baseball as well. But we want to make sure that they got recognition as well.

So that's our eight-use softball team.

The next one is, so as all of us who have grown up, especially way back in the day when there was only one day that you had sports on TV, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, every year holds the Little League Boys Baseball World Series for 12 and under. So I don't know how many years ago, but Little League started girls softball as well. And this season, our 12U girls, so if you're with the 12U girls team, please stand. Stand, come on. You know. Also, if the coaches would stand with them, please. This team in district play, they lost their first game to Smith County. They were losing their second game to Smith County in late innings, and then they came back, and from that point on, They went undefeated through district. They went on to state in Clarksville on July 4th weekend. They won the state. And they became the first team ever from Lebanon or Wilson County to make it to the Little League Southeast Regional Tournament that was hosted in Warner Robins, Georgia a couple weeks ago. They played three games down at Warner Robins, Georgia. They went one and two. But for the first time, they never gave up. And for the first time for a team to go to that type of tournament, they were on ESPN Plus. You can watch them on there. They did a fantastic job. So this is our 12U girls, all-star state of Tennessee and District 2 champions and Southeast Regional champions. Representative for Lebanon Youth Baseball and Southall.

Thank you, Wayne, and thank you guys for all the work you do, too, putting this league together and making it function. Without you guys, this never would have happened either, so we appreciate that. We do have a proclamation tonight for you guys, and so I'm going to step around the podium. I'm going to ask the council to come out there, too, and I'm going to ask the 12 and under players and coaches to come stand here in front of the dais, and we're going to read a proclamation.

whereas the 2026 L.Y.V.S.A. 11-12 all-stars was made up of players from the spring of the 2026 season. All players went through a trial process and were selected by L.Y.V.S.A. to represent our league. Once assembled, the players had less than two weeks to bond as a team. And whereas the team began to And whereas Game 2 versus Smith County was played on June 24, 2026, where 11 came out on top and scored 11-10, Smith County 3, this year is now tied 1-1. And whereas the decisive Game 3 was played on June 25, 2026, Smith County scored early and led 3-0 after two innings. At the top of 16, 11 was able to score three runs and took the championship game 5-3. And whereas only District 2 landed the team of the Tennessee Bulls League State Tournament, 11 out of 16 took a run for a win in the third inning. Whereas later that same day, 11 faced Maryville and stayed game two, leaving no doubt who the best team was when 11 held Maryville scoreless with a final score of 20-9. And we're asked by going 2-0. baseball, or softball. And whereas the Southeast Regional was played in the Warner Robins, Georgia, at the Warner Robins League Stadium, other teams included state champions from West Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, and North Carolina, Levin is now known as Team Tennessee. And whereas in the Southeast Regional game, Team Tennessee faced Virginia on July 17, 2026, Team Tennessee lost 5-2, which dropped them into the loser's bracket. Whereas Team Tennessee played Alabama in the Southeast Regional Game 2 on July 18, 2026, in their first elimination game, Tennessee came out with the bats on fire, beating Alabama with a 19-1 victory. Whereas the Southeast Regional Game 3 brought South Carolina as Team Tennessee's opponent on July 19, 2026, in this next elimination game, South Carolina led 3-0 after two innings. Tennessee was able to score one run, but it was eliminated by South Carolina on the final World League Southeast region. The team never gave up in any game and bowed to the very end. The names that were made will last each player a lifetime along with the pride of being the very first team to represent Lebanon, Tennessee in the World League Southeast region. Team Lebanon, Tennessee is thankful for all the support of the CM Lebanon and its citizens. Now, therefore, I, Mayor Rick Bell, the Mayor of the CM Lebanon, Tennessee, the players in the world.

Okay. I'm going to name the last three. I have the head coach, Sean Simmons, assistant coach, Chad Christman, and then we also have Jonathan Trice that did not make it tonight. I'll introduce the players. I won't say your name. Just smile nicely. All right. We have Taylor Fisher, McKenna Shute, Gracie Patton, Ireland Nessie Christianberry, Aubrey Wright, Blakely Potter, Henley Simmons, and Promise Minear. And we're missing four players that are playing volleyball tonight. We have Hillary Trice, Colby Buehler, and let's see, Addie Thiering, and then David Patrick is also not here, along with the other assistant coach, Jonathan Trice. So thank you so much for having us here.

We really appreciate it. Let's gather in the biscuits.

Can I get the girls in the front? I'll let everybody go to the front. I was in the crack.

And Mayor, if you know, you know, I cannot confirm or deny Dixieland Delight may have been played in Warner Robins, Georgia. On behalf of LYBSA, we want to thank the city for you guys, for everything you provide for us. Many people don't understand what this city provides for the youth in our city. Just go down the road here about 15 miles and you'll find out the difference between two cities in this one county here about how they promote and support They're U Sports, and we want to thank you, and we can't wait to get into the phase two of the new sports park. You know I had to say that.

We can't wait either, Wayne. Well, thank you all, and I do want to tell the softball teams and parents and coaches, you don't have to stay. You can leave if you want. We'll be here for a minute, so if you guys want to go, that's fine. If you want to hang around, that's fine, too. But we're going to move on with the rest of the meeting, but if you guys want to get up, that's fine.

Thank you, guys.

Over there, this is not a good exit anymore.

I can't get to my car. It was either close, lost, or a route.

My patience.

Either way. Yeah, absolutely. That's right. Small all of a sudden. A room. Throw a cat through the...

okay uh now it's time for communication from citizens so if you'd like to speak to to us tonight now it's time to do that uh you'll step the podium we have three minutes to speak and then there's a there's a countdown clock to help you keep up with your time there we ask you to state your name and address at the beginning and um and also we do ask that um that do not form a line at the podium when someone is speaking and sits down then just step up there at that point we also ask that uh We treat all speakers with respect, no applause, no booing, and those types of things. So if anyone would like to speak with us tonight, now's your chance.

511 Barton Shore Court. I'd like to talk to you about the water treatment plant. I understand the committee needed to provide a 60 acre site for you. It was not really taking into consideration multiple technologies. Mayor Bell and we had a conversation and the newer technologies have the ability to be put on a much more compact site. that I've passed out tell you a little bit about the technologies. I compared the Murfreesboro as a conventional, and then looked at what's called a moving bed biofilm reactor or a MBBR. And the MBBR is a technology that's been around since 2010. It requires a much smaller footprint to do the 20 million gallons per day that you're looking for, requires about a five acre building size. And that's with a odor. a unit that takes care of the odor. This is a building that's enclosed, an enclosed building, and it becomes just like any other industrial building. So it is more expensive. It's between 13.5% and 15% more expensive than the conventional technology. However, My thought is, and I've looked into it, is that you can upgrade the existing facilities and not have to buy other property Therefore, when you have the conventional technology price and the new technology price that MBVR, now you don't have to buy a property. So it brings this price down and makes it more palatable to do a retrofit on the existing facility. If you decide to go to a new facility, I think in my opinion, and it's up to you, the Rockwood facility is close by. You've got your infrastructure is right there. And this is only requires a five acre parcel or building so that you wouldn't have to buy more than just a minimum amount.

Your time is up. Thank you. Anyone else?

Hello, Charles Smith. Leland Lane. I'm curious as to when the contracts for all the developments that are going on were signed. There's a reason behind that. Is there a way to find that out? And is there somewhere on the city website that I can access those contracts? I'd like to look at them. I think there may be a way out of all this expansion, a perfectly legal way, maybe slightly embarrassing, but we'd have to handle the embarrassment. One thing I'd like to address is I think it was Joey that told me a couple of years ago that you guys were actually on contracts that had been signed several years in advance, like with people who left land to the city to kind of do with what the city wanted to do with, such as the land over by Coles Ferry Elementary. And while that may be the case, I would like to know why, when we know that we're putting all that additional traffic on the same amount of roadway, we didn't build any more roadway to handle it. If you're going to quadruple the traffic, why don't we have the common sense to expand the roadway to accommodate that? um another thing and i think i might have mentioned this last time the traffic light if you're coming from uh from say from the square or up or down by the bowling alley when you turn onto what is now hartsville pike the left turn light still doesn't work it hasn't worked since day one so you have to sit there if you're turning left down down what is now hartfield pike and just kind of hope like crazy you get a break in the traffic because the left turn signal doesn't work And, you know, I know that's probably county or state. I don't care. Please send somebody out there to fix it and figure out who to send the bill to. We shouldn't be suffering for ineptitude on the state or county's part. That's ridiculous. I don't have a lot more, guys. Let me know if I can help in any way. I don't like coming up here and criticizing. It's not my gig. I've got better things I'd rather do. But if I can help you in any way, let me know how. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Hello, my name's Aiden Pryor of 502 Riverview Avenue. And I'm here again to talk about the corruption that our city council continues to allow. I see Andy Wright is back. Welcome back from your unpaid suspension. I hope that was a nice little vacation on your boat. Getting drunk. I hope that was a fun time, Andy. But Mayor Bell, when are we going to see something either come out of your pocket or your wife's? I don't care. Y'all are millionaires. But we need to lean down at least $28,000. More importantly, we need to lean down about Sarah Haston. We don't even know if she has a disability to need a chair. We spoke with HR. She's never filed a report before this case, so why does she need the chair now? And the way she spoke to my city council member is appalling. You know, if she spoke to me like that, she would be hit with my car because I would not be dealing with that type of thing, especially if I'm elected to this position. It's appalling. It's outrageous.

So, Mr. Pratt, you just basically said you want to hit somebody with your car. We're not going to listen to that, so your time is up.

No, it's not.

Yes, it is. Your time is up. You know what, Mayor? That's what we're calling for your resign.

That's what we're calling for your resign.

You are a decent mayor who does nothing more than talk, talk, talk. Anyone else like to speak?

I'm going behind you.

Anna Faye Lima, 1610 Ponderosa Trail. I just want to say I'm proud of these kids, these softball and baseball kids that have been winners.

The window flipped you off.

The what? I just want to say that I am proud of all these kids that have been winners from this city. And I think it's something to be proud of. And I was glad to see y'all honor these little girls tonight. And I want to see you honor those little little six and under boys because they went all the way to the World Series in place number five. So I want to see them up here next time. And I helped them do a little fundraising, raised them a little money, helped out. And, you know, everybody dogs out the developers. But let me tell you, They don't mind writing a check to help these kids. I'll tell you that right now. And I'm thankful we got that kind of stuff in this city. And also, I want to say a little bit about this sewer stuff. I spoke three times already up here today. Y'all go back and listen to it. But anyway, I told them, I said, one of the things I said, I said, at first I was in favor of Rockwood, but the more I studied, the more I listened, the more I learned, it needs to go. I don't care if it is in the city limits. I don't think that's a good spot. It's not going to give you a lot of stuff down the road for expansion. It's in a flood zone. It's got a gas line running through it, and Lord knows what else. And I think we need to look seriously at Site 7 because that's where the two lines will come together, one off of Coast Fair and one off coming from this end of the world. And it's already got your park setting, and it's already got a tree line buffer. You can't see nothing from the road on that property, and that's something to consider. And I know it's two parcels, and one of them already touches. It's already in the urban growth boundary, and the other one touches it. So what I said earlier was we got to think about the future, the growth going that direction because we've got no sense of, no, it's going that way. And that'll help run a sewer line all the way to 109 North if you need some commercial or whatever over there. And, you know, I believe in bringing in this commercial development because that's a tax base. So anyway, I'm in favor of that side over all the rest of them. And I think it'd be less... infrastructure blasting and all that rigmarole unless homes and families affected because it's not that many people around that site where there's some of these others it's got a lot of subdivision a lot of homes around so anyway so i'm trying to behave tonight see y'all i ain't fussing at you thank you anyone else

That's in 106 Chapman Drive. Two topics race against the clock. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll add on the second topic. I'm going to read because I'm in a hurry. On city public meeting agenda six times the last few months, three times before this body, This is the first time I publicly comment regarding a proposed rezoning of rural acreage at the corner of 231 North and Rutledge Lane. No one objected to the applicant buying the 7-ish acres for business somewhat akin to Lester's at the corner of Hartman and Coast Ferry Pike. But the applicant asked for the zoning of commercial interchange meeting in the future that even a trailer park could go there. Forget the small. Meeting after meeting, the applicant's request was either delayed or unanimously denied by all affiliated with city planning. And the applicant was told that he should instead be asking for a C2 PUD by county planning process. And he couldn't even do that. There is much public record minutes regarding the applicant's warped journey through six public meetings. Yet, at the last city council meeting, one of you was so stupid as to stand alone and vote to reward the attempted perversion of city planning for this site to become commercial interchange. That outrageous conduct was via Councillor Tick Bryan. But... He has simultaneously also committed a brilliant deed. As I stated at this mic on July 7th, hugs to Councillor Bryan and Carmack, and I'll add Councillor Moorhead. And their remarks via the applicable minutes of the last two council meetings are spot on regarding the city not rendering annually $100,000 for the Expo Center. Councillor Ashley, here's your suggested discussion and workshop on that topic here's where I don't know if I will finish so that means I will be back to finish over the past 20 years I attend many local government meetings including three the day of the last City Council meeting and two county meetings two days prior and two meetings this very day I attend the meetings regarding I attended the meetings regarding the birth pains of the Expo Center and and I have the documentations that reveal an ugly, fact-based story. By a subset of county officials, to justify an expo center, a warped economic study was used, and fraudulently so. When that was exposed, then those few officials sought to make the case without any basis that an expo center would be profitable. And in an effort to try to make the numbers work, they used a tit for tat ploy to get Mayor Craighead on board for the 100,000 annually. Mayor Craighead was promoting a competing project nearby based on documented fraud and driven by his documented fraud. He secretly signed a contract with a project developer whom soon went bankrupt. Mayor Craighead needed the county support on that project and obviously thought he might could get it if the city donated $100,000 annually to the Expo project. I've got two more sentences. I will come back at the next council meeting and deliver those two sentences.

Anyone else like to speak?

Bill Potter, 116 Pennsylvania Avenue. And I represent Lebanon Youth Baseball and Softball Association, like Wayne said. These girls were, both teams accomplished some great tasks. We do have two boys teams that one state, the 6U Team One State and the 12U Team One State in Diamond Youth Baseball. They went to Laurel, Mississippi for the World Series. One team finished fifth and the other team finished third. So we will recognize them in the next couple of city council meetings next time. We also hosted a 12U Diamond Youth Tournament here in Lebanon. week of June, July 9th, 22 teams were here. Over half of them stayed at our hotels and ate at our restaurants and bought our gas and everything like that. So economic development, hopefully that week was very good. We had a long night. Tennessee, Lebanon actually won the tournament, state tournament. So that was very successful. And I appreciate William Porter and Dusty Jones for everything that they did during that time. So thank y'all.

Thank you. Anyone else like to speak?

Come on up. Jim Dunn, 1709 Blair Mountain Drive. I really didn't intend on speaking tonight. But we got a problem that just came up in our neighborhood ever since I moved here. The first night that I was in my house over there, it flooded, and I had water in my garage. Later on in 2010, it flooded again. Water was three feet deep on my garage doors, which I had to replace both of them. And that's because of the water running down through our system and not going any further than Coke Drive. And talking with Mayor Crackhead at the time, he seemed kind of sorry that we had to put up with that. But he said he was having to put, I guess, some kind of bridges out there on Hartman Drive. I noticed there were a few of them out there, but they're going nowhere. And they're just there. I guess sometimes somebody will use them. But we couldn't get a new bridge because of that. Couldn't get a new bridge underneath Blair Lane. And the one underneath Cook Drive was probably put there back when there was a hog farm there. And who cares where the water went? But the water... We have lately, and Lee Clark has been helping me. He has gone up there and talked to them a few times up on that hill back there on Bethlehem Road. Now, it's got to the point where it's getting kind of ridiculous because every time they dig all that place up up there, uh all their mud and water and weeds and shrubs and everything they dig up floats right down in our neighborhood so now we had to pick all that stuff up and try to deal with it and it backs up against cup drive and uh And they were across the ditch from me. We wanted to, or will, agree to do our share to try to get the ditch and the bridge done if we possibly can. I don't know. actually what it would cost to do all that, but as that ditch comes down to Cook Drive, that cylinder or whatever it is there, almost every bridge in this town is bigger than that. I don't know where they got that or bought it or whatever it was back in those days, but it's probably the smallest bridge tube that we got going underneath it. Mr. Dunn, your time is up. But anyway, I looked it all up. Your time is up, Mr. Dunn.

Mr. Dunn, your time is up. I know.

I still get with him. We'll take care of it.

Hello, my name is John Frewbauer. My wife and I, Tammy, just a few months ago moved into the area. And is this the appropriate time to talk about the white vinyl fence?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Is this your time to talk about anything?

First of all, I would like to congratulate the youth that managed to accomplish a great amount of pride just for the community. And I apologize that I don't have anything nasty to say about you all, but I do. Yeah.

Give it time. Yeah.

and I do appreciate the support that the city is giving the youth. I've got two granddaughters that in about eight or 10 years will be up here also winning some kind of recognition. The issue that concerns us is the white vinyl fence, which has been outlawed, I understand, back in, Was it November of last year? Has anything been resolved on that? I've talked with the city planner and he said that they are no longer issuing permits. We had bought a permit back in the end of April and want to complete the white vinyl fence, which is very prevalent in the new subdivision that we live in, which I didn't give you an address, 618 Romford Boulevard, but it's a newer subdivision. And we live in a duplex, and the... subdivision, when they put that in, put in a white vinyl fence on the back to separate the patios on the back of the residences. And we just wanted to continue that out and around. We very strongly would like to put in a white vinyl fence. I understand there's some issues in the older part of town that people don't want that white vinyl fence, but we are in a new subdivision. I've got photographs of a lot of the white vinyl fence that has been installed and I don't think it'd be out of place for us to be allowed to put up the vinyl fence. Has anything been decided or has that been brought up or voted on?

Well, your time is up, but let me see if I'm ever going to speak and then we'll come back to it. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak? Okay, seeing none. It is my time to communicate. I have a few announcements, but sir, just to let you know, that's something that none of us have heard about. I know you talked to the city planner. Josh, can you shed any light on that?

As you said, the code update in November did include fence material changes, including prohibiting final fences. It's actually on your agenda tonight to reverse that, among some other changes for fence standards. That's new business item number one. So once you pass that, that'll be rectified.

Okay. So we can discuss that more when we get that on the agenda. But what you said, so the issue they're discussing, if this passes two readings, it'll fix their situation.

Okay, all right, thank you.

So let's see how the vote goes tonight, and then we'll talk after the meeting. All right. I do have a few things to talk about tonight. Last week, we had a big week. We had the ribbon cutting for the splash pad in Don Fox Park. So I wanna thank TDEC for the grant. that they provided for that project. That was over $300,000 grant that came from the state. And I want to thank the council for supporting that grant and also supporting our matching funds. It was a 50-50 grant for that. I want to thank the staff who worked on it. The splash pad does come under the Jimmy Floyd Center, so it comes under Alex Major. He worked hard on it. Jake Pruitt, who works in Kristen's department, He's the project manager on it, so I appreciate all the work he did and people throughout the city who worked on that project. William Porter and his team, they were part of that as well. It did replace a facility that was almost 30 years old. And so it's something to be replaced. And we feel like this is great for the future of Don Fox Park. And so I appreciate you guys supporting that. And we did have the ribbon cutting, and it was a great event. And so it's ready to go now. And so it's out there and kids were playing on it that night. Also, we had the ribbon cutting for the grand opening of the Square Park. So I'll thank everybody who came out to that, and also thank the city council for supporting that. And again, all the people in the city here worked on it. Again, Kristen's team, Jake worked on that very hard. Lee was part of that as well. Tim Stockton was a contractor on it, and I appreciate all the work he did. It did come in under budget. And so that night we did have a concert there, a suite and three performed. I appreciate Council Burdine and the words she said at the event. I appreciate everybody who came to that. And I think, I know this, every time I've gone to the square, I've seen people sitting at those tables eating. eating ice cream or food from another restaurant or something like that and that's really what it's meant for so uh and and other events as well so um so i appreciate uh the council's support on that and um thinking that moving forward i think that's um uh although the square is historic it has gone through different iterations through the years and i think this is a great project for the future of the square And then also last week, Sam's Club opened. That's a new investor in the city we've been looking forward to for a long time, a day we've been looking forward to. And it's been a process. And the council was a big part of that, approving a public-private partnership with the infrastructure out there to make that store happen. Without that vote, it would not have happened. And although I didn't want to say it at the Sam's Club event, the target walls are going up right next door. So that's a great addition, too, in that area. And so I just want to thank everyone for that. I want to thank for the staff. I worked on that, and that process started four years ago back in 2022 when Sarah Haston and I first met with Sam's Club about – about getting them to come here. And there were a lot of meetings with her and with Sam's Club, with the property owners. And also there are other departments as part of that as well. Kristen's department, it actually started when it was Jeff Bain's department. He worked on it. Kristen worked on it. Jake worked on it. There's a big crowd out there. They had a very successful first day. And so I hope you guys appreciate what you did when you voted for that. That was really a big deal for Lebanon. There was one thing I did want to say, though. When I was in the store, there was a guy in there who was kind of standing around. He came and introduced himself to me. And he was actually the contractor who built the building. And he was from Texas. And they went through some changes out there. They built the building, then decided to make some changes. uh to the interior and um and he just wanted to tell me about uh our engineering staff he mentioned jake specifically and uh said if it wasn't for them uh he's he's not sure he would still be done with it uh he thinks he'd still be working on one for them helping him through the process and uh and making that happen so i just want to thank the team for uh for making that happen um So again, that's a lot of thank yous to the council, to the staff in many different departments for being out there. The police department for the grand opening was a big part of that, not just outside the building, but inside the building. And I think San Francisco is gonna be a great part of this community. They gave away a lot of money that day to different nonprofits and they had 11 high school band playing as well. Up until this time, they've really shown they want to be a part of this community, not just have a store here. And I think that's the way it's going to be in the future as well. So thank you, guys. That's all I have. Councilor Carmack?

I'M NOT GOING TO REPEAT EVERYTHING YOU SAID BECAUSE I WAS AT ALL THOSE EVENTS AS WELL. THANK YOU FOR EVERYBODY THAT WORKED ON THE SPLASH PAD. WHEN I WAS FIRST ELECTED WE HAD TO REDO THE POOL AND HAD TO RESURFACE IT AND IT CAME TIME THAT IT HAD JUST BEEN OUTDATED AND IT WAS TIME TO REPLACE IT WITH THE SPLASH PAD. AND IT WAS NICE. WE DONE THE RIBBON CUTTING INSIDE OF IT. IT WAS GREAT. SO THANK YOU TO ALL THE STAFF THAT DONE THAT. Sam's Club, of course, was one of the biggest grand openings that had tons of people. So I really want to thank all the staff, Rick and Sarah, for getting Sam's here. That's going to be great. And it looked great for Target to be going up next to it as well. And I believe that's all I have. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Councilor Ashley.

Yeah, I just had a couple of things about lights. So the light that Mr. Smith mentioned, do you know which one he's talking about? It seems like I'm getting a lot of inquiries about lights around that area.

The new one at the new Hartsell Pike alignment and the bypass, they haven't widened the road yet. So there's not a left turn lane for that left turn signal. But Vulcan, who's TDOT's contractor, they should be milling and paving this week. We're trying to get, we're really pushing them to get the bypass work done before the fair. And as soon as that new lane is in, we will activate that turn signal. So it's because there's not a lane for it right now, which creates safety issues.

And I'm not sure if I'm understanding this question or not, but I've gotten a lot of inquiries from folks on Forest Avenue asking about could the light on North Cumberland not change until all the traffic had cleared off East and West Forest? And it said that that would be another barrier for the 18 wheelers. I'm not really sure exactly what that means, but

We'll look at it. It's got detection and timings programmed in there, but we'll take a look at it.

I mean, it sounds like the traffic is probably backing up on Forest and the light is not letting it clear.

We'll look into it.

Okay.

It's the first I've heard of it, so we'll check it.

That's all I have.

Thank you. Council Berta?

We did have a great week last week, and even I drove my son around today, and he said Lebanon is really looking good, Mom, and it is. You know, a lot of the things that the younger generation want, we're finally getting, and I'm glad to see that he's proud of this town and proud to be back. So it does make you feel good. that the work is being done and our tax dollars, you know, are going to work and we get to see them. Sometimes our dollars go to work on things that we can't see. And those aren't as fun for sure. It goes the same thing in your home. When you have to do plumbing, you don't get to see it, but it costs you a lot of money. But I also want to thank the Second Baptist Church. They asked me a couple of weekends ago to help with their back to school, giving backpacks away. And I also got to be a judge of some fantastic ribs. And so I'm going to shout out to the associate pastor there. His did win number one and two. I don't know, is that against the law, Andy, if they want to bribe me with ribs? But I will do it again anytime. But we appreciate the work that that church is doing to help our youth. And that's the one thing I do love the most about our community is that we do try to work together. and collaborate and try to take care of our kids and make this more of a community by doing those things. So that's all I had.

Thank you. Councilor Crowell?

Mayor, I want to thank you and the staff for everything that's been done. It's been not only a great week in the city of Lebanon, it's been a great week in Ward 4. because a lot of those projects that we just talked about have occurred in Ward 4. We're blessed to sort of parallel the interstate there and a couple of different exits, both at Hartman Drive and at 109. There's not only a lot of A lot of infrastructure improvements that are occurring in both of those corridors. There's more sales tax dollars coming in in those corridors. There's more jobs coming in in those corridors. And there's more people coming to our community. And I was talking with some folks earlier today and you know, we do get some folks are unhappy about different things, uh, from time to time. And, and there's things that we can always do better. Uh, but, um, but we are getting a lot of positive comments as Camille, uh, referenced a few minutes ago. Um, I've spent a little time with my son as well. And he's like, dad, this is a different place becoming a different place than I grew up in. And, uh, hopefully in, uh, in a lot of ways in, in, um, they're more positive, uh, places for people to, to go now and, and have a nice dinner with someone spending time on the square, um, you know, going to, uh, uh, to areas of our city and being able to enjoy themselves, um, in a, in a park, uh, new amenities that we have. And, you know, one of the great things that, that is a positive to me about that, if we're thinking about the money that we've spent, um, you know, we always have to watch what we're doing and watch our revenue. And, uh, you know, while we don't want to count any chickens before they're hatched here, we do have a report that, that was furnished to us tonight by Lindsay. We appreciate what you're doing, Lindsay, for us as well. Uh, but, you know, just using some rough math here, you know, if we, if we bring in roughly what we brought in this time last year or close to what we brought in, um, In the month of July, we will have brought in more than we've ever brought in. In the city of Lebanon, it would be over $29 million as I'm looking at it there in sales tax revenue, so alone. So while what we've done has cost money, there have been investments, not only in quality of life, but in, again, once again, infrastructure, and in ways that will bring in increased revenue to our community that we can use on other things to help, not only in today's efforts, but things for our children and grandchildren in the future. So really excited about that and appreciate all of the council support on those initiatives that have helped make that happen and the staff as well. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Brian.

Thank you, Mayor. You know, I've lived here all my life, and I don't know how many have lived. How many have lived and born and raised right here in Lebanon, Tennessee?

Brothers and sisters.

But I don't know if any of you are as old as I am, but I remember the square when nobody, I remember when the square was very vibrant in the 60s, believe it or not. That's where we went to shop. And then when the malls came in, they abandoned the square and it went down considerably for many years. and the square is now something we can be proud of i've never seen so much improvement uh and the events and the uh retail and restaurants and things that are down you know the breweries you know that never would have passed in the 60s uh i read an old article uh from a newspaper i was going through some of my dad's stuff and in 1955 now this was in the newspaper um he wanted to open a restaurant he was he was 20 years old he was going to open a restaurant between Lebanon and Watertown and they had a write-up in the paper about there was a rumor going around that he might be serving beer So he was quoted in the paper saying, we will not serve beer, that is a rumor. I don't wanna have anything to do with beer or beer drinkers. So that came right out of the paper, but we've come a long way since then. And I'm proud to be from Lebanon and I'm proud of you guys. I'm proud of everybody. Go ahead, take it away.

Thank you, council Moria.

I would like to welcome these new folks to the city of Lebanon. I hope your stay is wonderful. I hope you make this home and stay here for the rest of your life. And hopefully your kids, grandkids, whatever. I moved here eight years ago and got involved with the city and fallen in love. And this is my forever home. Not sure where I'll end up within town, but I'm going to plan on staying in town until they bury me. But last week was a big week. The only thing the mayor did miss was Ascension St. Thomas also did a groundbreaking right on 109 north of Lebanon Road for a new emergency facility that will be on the west side of town, which I think will be very helpful for that part of town. There's not a lot out there, so I was really excited to participate in that with the mayor, that groundbreaking. If you were not at the Sam's Club grand opening, you were probably the only people not there in town. Literally, there was not a single parking place to be had. So if you have not been there, please go there. It absolutely is a beautiful facility. They've got incredible merchandise. The food looks first rate. I mean, I think it's going to be a fantastic addition to the city. The square was another thing that the mayor did mention. I think that's going to be a real asset for downtown. People picking up lunches, going over there, sitting, letting kids run around. So I was very excited about that. And my granddaughter has already been to the new splash pad at Don Fox park and now wants to go there every day. So we're going to have a battle with that, but yeah, And I want to thank all the people who came today, the people that came to our sanitation meeting earlier. There was a lot of conversation back and forth. Everybody who was on that committee is in a really difficult position, but we're trying to do what's best for the city, and that's the best we can do. So when that comes to council, I'm sure there will be people that are not happy, but... I believe in my heart the decision that is made by the council is what we truly believe is going to be best for the future of the city of Lebanon and the citizens that live within the city. That's all I have.

Thank you. We have one item of old business, Ordinance Number 26-7446, second reading, to approve a donation to Change Lives One Day at a Time, Inc., by Joy Carmack, Ward 1 Councilor.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack, second by Councilor Crowell, discussion.

Everybody say aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Now, new business, order number 267448, first reading to amend Title 14 to change permitted wall and fence design standards replacing 14504D10, landscaping, screening, and buffering, request by staff.

Motion to approve.

Second. Councilor Carmack, seconded by Councilor Morehead, discussion.

Or Joey. Josh. Yeah, Josh, come talk about that and... why it was put into the codes the first time and then how we're going to fix this.

In November, we did put in fence material standards. We didn't really have much of anything prior to that. There was kind of a just residential and commercial. We didn't really foresee the impacts on a lot of our neighborhoods with prohibiting vinyl fences in residential settings. We have heard from a number of HOAs about that. That's one of the only fence materials that they permit in their covenants that wrought iron, sometimes wood, are pretty much the only ones that a lot of the neighborhoods allow. So this has been quite limiting to them. So we've heard from a lot of them and it wasn't really our intent to impact the residential settings. It was more for commercial that we were looking at. So we are making that allowed again in residential neighborhoods as part of this. And then also addressing some other known points of confusion for fences, whether for setbacks and when you're placing them within easements, how those will function. So we wanted to clean that up as well.

Okay, so there is a difference, though, in our codes for commercial and for residential, right?

For this specific one, it would be yes. Yeah, this specifies it would only be allowed for residential zoned properties and any properties being used for single-family or two-family residential uses.

Okay.

Okay, any further discussion?

Everybody say aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Morse code 267449, first reading to amend Title 14 to change 14303, residential zoning districts accessory building tables, 14304A, RPI, residential public institutional accessory building table, 14304B, UC University campus accessory building table, and 14503, supplemental bulk regulations for accessory buildings to establish uniform standards for accessory buildings, request by staff.

Motion approved.

Councilor Crowell, seconded by Councilor Carmack, discussion.

Talk about that, too.

You should have stayed up there, Josh.

Yeah, sorry. I think that's good to explain to the public.

This goes back to the update in November. Prior to that, we had all of our accessory building standards just in one spot. In the new update, they put... the different standards in each district individually and they vary slightly depending on the the district we found that to be quite cumbersome and quite unnecessary in most cases so we're now putting them back in one location so our teams don't have to go find the standards depending on where the permits being issued as well as addressing some of the concerns with accessory dwelling units i wasn't clear how those were regulated so we're providing some more clarity there as well okay thank you any further discussion

All those say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Council confirmation of Pullman for Lex and Moscardelli to the Historic Preservation Commission by Mayor Rick Bell.

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion by Council Moorhead, second by Council Burdine. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Question number 26, 7451. First reading to approve a construction agreement with R.J. Coleman Railroad Company, Nashville and Eastern Railroad for railroad crossing improvements related to the grant-funded sidewalk project on North Calcites Avenue by Christian Rice, Executive Director of Engineering and Planning.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Question number 267452.

First reading to approve bids to award contract for TDOT 3R Sidewalk Improvements Project and to retain consultant engineering services TDOT PIN 129468 by Christian Rice, Executive Director of Engineering and Planning.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion?

Christian, can you tell us what project this is?

This is the same TDOT 3R1 that y'all saw a couple of weeks ago. TDOT had us rebid it because there were changes in the federal process, but this is North College, Cumberland-Seale-Maneer, and East Market. Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Orsmart 2674-53, first reading to authorize a budget amendment for the resurfacing of the South Hartman Drive playground. William Porter, Parks and Recreation Director. Motion to approve. Second. Councilor Moorhead, seconded by Councilor Crowell. Discussion?

Yeah, I mean, that's one of our newer ones. Has it been torn up, or what is the reason we're having to resurface it?

So, William's not here, so Lee, Kristen.

We don't know. I think it just hasn't held up well, and there's holes in it, and they're very difficult and expensive to patch. So, I think this is just a replacement, so it's not as maintenance intensive.

Is it the same kind of replacement that Dawn passed on?

No, we're looking at something different for that reason. Yes.

Okay, any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. First one, 26-74-54. First reading to authorize a budget amendment for the gas department for the emergency replacement of an air conditioning unit.

Regina Santana, Utilities Director. Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. First one, 26-74-55. First reading to cancel the regular call city council meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026 by Rick Bell, Mayor.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack, second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion?

Yeah, I got a quick question. Are we just going to just only have one meeting that month, or are we going to move it to a different date?

That's typically what we've done in the past on election days, is just skip that one.

Okay.

Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Question number 267456, first reading to amend Title IV, the Levin Municipal Code by Sylvia Reichel, HR Director.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councillor Crowell, second by Councillor Carmack. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Registration number 262885 in support of the State of Tennessee Volkswagen Diesel Settlement Environmental Mitigation Trust Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Grant Program Application by Regina Santana. Motion approved. Motion by Councillor Moorhead, second by Councillor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Resolution number 262886, to accept bids and award contract for electrical maintenance services for the wastewater treatment plant by Regina Santana, utilities director, and Jeremiah Exum, wastewater treatment plant manager.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Resolution number 262887 in support of Tennessee Department of Transportation's Multimodal Access Grant Transportation Alternatives Program Application by Christian Rice, Executive Director of Engineering and Planning.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion by Councilor Carmack. Second by Councilor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Rule number 262888, to authorize the C of 11 tree giveaway program by Christian Rice, Executive Director of Engineering and Planning, and Brian Temeke, Stormwater Coordinator. Motion to approve.

Second.

Moorhead, seconded by Councillor Crowell. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. We are adjourned.