City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Bristol, Tennessee City Council meeting May 4th, 2026. Uh Mary Lee, would you please call the role? Yes, sir. Slaggel Powers here, Baker here, Turner here, Fire Robin here.

Welcome and thank everyone for attending this evening. Uh there will be uh an opportunity for everyone to speak on city business uh during the appearance of citizens. Uh signup sheet was provided outside the chambers and um those individuals will call you during that time. Uh next we're going to have our invocation and pledge. Uh police chief Matt Austin is going to do our invocation and Councilwoman Farro Robin will do our pledge. Good evening. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are here in your presence tonight with gratitude and the opportunity to gather in service for our community. We thank you Lord for the great city that we live in, for our people, our heritage, and our shared responsibilities to carry, to lead with love, integrity, and purpose. Lord, we ask you for your guidance over this council. Grant wisdom in their every decision, clarity in every discussion, and fairness in every action. Help these leaders, Lord, to seek what is right, to serve not for recognition, but for the good of all of us that live and work here. Lord, give them patience in moments of disagreement, courage in times of difficulty, and humility in times of success. Let their work reflect the spirit of cooperation, respect, and genuine commitment to improving the lives they represent. We also [snorts] ask, Lord, blessings over the staff and the residents we we serve. Strengthen our community, Lord. Protect our first responders and watch over every family and neighborhood. May all that is said and done here tonight be guided by wisdom, marked by

respect, and carried out with the spirit of service with the honest desire to make tomorrow better than today. In your name we pray. Amen. Please face the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Do we have any additions this evening? We do not.

Okay. All right. Next, we have a few uh proclamations and recognitions uh this evening. And uh first we'll be recognizing our university uh youth and public service graduates uh community relations director John Lutral will present. Good evening Mayor Turner, members of council. Uh tonight I'm pleased to recognize the participants in this year's cohort of our uh university youth and public service program. Uh this actually marks the fourth year of this uh this partnership between the city and Tennessee High School. And to date, including this year's graduates, uh 63 students will have completed this program so far. Each year, we work with staff from departments throughout the city to to develop meaningful experiences for our students. We try to keep the number of PowerPoints to a minimum. uh instead focusing on hands-on activities and opportunities for critical thinking about real world issues. Rather than tell you about what they experienced this year, we'll show you a few snapshots uh of the activities that they've taken part in. So, beginning last October, the students learned a bit about the founding history of Bristol and how the city was initially planned uh from our director of community development and planning, Miss Sherith Young, uh as well as about how the work of her department helps to shape the responsible growth of our city into the future. Uh that afternoon, the Bristol, Tennessee Fire Department hosted our students at station 5, sharing their knowledge of the training, tools, and techniques needed to run an internationally accredited fire and emergency medical operation. Uh sorry I don't have more pictures of Sheriff's time with them, but her trucks aren't as cool as the fire department. So, uh in November, the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department welcomed the students for a full day of immersion into the world of law enforcement. Following a welcome by Chief Austin, they dove head first into the department's various divisions and functions, including patrol, criminal investigations, community policing,

SWAT, explosive ordinance disposal, drone operations, 911 communications, and really perhaps the most important um or at least the cutest division within the department, uh the canines. So, I'm not sure if anyone here remembers, but we had a little bit of snow back in January. Um, because of the weather's impacts on city operations, we had to pivot a little bit. Um, and uh, we had to draft an alternate session for that month. But what resulted was some great discussion and role playinging involving the types of decisions made from the very seats that you all sit in this evening. students took on the roles of city staff, city council members, and community advocates as they weighed various development options for a fictitious piece of property in the city. And I want to give very special thanks to city attorney Danielle Smith and Councilwoman Margaret Fire Robin um who spent some time with our students that day exploring the often complex intersections uh between the organizational, legal, and political aspects of local government. But in February, we were back on track with our public works, utilities, and general services departments. What better place to start your morning than by the peaceful South Holston River, or at least at the nearby water treatment plant. Uh they learned how the city safely treats and delivers 6 and a half millions of gallons of water per day to city water customers. Uh back at the garage, the schedule was packed with everything from utility repairs to solid waste and leaf collection, GIS technology, and the always hotly contested race to see which team can swap two tires on a police cruiser the fastest. Now, this year, the girls team uh did win uh with a pit crew worthy time of 1 minute and 30 seconds. So, uh I think even Russell's folks were quite impressed with their efforts this year. Uh, of all the day's activities, however, I don't think anything is more coveted than sign making in Steve Tolman's shop. Uh, it's also important to note here that for all of our university sessions, the students are

safely transported thanks to Dale Miller in our city's uh, transit division. Now, we often talk about how so many functions within the city tie back to economic development, and that was certainly the theme of our March session. Tom Anderson kicked things off by sharing about how his department and the rest of our community team worked to bring new businesses and jobs to Bristol. We were then fortunate to be joined by Dace Johnson and Mallerie McCay from PAL's Sudden Service who explained their company's approach to achieving and maintaining high standards both in the products they sell and the people that they hire. Matt Bolas and his team at Explore Bristol, who also graciously hosted us for the morning at their new visitors center, then talked about how tourism is such a critical driver of Bristol's economy. After stopping by the Bristol Business Park for a quick check-in on the construction progress at AY McDonald, our students um or at least the ones who weren't allergic to penicellin uh had the extremely rare opportunity to tour US antibiotics uh which as you all know is the only manufacturer of emoxicylin products in the entire country and who likely may not even exist today if not for the concerted efforts of our local, state and federal economic development partners. And finally, a few weeks ago, we finished our program for the year with a literal walk in the park. Um, actually, we began the day by discussing some of the work that our own community relations team does. Um, and, uh, which included the students collaborating on designs for the university t-shirts and sweatshirts that they received earlier this evening. After that, they were off into nature with nature center Jeremy uh, manager Jeremy Stout, who hiked them up to the overlook high above Steel Creek Park Lake. Uh after lunch, Mike Mains gave the students the full rundown of all the exciting projects his team has on the horizon, including the new skate park, Katie's playground, and uh and even more that he probably doesn't want me to divulge too much about just yet, although there may have been mention of a new aquatic and recreation facility that may or may not be in the pre-esign phases. Uh lastly, park

manager Beth Carter treated the students to some time at the Steel Creek driving range. Uh, I do want to thank all of our city departments sincerely for um so willingly sacrificing their time uh to help plan these experiences because this program truly does not happen without that effort. Um, now without further ado, I present the 2025 2026 class of University Youth and Public Service students. Um, if you'll please stand as I call your name for those who are able to be with us this evening. uh Palmer Akard, Colin Boyd, Landon Chavez, Ariel Foster, Cameron Hicks, Haley Kaiser, Nyla Profett, Maddie Wingo, Vivian Wyoff, and Alistair Zadei. If everyone will join me in congratulating our students this [applause] year. And I I do want to conclude by expressing my continued thanks to the Bristol Tennessee City Schools and Tennessee High School for this partnership. Uh especially Mr. Andrew Cross, who we'll hear from actually a little bit later on the agenda this evening, and uh Mr. Brad Morlock for assembling such a great group of students for us each year. So, we're looking forward to continuing that in the future. Thank you all very much.

Thank you. Congratulations. [applause]

All right. Next, we have six proclamations tonight. The first one is small business week, which Vice Mayor Lee Powers will read and M. Charlene Baker, associate director and believe in Bristol will accept.

Thank you, Mayor. Whereas small businesses are the driving force of the American economy and the foundation of the nation's prosperity. Built on the principles of hard work and the American dream, the 31 million small businesses constitute more than 99% of private employers and generate almost twothirds of new jobs in the US, boosting opportunity and local economies nationwide. And whereas small businesses across sectors from agriculture to manufacturing to technology are the key drivers of American innovation and the producers of goods that ensure the nation's strength, competitiveness, and security. And despite facing unprecedented recent challenges, small business owners have shown resilience and continued their commitment to serving American communities. Regardless of current challenges, the enduring American entrepreneurial spirit coupled with sensible progrowth policies prioritizing people, workers, and job creators signals a promising new era for small businesses. But the probability of young people choosing to start their own business is 188% higher today than it was in 1970. And since 19763, the president of the United States has proclaimed National Small Business Week to recognize the crucial role of small businesses in job creation, economic growth, and community stability. Now therefore be it resolved that the mayor of the Bristol city of Bristol, Tennessee does hereby proclaim May 3rd through 9th, 2026 as Small Business Week, and the citizens of Bristol, Tennessee are encouraged to support small businesses and celebrate their many achievements and contributions to the community. This is the fourth day of May, 2026. And uh Charlene Baker is here this evening representing Believe in Bristol and they do a fabulous job in uh promoting our small business within the community. Charlene,

hi.

Good evening and thank you to the city council for this recognition and for your continued support of small business our small business community. Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, but more than that, they are the people we see every day. They're the ones opening their doors early, staying late, and putting everything they have into something that they believe in. They're our friends, our neighbors, and in many cases, the reason we choose to spend time downtown. They create the places where we gather, celebrate, and connect. Running a small business is not easy. It takes risk, resilience, and a whole lot of heart. And here in Bristol, we are fortunate to have business owners who show up for this community in big ways, not just for their own work, but through their generosity, their partnerships, and their commitment to making Bristol a great place to live, work, and play. This Small Business Week is a good reminder of the impact we all have when we choose to support local businesses. For every dollar spent at a small business, 68 cents stays right here in the Bristol community. Supporting things like our schools, our roads, and local jobs. By supporting a locallyowned small business, you're helping a neighbor put braces on their kids' teeth, help putting them through college, and just keeping the lights on in their homes. On behalf of Believe in Bristol, thank you for recognizing Small Business Week and most importantly, thank you for to the small businesses that we have here in our community who make our community stronger, more welcoming, and uniquely ours. [applause]

Thank you. Next, we have a proclamation for Historic Preservation Month, and Councilwoman Ray Akard will read the proclamation, and members of the Historic Preservation Awards Committee will accept the proclamation proclamation. It is important to celebrate the role of history in our lives and the contributions made by dedicated individuals in helping preserve the tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped us as a people. The Bristol Tennessee Historic Preservation Awards Committee along with the Department of Community Development Planning and the Department of Engagement Events work to rec recognize revitalization efforts that have transformed some of Bristol, Tennessee's oldest residential and commercial structures to their former former glory through the historic preservation awards program. The city council encourages the recognition of and applauds the dedicated preservation efforts by individuals and property owners in promoting historic preservation. With this, the mayor proclaims May 2026 as historic preservation month.

[applause] Is there anyone here from the historic preservation comm?

Sure. Sorry, we may have had a little hiccup with the attendance um with the committee, but just very briefly um would like to say thank you and really recognize the efforts of the historic preservation committee that we have here in the city um that does so much work to put on an event ceremony to honor the people that do so much work on historic structures in the city and would like to invite everybody to the big event uh which will be on May 14th at 5:30 at the Bristol train station and that will be the time in which the um the new recipients of this year's class of 2026 historic preservation winners will be announced. So May 14th at 5:30.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next we have uh proclamation for drinking water week. Uh Councilwoman Fire Robin will read the proclamation and Robert Smith, one of Bristol's water plant operators, will accept the proclamation.

All right. Um water is our most valuable natural resource and drinking water serves as a vital role in daily life. Tap water delivers public health protection, fire protection, support for our economy and the quality of life we enjoy. The hard work performed by the entire water sector providing high quality drinking water from its source to consumers taps is to be commended. The citizens of Bristol are called upon to protect our source waters from pollution, practice water conservation, and get involved with their water by familiarizing themselves with it. Uh the mayor hereby proclaims May 3 through 9th drinking water week. And I'll just say that our um our city usually receives a 99% rate rating. I don't think you can get 100%. Also, unless things have changed, the water that comes from our tap in general is going to be better than what you can buy uh off the shelves in the stores because there's more regulation and more check on it. So, I encourage people to um utilize our very high quality drinking water. Thank you.

[applause]

Do you like to like to say thank you to the mayor and the city council for the proclamation regarding the clean drinking water week. It is an honor to work for the water treatment plant as we strive to bring clean water to the citizens of Bristol. On behalf of the staff of the water treatment plant and the water maintenance department, we appreciate the continued support from the city council and the city of Bristol. Thank you.

All right. Next, we have a proclamation for National Police Week and Councilwoman Akard will read the proclamation and Lieutenant Joe Newman will accept the proclamation. There are more than 750,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department. There were 80,820 assaults against law enforcement officers in 2024, resulting in approximately 29, 102 injuries. There are 363 new names of fallen heroes being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial this spring, including 109 officers killed in 2025. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's 38th annual Candlelight Vigil will be held May 13, 2026. The mayor formally designates May 10th through the 16th of 2026 as police week and May 15, 2026 as peace officers memorial day in the city of Bristol, Tennessee and publicly salutes the service of law enforcement officers in our community and communities across the nation. [applause]

[applause]

On behalf of all of us here at the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department, I want to thank you uh for this proclamation. Um, we have a great group of officers here in the city that have the courage to put on the uniform every day and go out there and put themselves in harm's way. So, it means a lot when we have the support from the council and from the citizens of Bristol. And for that, we're truly grateful and we're truly blessed. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause]

All right. Next, we have a proclamation for emergency medical services week. and I will read the proclamation and our fire chief Dwayne Honaker will accept. Um, emergency medical services is a vital public service and access to the quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. In the recognition of the value and accomplishments of emergency medical service providers, the mayor of Bristol, Tennessee proclaims May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as emergency medical services week. The theme of this year's EMS week is improving outcomes together. City Council encourages the community to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

[applause] [applause]

Thank you, mayor, council members, city administration, and uh our members of the community. Fire department's honored by the recognition and more importantly grateful for the trust that our community places in our EMS providers every day. For our women and men in the department, EMS is generally them showing up on somebody's worst day. They bring skill, compassion, and calm to a situation when it matters most. The paramedics and EMTs within the fire department, they train relentlessly and work as a team to bring those that we serve the care and comfort they need, sometimes behind the scenes and always around the clock. This proclamation and recognition of our paramedics and EMTs also belongs to our partners in law enforcement, our dispatchers and 911 call takers, area hospitals, and our neighboring agencies who all helped to make our EMS system in Bristol strong. I would also like to thank our community for allowing us to serve you and just know that the women and men in our department remain committed to providing the highest level of care when you need us. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause] All right, the last we have a proclamation for public works week. Uh, Vice Mayor Powers will read the proclamation and our director of public works, Brian Ramsey, will accept.

Thank you, Mayor. Public works professionals focus on providing and maintaining infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of Bristol. The mayor of Bristol, Tennessee, proclaims May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week. All citizens are urged to join in activities, events, and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers, and employees, and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protect our national health, safety, and advancing quality of life for all. [applause]

[applause]

Mayor, council, on behalf of the department, I want to thank you for recognizing our team. Our uh our streets department, storm division, we maintain over 500 lane miles of streets. That's on average 25 lane miles per person. Uh in the past year, we've uh we've documented over a thousand work orders that our our streets departments worked on. That's that's not including our u our on call services such as uh snow and ice removal and other services like that. Uh our solar waste division, uh they service over 10,000 waste bins per week, uh and over a thousand brush and bul brush and bulk pickups weekly. and they also maintain four recycling centers throughout the city. Our transit division, we operate three fixed routes averaging 3,000 riders per month and over 500 demand response riders. Um, our engineering division oversees the citywide development, u capital improvement projects, GIS, including our rightway permitting, storm water management, and resurfacing of our streets. Uh these efforts directly support public health, safety, economic growth, and overall quality of life of the citizens of Bristol. Uh National Public Works Week gives us the opportunity to recognize the dedication and professionalism of these men and women who keep our city running every day. We just thank you.

Thank you. [applause] All right. Next, we have a presentation from Mr. Andrew Cross on for America 250. I guess this is the third in a series, Mr. Cross. Yes, sir. Okay. So, and this is I believe this is my final installment in that. Okay. Okay. So, today what we'll be going over is the Constitution. I'm going to spend the next two hours going over. [laughter] So, Andrew, can you pull your microphone just right on? We don't want that any of it. Yeah.

So, what we're going to be looking at today is the constitution, but just the basic principles of that constitution. Um, I have there so I don't have to change it every single year, 230 plus years, but it's been 239 years uh this year. So, we are we are going over America 250 that is for the declaration, but the constitution will be having a 250th birthday in the next 11 years. So, that's just something to keep in mind. The first thing I like to start with is just a quick overview. You can see there are all seven articles of the US Constitution and a very quick e explanation of what they're about. Article one is all about Congress. And I like to show the kids in my class I didn't bring a copy with me, but I have a a one-page copy. It's actually a three-page document, but on the one-page copy in micro print, article one covers half of the two columns. They wanted to really sort Congress out, what they could do, what they couldn't do. Then half of the second column is article two about the president. Then there's a little bit about the Supreme Court. They didn't put much about the Supreme Court, just that the United States would have a a the judicial power of the United States would be vested in one Supreme Court. It's actually up to Congress to create all the lower courts below that. Then the relations among the states is we'll get into that in a moment but it is federalism what powers the states should have versus the power of the national government. Beyond that then we have amending the constitution or changing it. And then article six is just a few different things thrown in the oath of office national debts the supremacy clause which means that in the order of things the national government is supreme and the constitution is above that. And then finally they ratified it. That was article seven. What I tell the kids when we go over this is that basically this is our table of contents for the rest of

the course. We will be going over every article of the constitution. Now you all won't be tonight but throughout the course we'll do article one article two but let's look at first the preamble. And no we will not be moving through every article but that this is important to understand the basic principles. And that is I always ask my kids and I want to ask the everyone in here now because most of my kids today don't have to do this anymore because I honestly disagree with memorization. But I'll tell you did anyone have to memorize the preamble when they were in school and I always say that's great but you just okay here it is in order to form you know we the people in order to form more perfect union you just regurgitate it but do you know what it meant? So first, who was doing this? We the people. We are all involved in this. And I like to say when we when we take on debt, when we do this, when we do that, it's not the government, some far-off entity. It's we the people. We are the ones invested in this. And it says to form a more perfect union. Now, if you remember back from last month's lesson, we talked about the Articles of Confederation and how they were just bad. I mean, it was just a bad system. We had to start over. That was Elmer's glue. We need to have superlue. We need to have cement. We need literally a more perfect union than the articles offer us. Next on that list is to establish justice. And what I mentioned with that is as we talked about with the articles, there was no justice system under the articles, but we included a supreme court. We included a system of laws to ensure domestic tranquility or peace at home. How do we ensure peace at home? Through a stronger national government than the articles were offering us. Provide for the common defense. That's

always the easy one. Everybody gets that one because we need a US military. We need a someone to defend our borders, our home country. But then we get to the fifth one, and I always stop on that one because a lot of things in government are fuzzy or blurry. To promote the general welfare. What does that mean? And I always get a lot of answers. I mean, it could be to pave the roads, to provide an EMS service, a fire station, a police force. It could be, I always joke, it could be to have school uniforms every day. No, they don't like that. But it's up to each generation to decide what that general welfare will be for them. It was purposefully vague so that we could all decide what the general welfare would be for each new generation. And there's a lot of parts of the Constitution that are left purposely vague for us to decide in 2026 what's relevant to us today that we need to add. And finally, to secure the blessings, excuse me, of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. And that would be us. I always remind the kids, who's the posterity? And they kind of look at me for a second. I said, well, if I said something happened post World War II, post Civil War. Well, after those who come after, that's you. You're the posterity. My kids are my posterity. We are the posterity. So, they want to secure those blessings for themselves, but also for us today. So, let's look at six or excuse me, seven basic principles of the US Constitution. The first is popular sovereignty and that is the people are the source of all government power. Example of this is voting for leaders. Voting will be happening tomorrow. Voting will be happening in August and then again in November. We are the source of power. Next, it goes handinhand with that

because we are the source of power. Government is limited. It is not all powerful in what it can do. We have a bill of rights that says you can't touch this, you can't take away that, you can't mess with this. Right to a jury trial, right to bear arms, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press. With that being said, there's also, we didn't go over it in here, but also a stated limit on taxation in the Constitution. The US government can never tax exports ever. And I always joke with them when their grandkids are in my class, the US government still can't tax exports. But I always like to pull this cartoon up. I like this cartoon because I tell my kids it has a double meaning. Now, the the face meaning is just like we talk about with popular sovereignty. The little guy says, "Yeah, sure he's big, but we hold the leash." That's true, but let's look at this from a physics standpoint. And a lot of my kids are in a physics class, a science class. If that dog were real, and that dog, it says US government on its tag if you can't see it. If that dog were real and those people were holding that, could they control that dog? A lot of times my kids say, "No, that wouldn't work. There's like 10 people there." It takes all of us holding the leash or the dog will run wild. The the size of that dog versus the number of people holding it paints the perfect picture of why every single person has to vote. Every single person has to be involved. So that that cartoon has a double meaning. It's got its face value, but if you really look at it, you can see that dog's going to drag those people all over the place if they don't have more participate. Judicial review. Judicial review was established by Marberry versus Madison. It's not it wasn't founded with the Constitution, but just soon after, and it was that the court can determine the constitutionality of any government

action. The court can be, as you see in the cartoon, the refs. Now, I will get to a second meaning on that in a moment, but they call when the government's out of bounds, they throw the flag. When there's a foul on the play, they throw the flag. They blow the whistle. The rule of law says the government and its officials are subject to and never above the law. US versus Nixon is our perfect example of that. Nixon was brought to court. But let's talk about the double meaning in that cartoon because on occasion in the system, what we find is the government or excuse me, the courts do stand on the sidelines. They do throw the flags. But like I always try to find a football player in my classroom and say, "Have you ever rubbed a defender off on a ref? you ran by the ref, the defender got kind of accidentally picked and you got the ball. Sometimes refs don't score touchdowns, but sometimes they can get into the play of the game. And we'll learn in my class, the court can sometimes get into the play of the game in that manner. Checks and balances. Now I don't make them write all those down but you can see in this picture all the different checks and balances we have on the different branches of government that our government was meant each branch meant to check or restrain the actions of the other which is why we have impeachments. Why the president calls special sessions? Why the courts have to excuse me the Congress has to approve of judges that go to the Supreme Court. And then of course the court has its basically one check on both and that is judicial review that we just heard about. Separation of powers means that the government is separated into three independent and co-equal branches. I like to put this picture up. It's very very cartoonish and elementary. But I'll never forget about three years into teaching. Now, I tell this story to my

class just so that none of them feel as though they might be left out. I had a I mean, I was going at it. I was I was brand new teaching. I was going at I had my notes, had my stuff. We were moving and a kid raised his hand say, "All right, legislative. What's legislative?" I said, "They make the laws." That's a great question. They make the laws. They said, "So, who does that?" And I said, "I just realized they didn't understand Congress. I was going so quick they didn't understand Congress was his leg legislative branch. So I put that picture up there just to make sure they see the legislative is Congress with two houses. The executive is the president with the vice president and the judicial is the Supreme Court. So that we can have that honestly picture association because I learned with pictures. I like pictures. I like them a lot. And finally we get to federalism or division of power. And that means power is divided between central government in DC and state governments. Each each side has its own responsibilities. And what I always like to say is you have local government as far as city, county, state for local concerns. If I had a problem with um the senior parking lot has a gate onto Weaver Pike. Well, I want that gate open. I'm a senior. I'm going to write my US representative. [snorts] They're going to say, "What parking lot? What what gate?" That's something you would talk to your local school about. Or if we want a local road paved, we would come to the city council. So, you have local bodies for local concerns that you would never address at the US Congress verse, excuse me, versus something that is a national issue. I wouldn't bring it before the city council and say I need you all to solve this huge issue nationwide.

Y'all are going to say not much we can do about that. So you have each level for its own responsibilities. And I also like to show them that we have federalism at the state level as well. Tennessee has a national government quote unquote in Nashville and is divided into smaller local local governments in the counties. So we show how that federalism really plays all the way down into the tiniest parts even here in the city. Those are the basic principles of the constitution. That's the ideas it was founded upon. I want to thank you all for having me here for letting me do this. Um, I hope that my examples uh didn't come off too high schooly on occasion. And I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for university because that's a lot of kids really enjoy that and I really appreciate you all doing that. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you all for having me.

Thank you for coming. Thank you. [applause]

All right. Next, we have our board of education report. Uh, Dr. [clears throat]

Thank you. It's good to see you all this evening. I'd also like to echo Mr. Cross's thanks for first of all for having him. Um I know you did that for three months and for three different sessions. Sorry, this is okay. Uh and I appreciate that. I think I said this last month. You can see why his students love him so much. He's extremely engaging, tells stories, and really captivates his students. So, we're proud to have him at Tennessee High School and thank you for having him here for um a little bit of a civics and government lesson. Um also like to say thank you to John Leil. I'm not sure where he is, but university has been one of the great partnerships that we have with the city. Our students really enjoy that opportunity and get so much out of it. Um, John and I were talking in the at the reception that tomorrow is our 29th industry day that we are celebrating in partnership with BTES and lots of businesses ind businesses and industries in our community. And it's a great opportunity not only for us to highlight what happens with the city with our teachers and staff that we do for industry day, but also to to, you know, bring that down to students and for them to understand there are lots of career paths that that can happen right here in their own community. So, thank you for that opportunity and thank you for allowing John to facilitate that with us. Um, in addition to the recognitions and proclamations that you had earlier, I'd like to draw attention to that it is teacher appreciation week this week and also nurse appreciation I think is actually on Wednesday specifically of this week. Um, we have a lot of great teachers in our community who do lots of wonderful things for our students and and great nurses in our each one of our schools has a school nurse and they obviously make sure that our kids are well taken care of so that they can learn. So also like to celebrate them and then we are in the last few weeks of school if you can believe it. The school year has flown by. Next week is graduation. Um, we finished with TECAPS and into course testing last week. AP

starts this week. In fact, I think Palmer has an AP exam tomorrow. Best wishes to him. Hopefully, and he's coming on a day that's not even a student day, so we appreciate his diligence in that. Um, class night is this Thursday, May 7th. Senior walk is next week on May 14th. Tennessee High graduation is May 15th. Tops graduation on May 16th. And then there's lots of awards. Every one of our schools, elementary and middle school, have awards ceremonies that um information about those can be found on their school websites. That's all I have for you unless you have questions for me. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Next is our appearance of citizens. There was a sheet as we came in. Did we have anyone sent? No, sir. Is there anyone in attendance that would like to speak?

Okay. Next we have uh appointments. Uh we have community development advisory board. We have one candidate and one appointment uh for this board and the one is Christy Cross. Um it's always nice when uh candidates attend the meeting. So, thank you for being here and thanks for being willing to serve.

Okay. Councilwoman Akert has Christy Cross. Councilwoman Fire Robin has Christy Cross. Mayor Turner has Christy Cross. And Vice Mayor Powers has Christy Cross. All right. Next, we have uh two candidates and one appointment for the housing board, Adriana Cox and Steve McMillan. Uh would anyone like to speak on behalf of either of those?

So, I could speak on behalf of both of them and I think they both would be good to serve. Um, but particularly for this board, I think Adriana Cox um has had uh life experience and brings a lot to the board that I think will be very beneficial um for what she brings. So, I'm going to vote for Adriana Cox. Councilwoman Akard has Adriana Cox. Mayor Turner has Adriana Cox. Vice Mayor Powers has Adriana Cox. And Councilwoman Fire Robbin has Adriana Cox. Okay. Thank you. All right. Next, we have uh ordinances and resolutions. We have no ordinance on first or second reading. Uh we have three resolutions this evening. The first one is resolution 26-55, a resolution approving the project stripe tax increment increment financing amendment to the volunteer plaza redevelopment district. And Mr. Anderson will present.

Good evening. Thank you, uh, mayor, council. Good seeing y'all again. Uh, this this is a followup from the April 28th work session. Again, we're discussing the volunteer plaza redevelopment district. It was established back in 2015 and this is an effort to locate an Aldi grocery store on a site within that district and that's and that's what project stripe actually entails. Uh we do have Tracy Gatsy here with Gatsy Leasing. We also have Regina Edwards with the housing authority. Uh and then we go to the next slide uh park. This this is actually the site. You can see uh the the new wig goles there in in the middle and then you kind of see the pile of debris and that's that's kind of one of the reasons for this tip. It's actually to go for the redevelopment of this site the the tax increment finance will actually go to uh the developer and once the pad is created then all these can uh locate on that site and without the redevelopment it looks as if the the blighting influence will continue. So, this this is an important project and and this is a rendering of what the store could look like. It's a 20,664,000 square foot building. Uh they would employ between 12 and 18 people and they're anticipating the sales the annual taxable sales to be about $13 million. Go to the next slide. Uh you all saw uh this on during the work session. The current assessment on, and it is just on the property, the 2.6 acres that they'd be locating is $361,000. Once the building is constructed, you're looking at the new assessed value of being $1.6 million. And that's what is going to create the increment. The uh city tax rate is how we did the

calculations on the dollar 80 well the 1.845 845 uh dollar rating for uh the tax rate and then also would come out of that would be the debt service. So when you look at the total city taxes it's the $30,8383 uh the base tax which is the 6,668 will you'll continue to get that the debt service which is the 761 you will get that. So when you add those together then you have the $22,000 $654, excuse me, uh increment. There is an admin fee that so the total amount that would go to the debt service is that $21,521. So I'm trying the last one. Uh this project started back in 2015 actually with some of the principles. I didn't even know the site where they were going to locate, but working with them and eventually I found out that is it was a Godsis property that they were looking at it moved forward and the the amendment for the tax increment finance project went in front of the housing authority for a public hearing on April 9th. They voted unanimously to adopt the amendment on April 22nd and we discussed this at April 28th in the city work session and then tonight it's in front of you for hopefully for approval meaning that if you all approve it and then we go in front of the county commission if they approve it uh the site will start to be developed this summer and we'd have a new grocery store next year. the last slide. So to sum it up, the tiff is being requested by the developer which is got leasing. The tiff is up to 500,000 not to exceed. The term can go up to 20 years. It could pay off early like most of our tiffs seem to do. And as I said, the current real property is 60 6.6,

excuse me, 6,668 uh,000 or 6,668. Anyway, the debt service 761. The total local option that would be collected on that 13 million of taxable sales is the 292,500. The estimated personal property, which is not tied into the tiff, would be about $7,380, which would come to the city. And then the estimated uh tax revenue in total would be over $37,000, but the increment that would go for the debt service is the 22,654. So that just sums it up. It's a good project and it would move very quickly if if successful in the TIF amendment.

Okay. Thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Anderson? Do I have a motion to approve resolution 26-55? Motion to approve 26-55. Have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion and a second. Uh any further discussion?

I would just say the the math makes sense, doesn't it? In a good way. And I know that God leasing has been looking for an ideal project for several years now. and we greatly uh appreciate their tenacity and their willingness to um work with the city to make this project a reality. It it will be very meaningful. the volunteer parkway having a business on the volunteer parkway. We have seen uh its life over the past 45 years and earlier than that and uh it's headed in the right direction and uh God leasing has played a big role in that and we greatly appreciate

and I'll just say um it's interesting how economic development works and probably some places handle it differently. Certainly, we handle ours very differently than Bristol, Virginia does. Um, and so a lot of times some of us don't know what projects are until they become real projects. And so I was not aware of what this was going to be till fairly recently. And I am so excited that it's going to be in Aldi. And also when we know it's important for us not to say stuff because this if it's a state project they want to reveal it and also negotiations whatever. So I was very glad that I learned very close to the time that the announcement was made so I could talk about it because I'm very excited.

Great. Mary Lee Powers. Yes. Akard. Yes. Turner. Yes. Fire oven. Yes. All right. Great. Thank you. All right. Next, we have resolution 26-56, a resolution appointing a municipal judge, and our city manager will present.

Thank you, Mayor and Councel. As we discussed previously, the current term of appointment for the municipal judge, Mr. Ad Jones, expires on June 30th. Judge Jones has served in this capacity since his appointment um to his initial term in 2014. The staff does recommend approval of resolution 26-56 appointing Judge Jones to another four-year term as municipal judge with this comp compensation being set at $22,000 per year. We greatly appreciate the service judge has provided us for this period of time and we have Judge Jones in the uh audience this evening. Um thank you for being here.

All right. Are there any question? Is there any questions on this? Do I have a motion to approve resolution 26-56? Uh motion to approve the uh appointment of uh Judge Jones, the reappoint, and appreciate it. And I think probably going up and getting a picture taken would be appropriate. Second that. We have a motion and a second. Uh any further discussion? Mary Lee How? Yes. Akard. Yes. Turner. Yes. Fire Robin. Yes. And uh judge, who do you [applause] have with you tonight?

Madam city manager, members,

hold the mic by your mouth. There you go. We want to hear. city manager, members of city council, I'd just like to personally thank each and every one of you for the trust and confidence that you placed in me uh to serve a fourth four-year term as municipal judge for the city of Bristol. It's been my privilege and will continue to be my privilege to serve with dedicated individuals of the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department, uh the planning and zoning commission, uh the uh outstanding, uh staff, uh city attorneys and Danielle Smith and Carrie Satin, and two dedicated individuals that I just could not do without. That would be the municipal court clerk Christy Hensley and my baiff Danny Eller. Uh again, I commit to you that I will attempt to uh treat everyone that comes into the municipal court with dignity and fairness and partiality and uh commit to you once again that I will administer this oath to the best of my ability for the next four years. Thank you again for this opportunity.

Thank you. [applause] Danielle

[applause] [clears throat]

All right. Next we have resolution 26-57 adopting a policy for making changes to the transit services, [clears throat] excuse me, andor fairs. Uh Melanie Feliner, our transit manager, will present.

Good evening, mayor, members of council. The purpose of the policy referenced in this resolution is [snorts] to comply with federal requirements that apply to all providers of fixed route public transportation. Bristol Tennessee Transit is required to set systemwide standards and policies and to comply with DOT Title 6 regulations that prohibit disperate impact discrimination. Bristol Tennessee Transit has a title six program in place that meets most of the Title Six requirements. And the purpose of this policy is to fulfill the requirement that we as a transit provider ensure that service design and operations practices do not result in discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Staff has proposed a few changes to our current transit service and fairs, and we're welcoming public comment on those proposed changes until May 13th. Adoption of this resolution helps us ensure that not only are we complying with federal regulations, but we're also doing right by our riders by welcoming their input and feedback and performing the appropriate analyses before we we make any major changes to our service or fairs.

Is there any questions for Miss Fleer? Do I have a motion to approve 26-57? I'll move to approve um 26-57 for the policy changes to transit services. Second. Second. Have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Mary Lee Powers? Yes. Akard? Yes. Turner? Yes. F Robin? Yes. All right. Lastly, we have our consent agenda.

Thank you. Before you tonight, you have the minutes of the April 7th city council meeting, the minutes of the April 14th city council work session, the minutes of the April 28th city council work session, approval of resolution 26-58 authorizing the award of a contract to JCMBI construction for the wastewater treatment plant bar screen and valve replacement. Approval of resolution 26-59 authorizing the award of a contract to utility inspection services for CCTV inspection and smoke testing services in the Sinking Creek BA basin. Approval of resolution 26-60, a resolution authorizing the renewal of stop-loss insurance coverage with Sunlife Insurance Company, and approval of resolution 26-61, authorizing an agreement with Skins LLC for an information technology strategic planning services. Okay.

Would any member of council like any of these items removed from the consent agenda? Do I have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. Mary Lee Powers. Yes. Akard. Yes. Turner. Yes. F Robin. Yes. All right. Next is our city manager report.

So, we are in the busy season. I just have a list of events coming up. Um, tomorrow, as we know, because of the the meeting date change, we've got the county primary election here at Slater. On Saturday, May 9th, we've got opening day of our Day Street Farmers Market that runs through October. We do have a new manager running that and that is Ava White. On May 9th, also we've got big cars and guitars convoy for a cure. May 12th is the all day budget work session and that's at the annex. It begins at 9. As we discussed, there will be a special called meeting right at the beginning of that um for council to discuss and act on a resolution of support for a safe streets for all grant application for the West State Street improvements. Then on May 14th, as uh Sheriff Young mentioned, we've got the Historic Preservation Award program at 5:00 PM. Friday the 15th, we've got National Peace Officers Memorial Day. On May 15th through the 17th along State Street, we've got the Tattoo Fest. May 19th at 6 PM we've got the budget open house right here at Slater Center. On Friday, May 22nd, we kick off our opening nights um for the Bristol Sessions Nights Road to 100. That will be at Elsie King. And the first take is our songwriters um with a great lineup there. And then it will be um we'll have one Friday a month every month up through May of next year to celebrate the 100redy year anniversary of the Bristol Sessions. On May 23rd from 11 to 1, we've got the Steel Creek Park summer kickoff. June 6th at 6 PM we've got music by the shore at Steel Creek Park and on June 12th from 3:00 to 7 we've got pop into summer fun at Steel Creek Park. That's all I've got.

Okay, thank you. City Council comments. Um I was just going to comment and thank um Melanie for her work with transit and she's um new relatively still new to our staff. We can say that for about a year. So um anyway, just we're very fortunate to have transit services and I know and people I work with um are sorry that that the hours aren't longer that we don't have weekend etc. But um we're lucky to have what we have and be able to afford it because of the government, federal government help that helps us do that um for that really benefits a lot of people. So really appreciate that and um yeah, this is extraordinarily busy time and we appreciate everybody who's been working on the budget. Um and we're uh looking forward to working on it. Um it's always uh a long day and a hard day to work on the budget together. So, uh, doing that, we also have ongoing projects, your unusual activities and services. Um, and then we also have, uh, and I don't know if you're going to do this later, but, um, we are regretting the news of our city manager, but putting together a plan for how to move forward, etc., and hope to be um, working on that in a lot of ways. Thank you. All right.

I was just going Well, do just one quick thing. I do. I just I was just going to thank uh Commissioner Acre for uh his attendance uh this evening. Uh thank you for coming out. I was just going to encourage everyone to vote tomorrow. I think uh Mr. Cross made it uh explicitly important that it matters who leads and uh but even more so, it matters who votes and we all need to vote. And I think it's a privilege that we all have that isn't always as exercised. So I would encourage everyone to to go to the polls tomorrow if you haven't already and to exercise your privilege of voting.

And I'll just say thanks for or have an early voting. We didn't always have that. It's very nice to accommodate people's schedules, etc. to have opportunities other than the one day to be able to vote or getting the absentee ballot or whatever. It's uh great. have that opportunity. All right, with that, thank you for coming out and we're journed.