Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Hello. I'd like to welcome everybody to the city commission meeting on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 6 o'clock held at the Municipal and Safety Building in Johnson City, Tennessee. Like to call the meeting to order. Um first, um I'd like to welcome Pastor Ben Cole with Boon Creek Christian Church for the invocation. And if everybody would stand with me, we'll follow with the pledge. Yes, that' be great.

All right. Thanks for allowing me to be here tonight. I ask everybody if you would you bow your heads and we'll go to the Lord in prayer. God, we just uh come to you now in the powerful name of Jesus. And God, I would just humbly ask now in this moment that uh you just help every mind and every heart uh in this room to understand how big a deal this is uh that we're speaking to you, our heavenly father. How much you love us, how much you care for us, God. We're speaking to the one who spoke uh the earth into existence, God. So, I would just pray uh over hearts and minds in the room. Pray over the leadership that is here going to believe that you have established that. That is what your word says. And God, I would just pray over uh whatever their agenda is tonight. I know I didn't spend time looking over it, but I know you have an agenda. Your agenda is to see souls be brought to you, God. Your agenda is so much that you left your throne in heaven, chose to come down, put on flesh, dwell among us in the person of Jesus Christ. God, open up hearts now to understand that you love everyone in this room, anybody watching online, so much that you chose to be brutally crucified for our sins. And praise God, you did not stop there. But three days later, you were resurrected so that we may live in your righteousness, not trying to earn your righteousness. We just get to live in it. So God, out of everything that happens tonight, not sure of all the believers in the room, but if there are believers in the room, may they live their life in a manner worthy of you, so that more and more people are brought into your kingdom by the truth of your good news. We love you. It's 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. [clears throat] Mayor, the first order of business is to consider approval of the minutes from the regularly scheduled city commission meeting held on Thursday, October 16, 2025. Move approval. Second. Miss Laos, we call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Weise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes. Next order of business is a presentation of retirement of a retirement resolution to Tom Witherspoon.

So I guess you're going through with it. [laughter]

Yeah.

All right, Tom. Um, we enjoyed celebrating you earlier and thank you for your service. I'd like to read out a resolution from the commission. So, whereas Tom Witherspoon began his career with the city of Johnson City in 1981 as a civil engineer in water and sewer services, was named assistant director in 1982 and became director in 1987, serving the community with dedication for more than 44 years. and Witherspoon earned the trust of the city commissioners and administrators through his foresight, understanding of emerging challenges and ability to navigate changing industry standards. And under his leadership, the water and sewer employee employees achieved a high level of regulatory compliance, earning nearly 190 state and national awards, and prioritized customer service and employee safety. and he led the development of comprehensive asset management programs, developed effective capital program processes for the planning, design, and delivery of projects that improved long-term system resiliency and improved operational continuity through sound budgeting and establishing a clear departmental priorities each year. and Witherspoon developed meaningful partnerships, including a multi-year collaboration with the Johnson City Fire Department that contributed to the community's ISO class one rating and a long-standing relationship with East Tennessee State University's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Sciences through its summer intern program. And since 1981, the department has completed 11 treatment facility expansions or renovations, including a new water intake, which has withstand flooding events on the Witaga River, expanding services across four counties, and ensuring the protection of public health and the environment for more than 130,000 people. And Witherspoon's

excellence in leadership and commitment have left a lasting impact on the city, organization, and the citizens it serves. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Johnson City Board of Commissioners officially extends its appreciation to Tom Witherspoon for his 44 years of service to the city of Johnson City and our region. Thank you so much. [applause] Would love [cheering] for you to say something. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. [applause]

So, obviously, um, I've been here a while, 44 years. Goes by very quickly. I'd like to introduce my family. This is my wife Pam, my daughter, Cat, and my son, John, and I'm extremely proud of my family as as we all should be. Um, I'm going to say something. This is the last time that I get to address the board as a staffer. So, couple of things. Um, when you get on city commission, I don't know whether they tell you that you also have another role and that is the role of serving as the board of directors for the water and sewer system. We have a very large system that um probably a lot of people large and complex about 166 square miles almost um 2,000 miles of line five treatment facilities and I think one of the things that historically the commissioners and this commission and Johnson City have done is they have prioritized investment of capital in the in the utility system for operations and you know at the end of the day that protects public health, it protects the environment. It leads to economic development and as mayor mentioned um some benefits also with the fire protection rating. um all of the boards and I can go back and I won't on a variety of projects and tell you when maybe that got voted on and for most boards they are approving projects that during their tenure may never be completed but

will benefit customers into the future. This specific board just went through uh last year over about six different planning meetings. Um that accounted for almost 20some hours of time to where they understood what the future needs of our water distribution system, our water treatment system, our wastewater treatment system, and our wastewater collection system. And so just like the boards before them, um they asked good questions. They never rubber stamped a plan by the recommendation by the staff. They asked good questions. They spent time understanding what the needs for the community were was, how those would best be funded that minimized the impact to customers and still achieved those key goals. And so specific to this board, like previous boards, they approved investment in the system of almost $80 million. And that will continue to pay dividends long after many of our commissioners that set tonight are are no longer on the board. Um, so a a large amount of credit is due to the commission and how well our system has operated and how well it continues to operate. As I mentioned in some comments today, I'm always amazed at city managers. We get a certain amount of their attention about utility issues and planning for the future, but then they have to pivot away to parks and recck schools, public works, and they and it amazes me for all of the I believe I've

worked in the organization for six, including Miss Bowl, how competent they become in all of these different issues. and and that's really a a it's really a very difficult job that that um that all of them seem to have mastered very well. Um the employees that we have are outstanding. Uh they're very dedicated. They're very uh technically skilled. Uh they do an outstanding job. And we used to get the complaints about five employees standing around looking in a hole maybe. Okay. Anymore we have so many underground utilities. One of the reasons they're looking in the hole because if they happen to cut a black cable there, it may take out the internet to the hospital or to the VA or to an air traffic control center somewhere. Uh so if the public sees our our folks standing around the hole, there's there's a very good reason. And the more you see standing, the bigger the issue is. So, um, finally, um, the city could not have made a better choice than choosing Mr. Lane as my replacement. He's excellent. He will serve the city well. and uh I think the the uh the future for the department and and the things that he will interact in is very bright. So in closing uh it's been an honor and a privilege to work here and I'm I'm great very grateful for Mr. Job and all of the supervisors I've had over the years for uh for supporting me. So Mayor, thank you very much.

[applause] Well, I got to say a few words earlier, but even even now I'm just going to say that I' I've not gotten to work with you long, but you've spent even this retirement speech giving credit to other people and other commissions, but it was your roadmap that guided all those decisions. So, I um I've appreciated you doing that. Every time I've heard you talk has give credit to other people. Um and I think even Mr. Lane is he's probably owes a lot of credit to you for you being a mentor to him and showing him how to lead. So, um I I'm sure that a couple of the commissioners probably want to have something to say, too. Tom, you can turn around if you want to. [laughter]

You know, I always want to say something. Now, uh Tom, and I'm glad you mentioned uh that we are the water board. Most people uh in town don't realize that. And the beer board.

And the beer board. That's right. Well, one kind of Yeah. Um, you know, I've thought about you a lot as you're getting ready to retire and I have like at least 12 year experience with you serving on the on the commission. The thing that I think separates you from so many other people in management is your ability to teach. And we have dealt with a lot of things personally I over 12 years that going into it I didn't know a whole lot about it. And although you have a lot of slides in your chart deck, [laughter] you always took the time to teach us and we looked at the pros and cons of doing things, of making big dollar decisions. Um, the pros were always what is in the best interest of our community, of our citizens, and how we deliver the best services, you know, to them. you have a if people want to go to the website and see the um state testing of our water quality, you don't have anything to read one night, you want to look at that. Um it's it's stellar. It really is. I think one of my first experiences with you was a tour when I took Johnson City 101. and I was not a commissioner and we went out to the wastewater treatment plant out by um out in Wataga and you took us through the whole thing and you know we were past parts of it was go like this

I don't remember that. Yeah though you're used to it but then we got to the end and you turned a spot on and said this is what gets returned to the river and you took a drink of it. No, I think you did. [laughter] Okay. Well, you faked it then. That's urban. Yeah.

But your pride in the system that's been created and and through the employees that you've brought along and and and groomed and mentored and uh are there to support just a best-in-class system that I said it earlier today, we hardly ever get any complaints in water and sewer. So, if there was anything that this commission ever put pressure on you about, I remember it well. So, uh Tom brought a couple of um of u mascots into the water sewer program to go out and do education, I guess, to to the schools. So, it was drip drop.

It was two water drops. And so, the pressure we put on Tom is where's the sewer side of it, you know, and so what's the last one? and he went out and got it and his name is Plop. Plop. [laughter]

So Tom, thank you. Pam, best of luck having him around all the time [laughter] and and to your children. They should be very very proud of you as we are and your uh your impact to the city and to the citizens of this city will be long long lasting. I will say something if it's all right for just a minute. We may not rubber stamp, but I can promise you after I read everything and you tell me that we need something, I could go to the bank with that and know that if we needed it, it probably is absolutely true. And so we didn't rubber stamp, but I can tell you when it came from you, I believed you. And that's that's one of those things that you know after nine years it's easy to say that. So thank you for everything you did for the city of Johnson City for the years you spent all the things that you did teaching us sitting around when I know it's not the most exciting for you to teach five people up here on your board everything about water and sewer. But I guarantee I know more about water and sewer than I ever wanted to know in my life. But thank you for all the time and and uh all the minutes you spent with us especially. Thank you. I think it's like 20 million gallons of water. 4 million come from the spring house. 16 million come from the river. What is it? 900 line miles of water lines. 700 of sewer lines. I listen to this stuff. [laughter] And still the state thinks I need more training. But um but I I want to say I appreciate your methodical approach and the deliberate approach, the the rate studies, the long-term capital planning. You don't have to look very far outside of Johnson City to see water systems that failed to plan. And as the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And there have been a number of utilities within our region that have experienced real dire distress to the

point of even losing control of their system because of a failure to plan. And it is to your credit, it is to your predecessor's credit, it's to your team's credit that that has not been the legacy in Johnson City's water department. I would also point out a fun fact though that when you were hired in 1981, I think two members of our commission were being born. [laughter] So take that with you. [laughter] So congratulations. Yeah, when it wasn't me, but congratulations and and best wishes in retirement.

I could say one thing, I am one of those that was born in 1981. And so our our tenure here in Johnson City aligns. Um I am the newest member and while I have not had the pleasure of being able to work uh with you uh very very long, um I have been able to see the culture that you've created and spending time with uh your team and um the employees. just in the last couple weeks um I can see the legacy um that you have built and um it's a legacy that I am fortunate to get to uh work with in the future. So, thank you for all that you've done for our community and uh best wishes. Enjoy retirement, have fun with your family, and thank you for all that you've done.

Thanks. [applause] Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. The next item is recognition of the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department on receiving four awards at the annual Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association conference.

[clears throat]

Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, Miss Ball, I'm Steve Willis, assistant city manager, and this is a proud moment for this commission. While we were last here on October 16th, this group of individuals and probably others with them that evening over in Kingsport at the state conference, they were receiving four very, very prestigious awards. And I'm going to highlight what each of those are. The first one was the ethnic minority interest section Donald Stanton Award, which was awarded to the Langston Community Center Health Task Force Team. The second award was the municipal county intersection Robert Horesley award which was given to Kevin Mast for his esports programming um program. Right. Special events award was for our Candyland board game at King Commons Park. Many of you probably visited that last year at Christmas. And then the last award was the innovative program award for a flight simulation experience also headed up by Kevin Mast. Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't be here tonight due to due to medical procedure, I believe. So, we we wish he well in his recovery. But what I would point out about these four awards, it's not what you would typically think about in the traditional sense of parks and recreation because nothing that I read in these four awards had anything to do with bats and balls. It had to do with a lot of other things. And I think that speaks volume of this team and speaks volumes of this commission support of this team to offer a very diverse uh opportunity for our community in terms of the programming that they provide. And we're very very proud of them and look forward to many more of these in the future. [applause] He's

got the microphone. There you go.

Thank you, Steve, and commissioners and Miss Ball. The support that we receive from all of you to be able to do the types of programs that we do is tremendous. And I feel so very blessed every single day to get to work alongside with everyone up here and those who weren't here with us this evening. the the time and dedication, the innovative thinking and the dedication that this team has um to bringing these diverse programs to our community, it is just immense. And I I'm so very proud of each and every one of them. and with our Langston Center community health task force, the community members that step forward and help lead those programs and just help guide us in the right direction and being there for our community from that aspect. We we can't say enough to thank you for that. So, um I would give Adam an opportunity or anyone else an opportunity to say [laughter]

Commissioner Wise knows um you we are beyond grateful and I I won't dare speak for my colleagues but I feel very certain in saying that uh the reason that we have these awards is because of strong leadership and so uh deeply deeply appreciative deeply deeply grateful to April and her leadership. So very grateful to a board of commissioners um endorsing the effort and um again just um very grateful. So um and very very appreciative.

I I will give one more shout out to uh Rich and Hannah. If you did visit our Candyland board game, um all of the artwork and everything that you saw there, that wasn't storebought. Um the two of them either built it or painted it, worked alongside each other with several of our other um staff members to kind of make that happen. Um that's just a true effort of of what the hidden talents that we have within our team. I mean Hannah's our aquatic supervisor and is one of the most amazing artists. Um and she actually is a really great musician as well. So, we find all these hidden talents in our teams when we put when we put them in those positions to be able to succeed and that's what we found in the last few years is we have a truly great team of individuals who are willing to rise to the challenge to bring these great things to our community. So, thank you.

So, Miss Norris, what are they going to do this year then? Oh, we've we have been working on that, Jenny, to bring it up to the next level. Um, we learned some things last year. Um, and we every year that we get to do this event and I also want to say thank you to Kesha and Lindsay for even bringing this to us and and you as well, Commissioner Brock. I know this was one of your ideas was to have something like that for Candyland. And just to sit around the table and have those conversations and get to kind of imagineer together on what we could make happen was truly amazing. And we continue to do that every year to just make it better and better. So, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you guys for all your hard work. Commissioners, uh, next order of business is public comment. And under public comment, we have uh, Miss Trisha Karat to speak about item number 7.1.4 four on the consent agenda, which is to consider approval of a 10-year license agreement for Freedom Hall Civic Center between the city of Johnson City and East Tennessee State University for the men's basketball program. Good afternoon.

Hi there. I'll just remind you just a couple rules on public comment. It's um limited to people that have signed up at least 12 hours in advance and you have three minutes to um address the commission. Thank you. Mayor, Commissioners, Manager Ball, good evening. Um, there's a number I'd like you to make a note of, and I'm going to come back to it in less than three minutes. The number is this, $65,300. I am fully supportive of continuing the partnership between the city and ETSU to host men's basketball at Freedom Hall. I'd like to raise three points about this. The first point, the documents that were provided to the public, I cannot reconcile to the annual revenue cited as 90 to $120,000. Reviewing section three, I can get to about $65,000. Where does the rest of the revenue come from? Does it come from um concessions? Does it come from novelty sales? I'd like to know to make sure we have that backup. My second point, the documents only provide half of the financial picture. It provides the financial the revenue half of it. The operating expense is the other half. The question is this, does this agreement break even or are we operating at a loss? Which brings me to my third point. Remember that number $65,300? That's the operating deficiency. In business terms, we call it an operating loss. That's the deficiency that Freedom Hall recognized in fiscal 2025. And that number comes from the supplemental budget ordinance that was passed less than two months ago to balance out fiscal 25.

$65,300 was drawn out of the general fund, no longer available for use anywhere else. Last year was not unique. Page 74 of the budget book, Freedom Hall, fiscal 23, deficiency and financials, $458,000. Fiscal 24 deficiency of $410,000. Fiscal 25 deficiency of $65,000. Budget for 2026 a deficiency of $449,000. I have two asks. My first ask is that somebody on the commission pull this item from the consent agenda for further conversation to address the two questions I asked. Where does the rest of the revenue come from? And does this agreement operate break even or at a loss? Which brings me to my second ask. I urge the commission to ask staff to initiate a business review of Freedom Hall towards the goal of creating a plan to get it to break even. You were successful in doing that for the golf course. Let's do the same for Freedom Hall. We need to protect as much of our general fund as possible. Thank you.

Thank you.

Excuse me, commission. The next order of business business is consideration of appointments of city commission members to various boards and board positions vacated by Mr. Hunter. Mayor, do you have a list of those positions? I do. Um,

yes. Do you I'll let you

I'll make this as a motion. We did this Oops. Sorry. Make this as a motion. We did this in a work session. There are seven boards that uh Mr. Hunter served on that require a commissioner. And so they are Bright Ridge Chamber of Commerce, East Tennessee Railroad Authority, First Tennessee Development District, uh Regional Planning Commission, the JCDA Tax Increment Funding Advisory Board, and the Washington County Economic Development Board. And so by way of a motion, I would put forth the following as appointments to those boards. Bright Ridge Board of Directors, Joe Weise, Chamber of Commerce, Greg Cox, East Tennessee Railroad Authority, Vice Mayor Brock, First Tennessee Development District, Vice Mayor Brock, Regional Planning Commission, Commissioner Whitney Gets, the TIFF Advisory Board, um, Vice Mayor Brock, and the Washington County Economic Development Board, Mayor Cox. So, that's by way of a motion.

Second. Any discussion? Miss LS. Commissioner Fowler. Yes. Commissioner Gets. Yes. Commissioner Weise? Yes. Vice Mayor Brock. Yes. Mayor Cox. Yes. Commission. The next order of business is consideration of the consent agenda. I'll start to my right and see if there's any items to pull. Commissioner Per.

Um someone.1.4 please. Okay. And I have three others. I was going to pull that one as well. U 7.1.2, um 7.1.3, and 7.4.1.

Commissioner Wise, they already picked they already picked all the good ones, so I don't have anything else. And Commissioner Gates, I'm good as well. Okay, I'll make sure I've got these right. The first item to be pulled is 7.1.2, which is to consider approval of the final balance change order number four for Summers and Taylor on the West Walnut Redevelopment Project. And we have our public works director, Jason Miles, to address any questions on this item.

Mr. miles tonight. Maybe it would just be good to give a kind of a little bit of overview about of the completion of it. We do have a couple of things still to go like the park um like the storm water uh project up there, but then uh I think in the next couple of months it would be great to have a full report um to the commission and to the public about that project. Uh we've invested a considerable amount of money for it and what we learned um and uh how how it's um um how it's been positioned in the community in terms of its its retail district and and what we're going to see from it. But uh tonight just a short version of kind of where we are.

Sure. Um good evening commissioners, mayor, vice mayor, manager ball. Um so some highlights if you will. Uh I know a lot of people were concerned about the schedule for the project. It was originally 24 months. We are about four years of finishing the project. Um a lot of that was due to u there were a lot of unforeseen conditions. Um you know obviously when you're digging up you know utilities that are 100 years old you know you're going to run into a lot of unforeseen conditions. Um, you know, the estimate for the schedule was probably off in the first place to be honest when you run that far over. Uh, but we plugged away and and have essentially finished the project. There is, as you touched on, uh, the next, uh, sort of a I'll say related, but unrelated. It's the Cherokee Pond project, which is the Cherokee Extension uh, road over to State of Franklin. The work is ongoing now as you all have probably seen the excavators out there uh digging out the pond and that sort of thing. So that's the storm water enhancement aspect of the project above and beyond all the stormwater improvements that were made you know throughout the the the project limits which were extensive of course on top of the water and sewer. Uh, I've got a list of highlights actually I'll read off to you and and certainly we'll be glad to come forward with a final uh summary of the project. Um, the accomplishments of this project include two miles of completely rebuilt roads with new sidewalks, all new landscaping, decorative lighting, again, storm water, water, sewer, all replaced, earnest street walkway, 50,000 square feet of pavers, 3/4 miles of dedicated bike lane, uh, Cherokee Street Extension

uh, was built, that road, which was built by city forces actually. Um, also all all utilities are now underground. Um, we've improved University Parkway substantially from a safety perspective for vehicles. Uh, we also have new dual 42-in storm pipes underneath Ernest Street, Interstate of Franklin, and Norfolk Southern Railroad. Uh, so those are some of the highlights or accomplishments of the project. Uh, again, the schedule impacts were considerable. Uh, a lot of that was also due to adding in all the side streets that tie into West Walnut. Uh, that work was very extensive. Uh, those roads were in terrible shape, so we fixed them up while we were there. I think most people agree that, you know, overall the project looks great. Um, I do want to uh close tonight and come back to you later as you requested uh with a financial uh sort of quick take on things. Um, we are going to be under budget. the original budget that you all approved as a commission. Um we are going to come in under under budget for all um I guess all categories of that budget. So um pretty amazing after four years of this project, $40 million uh all of the all of the utilities that went into this, the telecom utilities, all of those improvements that were able to deliver this project under budget. um schedule notwithstanding of course. Yeah.

Any other questions?

The the next item in question Oh, I'm sorry. Next item in question is 7.1.3. Consider approval of the memorandum of understanding between the Rotary Foundation and the city of Johnson City for a bicycle playground on Johnson City owned property. We have Assistant City Manager Steve Willis to answer any questions about this item. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, Miss Paul. I'm Steve Willis, assistant city manager. Thisou is an arrangement between the Rotary Foundation and the city for the buildout of a bicycle playground on Lower Lower Tannery Knobs. You've probably seen some dirt being moved up there already. Rotary Foundation has raised $420,000 toward the build of this park. 170 of that was received through private donations. 50,000 was raised by the local Rotary group and then Governor Lee as part of the First Frontier Trail allocation designated $200,000 of that $5 million to go toward this project. The Rotary Foundation has also agreed that if any monies are left over after the buildout of that park, it would be transferred into a maintenance fund. Parks and Recreation will be responsible for the buildout in conjunction with Rotary of the bicycle playground. We have a fantastic trail builder, Mr. Josh Collins, who I'm sure some of you have met, and we feel confident in his ability to build this out in such a way that it would be much easier for us to maintain and it will stretch this $420,000 much further than if we employed a private contractor to build out the park.

Mr. is just for the public. What is a bicycle playground? So, it would be designed for riders primarily of younger age and the the the idea would be you start out at lower tannery, build your skill set in order to be able to transition to the more difficult trails on top of tannery which have been in place for quite some time. But it also be a place that families can come and u the children on their bicycles and they can just go play. Absolutely. So get a lot of energy in the in kind work the city will be performing is building the road in with parking, restrooms, and a pavilion area as well and bench areas for for the families to Yes, ma'am.

to be there. Thank you. Looking forward to getting it open. Uh we uh of course we're approaching winter here, so we'll see how how the weather cooperates with us, but we're well underway there. Thank you. there. The next item is the 10-year lease agreement with Freedom Hall for um the agreement between the city of Johnson City and East Tennessee State University for the men's basketball agreement.

Sure. To give a little history, uh ETSU first began play their men's basketball team at Freedom Hall in 2014. So, there have been two uh five-year agreements. The current agreement expires at the end of this year's men's basketball season. in meetings with Dr. Nolan, Dr. Sanders, uh, city manager Ball, myself, and staff. ETSU is interested in a 10-year agreement. They want to lock the facility down in terms of having a place to play. It's a great venue for basketball that has been, you know, borne out over the past 10 years or so. The uh agreement is uh for, as I said, a 10-year period. It has an escalator clause for the rental section of the agreement of 4% a year. It has a escalator clause for set up and tear down charges to for the floor. And then they also had interest in securing the rental of our auxiliary gym uh for potential university high middle school practice and then ultimately games perhaps. So, we worked with Johnson City Schools because our commitment to them is that they have the use of that auxiliary gym for practice for whether it be Science Hill, primarily Liberty Bell. So, in discussions with AD Keith Turner at Science Hill, we are confident that our agreement with ETSU will not in interfere in any way with Johnson City School's usage of that facility. Uh we will also if it's a situation where ETSU does not need the auxiliary gym for five full days that particular week, they've agreed to give us a two-eek schedule in advance so that we can continue to rent that auxiliary gym to other patrons as we currently do. There is an escalator built into the auxiliary gym costs as well. So this would be for a 10-year period of time. They're also one one

other new thing in this agreement versus the previous two is allowing ETSU to sell naming rights for the inner bowl of the arena. The arena name will not change. It is still Freedom Hall. There will be no selling of naming rights for the outside of the building, just for the internal bowl only. With the revenue that will be generated from that, ETSU is committed to a $1.6 $6 million improvement in video and audio technology within the building. The city will have use of that technology for a certain number of days, five days in most cases, seven days in in the case of the use of the floor and the basketball goals which are property of ETSU for other activities that we will have in the facility. For example, the Big South tournament that we'll be hosting again this March.

Could you Oh, sorry. Go ahead. That's okay. Um, Freedom Hall used to be part of the school system and the city took that back over a few years ago. We moved all of the school activities that dayto-day out of that and took that over. So, the cost of running Freedom Hall was included in the school systems before we took that back over. Is that correct? Well, well, certainly schools usage, it was still in our general fund, right? Still in. So, we try and attract shows to this place to bring revenue in when we're not using it for schools or for ETSU now and we're they're leasing it from us, too. Correct. But there are other activities that go on there

and we try and attract shows to bring more revenue in for that facility. But I think we have used it like we do uh our parks and things that don't cost people to go to in the city, but they're a big expense for us to use.

Same thing in the past. It's been we had two golf courses and we were losing a lot of money because of two of those. But they were like parks, treated like parks. They were something for our citizens to use. We got rid of one of them because it wasn't our citizens really that were using it most of the time. It was in Uncoy County and they were getting some of the fees and things. So, Pine Oaks is the only one that we own now and it's almost breaking even now because of the use and because of Yeah. those kind of things. So, Freedom Hall is a facility for us that we can use for activities. Plus, we can have shows for our citizens to come in. And I'm not sure we would ever think we would break even, but it would be nice at some point in time to break even. But it is a thing for our public to have and to bring shows, circuses, and those kind of things in and we make a little bit of money back, but we're going to lose money pretty much every year on this facility.

Certainly a great point, Commissioner Fowler. The school's usage of that facility, they do not pay us a fee to use that. Obviously, ETSU will be other private clubs and and things of that nature would pay a fee. We also use the Freedom Hall pool to support Science Hill Swim Team. So, we don't charge them for the use of the facility either. Another big annual event that's hosted at Freedom Hall that is at a significant expense is July 4th fireworks. uh that generally is well over a $100,000 uh expense for us, but it's a community event that anyone can attend free of charge. So, yes, you are very accurate in your description that it is a true community center in one sense. And I'm I'm sure that some of the commissioners may remember several years ago a study was performed and an RFP was issued for the potential private operation of Freedom Hall. And the person that sub submitted the uh I believe it was a group called Spectra, if memory serves me correctly. I wasn't in this role at that time, but I was employed by the city. They came back and said, "Yeah, we'd be happy to operate it. We do think we can get more shows in here, but we still need a $600,000 subsidy." So, at that time, I believe the city made the decision, we can do that on our own. Uh they were looking obviously for a different financial model, which would make sense. So, uh, yes, it is a multi-use facility that serves a lot of purposes for the community outside of those that generate revenue for us.

And Freedom Hall can break even. It just assumes an Elton John concert every year or maybe a couple of Elton John, maybe a couple of Elton John's. I mean and and so that I think it's probably worth in addition to having done an RFP for professional management perhaps you can speak to the consultancy that was brought in as we tried to look you know one of the challenges at Freedom Hall and it may be helpful for you to talk through you know 50 years ago when it was built you know Bob Hope and Elvis

Elvis and AC/DC and I it's a big acts and those folks Freedom Hall is competing with a different kind of venue now that has a different financial model and maybe you can talk a little bit about that. I would like to remind you though of a few of the questions that Trisha asked that bear um addressing um relative to the annual revenue where where does some of it come from where she couldn't reconcile that then I think we've kind of addressed some of the break even questions and the subsidy. One side note, we should probably note that we moved golf, remember when we closed Buffalo Valley, in addition to closing it, we finally reckoned with the fact that golf couldn't reasonably be an enterprise fund. So, there was a time where golf was being treated like water and sewer and storm water fees because golf paid for golf.

Correct. But golf didn't pay for golf and correct. So, but could you address some of her questions and then talk about the business model approach that we've looked at over the last couple years to try to get to a better place?

Be happy to. So, we find ourselves uniquely positioned in a negative way between two casinos now. Cherokee Casino in North Carolina and now the casino in Bristol who both see approximately 1,200 to,500 patrons. We as a government entity cannot guarantee an artist a set amount of money to play Freedom Hall. These private venues can do that. And I'll give you an example. Uh Mark and his group worked really hard to get uh Travis Trit booked at Freedom Hall. Travis Trit successful country artist kind of at the end of his career, but certainly could still draw a crowd. Well, we couldn't guarantee any money other than ticket sales, right? completely dependent upon ticket sales. Whereas the casino can guarantee a flat amount to that artist. Well, guess what? Travis Trip pulled his date from Freedom Hall and he played at the Bristol Casino. So, that's just one example. It's very, very difficult to compete in this market given our size. The larger artists want to play the stadium venues where they can sell 60 or 80,000 seats. Obviously, we can't compete in that space. where we can compete and where I think Mark and his staff have done a really good job is attracting some of these niche players who are okay selling 2,000 seats. I think we've got Gary Allen scheduled for maybe next Friday that's selling pretty well and those are profitable shows for us. But um you know it's it's a very difficult space that we find ourselves in. And to Commissioner Wise's point when a study was performed I believe I came back in 2023. I think that study came along in 2022 and the consultant said basically without significant capital investments in Freedom Hall, particularly in the back of the house, then you're not going to be able to attract uh any larger artists

to come. And when I say significant, I say millions of dollars. The back of the house there, we have one way in, one way out. Most artists expect multiple uh access points into the facility as well as a much upgraded dressing room area and things of that nature. When Elton John last played Freedom Hall, Elton John doesn't like to look at concrete walls, so the staff had to put carpeting down and drapes across anything that had concrete on it to meet his demand. So that's another example of where where we struggle with a 50-y old building. Mr. Willis, I I think another point um we uh recently uh landed the Big South Conference basketball tournament.

Big that's a big deal for Freedom Hall as well. Um and we may not charge a great deal for that tournament to be there because they bring in so much more revenue in our community.

So, um the numbers are like $6 million that got left behind in um hotels and food and then sales tax and so it pays off in other ways but to to my knowledge and experience um things like I don't I don't know how the Martin Center is doing now but you never really kind of make a profit off of these kinds of facilities certainly not in convention centers and and and you know back in the day when Freedom Hall was built there were a number that were built kind of on that size and structure some of them on school campuses and and being on a school campus also restricts us from from some things

but um it's for bene you know it's for great benefit for the community and we use it as such. Um we just had a big um Halloween party on the on on the campus of Freedom Hall uh two weeks ago and it didn't generate any money but it generated thousands of people coming up there. It did for their families.

Yes. And to vice mayor's point, I think the CB CDB has estimated 6.2 million in visitor spending for the Big South tournament week. We are happy to have them back this March and hope that we can have them in future years as well. But none of that makes it to the Freedom Hall balance sheet, right? To your point, and I can tell you our hotel motel tax year-over-year was up nearly a million dollars. And I think that's directly attributable to not only things like the Big South, but if you've been by Wing Deer Park on the weekend lately, regardless of the season, quite honestly, it's full. And that in most cases are bringing in a lot of visitors that spend money in our restaurants and our hotels and grocery stores and everything along the way. That has an economic impact, but that doesn't hit our general fund balance sheet, if you will. Well, um, Mr. Willis, I I've made a lot of comments about Freedom Hall since I've been around and and, um, a lot of questions. The big one as far as goes tonight is just the lease with ETSU and the numbers in that and, um, that's really what we're we're voting on. So, as far as that lease, I mean, have you been negotiating that for a while? What's that conversation been looked like? Do you feel like it protects the city, especially as far as financial? Is it is there as far as those numbers go? Aside from sales tax and kind of hidden cost, is it a um in the green item? It

it's been a year it's been a year-long process and the 93,000 that was alluded to in the agenda summary was from a previous year. That's all dependent upon the number of games played and that fluctuates from season to season. We also get a percentage of the concessions that's included in that number as well. um all of our all of our rental revenue from the auxiliary gym and those kinds of things. Um so yeah, it's it's difficult to reconcile year-over-year because there's always a differing number of of home games that are that are played. But yes, I think the original reason that ETSU came to Freedom Hall, obviously it was a better venue for basketball, but quite honestly, it put activity in the building for four months. a lot of a lot of butts and seats, so to speak, and people in the facility. And there was a significant capital investment made back then with the new seating and some changes in the restrooms. It's not as though we haven't made improvements to the building, but again, it was it was built 50 years ago and some of those back of the house and the underbelly that you guys have seen has its challenges just from a setup standpoint. Two more questions is it does look like they are committing to a pretty significant capital improvement 1.6 million and the the second is just as far as when they use it, are they good stewards? Is Freedom Hall staff having to clean up after them? Are they taking care of the space and that that they're using? Is it better to have them in there maintaining what they're using?

I think it's always better to have someone in the building versus an empty building is how I would I would respond to that. We have room for improvement in the working relationship. We we definitely do. Um I think any anyone who's in the building that on that of a consistent basis takes ownership of the building to a certain degree and maybe sometimes a little further than they should just to be very transparent about that. So I think we have room to build on that relationship and have a better working relationship. But certainly having basketball in that arena is great for this community and and we hope that they have a great season. I know when in past seasons when we've competed for championships and made it to the NCAA tournament, there's not a better there's not a better venue than Freedom Hall when it's full in terms of how the crowd can impact the game. Much better than the mini dome. When I was in school, they played in the mini dome.

And I saw ETSU beat NC State there when Les Robinson was the coach and they had two all-ameans, but ETSU took them down in in the mini dome, but it was not a great not a great space to watch basketball. Can't compare to Freedom Hall in my opinion. Well, go Bucks. and Kathy. The uh next item,

the next item um for question and um it's item 7.4.1 which is the RFQ for barge design for the Market Street Bridge over CSX Railroad. and know that um John Lane had not been prepared to be the director tonight, but I'm going to refer to him as the director of water and sewer tonight. So, you get to start your job a little bit earlier than tomorrow. So, congratulations and welcome director John Lane.

Well, thank you very much, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, and Miss Ball. So, the item before you tonight is a guar is a engineering services agreement with barge design services. So, State Route 34, which is the West Market Street uh roadway in Johnson City, C T do DOT is planning to replace the bridge that crosses the CSX railway. So, T dot has a very set uh process of how they go through that relocation and replacement of their bridges. So, what's before you tonight is engineering design services for water and sewer utilities in that region. So, when T dot informs a utility that they're going to replace a bridge, they go before and have what they call a date bate plans. So this bridge before you that's going to be replaced is actually planned to be replaced in calendar year 2029. So still several years out. But in order to hit that timeline, T dot has certain milestones along the way. So before you tonight is allowing barge to have the opportunity to do design services for our department for the water and sewer relocation around that bridge. We actually have an existing 12-in water line that hangs on that current bridge right next to the Boys and Girls Club. So this project actually with T DOT is what they call chapter 86. If it's a chapter 86 project, then the utility relocation is paid for. So we would have this engineering services agreement and then during the relocation, T do DOT would actually pay for the utility relocation. The only benefit or they they call it a betterment process. So for us, we have an existing 12-in water line. I know y'all sat through the master planning process last fall. For us, we actually would do a betterment to upsize the water line to a 16 16inch diameter. So whenever we have an opportunity to increase the diameter, especially in this case, that's what we'd like to do. So all we would have to do is actually pay for the betterment price, the difference in those two utility sizes. So assuming it's passed before y'all tonight, large design services would then go before us and then uh generate drawings for what they call their AATE plans. And then there would be several years in between and B date would

actually be in May of 2028 before T dot lets the project which means bid bids the project in fall of 2028 for a calendar year 2029 construction timeline. So still several years several several years out but the first step is submitting the Aate plans which is basically just getting every utility's foot in the door as part of the project scope. Any questions on that? Thank you. No, that would I mean this is going to help us in the [clears throat] long run be able to increase the diameter of the of the water lines. Okay, but you won't really won't start construction until

not for several more years and then that would be and what's outlined in this agenda summary is just for engineering design services once the contractor has been awarded then I would come back before you at that time for construction administration for barge at that point once we know who the contractor is. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Move approval on the consent agenda. Second. Any discussion? Miss Louse, you call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gats, yes. Commissioner Wise, yes. Vice Mayor Brock, yes. Mayor Cox, yes.

Commissioners, the next item on your agenda is ordinance is under second reading. So, this would be second reading and public hearing of an ordinance to abandon 9,162 square foot of public rideway at the intersection of South R Street and East Highland Road. Good evening, mayor, commissioners, administrative leadership, and council. Tonight, I am This is a I'm Winnie Hodgees, and we are presenting on a roadway abandonment. Um I want to talk a little bit about this process because you will see this process a couple of more times um on our planning calendar. Um we are in the public hearing part and when a roadway a public roadway is abandoned that does need to come before a public body and be read three times as an ordinance. So this is the second reading of public hearing and then next week or next meeting we'll have the third and final reading. The request as comm as um Miss Ball mentioned is to abandon a certain portion of the ride ofway during the reszoning of this property here which is where the Dollar General sits on um on South R Street. It it was highlighted that this road the where Highland was it had had some sight distance challenges. So, we took an opportunity to relocate that road and this is just kind of an administrative part of abandoning the portion we no longer need. The this does come from engineering. So, they um are the ones that are kind of making this request and then planning does not have any concerns with it and the public sewer easement will still be maintained. So, that's just need to know that staff recommends approval. The planning commission also recommended approval. I'm avail it's a public hearing so it does need to be open for that and I'm available for any questions.

Could you go back to the slide? So when we abandon the ride ofway part of it goes to one side and part of it is it basically down the middle and so this little like peninsula thing where East Highland wraps around picks up another 15 feet or whatever at the back of their property pick up. Yeah, this picks up a little bit here and these two properties pick up some additional but there is still a utility easement running through the middle of it. Yes. Okay. Thank you. And it is asphalt. Yes. We've not taken the old road. You can still see the road there

and we won't do anything to that. It's up to the new We no longer maintain it. Any other questions? Move for approval. Oh, sorry. So, I'll open the floor to um public hearing if anyone wishes to come and speak in favor or against. Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Move for approval. Second. We call the role. Commissioner Fowler, yes. Commissioner Gets. Yes. Commissioner Wise, yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Brock. Yes. Mayor Cox.

Yes.

Commissioners, we have under city manager report, we have an update from LHP. We have Talal here uh to give us an update on the tapestry. Um this is a project um that you all are very familiar with and we appreciate him giving us an update on the status of the project and filling us in on um when residents will be able to move in. Hi, good evening. Um, my name is Talal Shakari with LHP. Thank you for having me. Um, glad to see some familiar faces up here as well as some new ones. And, uh, as Kathy just mentioned, I thought it would be helpful for me to give a little bit of a backstory on Tapestry at Ran Hill, the six years that it took us to get to this point, and uh, my thanks to everybody that's been involved and kind of where we are right now. And as I mentioned to Alicia, I do have a baby at home and she kept me up from 2 to 4:00 a.m. So I apologize if any of these factoids are incorrect, but I did my best to write them down. Um, so back in 2019, the JCDA acquired the John Seir Center and then in 2021, LHP Capital, my employer, came in as a manager to help the JCDA get a passing REAc score. And that was kind of one of the steps that allowed us to then submit a section 8BB HAP transfer which would allow us to take the section 8 contract from Johnson John Seavir Center and move it to Tapestry at Ron Hill which is the new development that we have been working on since 2023. And so back in 2022, we proposed a uh replacement housing development and I believe the National Development Council looked at our proposal as well as JCDA and approved

it. And in 2023, we submitted our tax credit application to the Tennessee Housing Development Agency and were awarded the credits. And so thankfully in December of 2023, we closed on all of the financing and broke ground on the project over by Food City on South R Street. And uh 23 months later, here we are. So very proud of the work of Merit Construction, of Smith G out of Nashville, our architects, of our co-developers Bristol to get us to this point. We are ever so close to actually start moving residents and our hope was to move them this month, but due to not having uh the proper signage in place, we had to move that back just a touch. And so our goal is to still try to move the residents prior to Christmas as best we can and not move them during the holidays. But I I do want to again reiterate my thanks to the city of Johnson City and to everybody involved in helping us not only get to this point, but also in their willingness to help the residents move to their new homes. And so, thank you very much. That is the quick short history of the project. If there are any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Just remind us how many apartments are going online? Uh 145. Okay. All onebs. Are they all filled now? Uh they will be all filled in as soon as we can get the residents moved over, but Okay.

Very excited because they're significantly larger than the units that are currently at John Seavir Center. And so we think that the residents are going to be really happy. I think we met very early on in LHP's involvement with the project and at any number of times it seemed like this was just not going to come to pass because this project for the last several years was one step forward and one step back and one step forward and two steps back. And to be at this point where we really can see moves in the imminent future is really very encouraging. and the quality of the housing um that will be made available is so marked an improvement and LHP has been a very good partner through this project um because managing a hundred-year-old building is hard even on the best of days and then when you get into the I learned more about the bureaucratic intricacies of HUD in my time on the JCDA and and you know the best of intent mired in all the wrong incentives And it just it um to see it come to this is really a a a wonderful outcome, but not one that was a foregone conclusion necessarily at each of the inflection points over the last seven or eight years.

I agree. Thank you.

Uh we took a tour a few weeks ago and um the apartments are just wonderful. Uh, I can imagine what it's going to be like when our residents get in and they all have their own washer and dryer in their apartments. That was the thing that meant so much to me. But really looking forward to seeing them get settled in. uh the interior space um in the courtyard, although they'll be moving there when it's colder weather, but it's such a a great um kind of outdoor experience for them that they can get out in a safe environment and uh enjoy the outdoors and then just walk over to the grocery store and that which has pharmacy in it. And so it's I think it's a good location. It's on the bus line and so and I think the bus line has figured out how to come up into the complex.

Uh so people can can uh catch the bus and go wherever they need to. But thank thank you to you and your company. You've stuck with Johnson City for quite a while. Hope you like it here. I love it. You know, yeah, you've been here enough, right? Well, this room has changed since I've I've been coming here. It looks really nice. [laughter] But thank you and your company for being willing to invest in in Johnson City and help us become a better city. We're glad to be here and we hope to continue developing here in the future. So, thank you for having us.

So, that same day we toured the John Seir Center and then we went over to the new facility and you're talking about night and day about those. I am excited for the for these some of our lowest of residents as far as how how they get treated or whatever. They're getting treated very well and that's what we're hoping for when we move them over there. So, thank you for making that come true for them. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. You said six years really since this conversation started,

72 months. So, it's two units a month. So, um [laughter] thanks for sticking with it and uh if you look at it that way, that's accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time. Um and uh so, thank you and um just maintain it as well as uh as it looks now would be great. Thanks to law. Thank you guys. Thank you very much. We need to get some WD40 on that gate. Um you you're on that. Okay. There.

Um well, thanks everybody. I'll see if anybody wants to wrap anything up. Dr. Fowler, do you have anything? Well, I I should be at a football game right now, but they moved to tonight from tomorrow night, but Oakidge and Science Hill just kicked off at 7 o'clock tonight at Oakidge for the state on the playoffs tonight. So, I'm praying that nobody gets hurt and that we come through tonight would be great. So,

uh, yeah, I want to bring, uh, to our attention and then to the public's attention, uh, the American Legion, which is just right over here, are hosting a Veterans Day parade on, um, on Saturday. And I believe we have something in our packet on it as well. Uh, I think it is it's going to be a short route. See if I can find the time. starts at 10:00 and the gathering is over in King Commons. It's just going to walk up Commerce Street to the um farmers market. So, it'll be kind of a short walk. Uh but uh it would be great for uh those of us who can show up to be a part of the the Veterans Day parade and to support the American Legion, our veterans in this area. I would just point out we had the opportunity to host um members of our local media here this afternoon for just a sort of a conversation with the commission and reporters from two of the TV stations and the Johnson City Press. And so if you're looking for some invigorating television, look on the city's website on the topics of interest and you can watch the whole hour of questions and answers. and it's something we would hope to repeat again periodically in the future as a a way to maintain those lines of communication. But you can find the whole uh video apparently is on the website on the topics of interest.

Um and I I had the opportunity to to say this during our time with the media earlier, but um I have now been here 21 days uh and kind of reflecting on uh the last couple weeks. I've really enjoyed getting to be out in our community, uh, participate in a few different dedications, um, spend some time with staff, uh, celebrate with our fire department on, um, their new, uh, fire truck touring the new facility, and really looking forward to, uh, jumping in and spending time with, um, additional departments in the city. But I I really want to thank the city staff and others for their warm welcome and look forward to learning more and uh just happy to be a part of this body. So thank you all for all that you've done.

Right. Well, one last thanks to uh um Director Witherspoon for his service. And with that, I'll close the meeting.