Metropolitan Council - Regular Meeting

This is the 13th regular meeting of 2026 and the 65th regular meeting of the current term of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County. Will all members of the council as well as the public please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation is being offered this evening by Pastor Tommy Clark of the West Nashville Cumberland Presbyterian Church He is the guest of District 20 Council Member, Rollin Horton. Pastor Clark, you're recognized.

Thank you. Pray with me if you would. Holy and gracious God, we give thanks for this space, this group of people, all that are here and gathered. And we also give thanks for your presence Lord, we gather here as colleagues, friends, neighbors, and here we're connected by a shared city, holy space, and also a common hope, and we have a responsibility to one another. Though we all come from different spaces, I believe you've created us very unique and different. We come from different neighborhoods and very different experiences and perspectives. Though we're united by our desire to build a community where every person can live and flourish. God, we ask that you bless the members of this council that are all gathered here. And God, we ask that you grant our leaders wisdom, wisdom that listens before they speak. We also pray that you grant them courage that chooses what is right over what is often easy. And also we ask that you grant them humility that remembers public service is sacred. Lord, in a time when disagreement can become what seems to be division, we ask that you teach us a better way. Remind us that the unity does not really require uniformity. Lord, we don't have to think alike to work together. So we ask that you help us meet one another with patience instead of anger, and also meet one another with curiosity instead of suspicion.

And also, of course, respect.

May the decisions that are made here consider not only those voices who are always and easily heard, but also those that are often overlooked. You know them, Lord. We pray for them. The struggling family, the neighbor without secure housing, the senior that lives alone, the worker that seeks dignity, and every person longing to be part of something bigger. So God, we ask that our words be thoughtful and give us sincere listening and let our actions be guided by a common goodness. Unite us through a shared commitment to serve faithfully and perhaps leave this city better than we found it. With gratitude for our community and hope for all its people, we offer this prayer.

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. Thank you very much, Pastor Clark. Thank you. Welcome council and community members. Early voting is underway at 15 locations across the county. Registered voters may vote at any of those locations and 11 days of early voting remain, or I guess there's 30, 40, 20 minutes left this evening. Polls are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays till 7 p.m. So please text some friends and go do dinner and democracy together. Please encourage your friends and family to vote early. Election day is Thursday, August the 6th. For more information as always, Nashvillians can go to nashville.gov forward slash vote. Members have received two memos from me this week regarding boarding commission vacancies to be filled by council nomination and election. One on the Health and Educational Facilities Board and four on the new Metro Animal Care and Control Commission. One of those openings is for a council member. and all the remaining vacancies are for community members. So please review those memos carefully and be thinking about good folks to serve. I will take those nominations at the August 4th council meeting. All right, without objection, we will suspend the calling of the roll and ask the clerk to please record the names of the members present throughout the meeting. I want to recognize Council Member Deonte Harrell who is celebrating his birthday with us this evening. So happy birthday Councilman. Is there a motion for approval of the minutes of the meeting of July 7th? Okay, there is a motion properly seconded without objection and seeing no one seeking to be recognized for a change to the minutes. All right, the minutes of the meeting of July 7th are approved. Mr. Clerk, are there any messages from the mayor?

Yes, there is a message from the mayor.

All right, go ahead, please, Mr. Clark.

Dear Vice Mayor Henderson and members of council, pursuant to regulations of the Tennessee Comptroller's Office, please find the State of Tennessee reporting forms for the 2026 Interfund Tax Anticipation Notes in the cumulative amount of $208 million. The tax anticipation notes were authorized through Resolution RS-2026-1962 on May 19th, 2026. Interfund tax anticipation notes provide temporary short-term financing to meet cashflow needs early in the fiscal year until property tax and other major revenues are collected. The notes are borrowed from other Metro funds with available cash balances and are repaid with interest from current fiscal year revenues once those revenues are received. As always, we appreciate the Metropolitan Council's support on these important financing initiatives. Sincerely, Mayor Freddy O'Connell.

Alrighty, thank you, Mayor O'Connell, and thank you, Mr. Clerk. Next, we'll start into our agenda. Section E, appointees and nominees. This portion of the agenda shares all persons who were scheduled to appear before the rules, confirmations, and public elections committee for an interview this evening. Re-referrals back to the committee will be by rule. as part of the council's two meeting process for elections and confirmations. No votes will be taken by the body in this section of the agenda. Chair Cash, a brief report, please. No vote totals necessary. Simply the name of the board, commission, committee, or entity, and the name of the appointees who were interviewed. And if a person in the appointment and confirmation process was unable to attend your committee this evening, at what meeting they will next appear, please, sir. Go ahead, Chair.

Yes, ma'am. Airport authority appointment of Wallace Dietz, arts commission appointment of Henry Walker, charter revision commission reappointment of Eileen Behan, charter revision commission reappointment of Dewey Branstetter, contract and compliance board reappointment of Marcus T. Booth. We deferred that for one meeting.

Okay, so you all will interview then Mr. Booth at the first meeting in August, correct? Yes.

Yes.

Okay, go ahead, sir.

Hospital Authority reappointment of Dr. Raymond Martin, Hospital Authority reappointment of Courtney J. Pitts, and Social Services Commission appointment of S. Will Acuff.

All right, thank you.

I'd like to move those nominees.

Okay, well, at this juncture, you're just reporting on people who were interviewed, so we don't have to take a vote. Now we're into section F of our agenda, confirmations. Chair Cash, you're recognized again for your committee report on the appointees in the second step of your committee's two-meeting process, this time with vote totals and a consolidated motion for the confirmation of those persons, or first for a deferral motion if there are any. Go ahead, sir.

Yep. The Community Corrections Advisory Board appointment of Jamal Boykin, we approve seven to zero to zero. Contract and Compliance Board reappointment of Michael Iadavia for a term expiring August 28th, 2029, approve seven to zero to zero. Contract and Compliance Board reappointment of Matthew P. Neal, approved seven to zero to zero. Director of Law appointment of Tyler Yarbrough, approved seven to zero to zero. Electric Power Board appointment of Robert D. Boone II, approved seven to zero to zero. Employee Benefit Board reappointment of G. Thomas Curtis, approved seven to zero to zero. Farmer's Market Boyd appointment of Jackson Zeitlin. I think all the rest, they're all seven to zero to zero. Historical Commission reappointment of Clay Bailey by the same vote. Historical Commission of Jay Brothers with seven votes. Whoop. A historical commission reappointment of Caitlin Jones approved seven to zero, zero historical commission reappointment of Dr. Marissa Richmond with seven votes approved with seven votes historical commission reappointment of Linda T. Wynn seven to zero to zero and the transit authority appointment of Whitney weeks approved seven to zero to zero.

All right. Um, uh,

move those nominees.

Okay, there is a motion to confirm all of these appointees and it is properly seconded. Does anyone wish to remove an item from this consolidated motion for purposes of an individual abstention or a no vote? All right, seeing none, all in favor of the remaining confirmations, please say aye. All right, council has confirmed all of these appointees. If you chose to return to the council chamber this evening, do please stand as I call your names and then we'll have a collective applause at the end. So council has confirmed to the community corrections and advisory board, the appointment of Jamal Boykin. Council has confirmed the reappointments to the Contract and Compliance Board of Michael Iadevia and Matthew P. Neal. Council has confirmed the appointment to serve as the Director of Law, the Metropolitan Director of Law, Tyler Yarbrough. Council has confirmed to the Electric Power Board the appointment of Robert D. Boone Council has confirmed to the Employee Benefit Board the reappointment of G. Thomas Curtis to the Farmers Market Board. Council has approved Jackson Zeitland. And then now I see quite a few folks from our Historical Commission with us to the Historical Commission. Council has reconfirmed the reappointments of Dr. Clay Bailey. the new appointment of Mr. J. Brothers, the reappointment of Caitlin Jones, the reappointment of Dr. Marissa Richmond, and council has also confirmed the reappointment to the historical commission of Dr. Linda T. Nguyen. And then lastly to the transit authority council has confirmed the appointment of Whitney We congratulate everyone, whether here in person or watching from home or on replay, we appreciate your willingness to serve our city and a special thank you and congratulations to the new Metropolitan Director of Law, Ms. Tyler Yarbrough. Thank you all. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, appreciate it. Okay.

Usually I'd say that.

All right, colleagues. Again, thank you to everyone for your willingness to serve. Next, section G in our agenda, nominations. We will be taking now nominations for the Municipal Auditorium Commission. This is to fill two vacancies with terms expiring on June 30th, 2029 with an election now to be conducted at the August 18th meeting. Members received a memo from me about this first on June 15th and nominations were open at the July 7th meeting with no nominations being made. So at this juncture, the nominations are open. And if you would please enter the queue. Council Member Huffman, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to nominate Ron Deal.

Okay, Mr. Ron Deal. Okay. Council Members, again, we have two vacancies. Are there any further nominations for the Municipal Auditorium Commission? We have one nomination for two vacancies. Ms. Suar, are you seeking to be recognized? Go ahead, ma'am, you are recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have a person, I have the first name, I do have the last name. Iman Kushner. Iman Kershner? Yes, I-M-A-N-K-H-O-S-H-N-A-W. Okay.

Council Member Suarez has nominated Iman Kershner and Mr. Huffman has nominated Ron Deal. Council Member Sepulveda, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I nominate Rick Rodriguez.

Okay, Council Member Sepulveda has nominated Rick Rodriguez. Are there any additional nominations at this time? Seeing none, nominations are closed. The clerk will be in touch with the nominators and your nominees to get their information. And again, we will hold those elections on August 18th with interviews to be prior to that. Okay, all righty. Next is our public comment period. Members of the public who are Tennessee residents wishing to speak at a public comment at council meetings may sign up at the table outside the council chamber from 5 to 6 p.m. on the day of the council meeting. Public comment is limited to 20 minutes total at council meetings and each speaker is allowed up to two minutes to speak. Persons speaking on agenda items must be prioritized to comply with state law. We have eight folks that have signed up for public comment this evening. The first two among them, if you would go ahead and come forward, are Emily Otnes and Manon Hall. Emily Otnes is speaking on agenda item 1391, data center regulations in support. Emily, go ahead and come forward, please. You're recognized.

Hello everyone. My name's Emily. I'm an artist, real estate professional and human being here in the city of Nashville. I'm proud to be yet another physical reminder of the resistance against data centers, structures that pose serious risks to our communities, our wildlife, and the Nashvillians who invest so wholeheartedly into the health of this city. I'm asking you to consider beyond the 520,000 signatures from people who pay taxes, create opportunities and live their daily lives here. that passing this legislation is just the beginning of necessary restrictions. As an artist, I see the impact of AI on creative work every day. DC blocks claimed theirs would not be an AI facility, but their own website markets them as AI ready infrastructure in South Carolina. They bought land, got approved and came back six months later asking for more because of AI demand. As a real estate professional, I helped Nashville homeowners navigate an already complex and difficult market. I know that this community opposition of this scale translates directly into buyer and seller hesitation, hesitation that erodes confidence and threatens the wealth of many hardworking Nashvillians who spend a lifetime building this. Lastly, we know the Nashville crayfish is a federally protected endangered species whose entire population lives only here in Mill Creek tributaries that run through the zoo. The zoo is one of many habitats that could be threatened by data centers, light pollution, noise, and environmental disruption. And no city's resources, land, water, or wildlife should be ever put at risk for a company like DC Blocks whose own website lists their priorities as employees first, customers second, and investors third. Nashville is nowhere on that list. BL 2026, 1391 is just the beginning. Protect Nashville, and thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next is Manon Hall, also speaking on Ordinance 1391 regarding data center regulations and support. Following Mr. Hall will be Charles Remke and Whitney Adkinson, if you wanna go ahead and come forward. Go ahead, Mr. Hall.

Thank you. Good evening council members. I'm thrilled to witness these data center protections and regulations passed tonight. Do not defer. Still there is way, way more work that needs to be done to protect us from the harms of data center development. Council members Porterfield, Horton, Johnston, Suara, Nash, and many others have indicated that important protections and amendments will not be added tonight. to keep this legislation from being re-referred to the Planning Commission. Y'all are saying that this legislation is not enough, that this is just the start, and your constituents agree, they want more, more environmental protections, more protections for our air, more protections for our neighborhoods. We're asking you that after this legislation passes tonight, that you wake up and you get to work and you continue to find ways to protect Nashvillians from the harms that these data centers bring, the harms that AI brings to our communities. And I thank you guys for the work that you are doing, and we will make sure that work continues. Thank you.

Thank you. Next is Mr. Remke speaking on Ordinance 1423 regarding this development and the aspect of murals related to it in opposition. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, Council, appreciate the work you do. I'm Chris Remke. resident district 20, a design build and development professional, and acting with Save Our National Neighborhood's partners, artists, and nation's residents. I've read this bill, the filed amendment, and the 2023 plan that was discussed at the meeting last night. Last night, your committee, planning committee, passed this bill believing that the amendment had teeth, that Wood Partners, the developer, would fund the preservation of 10 murals. It does not. We talked about, they talked about intentions. Are we to believe that Wood Partners, a billion dollar landlord is a philanthropic organization. The 2026 application documents, traditionally the home for such comments and where you memorialize these requirements are silent on these issues. The word mural is not in any of the planning commission documents for 2026. There's nothing on who requires funds. There's just an intention. It does not hold the permits if nothing happens. That's not documented. What the, sorry. What the committee heard was a three-year-old intention spoken for by council member. Wood Partners was not at the meeting, no written comment or participation in the fund. Without teeth in the text, there's one obvious option, the one not discussed last night, disassemble the murals, stack them in a pile and leave them for the neighborhood or art guild to pick up. That's not preservation, that's solving the developer's problem onto the backs of the neighborhoods and the artists. Mr. Horton pledges the developer's intention. Prudent practices would cause the developer to have to memorialize these before a vote. Yes, BL 2026-1423, the 10 murals will be an indiscretion and a neglect of stewardship to cultural landmarks.

Thank you. Thank you. Next is Whitney Atkinson speaking on ordinance 1391 regarding data center regulations in support. Following Ms. Atkinson will be Chris Pipkin and Carly Moffa, if you would go ahead and come forward. Go ahead, Ms. Atkinson.

Hi, my name is Whitney Atkinson. I live in District 34. I'm a Nashville Zoo member, previously was a Nashville Zoo docent, currently work for the Nashville Humane Association, helping animals with medical and or behavioral needs. I would like for you to think about the effects that noise from a data center will have on the zoo's animals. Research demonstrates that chronic noise exposure disrupts animal behavior, increases stress, interferes with feeding, reproduction, maternal care, and social interactions. And one year long study conducted at an urban zoo, increased construction noise altered the behavior of every species observed. Giraffes responded with increased movement, vigilance, grooming, and social behavior, indicating stress, agitation, and threats. When exposed to noise, they consistently moved to quieter areas of their enclosure. They spent twice as much time together than normally perceiving the noise as a threat. After the noise stopped, they continued stress-relating behaviors such as pawing and stomping, indicating that the harmful effects extended beyond exposure. Another study found that noise altered the behavior of a female bear and her cub during a six-month postpartum period. On louder days, the mom spent less time foraging and feeding and more time staying with her cub, indicating that elevated noise disrupted normal maternal behavior. It was a problem because reduced feeding negatively affects a mother's health and her cub's development. A four-year study of the effects of noise on bears in a zoo found that chronic exposure caused long-term stress. Higher noise levels were associated with increased movement, attempts to escape their enclosure, more frequent scratching and agitated vocalizations. Female bears were especially sensitive to noise during lactation, suggesting that chronic noise harms maternal health. Additional studies have documented negative impacts across many species at the Nashville Zoo, including leopards, gibbons, alligators, alpacas, owls, turtles, birds, tigers, goats, monkeys, fish, cows, snakes, and frogs. Together, this growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that noise from a data center will negatively affect animal behavior.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Atkinson. Next is Chris Pipkin speaking on a school board matter in opposition. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you for having me. Unlike most of these people, I don't have a well put together speech. I'm actually here asking for some help. You guys should have a document on your desk that Ms. Erin Evans helped me to get in front of you. I wanna give some context to that and really raise some awareness to some situations that maybe other people are going through. My daughter was expelled from Antioch High School for allegedly writing a threatening note about a gun threat. She turned that note into the office because she was scared, she ended up getting expelled. I went out and got a forensic handwriting analysis done on that note based on her handwriting. You guys have that report in front of you that shows that She didn't write this note yet. Metro Nashville, the school board is still continuing with that expulsion. They're still upholding it. I've been through a lot of appeals processes and I'm really getting kind of crickets and I just want that to be made aware. Maybe somebody else is going through that problem and it may be something that needs to get some attention in Nashville. I'll continue being at those school board meetings asking for help and trying to get some, I guess, revision of that expulsion. I don't know what you guys can do, but I'm here just asking for any help and attention and that's really all I have. Thank you guys.

All right, thank you. Okay, next is Carly Maffa speaking regarding ordinance 1391 data center regulations in support. After Carly Maffa will be Richard Massey and lastly, Shawnee Glapion. Go ahead, Carly, you're recognized.

Thank you, I'm Carly. I am a musician in Nashville and I live, as I've mentioned before, less than a mile from the zoo. My neighbors and I live in modest brick homes, not industrial buildings. My parents are farmers, my grandparents are farmers, and I hope one day, sorry, I hope one day to also own a farm. And as a farmer, I learned how sacred water is. I learned that we're all connected, that what we do on our farm actually affects what the person or the farmer next to us is able to do. And almost, most importantly, what I learned from my parents farming is that once the water system is damaged, it's nearly impossible to fix. My pop-up was from Italy, and he used to say that knowledge is the one thing that no one can take from you. They can beat you up, they can steal from you, but they can't take away what you know. as someone who would live less than a mile from the zoo, I started researching. I was hungry. I'm hungry for knowledge. I'm curious all the time. And what I found is that even in closed loop systems, as your legislation specifies, that water systems have actually been poisoned. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, I'm sure you're all aware of, that was actually a process of like a flush, you know, testing these pipes and the pressure. They were doing like a flush during the construction phase, and it damaged, it was a closed-loop system, and it damaged the water. And so I, I know I'm running out of time, but do you know what specific chemicals DC blocks uses to inhibit the rust? There's so many questions. And so I'm really grateful for the protection that you are all trying to give us. And I would just ask that you continue to do that, that you continue to question things that we already have learned through other residents living near these data centers, because I've compiled a whole list of common threads that they experience.

So thanks. Thank you, Ms. Mafa. Next is Richard Massey speaking also on ordinance 1391 regarding data center regulation and support. Go ahead, sir.

Good evening, counsel. I've come all the way from the other side of the state of Memphis to alert you of the consequences of having AI data centers prop up in your backyards in the depths of the night. Since June of 2024, XAI, which is now Space XAI, has built out massive data center campuses in the blackest part of the blackest city in the United States, operating off of methane gas turbines that emit formaldehyde and nitrous oxide 24-7, while they simultaneously draw 800,000 gallons of water each and every day from the Memphis Sands Aquifer. Much like the proposed data centers here in Nashville, next to the Nashville Zoo, and on Fisk University's campus, communities were given little to no notice whatsoever before executives announced that this was already a done deal. But folks understand that this business model comes with a real human cost. There's a reason why cities all over the country have paused data center development from Denver to Seattle to Charlotte. That's because we need ample time to both study and regulate this massive technological expansion that is exploiting entire communities, causing real health problems, jacking up utility bills, and lining the pockets of tech executives. AI is human output sold back to us at a markup without any compensation or credit. This technology should work for us, not against us. And from what we're seeing from North Nashville to South Memphis, AI is harming working class communities that have already suffered from generations of legacy pollution. Pass this bill that establishes guardrails and data centers. Go further by mandating environmental impact studies and distance from medium sized data centers. Mandate quarterly reporting for power demand and protect folks in Nashville prior to the groundbreaking of both of these proposed data centers. Thank you.

Next and last for public comment is Shawnee Glapion also speaking on ordinance 1391 regarding data center regulation in support. Go ahead.

You didn't say, but not least that's important. Oh yes. Last but not least. Certainly. Shawnee Glapion here. I am here because, um, of course, like you, we know data centers, right? Um, uh, I feel like this is gonna pass today. I don't think you're gonna let me or the community down. The community has not asked for this to be deferred. We have asked for stronger restrictions, but we understand that that might have to come later. So we are asking you to stay locked in with us, continue the fight, continue having these conversations with community. Let's get this thing right. But today, let's go ahead and pass what we got. That's what everybody has asked for. The community has not asked for a deferral. If you are trying to put a deferral on the table, I'm thinking that you have been maybe coaxed by lobbyists or a corporation or something because the community has not asked for this. They've asked for a lot, but deferral is not it. So look forward to hearing your conversations. Y'all have a good night.

Thank you, Ms. Glapion. All right, that concludes our public comment portion of the agenda. Next is section I, our consolidated consent agenda. All resolutions and second and third reading ordinances on this agenda are included on the consent agenda if recommended for approval unanimously by all committees to which the item was referred. Items on the consent agenda will be voted on at a single time. The item number along with the resolution and ordinance number of the items on the consent agenda will be read by me. Members of the council may remove any item from the consent agenda by request before the consent agenda vote is taken. All right. The first item proposed for the consolidated consent agenda is agenda item two, resolution 2026-2077. Agenda item nine, resolution 2026-2114. Agenda item 10, resolution 2026-2115. Agenda item 11, resolution 2026-2116. Agenda item 12, resolution 2026-2117. Agenda item 13, resolution 2026-2118. Agenda item 14, resolution 2026-2119. Agenda item 15, resolution 2026-2120. Agenda item 16, resolution 2026-2121. Agenda item 17, resolution 2026-2122. Agenda item 18, resolution 2026-2123. Agenda item 19, resolution 2026-2124. Agenda item 20, resolution 2026-2125. Agenda item 21, resolution 2026-2126. Agenda item 22, resolution 2026-2127. Agenda item 23, resolution 2026-2128. Agenda item 24, resolution 2026-2129. Agenda item 25, resolution 2026-2130. Agenda item 26, resolution 2026-2131. Agenda item 28, resolution 2026-2133. Agenda item 31, resolution 2026-2136. Agenda item 32, resolution 2026-2137. Agenda item 33, resolution 2026-2131, or rather 2138. Agenda item 34, resolution 2026-2139. Agenda item 35, resolution 2026-2140. Agenda item 36, resolution 2026-2141. Agenda item 37, resolution 2026-2142. Agenda item 38, resolution 2026-2143. Agenda item 39, resolution 2026-2144. Agenda item 40, resolution 2026-2145. Agenda item 41, resolution 2026-2146. Agenda item 42, resolution 2026-2147. Agenda item 43, resolution 2026-2148. Next, proposed for the consent agenda under bills on second reading. First among those is agenda item 59, or rather ordinance BL 2026-1449. Agenda item 63, ordinance BL2026-1453. Agenda item 64, ordinance BL2026-1454. Agenda item 65, ordinance BL2026-1455. Agenda item 66, ordinance BL2026-1456. Agenda item 67, ordinance BL2026-1457. Agenda item 68, ordinance BL2026-1458. Agenda item 69, ordinance BL2026-1459. Agenda item 70, ordinance BL2026-1460. Agenda item 71, ordinance BL 2026-1461. Agenda item 72, ordinance BL 2026-1462. Agenda item 73, ordinance BL 2026-1463. Agenda item 74, ordinance BL 2026-1464. Agenda item 75, ordinance BL2026-1465. Agenda item 76, ordinance BL2026-1466. Agenda item 78, ordinance BL2026-1490. And now for items on a third reading proposed for the consent agenda. First among those, agenda item 79, ordinance BL2026-1314. Agenda item 80, ordinance BL2026-1360. Agenda item 82, ordinance BL2026-1362. Agenda item 83, ordinance BL 2026-1387. Agenda item 86, ordinance BL 2026-1396. Agenda item 87, ordinance BL 2026-1397. Agenda item 88, ordinance BL 2026-1398. Agenda item 89, ordinance BL 2026-1399. Agenda item 90, ordinance BL 2026-1405. Agenda item 91, ordinance BL 2026-1408. Agenda item 92, Ordinance BL-2026-1409. Agenda item 93. Ordinance BL-2026-1410. Agenda item 94. Ordinance BL-2026-1413. Agenda item 97. Ordinance BL-2026-1417. Agenda item 98. Ordinance BL 2026-1418. Agenda item 99. Ordinance BL 2026-1419. Agenda item 100. Ordinance BL 2026-1421. Agenda item 103, ordinance BL 2026-1427. Agenda item 104, ordinance BL 2026-1428. Agenda item 105, ordinance BL 2026-1429. Agenda item 106, ordinance BL 2026-1435. Agenda item 108, ordinance BL 2026-1439. Agenda item 109, ordinance BL 2026-1440. Agenda item 110, ordinance BL 2026-1448. Agenda item 111, ordinance BL 2026-1443. And lastly, proposed for the consent agenda, agenda item 112, ordinance BL2026-1444. All right, do any items need to be removed from the consent agenda? If so, members please join the queue to request that. Council Member Porterfield, Madam Pro Tem, you are recognized. Oh, I'm sorry. Ms. Suara, point of order.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I think item 110 was read into record as item BL-1448 instead of 1441.

Agenda item 110 is in fact ordinance 1441. I believe it was read as 1448. I appreciate the clarification. My apologies. Thank you. Okay, Madam Pro Tem, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would like to pull agenda item 41, RS 2026-2146.

Okay, Ms. Porterfield has requested agenda item 41, resolution 2146 be removed from consent. It has been removed. Council Member Capp, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Request to pull number 34 for the purposes of an abstention.

Okay. Council Member Capp has requested that agenda item 34, this is resolution 2139, be removed from consent. It has been removed. Next, Councilmember Terry Vaux, you are recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Can you please remove agenda item 43, RS 2026-2148, please?

Okay, Ms. Vaux has requested the removal of agenda item 43. This is resolution 2148. It has been removed from consent. Are any other members seeking to remove an item from the consent agenda? All right, seeing none, Mr. Clerk, are all, oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Kimbrough.

You're recognized, ma'am, go ahead.

Let me check. No, ma'am, it is not on consent. Okay, Mr. Clerk, are all committee reports in for the items remaining on the consent agenda?

Yes, all committee reports are in. Okay, thank you, Mr. Clerk.

Members, is there a motion for approval of the consent agenda? Okay, properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, council has passed all items on the consent agenda. Okay, next we will go back through in agenda order for items that were not on consent. starting with our resolutions in section J of our agenda. First among those is agenda item one, resolution 2026-2064, sponsors Coopen, Druffle, Allen, Stiles, Ewing, Evans, Harrell, and Ellis. This is a resolution urging the National Department of Transportation multimodal infrastructure and the mayor's office to renew and accelerate its commitment to Vision Zero initiatives to eliminate pedestrian fatalities in response to a sharp increase in pedestrian and cyclist deaths in Nashville and Davidson County in 2026. Sponsor Coopin, you're recognized, sir. Thank you, Madam President. Committee reports, please.

For the report of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Chair Evan Siegel. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recommended a deferral to September 15th with nine in favor, zero against, and zero not voting. Okay, all right. Back to you, Mr. Coopin.

Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to move a deferral to September 15th with a brief comment.

All right, is there a second? Okay, go ahead, sir.

So obviously this is a very important issue. Um, as since the inception of this bill, I've continued to have to update it as more and more folks have been killed on our streets. Um, we need to be committed to vision zero. We need to work harder to get there. We've got the money to do it. We've got the resources to do it. Um, and that's why I brought this resolution. Uh, that being said, and dot is currently in a RFP process for a vision zero program director and a new director of the department. And they had asked that I, continue to give a little bit more time so that the new staff members don't walk into a certain deadline or expectation, but rather work with them to implement that process. So I've agreed to that. Hopefully my colleagues will as well with another deferral to the September 15th meeting, which should give enough time to kind of get closer to that destination. But of course, in the meantime have implored and not to continue to work towards these efforts because the work can't stop in the meantime.

All right, there is a motion to defer to the meeting of September 15th. It is properly seconded. Ms. Sepulveda, you are recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Can I inquire when that person will be hired? I'm sorry, I think I missed that.

Mr. Kupin, are you aware? Go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. I don't know exactly when that person will be hired. I know that they are actively engaged in that process. And when I asked how much time, they actually had said end of September and I didn't want to go all the way that far. So I settled on September 15th. So I don't know if there's an exact date, but I know they're actively in that process.

And just to clarify, rather than a person, I believe you said it's an RFP for a program manager. So that would be a firm.

Program manager for the firm and then director for the department itself. So two pieces. Right, understood, two different things. Ms. Sepulveda.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'm actually gonna vote against the deferral. I think we have constituents who are dying every day. We have constituents who are struggling currently I don't think we have time to waste. We have people who are currently at NDOT who are responsible for this program. I think that we shouldn't be wasting more time. I think that our children deserve better. Our constituents deserve better. We deserve better. We have signs that are up. that aren't translated in areas of town that need to be translated that say, somebody in this intersection was hit by a car crossing the road, right? And people in my neighborhood can't always read that. That's unacceptable. We need to be more conscious of what we're doing here. They have had more than enough time to address this issue. And so I respectfully, I don't wish to wait any longer. And so I'm gonna have to disagree with that. And I think that council member Kubin was right to file this. And I think that we should put more pressure on NDOT to address this issue. We have to do better and we should have been doing better a long time ago. So I'm against the deferral.

All right, Ms. Welsh, you're next in the queue on the deferral motion, please, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have to concur with everything that my colleague, CM Sepulveda said, and also just mentioned that this resolution is simply urging end up to do something they should have been doing all along. And in the budget process we just went through, we passed a 0.05% tax decrease that all the money came from Vision Zero. This is we're running around in circles and not doing the things that we said that we were going to do. We fund these things with money from Vision Zero, that's so important. And then we put forward a resolution that urges NDOT to do the right thing for Vision Zero to do everything they possibly can now to stop pedestrian deaths. I just think this is silly. And I think we can't wait two months to urge them to do the right thing. So I'll be voting against a deferral. Thank you. All right. Council Member Evans, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have been influenced by my previous speaker colleagues here. Normally, I would have just supported the deferral at the request of the sponsor, but the reality is that departments will defer things into oblivion if we allow that to happen. And to everyone's point, this is a conversation that we have repeatedly and we see accidents and not a lot happens or not a lot changes, and so if we're not gonna urge something to happen in the last year of this term, then we may as well end the term right now, for that matter. So I'm gonna vote against the deferral as well.

All right, next in the queue, Mr. Bradford on the deferral.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The question I have to ask, and it's a question I've asked before when dealing with NDOT, give me a number. How many more people have to die or be hurt before they do something? I can't in good conscience support a deferral on this because if someone is to get hurt or killed between now and September 15th, this body is complicit. We cannot complain about NDOT not doing their job if we kick this can down the road. We'll be just as guilty as NDOT for any future harm caused on our roadways. I'm asking my colleagues, I understand the sponsor's rationale, but to the point that was already made, some of these departments, if we give them an inch, they're gonna take a mile. So we need to be firm and remind them they have a job to do to protect our constituents, to protect our residents, and we're gonna hold them to that.

All right, Mr. Coopin, would you like to hear from Ms. Allen first, who has yet to speak? Council Member Allen, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam chair.

I rise in support of the deferral as a, as a co-sponsor of this bill. I think it's important to send the message, not just to the departments, but to the leaders of those departments and to the new program director. I guess it would help me make a decision. I think my colleagues make good points about there's no time to waste here, but is there, is there a mechanism for resending this after those, those leaders are in place? Because again, I think if it's already been sent to the departments and it's kind of there in the background, it doesn't have the same force as sending it when those two new leaders arrive. So can someone answer the question of is there, can we guarantee a mechanism that it gets sent twice if we do defer it now according to the regular schedule and then again once these new leaders are picked?

I can put it. back to the sponsor in regard to that commitment, right? I guess he could send the legislation upon the arrival of the new director and otherwise, or would you like me to address it to the sponsor or to Special Counsel Wilson relative to the council office sending the legislation?

I don't know if we have a set timing that precludes it. I saw someone stand up at planning as well, but whoever can answer that question so I know what I'm working with. Okay, Special Counsel, go ahead.

Council member, there is no set timeline or instruction in this resolution about who to send it to and when. Any explicit instruction would require an amendment.

Or special counsel, Mr. Coopin could just direct the council office to please send it to said persons, correct?

That's also an option, Vice Mayor.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Coopin, you're recognized. Oh, sorry, sir. Go ahead.

Thank you, Madam president. I'd like to direct the council office to send it to those people. Um, but no, I'd actually, um, would like to withdraw my motion to defer. I think that, um, I appreciate deeply my colleagues sentiments. I think that there's, you know, something to be said about, again, letting people come in and set them up for success. Um, but I agree. I've had too many families I've talked to who have been hit and killed. I've had loved ones hit and killed. Um, again, we've got the money, we've got the resources. We continue to go down this road. Um, the kind of the date in this is an ask for NDOT to come to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with interim solutions before December 30th, 2026, which would give ample time, I think for a new director to come in and Vision Zero to come in and do this. But I, you know, I, again, appreciate the department's concerns, was willing to kind of entertain that, but hearing my colleagues speak and with the importance of this, I would withdraw that and with that move for approval.

Is there a second for the motion to approve? Okay, the motion to defer has been withdrawn. The sponsor has made a motion to approve and it is properly seconded. Discussion continues on the motion to approve. Mr. Benton, do you seek to be recognized on the motion to approve? Go ahead, sir.

I just had a point of clarification that I guess I'm not sure where the E for enforcement comes from. As we had 200,000 traffic stops in 2018 and last year we had 48,000. That's a significant decrease. That enforcement came from MNPD. Maybe the mayor's office could help me understand vision zero better to, I don't think NDOT has an enforcement arm. for vision zero. So I'm assuming that it's MNPD that would be the one. And I don't see us keeping the E for enforcement up. And I think that's, you know, there's five pillars and we're handling the education, encouragement, engineering, and evaluation, but who does the enforcement?

Do you want to address that to special counsel? I mean, that's MNPD's traffic division, but.

Yeah, whoever, I mean, I didn't design Vision Zero, but I know that's part of it. That's one of the E's, enforcement.

Okay, so your question having been answered, do you want me to specifically address it to somebody or just want to speak this into the space for the record?

Either, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's another way to get enforcement, but I don't think we're enforcing.

Okay, so your question specifically is at this juncture, who does speeding enforcement for the Metropolitan Government?

For Vision Zero.

Okay, Special Counsel Wilson, do you want to take that, sir?

Council Member, to my knowledge, there is no one specifically targeted for enforcement under Vision Zero. However, the police department does do traffic enforcement and the Department of Transportation does have limited authority, not for traffic violations, but for parking and such. They would also have some authority to act.

And I know it's almost a ridiculous question, but... I see us reducing from 200,000 stops to 48,000 over our failure to reduce our deaths and serious injuries. So how do we get that up?

All right, well, so noted, sir. We're on a motion to approve, thank you. Okay, next in the queue is Council Member Eastlick on the motion to approve. Mr. Eastlick, are you still here, sir? Okay, next in the queue is Council Member Cash on the motion to approve, go ahead, sir. I'm sorry. Go ahead, sir.

That's fine. Thank you, Chair. I mean, I remember in this term that there have been, like, that MNPD and NDOT have gone out together to do stuff, and they've teamed up to do some enforcement and related to Vision Zero. I mean, I think Vision Zero is a you know, it's a goal. I don't know that it just as belongs. It's in dots largely, but it belongs to all of us. And everybody, I think multiple departments pitch in to try and do things better. So I just wanted to put that out into the space. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cash. Council member Porterfield, Madam Pro Tem, you're recognized.

Thank you so very much, Vice Mayor. I just wanted to quickly speak into the room. I think it's really important when we, what we say here goes on the record and that becomes like the public record and for the viewing audience and for people that are watching who may not understand like the bigger context, I think it's really important that we set the narrative straight. We've talked about this plenty of times before, prior to any of us being on council, except for maybe council member Allen, and I think probably council member Wiener, there was a report that was done, which was the driving while black report that showed disparities in black drivers being pulled over here in Nashville and Davidson County. And as a result of that, MMPD changed the way that they did traffic stops and traffic enforcement. And they are now doing precision policing, which has evidence has shown that to be more accurate. So while the number of traffic stops have gone down, that's a very data driven approach and it is approach that, that has reduced some of the racial disparities that we've seen in this city. So we cannot directly equate the number of traffic stops to the, efficacy of what we're seeing with Vision Zero. These are two totally separate things, and I just wanted to make sure that that was spoken into the record.

Thank you. Next in the queue is Council Member Johnston. Go ahead, ma'am. Previous question. Okay. Council Member Johnston has called the previous question. It's been properly seconded. It's non-debatable and requires two-thirds of those voting. If you vote in favor of the previous question, you want to end debate and move to the vote. And if you want to continue debate, you would vote no. All in favor of the previous question, please say aye. Any voting no? The ayes have it. We will move to the vote. Okay, all in favor of resolution 2064, please say aye. Any voting no? Any abstaining? All right, you have adopted this resolution. Next is agenda item three, or rather resolution 2026-2078, sponsors Voe, Coop and Toombs, Horton, Allen, Suarez and Ellis. This is a resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the arts center redevelopment plan. Ms. Voe, I know last we took up this series of bills, it was in fact Ms. Toombs as a co-sponsor But are you prepared to do a collective motion amongst the two of you all to kind of clear all this out at the same time? Ms. Toombs, do you recall that last time, how we addressed that? Would you be okay then, Ms. Vo? Okay, Ms. Toombs, I'm gonna recognize you for the committee reports, given what we know the reports to be, then by rule. So if we could, then Mr. Vo, Wilson, do I have to read them all into the record? Okay. I do have to read them all into the record, Ms. Toombs. And so some are sponsored primarily by Ms. Vo, Ms. Toombs, Mr. Bradford and so forth, but they are all related and traveling in a similar manner. So again, agenda item three, resolution 2026-2078 is a resolution regarding the Arts Center Redevelopment Plan. Agenda item four, resolution 2026-2079 is a resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the Bordeaux redevelopment plan. Okay, and then next is agenda item five, resolution 2026-2080, which is a resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the central state redevelopment plan. Next is agenda item six. This is resolution 2026-2081, a primary sponsor coupon. The primary sponsor on the previous one was Bradford. This is resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the Phillips Jackson redevelopment plan. You all can see a theme here. These are all related to the redevelopment plans. Next is agenda item seven, resolution 2026-2082, primary sponsor coupon. This is a resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the Rutledge Hill redevelopment plan. And then lastly, agenda item eight, resolution 2026-2083, primary sponsor Toombs, is resolution approving the activities and improvements eligible for tax increment financing in the Skyline redevelopment plan. So Ms. Toombs, if there is no objection from the other primary sponsors, we're gonna take all of these together at one time. And so Ms. Toombs, if you would please provide your report, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. For items three through nine, budget and finance, three through eight, I'm sorry, budget and finance voters to recommend in one meeting deferral nine in favor of zero against zero not voting.

Okay, and given that being the report for agenda items three, four, five, six, seven, and eight, those are all deferred by rule, 8.11 meeting, okay? So those will all be taken up at the next meeting. Thank you, fellow sponsors, for just letting us be efficient about that one. Thank you. Okay, next, is, Agenda item 27, resolution 2026-2132 sponsors, Toombs, Evans, Siegel and Hill. This is a resolution accepting the terms of a cooperative purchasing master agreement with Sweeping Corporation of America, LLC for street sweeping, sewer jetting and hydro excavation for the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure. Ms. Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Committee reports, budget and finance voters to recommend a two-meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Okay, and for the report of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Ms. Evans-Segal.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to recommend a two-meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, thank you, Madam Chair. With that, it's back to you for a motion on this resolution, Ms. Toombs. Move for a two meeting deferral. Okay, it's properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on this two meeting deferral motion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no, any abstaining? All right, this has been deferred two meetings to the second meeting in August. Okay, next is agenda item 29, resolution 2026-2134, sponsors Toombs and Evan Segal. This is a resolution approving a contract between the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and Nixon Power Services LLC to provide factory authorized products, parts and services for the Department of Water and Sewerage Services. Ms. Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Committee reports, budget and finance voted to recommend approval, eight in favor, zero against, one not voting. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chair Evans-Segal, you're recognized, ma'am.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to approve, eight in favor, zero against, and one abstention. Okay. All right.

Back to you, Ms. Toombs, for a motion. Move for approval. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Council Member Allen, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. I just need to be recorded as abstaining. Okay.

All right. So noted, Mr. Clerk, if you would note the same. Any further discussion on this resolution? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no? Okay. And Ms. Allen, you will be recorded as an abstention. Okay, this resolution has been adopted. All right, next is agenda item 30, resolution 2026-2135, sponsors Toombs and Suarez. This is a resolution approving an intergovernmental project agreement between the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and the Convention Center Authority of the Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County relating to the financing and refinancing of the Music City Center. Ms. Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Committee reports, budget and finance voted to recommend a one meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Okay, and for the report of the Ad Hoc East Bank Committee, Chair Evan Siegel, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. The Ad Hoc East Bank Committee recommended one meeting deferral, five in favor, zero against, and zero not voting.

Okay, and with that, Ms. Toombs, that is a mandatory deferral by rule 8.1. it will be deferred one meeting. Okay, next. Agenda item 34, resolution 2026-2139 sponsors Cash, Horton, and Evans-Segal. This is a resolution authorizing the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to abandon public fire hydrant assembly and to accept the relocation of public fire hydrant assembly for property located at 2415 Vanderbilt Place, also known as Vanderbilt University Central Neighborhood RC3. Councilmember Cash, you're recognized, sir.

Thanks, do I need committee reports?

You do, sir, yes.

Yes, committee reports, please.

Okay, for the report of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Chair Horton.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Planning and Zoning voted in favor, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, and for the report of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Chair Evan Siegel.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted nine in favor, zero against, and zero not voting to approve. Okay, all right, it's back to you, Mr. Cash, for a motion on your bill.

Move approval so we can move a fire hydrant.

Moved and seconded, is there any discussion on this resolution? Did anyone need to abstain? Okay, we can do it at the time, that's fine. All in favor, please say aye. Any voting no. Any abstaining? Mr. Capp will be recorded as an abstention. All right, you have adopted this resolution. Next. is rather agenda item 41, resolution 2026-2146 sponsors Porterfield, Sepulveda, Suarez, Toombs, Taylor, Welsh, Spain, Parker, Nash, Stiles, Huffman, Vo, Allen, Capp, Rutherford, Evans, Weiner, Evan, Siegel, Benedict, Ellis, Cortez, Bradford, Gamble, and Kupin. This is a resolution honoring the life of Vonda McDaniel and her legacy of service to the labor movement in Nashville and Davidson County. Ms. Porterfield, Madam Pro Tem, you are recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports, please. For the report of rules confirmations, Mr. Cash?

We approved unanimously. I think it was five to zero to zero.

Okay. Yes. All right. Back to you for a motion, Ms. Pro Tem. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

I'd like to move for approval with a comment. Yeah. Is there a second? Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you. Colleagues, tonight as we consider IRS 2026-2146, we honor more than a labor leader. We honor a woman who is the heart and soul of Nashville's labor movement. To so many of us, Vonda McDaniel was the queen mother of labor here in Nashville, across Tennessee, and across our nation. Vonda had a rare gift. She saw the best in people before they saw it in themselves. She didn't just organize workers, she built leaders. She encouraged us to step forward, to find our voices, and to believe that ordinary people could accomplish extraordinary things together. Even if you didn't know Vonda's name or her face, you benefited from her work. Vonda dedicated her life to this movement, to fighting for fair wages and fair working conditions for people across the state of Tennessee and across the nation. Her fight for working people reached far beyond our city, improving the lives here in Nashville and across this nation. Vonda helped build organizations and entities and infrastructure like Stand Up Nashville, the National Justice League, and the Music City Construction Careers. Vonda was also one of the founding members of Tennessee for All. We appreciate all of the work that Vonda did, the dedication of her life, and I hope that we continue to honor her with more than a resolution, with more than words, but with our actions and with our lives that we go forward and look for ways to continue to fight for workers, to fight for working people, and to fight for the labor movement. Let's honor her by lifting up new leaders, by standing with working families, and by continuing the work that she dedicated her life to. We will be, after the passing of this resolution tonight, we will be honoring her here during the announcement period on September the 1st. So we would like to invite all of our council member colleagues, as well as labor leaders, union members, and anyone who wants to come out and honor Vonda and celebrate her life and legacy. And I will also like to invite all of our colleagues to email the clerk and sign on if you've not already signed on to this. And with that, I would ask our colleagues to support.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem, well said. Next in the queue, Council Member Sepulveda, you're recognized, ma'am.

You got this. This one's a little hard. Okay. Bonda wasn't only my boss, she was a friend for many years, for over 10 years. And many of y'all know that one of the things that I work on the most when it comes to my work at council is figuring out how to, how to fight for workers in this city. And Vonda was a big part of that. She has been there every step of the way. And I just, I don't know how it's gonna be without her. I never picture her not being here. And she really was the best of us. And I hope that you all will join us on Labor Day. It'll be September 5th. And hopefully it'll be the biggest one yet. But... the labor movement has been better because of all the work that she has done, not just here in Tennessee, but nationally. I mean, there's a reason that the president of the AFL CIO came to her celebration of life and, um, she touched so many people and, um, she has helped so many people and, um, I hope that in the remainder of my time on council and in my work that I could do a fraction of the service that she did for everyone. So please join us this Labor Day. Fonda would've wanted y'all there.

Thank you, Ms. Sepulveda. Council Member Lee, you're recognized, ma'am.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Most things have already been said, so I did, though, want to stand in support of this. I want to say I have worked with Sister McDaniel for quite some years now. She's been a mentor, she's been a teacher, She's been a way maker and more than that, I consider her a friend. So I could not sit there and not stand up to give some praises to her, the things that she represents and not just her and her representation, but of how she has touched other people and gotten them to see the light in a lot of different things and to move on. So God is blessing her now. and I'm just standing in support. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Next is Council Member Suara. You're recognized, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'm just gonna read what I wrote when I found out that Vonda passed away. I couldn't find enough words, but this is just what came to me. It says, real heroes don't fly. They stand beside you, they show up, they walk with you, and they walk for you. Vonda McGahn was that kind of hero to so many. She spent her life lifting others, making their lives better in ways big and small. What makes the news so painful is that Vonda wasn't a hero from a comic book. She was here with us, living, serving, fighting for workers, for her church family, for her family, and for her community. She was real, she was present, she was tireless. Israel will write about Vonda. Our words will carry her name. But all of that will pale in comparison to the memories and stories held by the people who truly knew her. She was a soldier, a fighter, selfless, caring, and profoundly human. This lost us, but I find comfort in having known Vonda. And I thank Vonda for everything that she gave, not just to me, but to so many. She's irreplaceable. When we went to Vonda's viewing, it was very hard to picture her just lying there. And it's a reminder to every single one of us that that is a given. We all will live one day. But the true legacy of a life well lived is in the memories of the people that you helped, the lives that you touched. She built organization. She built people. She built community. She built Nashville. and we all miss her and I hope that our life is a reminder to all of us to be kind to each other and to be good because someday we will be called too. So, Wanda, thank you for all that you did. Thank you for all that you are. Rest in power. Thank you, Ms. Suarez.

Next in the queue, Council Member Kupin, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Madam President, and I concur with everything that's been said so far. June 29th, 9.02 a.m., I got a text from Vonda inviting me to a town hall later that week about the future of democracy in our city, in our state, and just a quiet little invite. And the next morning I texted her saying, yes, I'll be there, not knowing that by that point she was already gone. Even to her last moments, she was working, advocating, sharing, leading. And at her viewing and at Ms. Rosetta Perry's viewing, both at the First Baptist Church, I found myself looking over to the side pews. Most people in this room will know exactly what I'm talking about, where she was always seated, just quietly looking and leading. And her presence was just so powerful. And I heard at her celebration of life, just people talking about how she kind of just caused you to move forward. She caused you to lead. She caused you to be elevated. It wasn't a strong hand. It wasn't a force. It was just... She just kind of made it happen. And so I know that she lives on in so many in this room. I got to know her for a lot less time than many here, but she's deeply impacted my life and my leadership and how I want to advocate for the labor movement, advocate for the workers of our city that we come across. And so I miss her terribly. I still can't believe that she's gone. I keep waiting to turn around and see her standing there. And so Vonda, you'll be in my heart. I'm carrying you with me and rest in power. Thank you for all you've done.

Thank you, Mr. Coopin. Next, Council Member Hill, you're recognized, ma'am.

Speaking of my advice, Mayor, there's really nothing that I can say that hasn't already been said. So I just want to say I want to move to use 12.3. and everybody that be added votes yes.

Okay, there is a motion to amend the approval motion with 12.3 properly seconded. Okay, we'll continue. Ms. Stiles, you are next in the queue, ma'am. Thank you very much.

I met Vondo over 10 years ago, working with her on the MLK day committee when she came to bring the labor breakfast back and to discuss how important that was in the movement and her commitment every single year to spread the word about labor. I was in all of her then and had tremendous respect for her and as I became a council member, had the opportunity to work with her even more. I think we've talked about the work that she's done, but we haven't spoken about how she was able to get that work done. And it was the quiet strength that she had that made you move without even knowing you were moving. She was kind, listened to everyone that's speaking. In this room, we don't always agree. But every once in a while we have a moment like this. And though it's sad, we have a moment to come together, united, to say that there are some people that are great no matter what your difference is. And Fonda was that person. And I still can't believe that we are standing here talking about her and what was instead of what is. but I'm so grateful that her life was honored the way that it was last week. I don't know about any of you, but who else gets to have a service at the Music City Center? Come one, come all, we've got this covered. And I might say, they were short ribs. These were not chicken nuggets or tenders that Mr. Stark paid for. Again, a testament to how amazing she was and how long she served on that commission, but I mean, I think we can all go on and on and on, but I just wanted to say, Heaven has a working angel right now. And I'm grateful that we had the opportunity, all of us to have known her and worked with her.

Thank you, Ms. Stiles. Next, Council Member Gadd, you're recognized, ma'am.

I'd like to just join in the course, but I wanted to also lift up an additional organization and group of folks that Vonda invested in. Over 10 years ago, there were a group of women that wanted to come together and create a program to recruit and train women to run for office. The woman who was at the table from the beginning and was a constant movement in herself, but to bring folks together and to invest in that was Vonda McDaniel. With that Emerge Tennessee got off the ground and trained many of us who are in this room tonight. And I just wanted to take a moment to recognize one more thing that she has done. I don't have the words like many of you all do that can be spoke so eloquently, but with that, I would like to take at least five seconds of my time for just a moment. And that is a moment of remembrance. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ms. Gadd.

Council Member Kimbrough, you're recognized, ma'am. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to say that Vonda McDaniel and her father lived in my district. He still resides in my district. She was a fine person in all regards, a good person. She came from good stock. I appreciated her. She was a straight shooter, and I appreciate that. She told me when I came in some of the things she expected. And ironically, I was actually working on one of her suggestions at the time she passed, and it's going to happen. But I just wanted to acknowledge her and say she was a fine person, came from a fine family, and she will be missed. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you to all members for speaking so kindly and so well. All right, seeing no one else in the queue, we will move to the vote. There is a motion to approve with rule 12.3 applied such that all those voting in the affirmative will be added as co-sponsors. All in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? All right, you have adopted this resolution honoring the life of Vonda McDaniel. Thank you. Next is agenda item 43, resolution 2026-2148. Sponsors Vo, Toombs, Gadd, Welsh, Lee, Taylor, Nash, Stiles, Allen, Capp, Evans, Weiner, Evan Siegel, Suara, Benedict, Ellis, Streffel, and Kupin. This is a resolution recognizing July 18th to August 17th as South Asian Heritage Month in Nashville in Davidson County. Council Member Vaux, you are recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports, please. Council Member Cash for the report of rules confirmations, please, sir.

We supported five in favors, zero against, zero not voting.

All right, back to you, Ms. Vaux. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to move to approve with a brief comment. All right, go ahead, ma'am. Thank you so much. I'm so honored to recognize South Asian Heritage Month and celebrate the rich history, culture, and contributions of South Asian Americans in Nashville and Davidson County. As you said before, it is just kicking off. It will be observed July 18th through August 17th, and it recognizes the heritage of people with roots in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It's a really special time to celebrate the diversity, resilience, and achievements of these amazing communities. And I'm really proud to say that it was our council that first formally recognized South Asian Heritage Month in 2024. And this resolution is really important and deserves to be uplifted every year because it sends a message that every community belongs, that every story is valued, and that the contributions of South Asian residents are an essential part of Nashville's success. We have seen them become entrepreneurs creating jobs, physicians and healthcare professionals, caring for our families, engineers and technology leaders driving innovation, educators shaping our future generations, small business owners strengthening our neighborhoods, artists enriching our cultures, and public servants. giving back to our city. And from beloved neighborhood businesses like Patel Brothers and Taj Indian Restaurants to nationally recognized destinations like Chauhan El and Masala House and Taylor Nashville, South Asian-owned businesses create jobs, attract visitors, and enrich our culinary landscape, which is really wonderful. And if you wanna celebrate and not just observe South Asian Heritage Month, you can join 615 Chutney this Thursday, where they're gonna have a special event highlighting South Asian local artists like Strange Curry, and everyone is invited. So I just wanna remind us that as Nashville continues to grow, I want us to continue to be a welcoming and diverse community. And today we proudly affirm that our South Asian neighbors are an integral part of our city and our story. So may this resolution inspire and have greater understanding so that we can have stronger partnerships and continue to celebrate the amazing cultures that make Nashville and Davidson County a wonderful place to live. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Vo. There's a motion to approve and it's properly seconded. We're on to discussion. Ms. Suara, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'm going to be very, very short. I just want to rise in support of this resolution. A lot of folks in the South Asian community are also part of the Muslim community. Rashid Fakuruddin is Bangladeshi, so is Sabina and the whole family that have been here. They've been instrumental in the first immigrant mosque in Nashville and a lot of kids being raised in that mosque, including my kids too. And so in addition to being community members and doctors and everything else, they've also been able to be bridge builders. They've also been good neighbors. And so I want to rise in support and say happy South Asian month. Thank you, Ms. Farah.

All right. Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay. Council has adopted this resolution. Next is section K of our agenda, a late resolution as of yet unnumbered sponsor TUMES. This is a resolution appropriating a $5 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Metropolitan Government acting by and through the Housing Division of the Metro Nashville Planning Department for pathways to removing obstacles to housing. Ms. Toombs, I'm gonna recognize you for a potential suspension of the rules. Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Request to suspend the rules. Okay, Chair Cash, do you have a report on the nature of this suspension? Go ahead, sir.

We did, we discussed it and approved the late fault nature six in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

All right, having heard the report of Chair Cash, is there any objection to the suspension of the rules? Seeing none, the rules are suspended. So it's over to you, Ms. Toombs, for a motion to get the bill before us. And I see, as well, we have some committee referrals. Okay, and did they go, in fact, to those committees even though it was late filed? Okay, so are you requesting committee reports?

Go ahead. Budget and finance voters recommend approval, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, for the report of the planning and zoning committee, I do not see Chair Horton. Vice Chair Harrell is moving over to the desk. This is a late filed resolution, Kay Sponsor Toombs. to get our report. Here comes Mr. Horton. There's a little delay out there on the mezzanine. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Planning and zoning voted to approve, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, and Chair Cash, you had the report on the late file nature, I presume similar, six and O. Okay, go ahead, Ms. Toombs. Yes. All set. Move for approval. All right, properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? Any discussion on this resolution? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? All right, council has adopted this resolution. Next is section L, bills on introduction and first reading. By rule, all items on first reading shall be voted on at the same time unless requested otherwise by a primary sponsor or two other members. Do any items need to be removed from the collective vote? All right, seeing none, is there a motion for approval of all items on first consideration? Okay, properly seconded without objection. You have approved all items on first reading. All right, now we're on to section M, bills on second reading that were not on consent. And first among those is agenda item 50, ordinance BL2026-1254, Sponsors Cortez, Harrell, Bradford, Gadd, Sepulveda, Ellis, Vo, Suarez, and Benton. This is an ordinance to amend Title VI of the Metro Code of Laws regarding the disclosure of personalized algorithmic and dynamic pricing. Councilmember Cortez, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Withdrawal with a brief comment?

Go ahead, sir, yes.

Yes, so this is just a procedural move. We were going back and forth with the state's... Attorney General's office. They most recently responded about a week and a half ago. So I'm now working with Metro Legal on the enforcement arm of this. And we just need more time. And if I was to defer again, it would be a indefinite deferral. So I will withdraw and then reintroduce at a later date.

All right, appreciate the explanation. This bill has been withdrawn. 1254, sponsor Cortez is withdrawn. All right. Next is agenda item 51, ordinance BL 2026-2. 1403, sponsor Parker. This has a companion bill in agenda item 52, ordinance BL 2026-1404, but we will have to take them separately, Mr. Parker, since there is an amendment on the first bill. 1403 is an ordinance to amend title 17, the Metro Code of Laws, the zoning ordinance of the Metro government. of Nashville and Davidson County by amending a specific plan for various properties generally located west of Gallatin Avenue, east of Emmett Avenue, south of McClurkin Avenue and north of Douglas Avenue zoned SP and changing the zoning on properties from RS5, CS and OR20 to SP. This is 19.09 acres to permit a mixed use development, all of which is described here in and after we take 1403 up separately for purposes potentially of amending. You can then consolidate it with 1404, which would require certain materials to be restricted in the construction of buildings at all the addresses mentioned in 1403. Go ahead, Mr. Parker, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. We actually won't be moving the amendment today. Okay. So can I move?

You may. Go ahead and make a consolidated motion then, please, sir.

I'll move bill 2026-1403 and bill 2026-1404.

Okay, there is a motion to approve 1403 and 1404.

Apologies, I intend to defer one meeting, both of them.

Okay, and go ahead, it is a motion to defer.

Thank you, yes, motion to defer with a brief explanation. I have not had time to connect with the developer of this project. regarding some of the outstanding concerns or the amendment that y'all see in the packet today. And so at their request, we're gonna defer second reading one more meeting and that'll give me time to have time to connect with them. So just renew motion of deferral of 1403 and 1404.

All right, one meeting to the first meeting in August. It is properly seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining?

Okay.

Both these bills will be deferred to the first meeting in August. All right, next is agenda item 53, ordinance BL2026-1430. This sponsors Bradford, Ellis, Johnston, Evans-Segal, Welsh, Vaux, Evans, Huffman, Coopan, and Weiner. This is an ordinance amending section 2.08.030 of the Metro Code of Laws relative to the publication of the annual operating budget and the capital improvements budget. Council Member Bradford, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Madam President, Committee Report.

For the report of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair Toombs, go ahead. Budget and Finance voted to recommend a one-meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, as such, it's Rule 8.1, a mandatory deferral with no debate or discussion. That will be deferred to the next meeting. Next is Agenda Item 54, Ordinance BL-2026-1431. Sponsors Vo, Horton, Capp, Benedict, Bradford, Ellis, Gadd, Porterfield, Cash, Hancock, Parker, Weiner, Rutherford, Harrell, Spain, Huffman, Nash, Sepulveda, and Prep T. This is an ordinance to amend chapter 2.147 of the Metro Code of Laws regarding the Nashville Entertainment Commission. Council member Vo, you are recognized. Thank you so much.

Should I do my committee reports?

Yes, request it from yourself. Go ahead, ma'am, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. The amendment for BL 2026-1431 was zero in favor, seven against, two not voting. And then the substitute was two in favor, six against, one not voting. And the bill itself was six in favor, three against, zero not voting. Okay, six in favor, three against, zero not voting.

Not voting? That's correct. Okay. With that report in, it's back to you for a motion to get the bill before us.

Thank you so much. I'd like to move to approve with a brief comment. Go ahead. Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. And I want to thank every single person in our entire council and the community, the Entertainment Commission, and everyone who weighed in. I know that this is a bill we've been working on, and I know that the community wants to see us move forward. And I'm very excited that out of committee we were able to take that first step. And my hope is that we are gonna see the first Executive Director of the National Entertainment Commission announced soon. And this is the first step that we need to do as the Metro Council to move that forward. So I really just invite my colleagues to please join me in supporting this bill. so that we can honor the people of Nashville and the work of the Entertainment Commission over the years so that we can move forward. Thank you so much.

All right. There is a motion to approve. It's properly seconded and we're on to discussion. First in the queue is Council Member Stiles. You're recognized.

I would like to move for one meeting deferral with a brief comment, if I may.

Is there a second? Okay, Kate, there is a motion to defer. It is properly seconded. Go ahead. Thank you very much, Vice Mayor.

What Council Member Vaux said is correct. This has definitely been A long time coming, we created the commission last term, hoping that this would move forward, and in the last three years, it's just been very laborious, and it should be a real fun commission and also a great office. The executive director will be of the office, not of the commission, but... Today we had an emergency entertainment commission meeting to discuss both of these pieces of legislation and it was clear by the end of the meeting that there wasn't support for either bill because they want one bill. Numerous times today, they express distrust in this administration and their ability to move anything with them forward. As I spoke with Derek Smith in Metro Legal, who is their representative after the meeting was over, He did say that it looked like there was a way forward legally. There's some language that seemed ambiguous. And so proposing a one meeting deferral, I'm not into deferrals. I think most of you know that, but if the greater good can be had here where there's one bill that we can all agree on, I did volunteer in the meeting today to work with the mayor's office. The mayor's office refused and I, I think it would benefit our constituents. This is not about us, our personal relationships, petty squabbles. This is about a group of people that have spent a lot of time in the last three years trying to get this off the ground. And I'd like to read a comment from one of the commissioners post the meeting today. And this is from our Academy Award nominee. So what we're talking about, these are real experts. We're not quarterback couching here. At the NEC meeting today, we were shown and discussed all the various versions of proposed legislation, but I don't think anyone on the commission was excited about any of them. Ultimately, the lack of trust in the mayor's office to follow through on their stated plan led us to decide not to support the offered bills. The only hope of optimism was a hope that given a little more time, a new version that could be drafted could more closely meet everyone's goals. And I get it. We're tired of having this conversation. I think some people signed on just so in the hopes that shenanigans could stop and move things forward. But at the end of the day, we create commissions and we appoint people to commissions to serve constituency groups and help move our city forward. And right now we have a lot of projects that are coming to Nashville that need a dedicated office and a one-stop shop that needs an executive director and it needs the support of this commission. Mr. Rosenberg said, during the meeting before that they have no expertise in hiring. So I think we should take that and move forward accordingly.

All right, so what is before us is a motion to defer 1431. One meeting, it was properly seconded and we are on to discussion on the one meeting deferral motion. Mr. Kupin, do you seek to be recognized on the deferral? Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. I'm really torn on the deferral versus not, but I think that the goal that was stated is important. and to consider as we're considering whether or not to defer for more time, the commission very clearly today said that they would like to stop seeing the mayor's office and the council members and everybody fighting and just please come together on one bill and hear us. And I share their frustration at the end of the day, it's important to me to have a commission here that's taking up these matters. And so, you know, again, I'm torn on whether we should defer or not, but I do think that the commission was frustrated with the multiple bills I did hear council member Stiles share a desire to compromise whether or not the substitute itself was sufficient. I did hear that desire expressed. I was hoping that that would lead to a moment with the mayor's office coming together and getting to one bill so we could unanimously pass something to move forward. But it sounded like the mayor's office felt that their bill was structurally sound and didn't want to put any changes into it. So I know that's not a clear direction. I just wanna hear how the discussion goes, but I do think that there's a desire to get to something. And I think that if we move forward, I'll just end by saying, if we move forward today, we're picking one versus the other. And that means that we're not honoring the commission's wishes of coming together unanimously. But obviously if we defer, we might have a chance of getting to that, but we also burn more time where we don't have this commission stood up. So I wanna see how the discussion goes and go from there.

All right, discussion continues on the motion to defer one meeting. Next in the queue is Council Member Eastlake, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you very much. I'm in support of the deferral. I was at the meeting this afternoon. There was no more clarity in the beginning of the meeting or the end of the meeting. The commissioners weren't happy. There were no real clear answers. We're still split on the best way to do this. The commissioners do have concerns about the mayor being in charge of the executive director of this commission. And I think that's something that we really need to look at. We're looking at starting a snowball, right? Right now it's $300,000. But before we know it, this will be a full department with a giant annual budget and we won't be able to stop it. But we will know as of tonight that we started it on the wrong path. And if we expect it to end up on the right path after putting it on the wrong path in the beginning, we're just lying to ourselves. There are some council members that do want to move this forward. And I feel like, like my colleague said, it's out of frustration instead of out of completion. And we don't have to do this tonight. We can take a little more time, try to get the two, the mayor's administration and the sponsor of the bill to come together on a better plan, rather than just throwing our hands up and saying, Let's just vote on something to get it done So I would ask the rest of the council to think about this give two more weeks Just two more weeks to try to find a better solution if we don't it's okay. We're still in the same spot But at least we tried

All right, thank you. Next in the queue is Council Member Capp on the motion to defer. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Those of us in the Apple Committee have been through this on various versions of bills related to the Entertainment Commission for this entire term. And I know on the floor, we've been through it as well. There's something I'd like to deduce from that experience, which is that all the bills we've passed so far have not resulted in a functioning Entertainment Commission bill. for this city it's been stated that folks want one bill well that means that it's down to us to decide how to proceed on this bill i think it's highly unlikely that a deferral of this bill will result in a compromise between the idea that the mayor's office has hiring authority over the executive director's position or that the commission does i think it's unlikely that all of the previous deferrals that didn't result And some synthesis between those views will result in one over the next two weeks. It is up to us to make this decision. I come at this from a perspective of these commissioners have worked really hard and have had an incredibly frustrating experience over the past few years. It is up to us to give them a framework to move forward. If we share an interest in standing up a commission that can function, that will be accountable, we will all be watching. We will know whether it succeeds or fails. Everybody's gonna be paying attention to this. We've got to give it a structure to work. Every previous structure that we've tried to do has not resulted in a functioning commission. We tonight can move forward on a bill that allows that to happen. that will then stand up this commission without any further delay. I urge us to do that tonight. We can make the decision. This is how we get to one bill we can debate and discuss and decide this isn't just something to move it forward. This is the bill that can, that we have debated in committee and discussed as a way of doing a workable framework. If an executive director is in an office by herself or himself, he or she will not be able to coordinate across Metro departments in the way that we are all hoping to happen. That, for better or worse, can only happen through the imprimatur of the mayor's office. We all are asking for that to happen, so let's make it happen. Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Mr. Capp. Ms. Vo, do you want me to keep, okay. Next in the queue, Mr. Nash, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. As one of the older members of this council, I would like to see something passed while I'm still able to be here. This has been discussed and discussed and discussed. And I really think it is time we pass it. I remember when the commissioners were here during budget talks. And they were asking for the 325,000 some dollars. And I went back to them and I said, well, where are you going to be working out of the trunk of your car? And they really didn't have an answer for that. The mayor has now given them an answer. They can work out of the mayor's office as they grow this commission, as they develop this business. We don't need to defer this any further. Thank you.

Right. Ms. Vo, you have yet to speak on the deferral motion specifically and you're next in the queue. So go ahead, please, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I do want to point out in committee, we did discuss a deferral and it failed four in favor, five against and zero not voting. And I really appreciate the sentiments and comments and discussion. But I rise against the deferral because of the reasons I stated before. And I think that we are all ready for action. I think this allows us to see action and that we will keep the pressure on so that we can have all the different amazing opportunities that this office will present itself and we need someone to lead that. And so I encourage my colleagues to vote against the deferral and to vote for the bill. Thank you.

Councilmember Evans, you're recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I appreciate being recognized on the deferral. I am in support of the deferral tonight. I could not be at the meeting this afternoon because I had a conflict. But I think the biggest struggle that I have related to the commission, the members' experience, and kind of the feedback that they have provided so far is that you know, getting it right for them means a variety of different things. You know, we've talked about this idea of incubation and what that really looks like. I don't feel like I have a firm understanding of define incubation and what level of support are we going to have with the commission and the executive director being in the mayor's office? What does that look like? And when we talk about, you know, we were talking earlier about NDOT and Vision Zero and things like that, And if you don't have institutional support that is legitimate, meaning in this case the administration that's really willing to put their money where their mouth is, remember we were the ones that had to resurrect this entire process as part of the substitute budget. It was not part of the administration's budget. And so I can understand their frustration and their uncertainty as a commission thinking that we do not collectively have their back based on how that whole process transpired. And so when I'm thinking about the level of commitment that I would like to see, I think an ability for both stakeholders in this case between the administration and the prime sponsor to work through kind of these issues in conjunction with Derek and Metro Legal, I think that would be a valid or warranted exercise. And for the folks that are like, well, I've heard this during this term, think about those of us who are second termers who have been through this, you know, with council member Swope's feedback kind of resonating as part of, in my head right now, related to his concerns about our ability to actually execute on this process. And so I'm gonna support the deferral tonight If the deferral fails, I will be voting against the bill. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Ms. Evans. Debate continues on the deferral motion. Next in the queue is Council Member Parker. Go ahead, sir.

Previous question, Madam Vice Mayor.

Okay. Okay. Mr. Parker has called the previous question. It's been properly seconded. This is a non-debatable motion that requires two thirds of those voting. If you vote aye in favor of the previous question, you want to end debate and move to the vote. If you vote no, you would like a discussion on this deferral motion to continue. As I always ask on these somewhat contentious matters, please by number, not by volume, okay? All in favor of the previous question, please say aye. All of those against the previous question, please say no. The ayes have it. In an abundance of caution, Mr. Clerk, if you would please load the vote for the one meeting deferral motion. Ms. Hancock, do you seek to vote? Okay. With all votes in, Mr. Clerk, please show the vote. Okay, the deferral motion has failed with 10 votes in favor and 25 against and one abstention. That means we are now back on the motion to approve. All right. Ms. Stiles, do you seek to be recognized on the motion to approve? Okay, go ahead, ma'am.

I think it goes without saying that I'm going to be a no. I just wanted to say for the record, we are spitting in the faces of every single creative that has told us they don't want this to happen. We haven't received a single email from anyone in the creative community in this city to tell us that they want this to go in the mayor's office. So if we're sitting here and we're voting for something that we know these people do not want, and I don't trust this administration to get this off the ground in a year, I hope that my saying that spurs them to do something that's actually great, but I don't believe it's going to happen. But please, please consider this is not about us in here, this is about the constituency group of creatives. And there was a lot of frustration and not one of you that is on this bill showed up at today's meeting or the meeting two weeks ago. If it mattered that much to you to move it forward, certainly the lead sponsor could have shown up, but that didn't happen either. So I hope, you know, the idea of putting pressure on the group of people that have spent all of their efforts and energy to stop them from doing anything doesn't really make sense. So I hope, please reconsider voting yes for this. Please vote no. Maybe we could come up with something that could make sense.

All right, discussion continues on the motion to approve 1431. Next in the queue is Council Member Kupin. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. Would this be an appropriate time to offer my amendment or are we still on Ms. Stiles' substitute?

We're on the bill. And so we were never on Ms. Stiles' substitute. She had a motion to defer that has failed. And so a motion to amend is a proper motion at this time.

I would like to move to amend with a brief comment.

Is there a second on the motion to amend? Ms. Allen has seconded. Go ahead, Mr. Coopin.

Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate this discussion. I think at the end of the day, we all know that music, TV, film are incredibly important to our city. And I appreciate everybody's efforts, even though there's disagreement on how to get there on the commitment to do it. Ms. Evans stated originally this was unfunded in the original budget. I appreciate our support here in the body for getting that funding and getting this moving and making this a topic that the mayor has now pledged full support to. And I have no doubt that if this passes and it ends up in his office that he will, you know, with full force hire this person and, you know, begin that process. So this, my amendment isn't really speaking to this process, but rather codifying how we got to this higher. In the current iteration, it's set up such that the commission gets to narrow down the candidates shaping the direction of the office, and then the mayor hires their selection. And so both the mayor's initial bill and Ms. Stiles' initial bill took that process away. And so this amendment would bring it back I think that one of the top things I've heard from the commissioners is to not let this be a politicized office, whether it's one administration or two administrations or 10 down the road. This is a highly political industry. It's an industry that runs the risk of becoming a political football. We've seen it happen here. And so this amendment would, restore the commission's ability to shape the direction of the hires. The mayor retains the right to hire, he retains the right to reject any of the candidates. And so I know that there were some concerns from a legality perspective over kind of where that charter authority is, but I still believe that this amendment would be okay because again, the, the mayor at the end of the day could reject the candidates and be received new ones. It does also put a shot clock that gives him 60 days to respond once commit once the members are put forward. So I think it's a good amendment. I think it would help help the bill, help the commissioners feel like they have a sense of purpose. If this amendment doesn't go on and the bill, the mayor's bill goes forward where this is in the mayor's office for an unspecified amount of incubation time with no opportunity for the commissioners to weigh in. The commission, I mean, at that point, I don't even know what the goal of the commission then becomes. So my hope is that we can listen to the people and listen to the public as we say we do, and at least give the commission some voice in this matter.

All right, so we are on the motion to amend with Mr. Kupin's amendment. It was properly seconded. You've heard a description of the amendment from the sponsor. And so we are gonna continue discussion. I believe I saw Ms. Benedict shaking her head that she does not seek to be recognized on the motion to amend. Ms. Welsh on the motion to amend. Ms. Suara on the motion to amend. Is there anyone in the queue specifically seeking to be recognized on the motion to amend? Okay, let me go in order. Again, hands for motion to amend. Bradford, Horton. Okay, I believe first in the queue on the motion to amend is Ms. Vo. Ms. Vo, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. I do want to just remind everyone that we did discuss the amendment in committee and it failed zero in favor, seven against, two not voting. And we had concerns about legal issues and I'd like to defer to the mayor's office for additional input. Okay.

Okay, you're seeking a position from the administration on the amendment. Mr. Rosenberg, you're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. Dave Rosenberg with the mayor's office. Metro Legal expressed that this amendment would not be compliant with the charter because it limits who the mayor can hire into his office. You can imagine ordinances saying that for any position in the mayor's office that the council gets to pick two finalists or that sort of thing. So you can see the natural outcome of it. All that said, the mayor has committed to hiring a commission recommendation if this legislation passes as filed. So thank you for your support. Thank you, council member.

All right, Ms. Vo, back to you. Yes, and so I'm rising in opposition to the amendment and just hope that my colleagues will also join.

All right, next in the queue on the motion to amend specifically is next, Mr. Horton, go ahead, sir.

Council Member Veau asked all the questions I was going to, thank you.

Okay, is there anyone else in the queue seeking to be recognized on the motion to amend? Okay, seeing none, let's go to the vote on the motion to amend. We will try it first by voice. If I cannot tell, we will go to the boards. So again, number, not volume. All in favor of the motion to amend, please say aye. All against the motion to amend, please say no. Okay. The nos have it, the motion to amend has failed. And so we continue on discussion on the motion to approve. Next in the queue for that discussion is Ms. Benedict, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor, I call the question.

Okay. Council Member Benedict has called the question. Was there a second? Okay, this is a non-debatable motion that requires two thirds of those of voting. If you want to end debate, you would vote in favor of the previous question by saying aye or yes. If you want debate to continue on the motion to approve this ordinance on its second reading, you would vote no, okay? Would all in favor of the previous question please say aye. Any voting no? The ayes have it. And we will move to the vote. Mr. Clerk, if you would please load the vote for 1431, the motion to approve. All votes in, Mr. Clerk, please show the vote. All right, the motion to approve on second reading has passed with 27 votes in favor, seven against and three abstentions. All right, this bill will continue on to its third and final reading at the next meeting. Next is agenda item 55, ordinance BL2026-1432. Sponsor Stiles, Welsh, Evans, Coopan, Cortez, Hill, Druffle, Suarez, and Webb. This is an ordinance amending chapter 2.147 of the Metro Code of Laws relative to the Nashville Entertainment Commission. Sponsor Stiles, you are recognized. Thank you very much. Committee reports, please. Okay, for the report of the Arts, Parks, Libraries, and Entertainment Committee, Chair Vo.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. The Apple Committee voted to indefinitely defer BL 2026-1432, seven in favor, one against, and one non-voting. And according to 8.2, because the indefinite deferral was voted by 2 3rds of the members voting, this is indefinitely deferred without debate or discussion.

Understood, that said, I do have to go back to the sponsor because also an option to her is to withdraw. And so the sponsor has been recognized for purposes of requesting their committee reports. You have provided it. I appreciate you clarifying the indefinite defer with 2.3. And so Ms. Stiles, I'm gonna go back to you. Your only option at this juncture is a withdrawal. And if you were to speak towards a withdrawal, it needs to be very brief on the reasoning or the nature of the withdrawal, okay? If that is your choice. But if it is anything other than that, there is no discussion, okay? So that is the option available to you. If you seek it. Okay, go ahead, ma'am, you're recognized. I'm so sorry. Okay, so you're good? All right, this has been indefinitely deferred by Rule 8.2, okay? All right. Well, that was very dramatic way to end that entertainment discussion. All right, all right, okay. Next is agenda item 56, ordinance BL2026-1434, sponsors Lee and Kupin. This is an ordinance to amend section 13.20.020 of the Metro code of laws relative to required notice and permission for excavations in the right of way. Council member Lee, you're recognized ma'am.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Committee reports, please. Okay, for the report of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Chair Evan Siegel.

Thank you, Madam President. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recommended a one-meeting deferral. Ten in favor, zero against, since you're not voting.

Okay, with Rule 8.1, Ms. Lee, that is a mandatory deferral by Rule 1 meeting. Okay, next is agenda item 57, ordinance BL2026-1437 sponsors Webb, Coop and Evans, Bradford, Allen, Ellis and Benton. This is an ordinance requiring that all boards, commissions, committees and authorities of the metropolitan government with financial authority or a fiduciary duty record and make publicly available the proceedings of their meetings. Ms. Webb is not present. Does another sponsor? Mr. Kupin, you are next in the queue on sponsorship here. Are you prepared to proceed?

I can, thank you, Madam President. Would you just request your committee reports? I was going to say committee reports, please.

Okay. For the report of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair Toombs.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Budget and Finance voted to recommend a one meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay. And for the report of the Government Operations and Regulations Committee, Chair Hill.

I think, Madam Vice Mayor, we recommended the same, one meeting deferral, seven in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

All right. Per rule 8.1, that is a mandatory deferral by rule. This bill on second reading will be taken up at the next meeting. Okay. All right, next is agenda item 58, ordinance BL2026-1442. Sponsors, Toombs, Evan Siegel, and Allen. The Senate Ordinance approving Amendment Two to a contract between the Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County and Waste Management Inc. of Tennessee for the provision of solid waste collection and collection of carts. Ms. Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Committee reports, budget and finance voted to recommend approval as amended, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting. All right.

And for the report of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Chair Evan Siegel. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to approve the amendment, 10 in favor, zero against, zero not voting, and to approve as amended, 10 in favor, zero against, and zero not voting. Okay. All right, Ms. Toombs, it's back to you for a motion.

Move for approval.

Okay.

Okay, properly moved and seconded. We are on to discussion. First in the queue is Council Member Parker. You're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would like to move the amendment.

All right, it's properly seconded. Go ahead, sir. We're on a motion to amend.

Thank you. So we had a lot of great discussion in committee about this amendment. So I'll try to summarize that in the amount of time that I have here. essentially this this amendment the main driver of it coming to us is The shift from the five-day pickup schedule to the four-day pickup schedule and it was a request my understanding it was a request of the the contractor waste management to also extend the contract by an additional five years and a additional 60 million dollars in scope You know, that's a pretty That's a pretty extensive extension there. And if you think about when we first signed this contract, we had just moved the solid waste function out of Public Works. It was temporarily housed at Metro Water Services, who did a phenomenal job handling it through some really difficult times. We had the failure of one of our major haulers, and they managed to kind of keep the wheels rolling there. So huge thanks to Metro Water for that incredible work. But we're not in that situation anymore. We're not in a situation where we have contractors failing left and right. We're in a situation where we've established a professional dedicated department of solid waste. And I think like with the sort of parallel contract with another major hauler, WastePro, I think that this contract should go out to bid rather than be extended by amendment five years and $60 million. I think that's the most appropriate thing to let our new solid waste department, the director, the professional staff that we have work with Metro procurement to make sure that we get the best contract for taxpayers that we can and not extend this by five years. So essentially what we're doing here, we're enacting the other necessary parts of the contract amendment, but what we'd be doing is removing the sections that extended by five years and add $60 million to the contract total. So I would ask colleagues to please support this amendment and we'll get this out to bid and we'll get a new contract next year.

All right, thank you for the explanation. All right, we are on a motion to amend with Mr. Parker's amendment and we're on to discussion. Council Member Porterfield, you're recognized.

Thanks, Vice Mayor. I got in the queue in case the Council Member needed extra time. Seeing as though he does not need any, I will just say that I am rising in support and thankful that he brought this amendment. All righty.

Council Member Gadd, you're recognized. Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. I also rise in support of this amendment. And specifically, I want to recognize and thank the new director over at our new Department of Waste Services, the amount of work that she has done in order to try to get waste management to the table who has been robbing the city for generations of resources and their incredibly poor performance. And there's so many things that have been uncovered during her pushback on this company. So while I applaud where they've been able to get this contract from an incredibly unwilling and angry who tries to monopolize this area of services. I do rise in complete support of Council Member Parker and this amendment and hopefully that will also demonstrate that we expect more. So while I'm very thankful for the department and the leadership for the incredible work they have done to get us into a place that we are, I definitely rise in support of this amendment.

So thank you. All righty, thank you. Is there any further discussion specifically on the motion to amend?

Ms. Ellis, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. I couldn't press my button fast enough to echo Council Member Gadd's comment. And I just wanted to say to the public, if you're listening, waste management picks up your trash, email your council member, let them know that you want to switch to a Metro route.

All right. So we are on the motion to amend. Any further discussion on the amendment? All right, seeing none, we'll try it by voice. All in favor of the motion to amend, please say aye. Any voting no, any abstaining? Okay, so we have put the amendment on the bill. Ms. Toombs, sponsor, I'm looking to you. Do you wish to renew your motion to approve as amended? Thank you, I didn't have her mic on, but she did say move approval as amended. It was properly seconded. Is there any further discussion on the motion to approve as amended for this bill on its second of three readings? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no, any abstaining? This has passed its second reading as amended. Next is agenda item 60, ordinance BL2026-1450, sponsors Cortez and Ellis. This is an ordinance directing the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Mayor's Office through the Office of Youth Safety and requesting the coordination of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to jointly develop an education and information sharing initiative aimed at identifying and countering the growing threat of online extremist content, that targets and exploits young people in Nashville and Davidson County. Sponsor Cortez, you are recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports.

Okay, for the report of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair Toombs.

Budget and Finance voted to recommend a three-meeting deferral, nine in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Okay, and for the report of the Public Health and Safety Committee, Chair Huffman.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Public health and safety recommended to defer this three meetings, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, all right, so it's back to you, Mr. Cortez, for a motion, sir, go ahead.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to make a motion for a three meeting deferral with a brief comment.

Okay. Properly moved and seconded. Yes, sir. Brief comment. Go ahead.

Thank you. It was brought to my attention that the fantastic Reverend Davey Tucker and his team at MHRC have done some work on this. So we're going to have a meeting of the minds to make this bill even stronger. And I look forward to working with him and his team. Thank you so much.

Okay, there is a motion to defer three meetings properly seconded. You've heard an etiquette reading of this bill will be deferred three meetings. Thank you. Next is agenda item 61. Ordinance BL2026-1451. Sponsor Toombs, Horton, Kimbrough, Bradford, Vaux, Coopan and Allen. This is an ordinance approving amendment six to the arts center redevelopment plan. Amendment number one to the Bordeaux redevelopment plan. Amendment number one to the central state redevelopment plan. Amendment number six to the Phillips Jackson redevelopment plan. Amendment number nine to the Rutledge Hill redevelopment plan, and amendment number one to the Skyline redevelopment plan. Okay, Ms. Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Committee reports, budget and finance voted to recommend approval as amended, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Okay, and for the report of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Chair Horton.

Thank you, Vice Mayor PNZ. Consider the bill and the amendment. We voted in favor of the amendment, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting, and in favor of the bill as amended, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, with those committee reports in, it's back to you, Ms. Toombs, for a motion to get this before us. Move for approval. All right, is there a second? Okay, there's a motion to approve. It's properly seconded, and we're on to discussion. First in the queue is Council Member Allen. Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to move my amendment with a brief explanation. Okay, is there a second on the motion to amend?

Okay, go ahead, ma'am. Thank you. So this bill basically adds some things that came out of a study that, that then Council Member Mendez did that required a review on a periodic basis and also that set the amount of the loans that could be paid back by the tax that is collected on the increment at 75%. And it gave MDHA the ability to change that 75% if they needed to based on written criteria that they developed. And so that's what's in this amendment for all of these different development districts. What my amendment would do is just simply to add notification if MDHA chooses to do that, that the council would get written notification that that has happened. Because otherwise we have no way to know that projects that are worthy projects and infrastructure that needs to happen is using up every bit of the new property taxes and none of that is available for schools and that was the whole reason that whole process was done in the first place. decreasing their ability to make that change at all, but just asking that we get written notification when that change happens. So I would ask for support.

All right. There is a motion to amend, properly seconded. You have heard a description of the amendment by its sponsor, Ms. Allen. Is there any discussion on the motion to amend? Seeing none, all in favor? Oh, Ms. Kimbrough, go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just wanted to say on this, I'm going to abstain. I asked that they remove my name because I never put my name on there. But one of the reasons I am going to abstain is because my community gets concerned and they want to know more about TIF and the MDHA project. And MDHA has agreed to come to our next meeting, which will be Tuesday. And this might just be great, but I just wanted the community to hear from MDHA before I you know, showed my support for the bill. So I'm going to abstain for those reasons.

Thank you. Okay, on both the motion to amend and the motion to approve as amended? Yes.

Okay.

Thank you. All right. Is there any further discussion on the motion to amend? Seeing none, all in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Any voting no? Any abstaining? Ms. Kimbrough will be recorded as a no on the motion to amend. or rather, I apologize, an abstention. Okay, so the amendment has passed and Ms. Toombs, if you would please let me know, do you seek to renew your motion to approve as amended?

Move for approval as amended.

All right, okay. There is a motion to approve on second reading as amended. It's properly seconded. Is there any further discussion on this bill on second reading? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting, no. Any abstaining? Ms. Kimbrough, you will be recorded as an abstention on this second reading. Okay, this bill has passed its second reading as amended. Next is agenda item 62, ordinance BL2026-1452. Sponsors, Evans, Huffman, Spain, Ellis, Gadd, and Suara. This is an ordinance establishing the opioid settlement steering committee's role in guiding the strategic use of the metropolitan government's opioid settlement funds through a clear, transparent, and data-driven process. Sponsor Evans, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would like to move for one meeting deferral with a very brief comment.

Okay, did you want to get your committee reports prior to doing so? Sure, we can do that. Mr. Huffman, what is the report of your Public Health and Safety Committee?

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Public Health and Safety recommended to defer this one meeting, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay. Okay, so that is rule 8.1, Ms. Evans. Okay. That is our kind of order of business there, right? Like if I acknowledge you, you request committee reports, it's 8.1, there's no debate and discussion. I know you have some context to provide the body and you kindly put something in, but we've got a Council Connect post. Yeah, sorry about that. 8.1 is applied here such that there's no debate or discussion that is deferred by rule one meeting. Okay, next is, okay, agenda item 77, ordinance BL2026-1489, sponsors Horton, Porterfield, Kupin, Parker, Spain, Gadd, Benedict, Ewing, Cortez, Wiener, Rutherford, Gregg, Nash, and Harrell. This is an ordinance authorizing the Metro government to acquire the fee interest in a parcel of property, parcel ID number, ooh, y'all, 1-3-3-0-0-0-1-3-5-0-0 through negotiation or condemnation for office, warehouse, training, and other uses. Council Member Horton, you are recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, move for approval, please.

Okay, there is a motion to approve on a second reading, properly seconded, and we are on to discussion. Let's see, do we need committee reports at this juncture? Oh, I'm sorry, so Mr. Horton.

Committee reports, planning and zoning voted in favor, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay.

And for the report of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair Toombs. Budget and Finance voted to recommend approval, six in favor, one against, one not voting. Okay, now with those committee reports in, please, sir.

Move for approval, please. Okay, all right. There is a motion to approve on its second of third reading. There is a very deep queue here. Ms. Benedict, you are at the top of it. You're recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. I move to call the question.

Okay. Okay. The question has been called. This is a non-debate, it has been seconded. This is a non-debatable motion. It requires two thirds of those voting. If you wish to end debate on this bill, you would vote aye. If you wish to continue with the debate, you would vote no. We will try it first by voice. determine the two thirds, we will move to the machine. All in favor of the previous question, please say aye. Those voting no, please say no. I believe the ayes have it. This has passed, it's second. Oh, I'm so sorry, okay, I apologize. That was kind of surprising to me because this is a major matter and we're not gonna have debate. Okay. Okay, there is a second for putting the vote of the, calling the question to a roll call. Is that correct? Okay. All right. Sorry, folks. So we called the vote, we were moving subsequent, there has been a request, it has for roll call, it requires how many seconds? It requires three seconds. Okay, okay. So Mr. Clerk, can you load the vote for the previous question, please, sir? With all votes in, Mr. Clerk, please show the vote. Okay, the motion to call the previous question requires two thirds of those voting in the affirmative. Thus the motion has failed with 20 votes yes and 15 votes no, which means we will continue with discussion on the motion to approve on second reading. Ms. Benedict, you have already been recognized. Mr. Clerk, I think that needs to be cleared from the queue. Next in the queue is Ms. Evan Siegel.

Thank you, Madam President. I would ask if the sponsor who moved to approve would consider amending her motion to move to approve with a re-referral back to committee. I have some open questions to finance. I got pretty short answers to those questions and I think it would be helpful to talk about them in committee.

Okay, so Mr. Horton is the primary sponsor.

And so you're- Mr. Horton, I apologize. I'm so used to budget matters being council member two.

So there is a request by Ms. Evan Siegel about your willingness to amend your motion to approve with a re-referral plan. to a committee budget finance to budget.

No objection to that. I would happy to amend. Can I do that now? You may. I'd like to move to, I have to move to amend my motion to approve to a motion to approve with a re-referral to budget and finance.

Okay. There is a motion to approve on second reading with a re-referral to the budget and finance committee. Is it seconded? Okay, and so discussion continues on that. Is there anything that you wanted to say with the rest of your time? Is Evan Siegel, nope, okay. So there is a motion to approve with a re-referral to budget and finance. It was properly seconded, discussion continues. Council Member Johnston, you're recognized.

Thank you, I appreciate the re-referral back. You know, this is a significant piece of legislation. It's probably one of the more bold moves that I've seen in my seven years for sure. And so to have no discussion I thought was not responsible. And I get there's risks of this, that, and the other. But we are the legislative body and I think it is worth the discussion. And so I'm happy to do that in committee. And so I will hold my comments and concerns. I would like to hear from our new legal director because this started under a previous legal director and is the new legal director that will be carrying out whatever possible condemnation efforts. And so I would love to hear her thought process on this. And that can be done privately, I don't mind. But I'm gonna be abstaining because I don't feel comfortable because I don't know. I don't feel comfortable voting yes or no. And so I hate abstaining, but that's the only thing I feel comfortable doing. And this is in my district, the parcel that we're talking about. it would have a massive effect. And so my concern is taxpayer's liability, quite frankly. And until I can get to a comfort level to support that, I appreciate, let's talk about negotiation. I don't have a problem with negotiation. Bold move, eminent domain. And so I just want to have a comfort level there that we're not putting our taxpayers in a situation of liability. So I will be abstaining. Thank you.

All right. Next in the queue, Council Member Allen, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam President. I need to be recorded as abstaining. Okay. Okay. Ms. Stiles, you are recognized on a motion to approve on second reading, go ahead.

Thank you very much, Vice Mayor. I think this is irresponsible legislation. I'm definitely voting no. I think this is a guaranteed lawsuit and we have all kinds of issues. I don't know what you're saying to me, but okay.

Okay, are you done? Okay.

So as I said, I think it's irresponsible. We are constantly talking about how we spend our money and I just don't think where are we gonna get this money from? Even it goes back to committee, I don't think that we get a good answer for this. This feels like a knee jerk, feel good reaction because everyone else had a plan except the mayor's office. And so now we just throw out eminent domain. We don't have a plan for what the land would be for. It's just nonsense.

So everyone should vote no. All right, Council Member Spain, you're next in the queue. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. Move previous question.

Okay. All right, Mr. Spain has called the previous question. It's properly seconded. This is a non-debatable motion that requires two thirds of those voting. Pardon? Okay, Mr. Eastlake has requested a roll call vote for the previous question. Are there three seconds? Okay, that is three. So Mr. Clerk, if you would please load the vote. This is the previous question. A yes vote for the previous question ends debate. A no vote means you want to continue debate on this matter. This is on the previous question. All votes in, Mr. Clerk, please show the vote. Okay, the motion has passed and the previous question has been called with 32 votes in favor, three against and one abstention, which means we will then move to the vote. Knowing that we have some nos and abstentions, even though this is on second, Mr. Clerk, if you would please load the vote for 1489 on its second of three readings, please, sir. Mr. Benton, are you seeking to vote, sir? All votes are in. Mr. Clerk, if you would please show the vote. All right, this motion to approve on second reading has passed with 27 votes in favor, three against and five abstentions. This will be by the motion re-referred to Budget and Finance Committee on its third reading at next meeting, okay. That concludes our items on second reading. We're on to third reading, section N of our agenda. Next is agenda item 81. Ordinance BL2026-1361 sponsors Benedict, Capp, Kupin, and Evan Segal. This is an ordinance to amend chapter 17.37 of the Metro Code of Laws to establish an East Bank Design Review Committee within the Downtown Code. Okay, Ms. Benedict, you are recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Could I have my committee report, please? Let's see, this is on third, so planning and zoning. Chair Horton, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. PNZ considered the bill and Amendment 2. We voted in favor of Amendment 2. Five in favor, three against, zero not voting. Amendment 1 was not considered. We considered the bill as amended by Amendment 2. Eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, back to you for a motion to get this before us, Ms. Benedict. Move approval. Is there a second? Okay, you have the floor still, okay. Mr. Coopin is next in the queue. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you to my colleague for bringing this and working hard to make sure the voices of East Nashville are represented on the East Bank DRC. I did have an amendment and I would like to move amendment two with a brief comment. Was it two?

Is there a second for the motion to amend with amendment two?

Okay, go ahead, sir. Thank you. And so one of the that would be on this DRC replacing the Urban Residents Association seat would be from the Imagine East Bank area. And in the legislation, it had a kind of hold on it until 1,000 residential units receive certificates of occupancy. The concern that I heard was about quorum, making sure that people can come to that meeting. And I spoke to the sponsor at the committee meeting yesterday and she had asked if I had anybody in mind for that seat or if I knew people over there. at the time I'd said, well, you know, no, just, I just know that there are, you know, 600 some odd people over there in that area. Um, and an odd twist of fate later that evening, um, a constituent from the Oxbow reached out to me about a greenway along the river. And I said, Hey, can we, can I pick your brain on something and asked about this legislation? Um, and you know, said, do you know, do you think that the people in your building would care about this? Would they want to sit on something like this? Is it too far away? Again, trying to represent my constituents. And he was very excited. He said that he would actually love to serve potentially on this seat. So there are constituents there. There are about 600, 600, 700. There's a lot more coming. So I don't see the reason to wait. for the thousand person mark. I think we've got multiple people that are ready to serve. I think that we have projects coming down the pipeline. It's a great idea to have this committee, but I would hate to wait any longer to have a voice of someone that lives in that area on this committee. Again, I understand the quorum issues. I don't think that'll be an issue given the conversation I had with this individual today. So I'd urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

All right, there's a motion to amend with amendment two. You've heard an explanation of the amendment by the sponsor. And so we are on to discussion on the motion to amend. Is anyone seeking to be recognized on the amendment? Seeing none, all in favor of amendment two, please say aye. Any voting no, any abstaining, okay. Ms. Benedict, is it your desire to renew your motion to approve? As amended. Thank you, ma'am. Is there a second? Okay. So this is on its third and final reading. There is a motion to approve as amended with amendment two. Is there anyone else seeking discussion? Okay. Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any voting no? Any abstaining? All right. This has passed its third and final reading as amended. Okay, the bill you've all been waiting for. Agenda item 84, ordinance BL2026-1391. Sponsors, Horton, Porterfield, Gadd, Huffman, Welsh, Toombs, Prepti, Benedict, Spain, Parker, Wiener, Voe, Bradford, Kupin, Ewing, Johnston, Sepulveda, Evans, Cortez, Hill, Allen, Taylor, Capp, Campbell, Gregg, Suara, Harrell, Druffle, Benton, Nash, and Rutherford. This is an ordinance amending Title 17 of the Metro Code of Laws to add various new data center uses and related definitions and conditions to the zoning code. Mr. Horton, I know this bill has a companion, but at this juncture, let's just work with 1391, okay? And so you are recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports, before I give them, I put a cheat sheet on everyone's desk so you don't have to try to memorize what I'm about to say. But Amendment 1, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Amendment 2 was not considered. Amendment 3 was not considered. Amendment 4, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Amendment 5, we voted for recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Amendment six, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Amendment seven, we recommended against approval, zero in favor, eight against, zero not voting. On Amendment eight, we recommended against approval, zero in favor, eight against, zero not voting. Amendment nine, we recommended against approval with zero in favor, eight against, zero not voting. For Amendment 10, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. For Amendment 11, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. For Amendment 12, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. For Amendment 13, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. For Amendment 14, we recommended against approval, zero in support, eight against, zero not voting. For Amendment 15, we recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. of the bill as amended with the recommended amendments. We voted in favor, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. And with that, I would like to move for approval so that I may then move Amendment 1, please.

Okay. All right, so there's a motion to approve. It's properly seconded. The primary sponsor still has the floor. And in that time, he has moved Amendment 1. So there is a motion to amend with amendment one. It is properly seconded. Anything you want to say on the amendment, sir?

This is a housekeeping amendment and corrects section numbers.

Okay. Is there any discussion on amendment one? Is anyone in the queue seeking to be recognized on amendment one? Folks, I presume some of you who are in the queue are there for purposes of discussion once the bill is amended relative to its approval. So as someone makes a motion to amend, because the queue is a little bit deep here, I will just ask for a show of hands if anyone wants to speak specifically on that amendment, okay? So seeing no one seeking to be recognized on amendment one, is that correct? Seeing no one, okay. All in favor of amendment one, please say aye. Any voting no, any abstaining? Okay. Mr. Horton, do you want to renew your motion to approve as amended?

I'd like to move for approval as amended with amendment one, please.

Okay. Are there any other amendments that you would like to offer at this time, sir?

No, ma'am.

Okay, all right. Okay, so we continue on discussion. First in the queue, Ms. Benedict, do you seek to be recognized? Okay, she's saying no. Ms. Toombs, do you seek to be recognized? Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. I'd like to move amendment number 15. Okay, there is a motion to amend with amendment 15. Anything that you want to share about this?

Add some quarterly reporting from the zoning administrator to the council.

Okay. Is there any discussion on the motion to amend with amendment 15? Okay. Raise your hand if you want to speak on amendment 15. Seeing none, all in favor of amendment 15, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay, Mr. Horton, I'm just gonna keep going back to you. You don't have to stand, but if you'll just nod that you seek to like continue to renew your motion to approve as amended, we'll just roll through. Okay, all right. So we are continuing on the bill on the motion to approve at present as amended with amendment one and amendment 15. We continue. Ms. Benedict, do you intend to offer any amendments? You just wanna speak at the end? Okay, you may, that's proper at this time, go ahead. At the end, once everything is amended, okay. Next in the queue is Ms. Porterfield, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would like to move amendment number six.

Okay, there is a motion to amend with amendment six. It's properly seconded. Anything you want to share about amendment six, ma'am?

Yes, Vice Mayor. Amendment 6 would require a public notice for data centers, for both small and medium-sized data centers. This public notice will be mailed out to properties within 1,000 feet of the subject property, no more than 21 days following the application of any permit. related to the proposed data center development. Also in the event that there is a renter, the notice will be mailed out to both the property owner as well as the mailed address of the property. Also, I just wanted to share that I would not be moving amendments seven and eight. I know that we all have an overwhelming desire to make this legislation as strong as possible. And we also want to make sure that we're being cognizant of not doing anything that would potentially delay passage of the legislation. So I just wanted to stand for anyone who was not a committee yesterday. I know a lot of constituents asked us for additional amendments to like strengthen this legislation. So for anyone that wasn't there yesterday, just making sure that people understand that there are some additional things being worked on. But if it had to be re-referred back to plan in an effort to continue with this legislation, I won't be moving those additional amendments.

Okay. All right. So you've heard a description of Amendment 6 by Ms. Porterfield. It was properly seconded. Is anyone seeking to be recognized specifically on the motion to amend with Amendment 6? Anyone in the queue? Raise your hand if you're wanting to speak on Amendment 6. Okay, all in favor of Amendment 6, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay, Mr. Horton, sponsor, is it your intent to renew your motion to approve as amended? Okay, on we go. Next in the queue is Council Member Cortez. You're recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just want to speak to that I'm going to withdraw Amendment 2 and 3 for the sake of getting this bill passed, and I will bring these back at a later date.

Okay, Amendments Two and Three will be withdrawn and not offered. Okay, thank you, sir. Next in the queue is Council Member Johnston. Go ahead, ma'am, you're recognized. Thank you, I'd like to move Amendment Five, please. Okay, there is a motion to amend with Amendment Five. It's properly seconded. Anything you wanna share about the amendment?

Yes, so it requires an emergency response and power of resiliency to be submitted to the Fire Marshal, the Office of Emergency Management, Zoning Administrator, and NES prior to approval. We did have some concern yesterday about the timing of that, but CODES has assured me that we can do that before an occupancy. And so the language was fine. And so again, I renew my...

Motion for approval, thank you. Okay, with Amendment 5. Okay, there's a motion to amend with Amendment 5. You've heard an explanation of the amendment by its sponsor. Is there anyone seeking a discussion on Amendment 5 specifically? If so, if you would please raise your hand. Okay, seeing none, all in favor of Amendment 5, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Mr. Horton, is it your intent to renew your motion to approve as amended up to this point? Okay, so there is a motion to approve as amended presently with amendments one, four, five, six, and 15. Oh, nope. One, five, six, oh yeah, I got ahead of myself. I marked four because of some other issues. All right y'all, a lot of things on here. Got a plan here, listing, checking, circling, okay. Motion to amend with amendments one, five, six, and 15. Okay, on we go. Discussion continues. Council Member Huffman, speaking of amendment four, go ahead, sir.

Very timely. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to move amendment four. However, I need to make a motion to amend that on the floor for housekeeping reasons.

Okay.

Okay, I know that we spoke and kind of talked through the motion to amend the amendment and so forth. Subsequently, I did speak with special counsel about that in the proper order. So if I may, I'm just gonna go to special counsel so he can share with us how to get potentially this late filed amendment that makes a minor text change per your proposal. Special Counsel, can you speak to Mr. Huffman's late filed amendment relative to his amendment four and how that should proceed, please, sir?

Vice Mayor, a late filed amendment approved by the council member was drafted and sent to the inboxes of all council members in the clerk's office. A viable way forward would simply be to move to suspend the rules to consider the late filed amendment.

Okay. Are you so moved?

So moved, yes.

Okay, is there any objection to the motion to suspend the rules so Mr. Huffman can make a minor edit to his amendment four with the amendment that you all have previously been sent? Seeing no one seeking to object to the suspension of the rule, the rules are suspended and so you may offer specifically your late filed amendment, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. And as I said, this is a minor change. Essentially the only change here is it removes the word telecommunication and replaces that with fiber and broadband.

Okay, I appreciate the explanation there. Anything else you would like to say about that amendment specifically? Okay, on the motion to amend with Mr. Huffman's amendment, go ahead, Ms. Porterfield. Thank you, rising complete support.

Just want to confirm that that does not require a re-referral back to planning. If we could confirm that from planning.

Planning staff, if you can please confirm that for us. Sure, the late file would not require a re-referral. Okay, thank you for that confirmation, Madam Pro Tem. Is there any further discussion on the Huffman late filed amendment? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay, this amendment is also on the bill, okay. Sponsor, is it your intent to renew your motion to approve as amended at present with all these amendments? Okay, on we go. Next in the queue is Council Member Gamble. You're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

I would like to move Amendment 10. Okay. Council Member Gamble has moved Amendment 10. It's properly seconded. Anything you want to share about the amendment, Ms. Gamble?

Yes, thank you. The amendment defines the terms PUE, which is power usage effectiveness, and WUE, which is water usage effectiveness. These terms are used for describing metrics for measuring a performance of energy and water usage with data centers. The amendment also requires data center operators to monitor and report the PUE and WUE metrics annually to the zoning administrator who will make those reports available to the public. And the intent of the amendment is to ensure best practices and good resource stewardship and energy and water efficiency reporting and transparency. Thank you.

All righty. There is a motion to amend with amendment 10 by Ms. Gamble. You have heard an explanation by the sponsor. Is there any discussion on the motion to amend with amendment 10? If anyone is seeking discussion on that amendment specifically, please raise your hand. Seeing none, all in favor of Amendment 10, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Sponsor Horton, do you renew your motion to approve as amended? Okay, on we go. All right, we're adding Amendment 10. Next in the queue for discussion is Councilmember Gadd. Ms. Gadd, you're recognized. Okay. Next after that, because Ms. Benedict wants to speak on an amended as the end is Mr. Capp. You are recognized, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have three amendments to move. I'll start by moving amendment number 11.

Okay, sir. Properly seconded. Go ahead.

Thank you. This amendment requires the zoning administrator to publicize the compliance reports required elsewhere in the legislation.

All right, there's a motion to amend with Amendment 11, properly seconded, and you've heard the explanation of sponsor Capp. Is there any discussion specifically on Amendment 11? If you seek to be recognized on that amendment, please raise your hand. Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay, Mr. Horton, he is nodding his head, on we go. Motion to approve as amended. Go ahead, Mr. Capp, you still have the floor.

Move amendment number 12.

All right, anything you want to say about amendment 12, sir?

briefly vice mayor. Thank you. This tightens up some pretty important definitions in the legislation. Um, the first of all, it defines emergency use, um, to, to really require a true emergency, uh, when backup power generation might be required. And it also specifies truly renewable and sustainable sources of energy, uh, rather than using more capacious, uh, terms that could be a little too flexible. Um, so with that, I ask your support.

All right, there's a motion to amend with Amendment 11. You've heard a description of that amendment by its sponsor, Mr. Capp. Is anyone seeking to be recognized specifically on Amendment 11? Raise your hand if so. Seeing none, all in favor of Amendment 11, please say aye.

Point of order of Amendment 12.

I am so sorry, sir, I apologize. Okay, to clarify, there is a motion to amend with Amendment 12 as described by Council Member Capp. Is there any discussion on Amendment 12? I appreciate the point of order. If you seek to be recognized on Amendment 12, please raise your hand. Seeing none, all in favor of Amendment 12, please say aye. Aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay. Mr. Horton, do you seek to renew your motion to approve as amended at this juncture? Okay. Mr. Capp, it's back to you.

Move Amendment 13, please.

Okay. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. This requires owners and operators to require sound monitoring systems at the property line.

All right, so there is a motion to amend with amendment 13. You have heard a description of the amendment by its sponsor, Mr. Capp. Is anyone seeking to be recognized specifically on the motion to amend with amendment 13? If so, please raise your hand. Seeing none, all in favor of Amendment 13, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay. Amendment 13 is on the bill. Mr. Horton, do you seek to approve as amended? Okay. All right. Ms. Benedict, you have remained at the top of the queue for all this time. You are recognized. Go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Previous question.

Okay. There is a motion to call the previous question. It is properly seconded and it requires two thirds of those voting. We will try. Yes, ma'am, go ahead.

what the motion is, what that previous motion is with the amendment numbers, please?

Right, so first we will dispose of the previous question, but subsequent to that, when we do, if the previous question prevails and we move to the vote, then I will restate all the amendments that are on the bill at that time, okay? So at this juncture, Ms. Benedict has, called the question which would end debate. And so if you want to end debate, you will say aye. If you want to continue with discussion on this bill, you will say no. All in favor of the previous question, please say aye. Any voting no, please say no. Okay, that's pretty clear. That was two thirds of those voting. The question has been called. That means that we will now go back to the motion to approve. And of course, no sooner had we done that, I lost my place, found it. Okay, so we're gonna move to the vote and the motion to approve as amended with amendments one, The Huffman late filed bill amendments five, six, 10, 12, 13, and 15. Y'all. Okay. Did we put 11 on there y'all? Mr. Special Counsel. Okay. Sorry y'all. And I did state the late file off the top. One, late file, five, six, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. All right, motion to approve as amended with the amendments just stated. The question has been called, so there is no debate. So we will move to the vote. We'll try it first by voice. All in favor, please say aye. Any voting no. Any abstaining? All right, this bill has passed. It's third and final reading as amended. All right, Mr. Horton, we also have agenda item 85, ordinance BL 2026-1392, which requires certain materials to be restricted in the construction of buildings that were in 1391. You're recognized, sir, on that bill.

Move for approval, please.

Okay. Do you have your committee report on that portion?

Recommended approval. Eight in favor, zero against. You're not voting. Okay. Move for approval.

Yep. There's a motion to approve properly. Seconded it. Is there any discussion on this required companion bill? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay. That, too, 1392 has passed its third and final reading. Okay, next we move on to agenda items 95 and 96. They are companions to each other. Agenda item 95 is ordinance BL2026-1414, sponsor Evans. This is an ordinance to amend Title 17, the Metro Code of Laws, the zoning ordinance of the Metro government by changing from RS-15 to SP zoning for property located at 6114 north New Hope Road, approximately 352 feet north of Central Pike. This is 3.0 acres to permit 44 multifamily residential units. As well, agenda item 96, also sponsor Evans. It is ordinance BL2026-1415. It is the companion to 1414 and requires certain materials to be restricted in the construction of buildings. Ms. Evans, you're recognized. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports, please. For the report of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Chair Horton.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. PNZ considered both items and recommended a one-meeting deferral for each.

Okay, and so by rule, 8.1, both 95 and 96. as they are companions to each other are deferred by rule one meeting for rule 8.1. Okay, next is agenda item 101 and 102. This is ordinance BL 2026-1423. And agenda item 102, it's companion ordinance BL 2026-1424. Both sponsors Horton. 1423 is an ordinance to amend Title 17, the Metro Code of Laws, a zoning ordinance of the Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County by amending a specific plan on property located at 5901 California Avenue at the southeast corner of 60th Avenue North and California Avenue. This is zoned SP. It's 8.12 acres to prevent a mixed-use development. And again, 1424, which is the companion to 1423 and requires that certain materials be restricted in the construction of buildings. Councilmember Horton, you're recognized.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Committee reports, planning and zoning considered bill 2026-1423 and its amendment, we recommended approval of the amendment, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Recommended in favor of the bill as amended, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. We considered the companion bill 1424 and recommended approval, eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, if you would, sir, you can consolidate the motion afterwards, but if you would move approval of 1423, as I do see you have an amendment.

Move approval of 1423.

Okay, is there a second? Okay, back to you, sir. Move approval of the amendment. Okay, is there a second for the motion to amend? Okay, any discussion on the amendment?

Move approval of the bill. Oh, no, no discussion of the amendment, no.

Okay, is anyone seeking to be recognized on the motion to amend? Okay. Ms. Allen, on the motion to amend, you're recognized.

Yes, Madam Vice President. We've just had a lot of emails with statements of concern about the mural. So I would ask if the... the sponsor and perhaps the Planning Commission can offer assurance that this amendment does indeed preserve that mural so that it will be publicly available and what mechanisms are there to ensure that that actually happens.

I'm gonna put it back to the sponsor first to respond. Okay, go ahead, Mr. Horton.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is not a new project. This is an amendment to an existing SP approved by my predecessor back in 2023. It's being amended to remove a condition that required the reuse of portions of the existing building. Unfortunately, one of the portions of the building that wasn't gonna be reused was the mural on the side, which is the only remarkable part of the building. This amendment, we're modifying the provision now to codify the new plan of the SP, which does include the intent to preserve the existing mural. This amendment codifies that intent, requires the mural to be preserved, reused, redonated to the artists if they would like it, or otherwise displayed in a public place. It makes this the condition of the SP.

All right, is that sufficient to answer your question, Ms. Allen?

If there's anything else that can be said just in terms of what mechanisms ensure that that actually happens, I think there's still some, concerned that just because it's in an amendment doesn't mean it's, it's a force of law. And, and my understanding is that this is as good as, um, what was recommended by the planning commission that once we vote on this, it, it is, it, it is, uh, a, a firm piece of the SP that has to happen. Okay. Whatever can be done to just confirm that.

This was something we discussed in committee yesterday and I'll defer to the planning department again, if they're able to speak on this, like they did yesterday.

Ms. Milligan for the planning department. Go ahead, ma'am.

Sure. At the time that a final site plan is submitted, which is the second part of a specific plan approval, final site plans are submitted at the time that they're submitted, then planning staff and all of the other Metro departments review those final site plans and against the plans that were approved by the Planning Commission, the plans that are approved here, in addition to any conditions that are added to the bill. And so we review those to ensure compliance with all of the conditions that are added. And that is done in advance of any final site plans being approved.

Ms. Allen, does that address your concerns? Okay, is there any additional discussion specifically on the motion to amend, Ms. Ellis? Okay, go ahead, you're recognized.

So I just wanted to understand from the planning committee, so is it written in this current amendment that the murals will be protected?

Ms. Milligan for the planning department, do you want to further expound on that?

The wording, the amendment says, the existing mural on the west facade of the existing structure... fronting 60th Avenue North shall be preserved and reused or repurposed within the new development, returned or donated to the artists, or otherwise relocated to another publicly viewable area.

All right, I heard a shall, okay. Any further discussion on the motion to amend specifically? Ms. Gadd, go ahead.

Thank you so much. And also just clarification from the planning department table. Was this language included in the previously council approved SP for the protection of the mural or is this new?

Ms. Milligan, you're recognized for planning. The previous version of the SP did not include this language. I went back and reviewed the plan today and there is, one notation in regards to a mural on the parking garage, but it did not indicate that it would be a relocation of the existing mural. It didn't indicate precisely what mural it would be. Okay, Ms. Gadd.

Thank you so much. And I think like others receiving comments and concerns, just wanted to be able to say thank you to those constituents and members of the community who care so much about art, whether that's on private property, it becomes public and something that we all love. And then thank you to the sponsor for ensuring, even though this wasn't protected in this way in the previous SP that was previously approved, I'm really grateful. to him working to make sure this is a part of this SP moving forward. So thank you so much and I'll be supporting it.

All right, so we are on the motion to amend. Mr. Bradford, do you seek to be recognized? Go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. I don't know if this question is more directed towards or Director Wilson or planning. And this question may open a can of worms. Listening to the constituents and one question or concern I have, and we've seen it happen here in Nashville, when we try to require developers to protect something, they come through in the middle of the night and destroy it. So my concern is what repercussions or actions can be taken if we pass this amendment tonight with these protections, and the developer decides what they don't wanna spend the money to relocate and they tear it down the middle of the night. Do we have any recourse on that? What happens in that situation?

So your question is a hypothetical related to the passage of this amendment with it in place. Is there any recourse? for the city relative to these specifications.

If the developer turns around and does not follow the SP and tears down the wall.

Okay, special council Wilson, do you want to opine on that?

Council member broadly, the SP has the effect of law. So any violation of that SP or a lack of fulfillment of these conditions would be a violation of the metropolitan code of laws.

Thank you, special counsel. Mr. Bradford.

So what actions would Metro then take? Would they require the builder to put the wall back up? Are we charging a $50 fine? Like what exactly would happen if they violated the law?

Special counsel Wilson, the violation of specifications of an SP. Sir, go ahead.

I, at this point, I would say that it would depend on the circumstances. I it's, it would have been on the facts of the case and, and it would depend on, um, how the metropolitan government wished to proceed. Thank you.

Okay. Um, uh, we are on the motion to amend Ms. Suara. Do you seek to be recognized?

Go ahead. Appreciate it. Uh, I think I remember, uh, Bradford was going where I was, but mine is not so much that the, uh, mess it up or do something, but I just wanted to know, and somebody doesn't do a lot of zoning, so having this protection now, will the planning department be able to stop them from continuing if they do not adhere to this protection in the zoning now?

Ms. Milligan was speaking earlier to the SP zoning and the kind of the secondary process there. Would you like her to elaborate on that, Ms. Milligan?

So specific plan zoning is a multi-step process. The first step is a preliminary SP, which is what is before you all tonight, which establishes the entitlements and the rules regarding the development of the property. The second step of the process is a final site plan. That is the detailed construction documents that come in that establish that I'm sorry, the detailed construction documents that include everything from building materials to building elevations, to water and sewer plans, When those final site plans are submitted, the planning department, along with all of the other Metro reviewing agencies, review those construction plans for compliance with all of the standards of the Metro codes as adopted, including any standards or conditions that are adopted as part of the SP ordinance. And so planning would review those and a final site plan would not be reviewed until compliance is confirmed.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Okay, Ms. Suarez. Ms. Stiles, do you still seek to be recognized on the amendment? Please go ahead.

So if the art has to be repurposed, does that allow for, does the artists have any say in that and how it's repurposed? Is it just the language says it can be repurposed in whatever way?

Do you want me to address that to the planning table or to Mr. Horton? Okay. Ms. Milligan, you're recognized.

I'm happy to, I can read that language again. It simply says preserved and reused or repurposed within the new development returned or donated to the artist or otherwise relocated to another publicly viewable area.

Thank you, Ms. Milligan.

Go ahead, Ms. Stiles. Okay, so there's nothing that says that the artist has any conversation about that. That's what I wanted clarity on. Thank you.

Okay. Seeing no further discussion on the motion to amend, all in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Any voting no. Any abstaining. Okay. The amendment is on the bill. And Mr. Horton, if you would please renew your motion to consolidate it, 1423 as amended and its companion 1424 as amended.

for approval. Move approval of 1423 as amended and its companion bill, please.

Okay, it's properly seconded. Is there any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any voting no or abstaining? Okay, so we're gonna have to go on the boards then because this is on its third or final reading. Just to clarify, so those are no votes, not even if they were extensions, would we have to? Okay, are y'all abstaining or you wanna vote no? Okay, we'll have to go on the boards. So Mr. Clerk, if you would please load the vote on a motion to approve 1423 as amended and 1424 on their third and final reading, please, sir. Yes, ma'am, go ahead.

So is there a way to tie the art to the building permits?

We're where we are on the boat now, so we can't go back.

Okay.

Yep. Thank you. Mr. Coopin, are you seeking to vote? With all votes in, Mr. Clerk, please show the vote. This bill has passed its third and final reading as amended with 31 votes in favor, three nos and one abstention. All right, we have just two items remaining on our agenda. Next is agenda item 107, ordinance BL2026-1436, sponsors, Toombs, Horton, Allen, Ellis, Ewing, Kupin, Suara, Harrell, and Gadd. This is an ordinance approving a lease agreement by and between the Metro government of Nashville and Davidson County, acting by and through the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education and Pencil Foundation. Council Member Toombs, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor, move for approval.

Okay, it's properly moved and seconded. All the committee reports are in. Anything you would like to say on the bill at this time? Not at this time. Okay. So we're on to discussion on the motion to approve on third and final reading. First in the queue is Ms. Johnston. Go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you. I just briefly wanted to bring to everyone's attention. We had really good discussion about this on the council connected. So I won't go through that, but there were a couple of things that I would have wanted to see with regard to the accounting and transparency around the credits that that are gonna be applied to the rental rate for Pencil. And I just wanted to give a thank you, a big thank you to CEO Boogs for responding to that in a really awesome fashion actually. And so we are currently in the process of putting together an MOU for Pencil to do just that for us to the legislative body. And it's an MOU just between the two of us, us meaning this body. And so I just wanted to thank her, thank her for doing that in the interest of transparency and accountability and trust in between a partner that we truly value. So thank you, Ms. Boogs.

All right, discussion continues. I do not see anyone else in the queue at this time. Would you like me to go back to you, Sponsor Toombs?

Just real briefly, it's Christian Buggs.

We've all mispronounced people's last names. I did it one time to Ms. Johnston and she called me out for that.

Remember, that's right. So we all...

We all get our mouths a little, you know, it's okay. My first name is Quante, so it's okay. Yes, I think Ms. Johnston knows that it is Ms. Buggs indeed, so all good. Renew my motion for approval. Okay, all right. So there is a motion to approve, properly seconded. We see no further discussion at this time. All in favor of 1436 on its third and final reading, please say aye. Aye. Any voting no, any abstaining? All right, this has passed its third and final reading. Lastly, on the agenda, agenda item 113. This is ordinance BL2026-1448. Sponsors Johnston, Bradford, Coopin, Weiner, Evans, Huffman, Stiles, Spain, Cortez, Ellis, Nash, Hill, Druffle, Rutherford, Benton, and Ewing. This is an ordinance declaring a temporary moratorium upon the acceptance, processing, approval, and issuance of zoning, building, or grading permits for data center developments on property within Nashville and Davidson County. Sponsor Johnston, you are recognized. Committee reports, please. For the report of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Chair Horton.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. PNZ considered the bill and the amendment. We recommended approval of the amendment. Eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting. Recommended approval of the bill as amended. Eight in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

Okay, and for the report of the Government Operations and Regulations Committee, Chair Hill.

Thank you, Mayor and Vice Mayor. We voted to approve the amendment. Seven in favor, zero against, zero not voting. And as amended, seven in favor, zero against, zero not voting.

All right, and with those committee reports in, it's back to you, Ms. Johnson. Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. Go ahead. Sorry. Move the amendment, please. If you would please just move approval to get it before us first. Move approval. Okay. Now go ahead. You can move your amendment. Move my amendment, please. Okay. Properly motioned and seconded. Anything you would like to share about the amendment at this time?

Yes, so the amendment deletes the language that ends this moratorium upon the passage of 1391, which has already happened, and it extends that date from what was originally put into the bill, which was November 1st to December 1st. The reason for that is twofold. Number one, there was Executive Order 59, which directs several departments, as well as agencies, to report within two months, which would be August the 15th of a delivery date, the impacts of such departments or agencies of data center as a use. And so we expect to have some legislation in response to those reports. And so we wanna be able to have time to digest those reports, come up with the legislation, pass the legislation before anything could move forward. Also, as we saw tonight, there were several amendments that were not moved. There are several amendments that were not even brought forth because we all have a collective thought process that getting something on the books tonight is imperative. And so let's not, the perfect be the enemy of good. And so we wanted to do that. And so I appreciate everyone's cooperation with that and everybody's support in that. And so this also gives us time to do discussions the good work of refining this policy as I think some of us have some concerns around some environmental things, et cetera, et cetera. And so I renew my motion to approve the amendment, please.

Okay, is there any further discussion on the amendment? Ms. Porterfield, do you seek to be recognized on the amendments? Okay, go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I rise in support of the amendment. I think it's no surprise to everyone that I was against the bill initially. My concerns have now been addressed. My concern was that this bill was only until 1391 passed and that upon the passage of 1391, there would not be a need for a moratorium. But now that the date is extended to December 1st, I am happy to support it. So I'm standing in support and I wanted to explain that.

All right, thank you so much. Council Member Stiles, do you seek to be recognized specifically on the motion to amend? Okay. With that, then we will move to the vote on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Any voting no. Any abstaining. Okay, so the amendment is on. Do you want to renew your motion to approve as amended? Go ahead, ma'am. Renew my motion to approve as amended, please, thank you. Properly seconded. Is there any discussion on the motion to approve on third and final reading as amended? Okay, Ms. Stiles, you're recognized.

Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you again to the sponsor for doing this. I think moratorium is the smartest thing to do so that nothing can happen. We have some time to really think things through and not rush into making some decisions. So just appreciative.

Thank you, Council Member Johnston.

All right. Any additional discussion on this bill as amended on its third and final reading? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Any voting no, any abstaining?

Okay, this has passed its third and final reading as amended. That concludes this evening's agenda. Our next council meeting will be on Tuesday, August the 4th. Is there a motion to adjourn? We are adjourned.

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