Town Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the August 11th, 2026 Town Council meeting. Today we're going to start off, we're going to call it to order with a prayer and a pledge, and Chaplain Tim York will come up to the podium and do the prayer, and then the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Town Manager David Santucci.

We come to you humbly this evening. Thank you for all that you have done for us. reminded that government has been instituted by you in heaven. And so we pray your blessings upon the institution that you have created. Thank you for democracy, the opportunity we have as a people to enjoy freedom. I pray that you will bless the council tonight with both your presence and your wisdom. We thank you for all those who serve our city. We pray not only for their protection, but we pray that you would bless them and their families. May this evening, Father, be used of you. We pray in your name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance.

Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Chaplain and Dame. Amber, do roll call, please.

Yes, sir. Councilman Dempsey.

Present.

Councilwoman Peebles. Here. Councilman Cole.

Yes, ma'am.

Councilman Short.

Here.

Councilman Sullivan.

Here.

Vice Mayor Atkins.

Here.

Mayor Reed.

All right. Approval or correction of minutes. Kyle, I'm sure you've had a chance to look all these over. Is everything in order?

I have. Everything's in order subject to any revisions from the council.

All right. These are meetings that we've had with the joint meetings as well as the workshop. Yes. All right. Any other questions? If not, I'll take a motion on the minutes.

So moved.

Motion from HG. Second. Second from Jerome. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Tonight we have a presentation, uh, under our awards and recognitions. Mike, are you going to do the presentation? I am most certainly not.

We are so excited about, I'm going to introduce Ron Chamblee. Uh, Mr. Santucci asked us to do an update for the year for wastewater plant and water treatment plant capacities. And Ryan's done a presentation like he did the last one. If you have any questions, please feel free to stop Ryan or ask one of us and we'll be happy to answer.

Excellent. Hello, Ryan. Hello.

Good afternoon council. Pull that up. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Everything's working out. All right. So good evening council. My name is Ryan Shanley with Thomas and Hutton. Um, so they mentioned last time we presented, um, was actually, um, October of 2020, 25. So, um, looking at about 10 months of, of additional data that's been collected, um, that we've been able to include and analyze. Um, so the purpose of this, um, presentation is to get an update. since last October. So we're going to look at the latest water demands and sewer flows, evade the transit projections, and then look at some of the existing and proposed projects that will be part of that, keeping the inflow down and the water flow steady. So, um, just to recap, um, cover last time. So the water plant was expanded in 2012. Um, and has a current capacity of 18.3 MGD, um, and then high service capable of pumping 20 MGD. Um, the wastewater plant expansion was the most current expansion, which was 2023 was when it was completed. Um, discharge permit is nine MGD. Some of the processes though were built so they can easily be expanded to 12 MGD. And then to make that expansion to 12 MGD for the permitting, likely what would have to be required is to hold the loads to the creek at the same level, but that would be a higher level of treatment to accomplish that.

Yes, sir. Would you, because public watches, would you explain what MGD is?

Million gallons per day. Okay. Yes, sir. I'm sorry, we, we like acronyms in engineering, so we got, um, so, um, like I said, last time the data was, was, um, from 2023 up through October, 2025, that's now been updated to July, 2026 data. So additional 10 months for both the water team and plant and wastewater plant. So evaluated, looked at both water loss, water sold, peak demands, and average flows. So we accounted for what y'all are selling currently to the city of Nolensville, but then also noted that that will end around 2030. So there was two ways that we looked at linear projections. We went over this last time, and so we kept that same methodology. First we looked at linear. So essentially took what the data was trending and projected that out that the same trend. And then we looked at, um, what your current development, you know, how many homes are being built per year, how much usage per home is on average, and then projected that out, um, as well. So on average for water, it's about 409 gallons per day is for a typical home. And then for sewer, 230 gallons per day for a home. Difference a lot of times is irrigation, watering, washing cars that doesn't go back to the sewer system. So average homes built per year, 358. connected water, 639 on sewer. That's due to being able to work well with CUD. So a lot on the west side, outside of the CUDs where they would be putting in step systems. They'll be able to serve sewer to those areas, but the water is able to be served by CUD. So there's a difference. You're serving more sewer per year than you are water. Yes.

So that five year averages from 21 through 26. Is that correct? Correct.

Yes. Um, so, and then for the, um, projections, we did not include the industrial, the large industrial, such as Nissan Taylor farms. Um, just those, those are such unique users and they would, you know, definitely, um, change the data quite a bit, assuming that you're going to gain another Nissan in the next 10 or 20 years. So those were not included in those projections. So this is the raw data from the wastewater plant and the water plant. So the blue being the water plant that is daily flows and the sewer being the green line. And then rainfall for each month along the bottom. So you'll see again, looking back, starting in around Uh, April, May of 2025, um, the sewer and the water began to draw closer together. That was, um, we'll talk a little bit more in the next slide, but a combination of improving water loss and reducing I and I into the system from rainfall getting into the sewer system.

Um, yes, correct.

That's correct. Yes. Um, so this is looking at same data, but on a monthly basis. Um, again, we've pointed out in that early 2025, there was around 200, almost 300 leaks that were repaired in the water system. And you see that the, the water and the sewer start closing that big distancing gap between that data. Um, so a lot of that is reducing. water loss. So if you look at, there's a trend line in orange on the bottom, that is your average water loss per month. Um, and that January 25 and five timeframe, it went from about 26%. Um, and it's dropped down into 10 to 12%. It stayed down, got in as low as maybe even 4% some months. So that's very positive. That's a big impact on your system. That's water. That's not, being lost in the ground. That's not getting the customers. Um, it's being treated and it's being sold. So you're getting, you know, you're getting revenue back from the sale of that and, um, it's getting to the customers. So that's very positive to see, um, that that's this continued. Um, um, councilman Sullivan, I think last time you mentioned on this chart are the rain data, um, what we had shown. So each. Each plan is shown is average flow per day for a month. So the rain data looked small because it was average rain per day in a month. So it is odd. It is odd to see. And I, I, um, you know, I fully agree. You should have questioned that. So we changed that rainfall to monthly rainfall and make it, it's a lot more usable than what we had showed previously. But I think I said the biggest takeaway is that water loss and the water and sewer flows are trending very close now.

I've got a statement. So I think that's the tale of the tale is where those two merge together. Basically all the efforts being put into the sewer I&I to prevent water from getting into the sewer system and also the water system preventing leaks. Now you've got more of a trend of the water plant and the sewer plant seeing similar flows.

Right. And I'll just add, we have had wetter summers these past couple summers, so that has helped on irrigation. I know I can't hardly keep up with my yard right now, so people are watering less. So anything you can do to raise awareness of the impact that irrigation has on your system, it would be well spent. So looking at water plant. Um, this is the projections, um, looking at the linear projection. So just where the data is trending based on existing data and extending that out. So the dash line is that the data we are presented in 20 in October, 2025, the solid red line is the data currently. Um, so what you're seeing is that it's continuing to trend down, which is again, positive. Um, we think that the, and I program, the, the, Recent projects that have been completed have a positive impact on the system. And for the water treatment plant, again, in this data, keeping those water losses down is continuing to reduce those water losses. It's shown that data is trending down as well. So this is showing, so basically what TDET requires is once your plant reaches 80% capacity, you're required to begin design at that point. So this was jacking in about 2045 of that 80 hit of that 80%.

Um, ever allow you to do that prior to the 80% capacity.

Oh yes, absolutely. But that's the, that's the minimum that you have to begin design, but you can begin well before start planning. I mean, that's the more you get ahead of it, you know, the more planning you can do the better. Um, but again, it's, you know, seems to be trending, um, a good, a good timeframe. Um, again, looking at this is looking at homes built per year being added to the system, um, to project that again, the dash line is the data that was presented in 2025. The dark lines is the update to that data. Again, it's trending down. Um, And then note that in 2030 is noted when you'll be stopping selling water to Nolensville. So you have that big drop of, I think, uh, 4 million gallons per day that you will not be selling to Nolensville. Um, so that's trending a little bit farther out. Um, again, you're typically having less customers added on the water side than you are on the sewer side. Um, switching over to sewer is similar trend. So, um, on the sewer, this is, um, projected flow. Um, the red dotted line is the data that was presented in 2025 and that data is, has, you know, um, decreased. So it's presenting at a lower rate. Um, so it's looking at about 80% in the 2030 range. Um, So sooner for the wastewater than the, than the water, which makes sense. You're adding more customers to the wastewater than you are on the water side. Um, and then, but like I said, the positive that you're seeing, um, you know, uh, an improvement from the INA program that's, um, seen repairs here in the past year. Um, and then similar for doing a projection for homes being added per year. So on average about 650 homes added for a year to the sewer system. Um, the dash line is the data presented in 2025. And again, the dark lines or, um, the current data, which are trending less than what was being projected in 2025. Um, so that's looking at about, um, 2044 to reach the actual nine NGD of the plan and, um, and the 80% down percent design about 2032. So. within a two year range on those two different methods of projection. Um, so, um, Smyrna, the staff had looked at this as well and came up with a very similar, similar result. Um, so, you know, typically when you start planning design, you're looking at, you know, five to eight years minimum to plan something like this. And you have, you know, if you get S or F funding that can take another, you know, another couple of years. So this gives you some time to. plan, get funding, and then design the upgrades. And then of course, permitting will take, you know, probably three to five years potentially for permitting. So as far as timeframe, again, I think that's a good sign that you've got that big gap between the 80% and the actual hitting capacity of the plant. So it gives you time to plan design and get things built. So

you might've mentioned it. Are you, did you say you could estimate or forecast what that 80% when that would be?

Um, the 80% 2032 to 2030 between, between which she said 2030. Yes, sir. So 2030, if you just took the linear and 2032, if you look at how many homes are built, which is, you know, that can vary, you can have more homes built one year and less than next. Um,

And same question to deck would allow you to look at that ahead of time.

Yes, sir.

And then that line would change if a industrial user came in. Right. You know, you're just basically looking at residential units and commercial.

Right. Being built. Right. Yeah. Maybe, maybe a lot, you know, warehouses, they don't generate a lot of, a lot of flow, but a large user that's something, you know, industrial Nissan, um, would change. you know, change that projection. So, um, so current projects mentioned recently completed two sewer rehab projects. Um, uh, phase one rehab with art funds was completed in 2025. And then phase two was completed earlier this year. Um, so we did, you know, post data analysis on the, the, the first project and had very positive results. And so we're in the process of reviewing the post-rehab data for phase two that we should have info this September. Another project that'll be an improvement for the sewer line is there's a sewer line that's in the creek. We're relocating that line out of the creek so that it's not essentially going underwater when the creek's flow increased in flooding. So, sir, which Creek hearts branch. So it's along 40.

I'm sorry. I don't hear well. And I would appreciate if you'd speak up just a little bit.

Sure. Um, so it's hearts branch along highway 41. Um, there at the, the, the bridge, uh, along Larry street bridge. Right. Um, so it goes underneath that bridge. Our plan is to relocate it out of the Creek. Um, and then what, there'll be a, you know, a good improvement, especially during flood flood times. Um, we mentioned we're last time we're working on a hydraulic model for this entire sewer system from that we'll be able to analyze in depth any issues in the sewer system and then make recommendations on future work that would need to be done and then we're kind of gearing up for the next round of sewer rehab and that's more investigation so the flow flow study has been happening since 2021 and continuing Um, and that directed us to prioritize some basins, which was the F basin, uh, which is on the east side and Nissan drive, uh, areas of the B basin, kind of in the Sam Davis area and the E basin, which is over, um, near the airport, um, area, older, older part of the airport town and the old air base, uh, that would do some investigation to look at do smoke testing. manhole inspections and, and, and camera work on the lines to see what defects are there. Um, and from that we can prioritize what areas need to be fixed. Um, um, and then in the future, um, with the development of the work on the west side of town, uh, Linwood, that area, that trunk line and the next 10 plus 20 years is gonna need some improvements. Um, and so part of that, um, hydraulic analysis, we'll be looking at those truck lines heavily to see what kind of improvements will be needed.

Can you talk about the correlation between the basin B trunk upsize and the Meadowbrook lift station?

Sure. So the Meadowbrook lift station serves a good portion of that B trunk line. So everything uh, Southwest of Indian Springs road flows to that sewer lift station. So as those developments out on the west side of town, as they develop as more is built, that flows come into that lift station. Um, so that will need, you know, improvement. Um, and it's, you know, it's an older lift station as well. So there have been some pump replacements, some things do it, but it's gonna need a, you know, a major overhaul in the next, you know, five to 10 years.

So you're talking about running a line right beside.

Potentially. So either upsize or parallel is what we would analyze to see which is more feasible.

My backyard. But we've talked about it for years.

I mean, really and truly, it's... I mean, we've got a lift station there. We've talked about going with a gravity flow, but the difficulties in going with a gravity flow are pretty... I guess we've waited for years and decided that the lift station still is a superior method rather than... I guess what the circular path it would have to take to be gravity-fed.

Right, yeah, I think the issue was it was hitting lower than some of the treatment systems at the wastewater plant. And so there was going to be some additional separate treatment systems built to be able to serve that line by gravity. So that was where that additional cost was.

You know, I catch a lot of grief because, you know, part of the system does go through my backyard. But by the same token, most of the sewer systems in the town of Smyrna goes through that Meadowbrook lift station right there. So, I mean, it's, uh, um, um, could be, uh, you know, uh, a choke point, I guess.

So, um, so, uh, no comment. There's so many things to say here. I'm just going to wait.

Me too.

So in summary, you know, the data is showing that flows are trending down. Um, so sure. So, so this flows are trending down, so we want to make sure we keep continue doing, um, rehab, continue keeping water loss down. Um, cause those are making improvements in the system. Um, essentially you're, you're buying back capacity in the system by doing those things.

Ryan, thank you. Is there any questions for Ryan or Mike and his team back there? Anybody? I've just got a couple questions, maybe.

I know we've approved what, and I keep saying, and we're heading in the right direction as far as preventing I&I and water loss. Everything's trending down, and I really appreciate these updates to kind of give us a feel of where we're at as we move forward compared to what we're bringing on as far as new residents, um, and I've said this in the past, but, um, you know, we've approved anywhere from 10 to 12,000 units right now. And, you know, if we use that two 30, then we're up somewhere around two and a half million gallons a day more, which basically puts us at our design capacity that we have now. So I think it's crucial as we continue to approve residents that we further look into, like Mark was saying, maybe bringing that window back to start planning for the, you know, rather than waiting until 2031 on the 80% capacity, move that back a little bit and start looking at it. And then that way we'll have a firm definitive answer from

tdac of whether we can expand to 12 million so that that's my my concern is that we don't wait so i don't really pretend to understand some of this because i'm obviously not an engineer but jerome i know you went through the process the first time so you might be able to answer this but i agree with what you're saying i don't think it makes sense to wait till 2031 i'd like to be if 80 is 2032, 2031, whatever number, if 80% is there, then I would like to be ready to begin expansion at that point, not starting to be ready to expand, right? So I completely agree with that. My only question, the last part that you said, which gives me some concern, is you said a concrete answer from TDEC to know whether or not they will let us expand. So I guess that's my question is I understood they didn't give us the permit when we went to six to nine because obviously we weren't ready for it, but What's the likelihood, what's the possibility of them telling us, no, you can't go to 12?

Well, if we, like I think everyone said, if we keep the same mass loadings and we don't further degrade Stewart's Creek and Percy Priest, then the likelihood is yes, we'll get the permit. But there's a lot of report writing, a lot of planning. a lot of data collection in order to get those draft permit limits from TDAC. Once you submit all your reports, your data, how you're going to expand and how you're not going to degrade Stewart Creek further by your design process, then they'll give you what's called design or permit limits, draft permit limits. Once you get the draft permit limits, then that's the green light that you're going to get the expansion. So there's a couple years of planning and report writing to get to that point, and that's all I'm saying.

No, and I agree with you. What I was concerned about was if you're saying that if they're going to give it to us, if there was a chance they weren't, we need to be having more conversations, right? I think we're all assuming that we're going to be able to go to 12, and we're going to be able to go to 12 at or around that 80% mark, and we're going to be fine. And that's going to get us out until 2050 or beyond, right? Maybe 2075 even. when you said if they give it to us, I was like, Wait a minute, are we making a false assumption? Or we jump in the gun? Well, is there an opportunity for them to say no?

And then what do we do? But what kind of reason I've got experience with this with Spring Hill, we we did a lot of work with Spring Hill. And we felt like we could get an expansion permit. Well, dissolved oxygen was issued. It's called a DO sag downstream where you have below five milligrams per liter of dissolved oxygen based on the additional flow. Well, Spring Hill kept approving, approving, approving and they didn't get the permit. So now they're in a position to basically reject any further development. I'm just trying, as the town, to get us ahead, even though we can wait to the 80% mark, but based on our approvals of 10,000 to 12,000, does it make sense to wait any longer? Do we go ahead and start all that planning and try to secure the draft permit from TDAC to get that green light? And I'm not throwing shock up, shock waves. I'm just trying to look down the road and I've seen it happen to Spring Hill.

I think there's some logic there. I mean, the other number that I first wrote down was the 80% linear projection, which only is at 2030. That's only four years from now. You said five to eight years to get through the permitting and approval process. If that were to happen, if we were to hit closer to 2030 and not 2032 or 2034, we could be behind the eight ball in another year.

And to the plants, and I've collected peak data. The peak flows are down. The average flows are down, which tells you the I&I is doing an excellent job. And the process of the plants working. So I think meeting the new limits is attainable, but we still have to get their approval on how we plan to do that, you know. And that's a lengthy process.

Well, I know Jerome's got a lot of wisdom in this. You actually did some of this for our town, if I recall. All that said, his background kind of speaks to some of what we need to be prepared for, whether it's now or five years from now, if I heard Ryan right. Mike, I know last time you all did this presentation, You felt pretty comfortable with the timelines we were working with. Is that still the case?

I still do. Let me jump in here with just a couple of things. The way we track it, and we sent Jerome a copy of the spreadsheet that he requested, is we go by the number of customers that we had, because that's a real number. This last year, we added 577 customers. It only resulted in a 100,000-gallon increase at the plant. That's average daily flows. Uh, the other thing is, uh, I think when I just asked Ryan, I poked him on the back and ask him to make sure, uh, because Mark and I talked about this this morning, I think you can start this planning any time, but I would be shocked if TDEC would issue us a draft permit this far in advance. That's one reason I posed the question to Ryan. If we get the draft permit in hand, everybody feels great. We're happy. We're rolling forward. Uh, When Mark and I both had separate conversations with Wade Murphy at TDEC, what he told us was, as long as you meet anti-degradation, which is hold mass loadings the same, your concentrations go down. Then he feels good about us getting the draft permit when that time comes. So again, we can start the planning anytime, but I don't see us getting that draft permit. We probably need to call and recheck that because that's not my understanding. And I asked Ryan, he said, I'm not sure about the draft permit, but you can start the planning anytime.

Well, I probably phrased my question wrong to Ryan. That's where I was going with it. Right. I just asked him about planning. Sure. You can plan anything ahead of time.

Yeah. Cause the draft permit is the bottom line. You know, once we get the draft permit, and we're off to the races and doing all the things we need to do engineering-wise and all that stuff. But that permit's not going to come that quickly. I don't see them issuing it this quickly, and here's one of the reasons why. Administrations change, right? So what if an administration comes in, they set different limits or change things, and they've issued us a draft permit, and they've changed things tighter and the limits are lower? Or vice versa, the limits are higher. We're stuck on this thing, and I just don't see TDAC doing that. I could be wrong, but I will come forward.

Well, the anti-degradation comes from EPA, not TDAC. Well, that's what I'm saying.

What if the EPA changes these?

But I don't want us to get in a situation like we did the last plant expansion where we were pegged on capacity. And then we were struggling to meet permit limits.

We cannot redline the plant.

That's a no-brainer. So let me ask this question. Everything in government takes way too long. So if planning to get to the point where we've got all the data, we've got all the estimated flows and degradation or whatever we need to ask TDEC for that permit, what is that timeline? Because you said five to eight years from soup to nuts, but what is, if we're going to assume, let's just assume that 2032 is our 80% day, we need to be ready to start building and expanding, in my opinion, at that time so that we don't redline a plan, so that we have time to get it done before we need it.

I think that's true.

And so how long do we need to start? If we back into it, how long do we need to start?

We probably need to lay that out, but remember, what did the slide show? You had about a 12-year gap between when you hit 80% and until you hit nine. So you've got 12 years. So you don't have to start construction immediately. You start the process, get the drive permit, be ready to go. Construction, two years, three months.

Jerome, did you run into any of that? before when you did Smyrna's or Spring Hills?

Did you have to wait? Oh, there's a, you have to, it takes, I'd say two years to do the, collect all the data, write the planning report.

For the draft permit itself?

Oh yeah, the draft permit is probably going to take you, probably 36 to 48 months to get. I think that's kind of the conversation we're having.

That's what I was getting at, right? So based on that, and just kind of spitballing, it sounds like around 2028, if everything stayed the same, which we know I&I has helped us, yes, but the one thing nobody really, and you mentioned it briefly, I think, development has also slowed as well. We've got a lot that we have approved, but this is. Haven't built it. But this is accounting for that and expecting it to continue at that rate, which we don't think it's going to. And we've seen that in the last year, definitely the last six months. Just from me being on planning commission, planning plats coming to us has dropped significantly. So it's obvious that we're slowing down. And maybe we will stay slow down. Maybe we won't. But every month it's slower is another gain.

let's in time let's evaluate it in another year and yeah see where we're at i think we need to stay on top of it and i think i think jerome's point's accurate we don't need to be waiting until 2032 to start this process right if i may one of the things we did in this year's five-year cip plan specifically within utilities is we added the dollars to start that process and we said that you know right now it's it's at the fifth year but we're, we're flexible and where that needs to be based off of how, how things are moving and shifting. Right. So, so we've got that in there. We're watching it. Not only we're watching our numbers, but we're watching it financially as well so that we are prepared to do that when we're, when we need to.

Yeah. And plenty of time after it hits the 80%, there's still time to work. All right. Any other questions for Mike or Ryan?

Thank you.

Thank you, Ron. Thank you, gentlemen.

I was hoping Mark would get up here and speak. That Mark not does.

We only get him out when HG can't hear.

That's fair. Okay, we will move on now to our consent agenda. It's item number five on the agenda. The consent agenda items will be those items determined by the town manager to be routine matters, not necessitating discussion. All consent agenda items may be voted upon simultaneously pursuant to a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the town council requests that the discussion be held, in which case the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Following passage of the remaining consent agenda items, discussion of any items removed from the consent agenda shall be held in separate motions and votes will be taken for each of those items removed. I will read these items from letters A to H, and I'll begin with the first one on letter A, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with Ward Diesel for exhaust filters for fire apparatus. Item B, approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute the Robot Zoo Exhibit Agreement with an Exhibition Group, INC, for the Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center. Item C, approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to approve the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, TDEC, Annual Storm Water Report. Item D, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with Premier Fence to replace a handrail on the sidewalk along Rock Springs Road between Imperial Drive and the entrance to Colony Square Apartments. Item E, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute an annual agreement with Rollins Excavating Company LLC for stormwater and concrete work. Item F, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with E. Evan Cope, PLLC, for legal services related to property acquisitions necessary for the Stewart Creek Gravity Sewer Project. Item G, approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with Wayne's Pest Control to provide routine services. And last one, item F, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute a reimbursement agreement with Gutierrez Plumbing for emergency sewer repair. Um, you've heard the consent agenda. Is there any items anybody needs to pull off? If not, I'll take a motion.

I've got two.

Which items are there, Raquel? D and E. Items D and E we will remove contemporarily. And F. D, E, and F. Items D, E, and F we will remove, but we will take a vote on the remaining items for approval.

Make a motion to approve A, B, C, F, sorry, A, B, C, G, and H.

Did you say D?

Nope.

Okay. All right. We have a motion for the ones we didn't ask to be removed. Any second? Second. Got a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. We will revisit item D, approval of the terms of and the authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with Premier Fentz to replace a handrail on the sidewalk along Rock Springs Road between Imperial Drive and the entrance to Colony Square Apartments. Tom?

I don't know if you have any specific questions about the handrail.

I have a question. So I did see on the workshop where you all talked about this, and the reason we are doing it is because once the developer finished and the rail was put up, it was in the right-of-way, and now it is our responsibility, correct? Yes. Okay. So when they initially put up the fence, did we actually – and confirmed that it was not going to end up looking like it looks now.

We went out and looked at it. We confirmed that there was a fence there. We weren't aware how quickly this thing would rust and how poor quality it was, but we did an inspection on it, and it didn't take but a few years before it started rusting out and having problems with it.

So do we have a standard for the type of railing that is required that we have developers or that the developers can use? Do we have any standards for that now?

We do. What we want them to use is the three rail system. It's in the TDOT standard where it's got upright posts for support, and it's got top rail, mid rail, and foot rail on it. So we have them install that now.

Okay. Sorry, and that's what we're putting back, right? Yes. Yeah, sorry. No worries. And this is, it's normal for us to go and replace railing because I don't recall us doing this in the past.

There's very few places where there's any kind of handrail in the right-of-way. You know, it's... Mayfield Drive. Yeah, Mayfield's the only place that's that type of handrail system that we have on Mayfield.

Okay, and... According to the fiscal impact, you have a budget of $150,000 for sidewalk rehabilitation. Are there other areas where this money is already being used or not yet?

We've got a couple of spots where we had reported in where concrete sidewalk has popped up. Sometimes when it gets really hot outside, the gas is underneath it to make it pop up. So any places like that, we'll go in and fix those. And then any places that don't meet ADA, we'll go in and we're slowly fixing those to meet our self-evaluation we did about seven years ago.

Okay. And that doesn't have to, does that have to come back to us when you fix those places or we've already approved the ability to do that?

We've approved the ability to do that through our annual contract with our annual concrete contract.

Okay. Okay, those are my questions.

I've got one question on that. Tom, on the new fence, do we know what kind of coating so that we're not out there in three years? Is it a powder coating? I believe it is a black powder coating. Okay.

Any other questions on item D? If not, I'll take a motion on item D. Motion to approve item D. I have a motion from Raquel. Mr. Wilson, second. Second. Second from Steve. Any other discussion? All in favor on approval of item D, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That carries. We will move now to item E, approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute an annual agreement with Rollins Excavating Company, LLC, for stormwater and concrete work. Jerome, did you pull that one off? No. You, okay. Your question to Tom?

Okay, so I understand that Rollins is the bidder that you've gone with. I guess I'm trying to make sure of what I was reading on the proposed this, that they submitted. So the, they gave an amount for every type of activity that may happen. Correct. Pretty much everything. Total amount was less than the other bidders. That's why they've been chosen. However, for this year, we have a budget of let's see, 200,000, however, It doesn't mean that that's what's going to be spent on them. It's just that's the budget. And because their bid was lowest, they're the ones that we'll use when we need to do repairs.

Correct. All right. Yes. From the standpoint that we're not going to do this much work this fiscal year, we're going to stay in the budgets that we have. Uh, but it wasn't solely based on costs. It was partly based on costs is also based on references and previous work experiences, things like that. And we chose Rollins.

So we won't be spending eight 14. We'll be spending the 200 this year or something around that. Yes. Yeah. Not to exceed 200. Okay.

Any more questions on item E for Tom?

So actually, as of now, though, you have a list of items that they are going to be working on.

Uh, for, well, for stormwater, for example, they are working, they just finished up actually the, um, Oh, rock Springs road sidewalk. And there's some stormwater components to that. And so they follow these unit rates or the previous units rates to do that work. And then as other things come up, if we have any stormwater issues, if headwalls break, then we use this contract for them to go out to repair headwalls or replace culverts if they get run over and they get bent down. And we need to replace those, and that's where we fall with this contract.

Okay. And then they use? If I'm not mistaken, they actually provided, like, samples of designs, and so they have to use those designs when they make these repairs?

Well, they follow our engineering details and then also any kind of T-DOT design standards for, like, head walls, things like that.

Okay. Okay.

You good?

I'm good.

All right. Any other questions on E? If not, I'll take a motion. Got a motion from Raquel. I'll second. Steve seconds. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. The last one was item F. I think Jerome asked for this one. Approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with E. Evan Cope, PLLC, for legal services related to the property acquisitions necessary for the Stewart Creek Gravity Sewer Project.

Yes. I spoke to Kyle yesterday, and he sent me some information. Basically, the way the contract's written, we've got an hourly rate for what their work will be. But we don't have any upper cap on the amount that we're going to spend. So my thing is, Do we put an upper cap, say, OK, if he goes through, say, $200,000, whatever the figure may be, then they come back to council and say, OK, we've reached our limit. We're through 10 of the 20 easements that we need, but we need to allocate X amount of money. The way this contract reads right now, there's no upper limit on it. And I know it'd be based on our reach. But I also asked Kyle to ask the attorney, is there a standard average cost that he's seen from past work that per easement, where we just have a grasp on what this is going to cost. Not necessarily a restriction, but just a grasp of how much we're approving here.

Yeah, so thank you, Councilmember. I spoke with Mr. Cope yesterday afternoon and his answers varies from, it really just depends on how much we want to press any individual case. And he said that they range typically from when they file the initial litigation, sometimes they settle right then. So it could be as few as a few hundred dollars or the low thousands to as much as if we were to take a case all the way through trial, discovery and trial, it'd be a 50 or $60,000 case. Now those would be the rare occasions and we would bring each of those to you for, uh, for a decision, uh, before we took a case all the way through trial. Uh, but he said it really could range anywhere in between those numbers, depending on our position and where the, um, landowner is at. And he gave one example of a, another municipality that has a difference of $1.5 million between the landowner and. the city. And that's something that, um, uh, is going through litigation. It's been in litigation for three or four years and it could be on that high end of that.

So usually, obviously this is part of what I do every day with legal operations. The only other option that I've ever really had any success with is a flat fee arrangement, right? So, um, Obviously, attorneys don't want to sign up for a flat fee arrangement when it's so variable, right? So I understand that. And if they do, it's usually padded so high to make sure they come out OK. So I kind of understand where he's coming from. I guess, Jerome, my question would be is, let's say we did put a cap and said at $200,000, Kyle, you've got to come back to counsel and give us at least an update and ask for more money. We're not going to stop the work. We still got to close the 20 properties. So it's not like we're going to say, Kyle, you can't have any more money. We've got to stop at this point because we've got to finish the project.

On this particular project, we are contractually obligated to finish this project on a very tight timeline. So that is a consideration.

And then my last one was I was thinking about when you were talking about different people or how far people want to push things, which way or the other. enon springs west comes to mind and probably all of you except for maybe jerome i don't know if you oh i heard through the rumor mail i didn't yeah you but that one there was one property owner that owned seven pieces of property and didn't want to take our offer he made a counter offer we didn't accept it ended up going to arbitration and ended up going into court um and that one took some time there's no way for the attorney to know that was going to happen in advance so um I think generally if we were selling something, buying something, getting services like a fence built or something, I can see why we would want a cap, but I just don't see how you do that to an attorney.

You just want to make sure that there's some accountability and updates. I can't vote on an open-ended contract where I don't know.

Some range. What would be your suggestion when you talk about a cap, if you can't support an open-ended? I think I kind of take Steve's position, not that I'm arguing with you. I want to understand why we're not trusting our attorney staff to handle this with this attorney staff. That's my concern.

Well, I ran a business for several years.

This is a government.

Yeah, but I've dealt with government. I've built on hourly rate. I never had a contract where it was open-ended on hourly rate without a number not to exceed. That's what I'm... I'm sorry. Let me finish my point. I think if we had some kind of cap, where we said, okay, here's a cap of 200, 400, whatever it is. If you start exceeding that, come back, tell us where you're at, tell us how many easements you've got, just some kind of accountability of what we are spending. That's all I'm saying. There's no distrust. It's just accountability and keeping us abreast. And the public should know what those numbers are too.

So it sounds like what we're really asking for is periodic status. And maybe we make a formal request that, you know, every six months you're coming back and telling us.

I'm not here to slow the process down. I know we're under a timeline. But I've just under good conscience can't. vote on an open-ended contract not knowing where the end is.

So, Kyle, you've had some conversation with Evan's office, I assume, right? Yes. Did he give you any feedback about this concept or whether he'd be amenable to it or not?

Well, I think one of his concerns and one of mine would be because we are contractually obligated, should we be down the road and you vote no, you'd be voting against the town's interest so I think that would put you in jeopardy for for a breach of contract situation if you were to put it to a continuous vote but I would just state that there would be continuous updates on this project and we would not involve or engage the town in litigation beyond for example if we had a case that we felt needed to go to trial that would be a decision that the council would make whether we make an offer to settle the case or whether we take it to trial so you would be involved in those steps before we spend that litigation those litigation dollars or dollars on litigation and he would If we had a case that was going to trial, then we would get a budget for depositions, expert witnesses, those things, so that we could make a business decision as to whether or not we wanted to go that route. So you would be involved in every step of that.

I think maybe part of the issue is, and I'm sorry I interrupted you, but we would know about that case, but there may have already been... 50 that have been resolved and so there's still legal fees that have been put towards that amount and That's not giving us a total if we're just if when we have sessions It's only dealing with the one that is going to litigation So we may have already spent 200,000 but now we're looking at just this one case that has a litigation component where we're going to be spending substantially amount substantially more possibly and that's the one that you would bring to us so we don't have a way of just getting an overall figure and I think that that's more what you're well that leads to another point how did we budget for that and what number did we put in the budget

So before I answer that question, I would just say that regular reporting is something that we would plan to do for my office on how much we're spending on legal fees. Uh, and that's something that I would report back to you on a regular basis with, as we move forward in this project, as far as the budget goes, I'm going to yield to Mr. Santucci because this was before my time. And I believe before his time. Yeah.

I can answer that. So I actually recently provided an update on this project that I asked Mr. Strange to put together, so it included the budgetary figures, where we are with the easement acquisitions and what those costs are. One of the things that we've learned through this project is the price of land has gone up tremendously. So we are exceeding our original budget, but there's capacity within the utility fund to absorb those costs. And again, we are contractually obligated to deliver this project by 2029. So we're doing our best to reduce those costs through cooperative easement acquisition. But for whatever reason on this particular one, we're seeing probably just a higher percentage of contested easement acquisition than we normally would.

And to your point about the land values, they have increased. We saw it in our assessments this year as well. So the longer we take, you know, don't buy real estate and wait. Don't buy real estate, don't wait to buy real estate. And that's what these people...

So, again, I'm not trying to delay the process. I'm just, it's the accountability. And with that increased easement cost, is that share buyer... contract obligation of who that's making contributions to this project, DRAPAC.

The increased costs?

No, DRAPAC has a locked-in contribution to the project.

There was some discussions way back when about starting acquisitions when this first got approved seven or eight years ago. And we didn't feel like that was prudent because it was money that we would spend and then just sit and wait. But by waiting, now it's going to cost us more.

And waiting again will cost more. That's my point. It's a fair assessment. I hear you. I don't know if there's a mechanism that I understand that could potentially hurt us.

I think there's a simple mechanism. Let's put an initial cap. Come back, get...

I think we've got that promise from him already, right? Yeah. I think he said he will apprise us of anything like that, which we can vote yes or no for.

I don't have that comfort level. You guys may. I don't. I'm one vote.

Any other discussion on

that item, which was item F. If not, I'll take a motion on item F. I'll make a motion that we approve with the caveat that the attorney's office will provide us regular updates on progress.

And we have a motion from Steve. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Jerry. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Did you get that? All right. Thank you, everybody, for that conversation. We'll move on. Old business. Item A is a public hearing. Here comes Kevin. This is consideration of an ordinance relative to the rezoning of property located on tax map 49, parcel 2.01, owned by Woods Properties containing two acres from R1 to C2. Property is located at 10-510 Old Nashville Highway.

Kevin? Yeah, this is a piece of property at 10-5-10 Old National Highway. It's about 500 feet northwest of the intersection with Pioneer Drive slash Stewart Valley Drive. Land use plan would support medium-density residential development in this immediate area with nearby areas being located within the Old National Corridor character area, which would support a mix of neighborhood scale, retail uses, and personal services, as well as townhomes and multifamily would also be supported in that character area. The surrounding zoning is a mix of R1, C2, and PRD, which is the Villas of Stewardsboro of PRD. There is an existing house and detached accessory structure on this property. A sewer line is stubbed into the property from the northwest in two locations. Water is provided by Consolidated Utility District. If this rezoning is approved, a type C buffer would be required where this property borders residentially zoned properties when it is developed. The Planning Commission did review this request. We'd recommend approval 740 against. Staff would also recommend approval.

All right. Thank you, Kevin. This is a public hearing, so before we have any discussion, I will open the floor up to anybody that might want to speak for or against this topic. If you do, please come to the podium. And seeing nobody, we'll close the public hearing, and we'll go to the council for a motion.

I hope that will not be part of this.

Count Jerry's abstaining.

I'll make a motion to approve.

We have a motion from Jerome for approval. Do I have a second? I'll second. Second from Steve. Any further discussion?

Has there been determined any idea of what's proposed to be here yet? Have you all talked about that?

I don't know. There's been, I've been talking with the owner. There's multiple things we're considering, I guess. There's nothing confirmed yet as to what the proposed use would just be something within what is allowed within the city district.

You've probably watched it, Raquel, but we look at this from a planning perspective and zoning perspective.

We also, I don't want to say strict, but we specifically talked about the buffers. And it's pretty much, except for the burn, it's pretty much the most restrictive buffer we have on two sides. Yeah, quite a distance for many mavers. So pretty much anything that they put there allowed in this zone will fit just fine because of the buffer and the proximity to on that driveway.

Just didn't know if it had changed if someone had mentioned it yet.

Good question. Any other discussion? All right. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. We will move on now to item seven, new business, the planning commission report. Item number one, consideration of an ordinance relative to the rezoning of tax map 28K, group A, parcel 1.0 from R3 to P02, requested by Arseny Gobrial. The property requested to be rezoned contains approximately .28 of an acre and is located at 519 Noel Lane.

This is a request for rezoning at the corner of Noel Lane and Old Nashville Highway. The land use plan would support medium density single family residential in this area. Surrounding zoning is a mix of R1, R3, and then a PCD, which is on the other side of Noel Lane there, which is C4 uses, plus the use of beer and tobacco sales. That's the reason for the PCD. Uh, the planning commission did review this request to recommend denial seven four zero against, uh, staff would also recommend it now.

Um, we all know why, but Steve, since you're on planning with me, I'll let you have the floor for a minute. Yeah.

So, um, this is the second time actually that we were, um, kind of reviewed this particular piece of property. The last time we also denied it. Um, and the primary reason is even though this house borders old Nashville highway, It primarily faces the neighborhood in Noel Lane. It's really more in the residential community than the Old National Highway commercial community. So because of the impact to Noel Lane and the access would be that neighborhood street versus Old National Highway, we, again, voted to deny. DAVID BURRAGE.

And we had one of the neighbors show up, not very supportive of the idea as well. All right. Any questions about this one? I'll take a motion. I have a motion for denial. Is there a second? Second. Second from HG. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That denial is approved. Item B, consideration of a resolution authorizing the assessment of franchise fees on 2% of revenue collected by TDS Telecom pursuant to TCA 759.305. Hi, Sarah.

Hello. Okay. So there are various types of service providers that are allowed to apply to the state for what's called a state-issued certificate of franchise authority. That's in lieu of applying to all the various local governments for a specific franchise authority through them. But they are required to notify local governments of, one, their intent to operate in their area, and, two, the local government's right to assess franchise fees. Town of Smyrna received notice from TDS Telecom on June 23rd. This resolution's assessment of 2% is the same as our last assessment on Google Fiber.

So it matches up.

Yes.

Any questions for Sierra?

Sierra, is there any mechanism for auditing These entities.

So yes, there is. Um, it is actually similar to the hotel motel audit. If there's something that we have as an ordinance resolution, we can contract with a third party to audit them, but it's based on numbers of customers. The assessment is 2% based off of their gross revenue revenue.

Thank you, man. For the questions for Sierra.

So that assessment gets paid at the end of the year or at the beginning? Quarterly. Quarterly. Okay.

Everybody good? We'll take a motion on item B. Motion to approve. We have a motion from Steve and a second from HG.

No, I made the motion.

I think he beat you to it. Okay, we'll move it to a second. You didn't hear it. Sure I did. All right. Steve made the motion. That's how I heard it. I'm on both sides. Next, she gets the second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item B carries. Item C, consideration of an ordinance amending the fee schedule approved by Ordinance 26-26 regarding the adoption of certain new fees relative to the Planning Department pursuant to House Bill 0375, Senate Bill 0988, and Ordinance 2633. Sierra?

Okay, so we did just approve the FY27 fee schedule in June, but we have a few updates to the planning fees. Smyrna Ordinance 2633 adopted an additional fee relative to mobile food trucks. So that update has been added. And then House Bill 0375 required pretty extensive analysis and justification of development fees. Staff adjusted a couple fees that were found to exceed actual labor costs. both the final plat and preliminary plat subdivision fees are now a flat fee and the per lot portion has been removed.

Flat fee for the final plats. Any discussion or questions for Sierra? Hearing none, I'll take a motion. I'll make a motion to approve. Jerome got that one. Who seconds?

Second.

HG second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Item C, carries. Item D, consideration of an ordinance amending Smyrna Municipal Code Title 12, Chapter 6, relative to an amendment to the Residential Code. Here comes Christy.

Thank you, Council.

Aye, Christy.

How are you doing? This is a request to amend the Municipal Code, Title 12, Chapter 6, relative to the energy codes within the Building Codes Department. Recently we went through a state residential audit and we were, the recommendation for the audit was that we make these minor changes. We also went through our audit for our electrical. We kind of waited on this change to make sure that we didn't have anything else. So this will make those corrections to the municipal code, sorry.

Tongue twister.

Yeah. But not today in the weather.

Questions for Christy? Hearing none, we'll take a motion. Move to approve. Motion from Jerry. Second. Second from Jerome. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Last one under planning commission, consideration of a resolution authorizing the identity of certain cybersecurity vendors to be confidential pursuant to TCA 107504I3C. Hello, Carl.

Good evening, Vice Mayor. Good evening, Council. I'd like to talk about this, but now it's confidential. So this is an ordinance adapting the state law that allows us now to keep confidential information about our cybersecurity vendors. This was crafted by our town attorney, and we're just presenting it for your consideration as we'd like to protect that information. Thank you.

All right. Any conversation you want to have with Carl on this or questions or for Kyle? Hearing none, we'll take a motion. Motion to approve. Motion from Steve. Second. Second from HG. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Carl. Thank you. We are down to item eight public comment. The town's public comment period shall be reserved for those citizens that have signed up to address the town council or a board or committee at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting pursuant to the town's public comment policy as outlined above. And I believe we have somebody here that wants to speak tonight. Am I correct about that? Amber? Yes, sir. You're welcome to come to the podium, whoever it is.

Ms. Foltz. Ms. Foltz, yes. I'm the only one. Yes, ma'am.

Well, you're the only one that signed up. Let's just say that.

Okay.

Amber's got a clock, and boy, if you go over three minutes, she's going to ring it.

Okay, Amber. Thank you all for letting me speak, and you don't have to comment on it. You don't have to ask me any questions because I've got it all written here, and I'm going to read it real quick, okay?

Ms. Foltz, I'm sorry. Before you start, do you mind stating your full name and your street address for the record, please? Okay.

It is Wanda Foltz. Okay. And it is 106 Bonifay Drive.

All right. And is that within the city limits? Yes, it is. Okay. Thank you. Town limits.

Excuse me. Okay. And I'm speaking on behalf of our neighborhood, Hunters Point, Cedar Forest, and Hidden Hills. So I'm going to read this short and quick. Okay. There are two items that we are having problems with in our community. The single-family homes being used for multiple renters and traffic violations. And you all have probably already heard this many times. There are three homes on Bonifay Drive, 102, 109, and 110 that have been turned into rentals. Multiple renters in each, and 109 appears to be operating as a boarding house. I've been informed there are several houses in the entire neighborhood that the same thing is happening. And first I'll address the 102. The owner turned this home into a rental the day he purchased. First renter operated the Tennessee Titan Tree Service. He brought his equipment home, washed it, and serviced it right on our street. They had Texas license tags and proceeded to bring in women and children. The wife would disappear for a few days with the women and children and return a few days later without them. According to our Hispanic neighbor, which she is my friend, The neighbor traveled to New York periodically. There were several things that we saw making us suspect trafficking. We reported this to the police, and I will not go into detail what we saw, but it was bad. It wasn't long before they moved after the police were contacted. Next, a man from Venezuela moved in and tried to run a car lot on the street. The city was made aware and the man moved. Now there are several men with tags on their vehicles from Texas, Florida, South Carolina, and recently from Illinois living in the house. And then the next property, the 109, the owner moved out in 2023 and began renting to multiple renters that would be dropped off individually at any time during the day. At first, there were men, women, and children. At times, I would estimate probably 15 to 20 people living in this house. That was a lot of people on a dead-end street. After the border closed, the number dropped off, and now they're only men. I'm not sure how many, but seven cars coming and going at different times and parking on the street at different times, with men being dropped off periodically. There are no women there, neither at 102 and 109. They're all men. And on 110 Bonifay, the owner did the same thing. He moved suddenly, and one day after he moved, multiple people began moving in. A lot of traffic, sometimes six to seven vehicles, and some park in the driveway, and some on the grass, some on the street. The main concern, I guess the most important is the main concern for 102 and 109 because the bus stop is within a block of those two houses. And there are little girls that walk up, come up and down the hill on the way I'm through? Yes, ma'am. Okay. All right.

Ms. Fultz and I had a conversation today on the telephone for a little while about this, and I told her she'd be hard up against that three minutes, but I told her to bring anything else in writing, make sure she gave that to Amber, and we would be glad to distribute that to the council members. Thank you. Thank you for your time on the phone today as well.

I appreciate it. And again, I'm not asking for questions or anything. I just appreciate you all hearing this out and our concerns for the neighborhood and for Smyrna. I moved from Nashville and trust me, I've been through all this before.

Okay, thank you, Ms. Fultz. I think, Todd, you've kind of been working on some of this already, have you not? Yes, sir. Can you come to the podium and maybe speak to this just a little bit so we can make the council aware?

Yes, sir.

Um, we spent a process with the police department as well as planning as codes as, as well. And I can give you some rough numbers over the last 18 months, we've issued about 41 notices to about non-properties in that area. And that it resulted in, I believe six citations that we've been issuing, issuing. So the police department has active patrol, directed patrol for that area.

Can I ask you a question? You may or may not, I'm putting you on the spot. What are those citations mostly consisting of?

It's multiple things, grass, cars, more than multiple cars in a driveway, trash, having refuge that is not sealed and bags on top of, parking, obviously parking on the roads, and then the latest one was partially zoning, but that's where we have an address that we suspect may be a boarding house type situation, which we have sent them notices and we will continue to investigate. But it's a, I don't want to say it's a joint effort, but the police department is doing their part as far as the parking and getting information and CODES has done it as well. So we're very vigilant in that neighborhood, respond to any complaints that we have in that neighborhood. And our CODES officials are well aware of the traffic that's in that neighborhood as well as complaints from the neighbors. And we have, like I said, we have several open cases. and 41 notices in the last 18 months.

So is Ms. Fultz aware of that? Have you spoken with her? Does she, is she aware of the 41 notices?

Don't know that she has, and I got this information obviously from Dennis, but I don't know that she's aware of it.

So I can't call you back up to speak cause you used up all your time, but, but just so you know, there's some work going on behind the scenes that will address some of those concerns you have, uh, chief. As far as parking goes, a reminder that is it 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. no parking on the streets? Is that correct? Yes. According to my conversation with her today, they're parking on both sides of the streets. I don't know if they're violating that time zone or not. but perhaps we can send some patrol officers over that way this week or next week and see if they're violating that 1 to 5 a.m. time zone, give them warnings or citations or whatever it is, maybe to correct some of that problem. If we could put a little focus on that area, it might help. I know you have been.

We have a direct patrol and that's still part of the, the, the whole process that we're doing, but that's exactly what we're doing. We're going at those hours to make sure that they're parking, parking in the right location, numbers of cars. I mean, it's the whole gamut codes comes in after hours at night and we've taken photographs.

It's off hours when they usually try to violate a lot of things. And so, um, for, for Ms. Fultz, I understand her concerns and, uh, If you know, if there's any of our neighborhoods, we'd want the same thing. So I think if we can focus on that a little bit going forward, we might be able to get you some results, Ms. Paul.

All right.

Thank you so much. We're glad you signed up to speak tonight. All right. Uh, anything under other, uh, I'm sorry, sir. We didn't have you signed up tonight.

They also add.

Yes, sir. They're here. They'll make note of that for you. Yes, sir. Absolutely. All right. You bet. We'll make sure they know that. All right. Hello, Mike, under other. Thank you for that, sir. We appreciate it.

I have a couple of emergency purchases to announce, both for the wastewater treatment plant, oddly enough. The first one is it's with IFS. It's for a new reuse pump and repair of the lower shaft. There's two pumps in the reuse pump building. One is enough to operate the system. If it goes down, the other is the spare. It's gone out 25, 30 years old, so we need to replace it. It costs $75,000. The other one is with Thompson Cat. It is for replacement of the automatic transfer switch at Meadowbrook. What that does is if the power was to go out, it'll automatically go to generator power and stop overflows into the creek. So that one is 71764, and these are underway.

All right. Thank you, Mike. Yes, sir. I don't know if thank you is the right word. Probably not. I'm on this one. Thank you for letting us know. All right, status reports. Do I have any? Cameron?

Good evening, Council. I have one thing under other. I want to take the opportunity to introduce our new EMS captain. As you all know, we've had a dramatic increase in our EMS calls over the past 18 months. We conducted a rather lengthy recruitment process. We had about 28 applicants. From all across the country, we went through an intense resume survey of them, narrowed it down to nine candidates. We used some external evaluators from Rutherford County Fire Department, Brentwood Fire Department, and Rutherford County EMS. They narrowed it down further. We did some in-house interviews. and we selected Paul Centola. I will let him go through his credentials because he has numerous credentials in both fire and EMS, so he is very well versed in not just EMS but the actual fire base that we run. So I will let him kind of present everything that he's got. Thanks, Cameron.

Welcome, Paul.

Thank you.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Good evening, Council. Yeah, my name is Paul Santola. I'm originally from upstate New York. I started in firing EMS back in 2009. Prior to that, I was in an explorer program. Kind of got my start in that. Worked all the way through the different ranks of EMT to intermediate. Became a volunteer firefighter and was there for about 13 years doing that in New York. uh... went to uh... college in upstate new york where i obtained my bachelors in uh... nursing uh... and i at the same time was doing my associates degree in paramedicine uh... got my paramedic uh... went into the i see you at a level one trauma center started that and then went to uh... become a flight nurse flight paramedic for many years on helicopters got my critical care paramedic and then met my wife actually on the helicopter and all that and did some travel nursing throughout covid eventually landed here in tennessee where we started our family and then got hired on his career fire with brentwood fire and rescue for the past three years But since then, obtained my Tennessee instructor coordinator and taught numerous advanced emergency medical technician courses, and here I am now.

Coming from Brentwood fire department, right?

That's correct.

You have a lot of familiarity with our police chief, our fire chief. Yes. Chief Goss, who was by the way named a Tennessee fire chief of the year. That's correct. So we're pretty proud of that, but welcome. Anything you want to know from any of these people up here real quick? I'll get to know everyone. Well, thank you for coming up and introducing yourself. It's a pleasure to have you aboard. Thank you. Thank you Paul. Uh, any others? Uh, let me start over here, Todd. Jeff? Jason? Tom? Kevin? You guys are done. Mike, you've been up here enough. Mark? Who's back there? Christy? Heather? Carl? Mike Moss? Who's behind you, Mike? Sierra, she's already done. And Chief, do you have anything? Yeah, you want to do the financials, Sierra, real quick?

It's always a good lead-in for the shop local, Sierra. Yes. OK, slide.

Okay, state shared sales tax came in at 792,000. That is very close with what we budgeted. It's 1.42% shortfall, which equates to 133,000 shortfall in local sales tax. We got 1.8 million, which I'm very proud of this number, 99.71% of budget, very close. That is just a $63,000 shortfall. So combined, less than $200. We did have less expenses than budgeted, so that more than covers it. But if you're interested in revenues that performed better than anticipated, that also helped offset this. Building permits had been lagging behind significantly throughout the budget year, but they ended with an additional $155,000 over budget and randomly golf cart rental revenue, $75,000 over budget. I guess people don't like walking the golf course.

Steve, he's doing it. I use my own cart. Okay. Steve's not helping you.

I actually am. I'm letting that one that I would use get rented. Get rented out. Yeah.

This is year end number two, right? Yes.

Excellent tracking, by the way. You estimated quite well, it looks like. So congratulations on that. All right. Well, thank you, Siri. Any questions for Sierra? I got ahead of myself. All right. We've talked to all of our department staff and directors. So Amber, what do you have for us tonight?

a good old Top Gun Night Run slide. We are, today's August 11th, so we are one month out from our seventh annual Top Gun Night Run, which will be held on Friday, September 11th. We will be doing a tribute program immediately prior to the start of the race um to honor the 25th anniversary of 9-11 that falls on september 11th this year so come out and join us whether you just want to pay tribute to the fallen and to our military and heroes or um if you have not signed up for the race and you feel like walking and running and getting your shirt and medal and doing the whole shebang then get registered through the website um or we also have rubik's groove playing that night on the main stage up at the memorial finish line so if you want to invite your friends and family to come cheer you across the finish line and groove to rubik's groove then you can do that as well so hope to see you all there you don't want to miss that band if you have an opportunity they're really really good

Anything else, Amber?

That's it.

Dave? Just a few slides this evening. Also want to recognize Chief Goss for being named the Tennessee Fire Chief of the Year. This prestigious award, the highest honor Tennessee's fire service can bestow upon a chief. Fire executive recognizes Chief Goss' exceptional leadership, dedication to public service, and a commitment to strengthen fire and emergency services throughout our state. Chief Goss' leadership and unwavering commitment continue to make a lasting impact on our department, the Smyrna community, and the fire service profession. So please join me in congratulating Chief Goss on this well-deserved honor who could not be here because he's also doing some things at the state right now at another association. So congratulations once again, Chief Goss.

He sent a great replacement special tonight.

And registration is now open for the Smyrna Police Department Citizen Police Academy taking place between September 8th and November 3rd. These are on Tuesday nights between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Adults 18 and older are invited to gain a behind-the-scenes look at what happens within our law enforcement agency through interactive sessions such as traffic stops, investigations, patrols, narcotics, facility tours, and more. So you can register online at townofsmyrna.org, but if you have any questions, you can reach out to Officer Jonathan Beverly at 615-459-6644. That's all I have this evening.

Thanks Dave. How about you, Kyle? And he doesn't even for me tonight, vice mayor, you're going to be quiet over there.

Okay.

Yes, sir.

I have a public service or just a, uh, Dave, myself, Mark and Todd attended the family care center, grand opening ribbon cutting. And they're on Seven Oaks Boulevard, and they provide mental health care. So quite impressed with the facility. They even offered what's called transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS. and they gave me a little sample of it, and it felt great the rest of the afternoon. You were different after that.

I don't know what it was. Yes, yes. Your magnets were alive.

Yeah, yeah. So I enjoyed that, enjoyed just appreciate them opening their business in Smyrna. And it's veteran-owned by two veterans, and they both have quite a story. And I would also like to congratulate Chief Goss on that. being recognized as fire chief of the year. Well deserved. Absolutely at all.

Yes. Raquel, what have you got tonight?

I have the Smyrna Depot farmer's market. It meets each Saturday from 8 AM to 12 PM at the train Depot. And there are local vendors, fresh goods, and The live music begins at 9 a.m. every Saturday, so everyone come on out and participate or get some fresh vegetables. I'd also like to say congratulations to Chief Goss, say welcome to the town of Smyrna family, to Paul Santola, and also remind everyone that school is back in session and being actually was a homeschool mom or teacher for about 14 years and so I know a lot of families are trying to push through the grind here this first week to get back to school so I just want to remind everyone to be careful there will be kids out catching buses there will be students driving so everybody please take note of that and be patient as school starts up this week

It's a good reminder. Mark, I forgot something. Donna Shelton that usually, you know, attends meetings. Her mother passed and just sends condolences. I had it on my list, so I'm glad you brought it up.

Raquel, anything else?

That's it. All right. HG? I've got a couple here, one being the Smyrna Library Saturday a week ago hosted the Walking Through History Tour. Myself, Jerry, Raquel, and Dave, and Abraham Lincoln were all there. It was actually in conjunction with the – 250 year anniversary of the United States of America and it was quite an interesting exhibition there. I mean they had everything from like the history of the Parthenon and the Centennial Park the Tennessee Centennial that was held in Centennial Park in 1895, which was very, very interesting. We had actors from the battlefield in Murfreesboro. It was a quite interesting event. So a good time was had by all. And then I have another slide on. Love where you live. Help keep Smyrna litter-free. recycle right in Tennessee. The convenience center is just what they call it. It's convenient. It's not hard to use. You just got to put a little effort out to go and do that. Heck, you can do the recycling and save yourself some money and not put everything in the trash and pay for somebody to carry it off. But... From there, we go into Sierra's Let's Shop Local. We can do a little bit better. We were that close, weren't we, Sierra, for the year, but next year we're going to go for that much over. So thank you.

All right, thanks, HG. How about you, Jerry? Okay, I've got a slide as well. All right. We want to invite you to join Smyrna Parks and Recreation for the Summer Cool-Off and Food Truck Friday on August the 14th, this Friday, from 4 to 7 at Cedar Stone Park. Bring your family to enjoy food trucks, cool off with the fire department, and explore vehicles and equipment from the departments across the town. Hope to see you there. And as hot as it's been, any kind of cool off would be great. A couple of things I have in no particular order. Paul, we want to welcome you. Glad that you've joined us and just wish you the best here. Let's see here. Chief Goss, congratulations as well. I'm sure you'll be watching eventually. And let's see. Miss Donna, certainly want to condolences to you and Aaron and your family and just pray for you guys during this time. I got some information just a few minutes ago on the visitation and those types of things so whether coming up this weekend so uh you do have our uh mine and patty's thoughts and prayers um miss appleton i'm sure she's watching she's not been feeling well as well either i talked to her i guess it was yesterday or day before yesterday and she hadn't been feeling real well so we're thinking of you as well um And last, I have a grandbaby who's going to be turning two this weekend, so happy birthday to Lily. That's it.

Thank you, Jerry. Steve, you're up. I also have a slide. There's not much to it. It's just me and HG wet. It was a barbecue festival this past weekend.

It is a bag of barbecue.

It is. HG came up and got it to go. I think that's what a lot of folks were doing. They were coming to the food vendors that were there and getting their food to go. Um, so despite the rain, I think there was still quite a bit of barbecue sold and, uh, I was actually there to get ice cream at Gennardi's. So, um, uh, hopefully I think this event, some reason gets the rain a lot. And, um, it's, it's one of the two, right? So, uh, anyway, this was this last Saturday had a great time, uh, trying to stay dry. I think we solved the problems, uh, sent out a clock tower let's just say that that I suggested I think we solved some problems over there HG had a better idea though maybe he'll tell you about it someday also the Paul welcome thanks for choosing Smyrna chief gosh congratulations and I've got a couple of things family related. Scott Kimball, who is my son's father-in-law. So an in-law is, uh, he's at the end of life stages. He is in hospice care. He's 56 and, um, they're giving him, uh, they gave him 24 to 48 hours about 48 hours ago. So it's any time. So just be with the Kimball family as they're going through a tough time. Um, he has had a early onset Alzheimer's for a number of years and it's just taken its toll. Um, uh, also I do have a, uh, grandchild who will be turning one before we meet again, August 22nd. Seems crazy. Seems like we were just having grandchildren a year, a few months ago, and now there are, he's already a year old. So, um, looking forward to that. And that's all I've got.

That reminds me. I have a, son who's turning 39 so that one year old is a lot younger but happy birthday to adam my son who will turn 20 39 this this month um also i talked to somebody today everybody will remember former mayor paul johns and paul will be 89 years old i wished him a happy birthday and he is still kicking he's still he's still paul still going um and to donna's mom i know donna's not here we are we're sending our condolences to the the Shelton family and the Smith family, I believe is their name, but, uh, send our condolences to Donna and her family for the loss of her mother. Uh, that picture of you with, um, uh, the barbecue, I'll get to this slide in a second. Uh, you must've saw him after I saw him because he had the barbecue in his hands. We had just come from the kin folks tent and got our order to go and the lightning and the thunder and everything was going on. It was some real bad weather. But, Mike, I know you and your team were down there. You were supportive. You had everything worked out. I know it was a back and forth. You couldn't do the live music because of the weather. But I hate it for the vendors because it's a bad weather day when they're all out there cooking. But it sure did smell good. All right. And any others? I've got a slide to do. Let me get it. National Night Out was held last week. Great success. Thanks to everybody who attended, and thank you to the police department for organizing the event, Chief. It was always a good event to attend, very successful. A lot of people out there. We appreciate our police department and trying to do all they can to suppress crime in our neighborhood and educate young children about it as well. That's what the event's really all about. I don't have anything further. Anybody else? All right. We are adjourned. Thank you all.