Town Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening and welcome to our December council workshop. Um, our first item is public comment. And we do have one person signed up for public comment, Paul Adams. Paul. Oh, if you'll come forward and to the podium and if you'll state your name, your address, and if you live within the town limits, and then you'll have three minutes. Paul Adams. I've lived in Smyrna since 25 years now. I'm about two blocks from the library, so I well within the city limits. I'm a retired Navy veteran of 23 years and uh [snorts] and a member of All Saints Episcopal Church.

Wonderful.

I first started working with and this is concerning our library and I first started working in libraries back in the 1960s when I was in school. I didn't know Mr. Dewey personally, but I became adept at working his system. Um, the key word in that though is system. It's a system because that's how it works and that's how everything worked when I was in the Navy because we would have a good system whether it be evacuating injured personnel or getting a ship underway. I'm here today though because I'm concerned by what we've learned about the Rutherford County Library Board and the chairman, Mr. Cody York. A week ago, Director Lannne James said that Mr. York pressured her to remove books that he personally didn't want in our library even after the board voted to keep them. Sorry, they don't tell you when you get older you lose your fingerprints. She reported that he checked out books long enough for them to be marked as lost and then pushed for these lost titles to be removed. Far more serious and disturbing is the claim that Mr. York requested personal information about library users such as myself and others who may be here tonight, including names, addresses, how many children are in the household, and our checkout history. If this is claim is true, these actions could fall under official misconduct in Tennessee law and would be a major breach of trust. This would put our library at risk, but Smyrna and other towns also that provide the funding at risk also. So, I'm asking

the council to take a simple and responsible step and call for a full independent investigation into the conduct of Chairman York. We owe it to the public, our library staff, as well as to the people who trust our tax dollars to be used in a transparent way. Thank you. Thank you so much, Amber. I think that was all of our public comments for tonight. Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Um then we will I will call our meeting to order. And um just one more thing before you leave. Um Mr. Adams, I would encourage you to possibly apply to we appoint boards in March. Um I can't remember how long the current ones have on the library board, but we are always looking for citizens within the town to serve on boards and committees. and we um are always looking for ones for the library board. So, please consider that library at the house. I appreciate that. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Um so, I'll call our meeting to order and I am going to ask Pastor Paul from the Rutherford County Baptist Church to come up and do our prayer. And our pledge tonight will be done by Assistant Town Manager Todd Spearman. I think we have a prayer before the pledge. We do.

Okay. Okay. Just before I pray, just want to say thank you every person in the room that makes Smyrna a great place to live and to raise children. I know you go through a lot to to make that happen. Thank you very very much. We appreciate that very very much. Would you pray with me this time? Father Lord, we love you. Thank you, Father, for um greatest nation on the face of the earth, America. Thank you for it, Lord. Thank you for um the great state of Tennessee, Lord, our governor, Lord. Thank you for Smyrna and just a great great city, Lord. I pray that you would bless tonight the meeting, Father. Give them wisdom, Lord. Um just give them a clear leading from you, Lord. Um thank you for um just your leadership and your principles you give us in your word. Bless the folk tonight. Bless their homes, Lord. the uh Christmas season. You know, they're busy, Lord, like all of us. I pray you just bless their marriages and their children, Lord. Give them a great Christmas season, Father. And bless their meeting tonight, Lord. We'll thank you for what you do. Father, before I close, Lord, thank you for giving us your son, the greatest gift, Jesus, and the grace, the mercy, salvation offered through that, Lord. And we do love you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Thank you so very much. I aliance 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, Todd and Pastor Paul. And I do have to say we got we were some of the council um were honored to be invited. I know we were all invited. Not all of us were able to attend, but um we were there for the groundbreaking of the new church. What an exciting time. For those of you that don't know, the new church is there on Amville Road, right across from Onemile Lane. It is going to be a beautiful church and we are so excited that um you'll be in the town limits now. [laughter] Good. Good. Thank you so much. Uhuh. Merry Christmas. Miss Amber, if you'll do roll call. Ma'am. Uh, Councilman Dempsey present.

Councilwoman Peebles. Councilman Cole. Councilman Short here. Councilman Sullivan here. Vice Mayor Atkins here. Mayor Ree here. Okay. We will move on to item four, which is approval or corrections of the minutes for the November 13, 2025 regular meeting and the November 24th, 2025 workshop meeting of the town council. Jeff, are these in order? Uh, both are in order unless you have any amendments you'd like to make. Okay. Council, are there any additions or corrections you'd like to make? Make a motion to motion to approve the minutes. Motion. Do we have a second? Second. Motion a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion passes. Um, awards or recognitions tonight, Dave or Amber?

Okay. Then we'll move on to our consent agenda. And for those that are in the audience here or on TV, these items are um items that we thoroughly discuss at our workshops as well as if council members have individual questions, they can call Dave or our directors individually. But they're items that we determine by the town manager to be routine items, but if there's an item that a council member would like to vote on individually, we can pull the item off the consent. I do like to read these individually so you know exactly what we're voting on. So our first item is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute a professional design services agreement with Kimberly Horn for improvements at the Rotary Soccer Park. Item B, approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with MCAST for email security services and support. Item C, approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with strategic vision advisory group relative to an audit of hotel motel taxes. Item D is approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute agreements relative to the purchase of loose uh equipment for aerial ladder 76. Item E is approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute agreements relative to the purchase of loose equipment for rescue 1. Item F is approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute a renewal with Sigma Healthcare for thirdparty administrator network services for employee health insurance plan. Item G is approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with TK Elevator Corporation for the labor associated with the modernization of the elevator at the water treatment plant. Item H is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute change order number two with Hawkins and Price relative to the front street water final adjusting. Item I is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute addendum number one for design and

rideaway services for the Lowry Street phase 3 sidewalk connection project. Item J is approval of the terms of an authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement with Eli Engineering to perform engineering design services for a pedestrian crossing on Rock Springs Road near Montgomery Way and Paul John's Park. Item K is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with Tennessee Department of Transportation local programs for the old Nashville Highway sidewalk project. Item L is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute the contract proposal with barge design solutions for survey NEPA environmental and design for the intersection improvements at State Route 266 Sam Ridley Parkway and State Route 266 Jefferson Pike. And our last item on the consent is approval of the terms of and authorization for the mayor to execute a contract with Tishellerb Incorporated for the impact fee study update. Do I have a motion for the consent?

So move. Have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Consent passes. We'll now move on to old business. We only have one public hearing tonight, which is consideration of an ordinance relative to the resoning of tax map 28G, group A, parcel 2.00 to go from R3 to C4. It's requested [clears throat] by James and Angela Schmidt. The property requested to be reszoned contains approximately 72100s of an acre and is located at 120 1205 Rock Springs Road. Kevin,

yes, Mayor and Council, this is a request for reszoning. Um 1205 Rock Springs Road. Uh it's about 800 ft east of the intersection with Spring Hill Drive. The land use plan for this area is the Sam Ridley character area and this the commercial zoning would be consistent with the land use plan uh in that area. Surrounding zoning is a mix of R3, C2 and C4. Uh just forformational purposes, the rear approximately 70 ft of this property on the eastern boundary and about 120 ft on the western boundary does lie within the floodway and about 1500 ft or I'm sorry 15 ft of this property beyond that floodway does lie within the 100 flood plane. But it does still leave approximately 150 feet in depth on the east on the west rather and 180 on the east that is outside the flood hazard area. So it's still a developable piece of property from a commercial standpoint. Um planning commission did review this did recommend approval. Staff would also recommend approval. We have um had quite a bit of discussion on this parcel, but are there any questions or comments for Kevin before [clears throat] we move to the public hearing?

The only comments I'll make is um we [clears throat] did talk about this a lot. It's uh obviously fits that district at C4 on the left side. The lot to the right is further on the agenda tonight to be also brought in. So, it'll be all C4 on that right side. um assuming those two pass and then of course with the creek and the floodway behind it, it provides pretty significant buffering to the residential behind it. So um this is kind of an ideal situation honestly for the area. Other comments or questions before I move to public hearing?

Okay, at this time we will open up the public hearing to see if there's anyone here to speak for or against this item. Seeing no one, we'll close the public hearing. Go to council for a motion. Approve. A motion. Do we have a second? Second. Motion a second. Any discussion? I'm abstaining from this. I'm assisting these people. Okay. So, a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. Uh all in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion passes. We'll move on to our new business. Um only two items um under the planning commission report. The first one is consideration of an ordinance relative to the reasonzoning [clears throat] of tax map 28J group A partial 1.00 to go from R3 to C4. It's requested by Tracy Mayolo.

There you go. Thanks, Kevin. The property requested to be reszoned contains approximately 71100s of an acre and is located at 1191 Rock Springs Road. And I think these may be neighbors. Yes, this is the property directly uh east of the property you just looked at at 1191. Um again, it's it's about 950 ft east of Spring Hill Drive. Again, land use plan is the same here as the previous with the Sam Ridley character area. So, this would be consistent with the land use plan. Again, the surrounding zoning is a mix of R3, C2, and C4. Uh the planning commission did review this, did recommend approval, and staff would also recommend approval. [clears throat and cough]

This is obviously the adjacent piece of property I was referencing. Questions on this? This will take care of all of the houses that were down through there now, won't it? Uh, yeah. I think there's only I think there's maybe a couple other tracks of land that still have a residential zoning that are vacant through there on the south side as you go further west on Rock Springs before you get to the interstate. Um, but there's not very many. Yeah. Okay, since this is so similar to the other one, is there any questions or discussion then? Do I have a motion? I move to approve. Motion. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion?

All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. We'll move on to item two, which is consideration regarding the acceptance of a track of land to be donated to the town by Veester Waldron FLP to use for a public park. And this is um we [clears throat] had kind of talked a little bit about this I think at our last meeting at the end.

We did we talked about the uh uh the impact fee agreement which is the next item on your agenda. Yeah, there's a couple couple of items that are are related here. This is the uh the planning commission did review this uh is required under state law for mandatory referral if we purchase or gifted land or by easements those kind of things it is required to go to the planning commission for recommendation. So this is that part of the project the process. Um the the Wester Waldron family limited partnership and TDK or the developers of the vineyards development are proposing to donate attractive land to the town for use as a public park. Totals approximately 19.69 acres. The land donation would be in lie of the payment of park impact fees for the development up to the maximum dollar amount established as a part of the segment agreement which is the next item on your agenda. We did include the map uh the the legal description of the parcel, the survey of what they are proposing to donate uh and as well as the concept plan for the park uh that has been submitted. The planning commission did review the obtaining of this parcel, found it to be consistent with the comprehensive plan of the town and did recommend approval and staff would also recommend approval.

And I know this is kind of more into the next one, but they're they relate. So, um, we have been working with them for quite a while and through staff and Mike Moss and looking at what did we want to see as a town before it's actually turned over to us because they'll actually be constructing it. And another thing I think that's really important is that um, what the construction cost is actually more than for them is going to be more than what the impact fees. And Kevin, I don't remember how much more it was going to be. Um, yeah, I can't recall what the offset was going to be, but it was going to be more,

right? And the value of the land as well in addition to the to the improvements. Yeah. Um, also [clears throat] one of the things we did talk about, they have talked about just doing the mulch on around the walking trail, but um I think Dave's given are you giving [laughter] um but that we were going to go back and um [clears throat] and use asphalt as opposed to and pay the difference for that. Yeah, we talked about that planning to Oh, you did? Okay, good. Yeah, we we uh did get the price estimate on that. It seemed reasonable. We're just going to vet it to some of our vendors, make sure it was good. But it did look like something we could absorb.

Yeah. And when you look at an 18hole course with bathrooms and a pavilion, um, doesn't need to be mulched.

No, for sure. But I think this is a a really great working partnership with um this group to provide something up there that absolutely will be used. Steve, I know um I heard one of the questions in planning was um you know, was this mainly going to be used just by that development back there? I think Frisbee golf is people kind of travel from all over to come use Frisbee golf. So hopefully it will be a destination kind of place for our citizens in Smyrna. So,

do um Dave, do we know what the asphalt walking trail is going to cost yet? And I don't want to put you on the spot because we we I think we were asking for the walking trail at the workshop and this is kind of the first I've heard of us taking on that. We won't take it on. They'll do it. We'll just pay whatever the difference is between the two. For Yeah.

Yeah. So, I I asked several questions around that. Um and what I have basically found out is obviously the park is in lie of the park's impact fees and that's I think it's allocated up to like 1.5 million that for them to pave those pay those payments would be additional above those taxes and I think that's the reason that that wasn't included was to try to stay close to that number. Um but just that's that's kind of why it worked out that way. Um so because the value so versus the other one we did out off Independent Hill Road, right? We gave a impact fee credit of that.

Yeah. And I think that was because of the property value that was pretty a little bit different makeup. And that was just for the property. This is basically the improvements improvements and the property. Yeah. The only thing they're not doing is the hard surfaces. So we basically reached our limits on the cost of the improvements and the donation of the property. So we're going to contribute the additional

takes and the estimate that we had received an estimate that was and then once you especially once you remove the mulch portion that they had put it figured into the cost. It was not it was an increase but it wasn't for a mile trail. It was pretty seemed pretty reasonable to us, but I know we're we're vetting those costs certainly, but uh it was it was less than $200,000. So So my only question when we actually get to construction, if we keep exceeding that limit, are we responsible for that? Well, if it's it's a choice, right? We could leave it just mulch and use it, right? But if we want hard service, then yeah, we're Well, I mean, not only the the walking trail, I'm talking about the other improvements.

They've agreed. They will turn it over to us once they've got it complete. Yeah, they'll do all the improvements. So, they agreed to do everything except the except paving. Paving the paving the bulking trail. I think that's the only thing. This is first time hearing of this. Yeah, we'll get a fully well we'll get a fully built park, right? Just without the paving, which we could leave it non-paved if we wanted to. We just don't want to. Right. Is that right, Dave? That's correct. Yeah. And just so this is the first time this has come to council. Yeah. We discussed it in planning is the only reason I have this details. Well, it sounded like you and all y'all have already discussed it. And this is Okay.

No, no. Myself, Dave, Mike Moss, staff as in Kevin Riggsby, and the developer. So, that's it. Okay. It'd be nice just get an email or something. Just give me a heads up. Well, I mean it was I was in planning meeting and it's televised. All right. So, it's brought so everybody can discuss it individually. I mean [clears throat] collectively. I watch planning meeting and that's Yeah. Yeah. That's just what the process is. [clears throat]

Okay. Um but Kevin, they're not just meeting what the impact fee for parks is. They're exceeding in regards to land donation and what they're actually putting in to build the park. is and what they'll be turning over to us. Is that not correct? My understanding I saw an email to that. Yeah, my understanding is that the 1.5 or so million is the cost of the improvements, not the land value. Basically, the land value is over that amount, right?

Okay. Okay. So, um other questions on accepting of the track of land to be donated. And just just so I'm clear, accepting the track land, are we are we accepting the additional cost of the of the walking trail the to pay it? Are we accepting the expenditure of that if we choose to do it? Yes. I mean in this line in this agenda item or is it the next agenda item? No, the agreement will handle that. This is just to accept the land. The the rest of the build and all of that is separate.

When will that come in for council? You Jeff, you said you guys were working on that an agreement for that. Well, the room is here. It's here. It's the next one. So, I think that if I understand your your question correctly, uh there's not an onus upon us other than what council wants to do as far as those other improvements. The agreement is just the maximum qualified improvements that we will give them uh a rebate fees, right? Impact fees. And if I may, this is something that we want to uh put through the budget process as well. So,

and that that's all I'm trying to do is vet the numbers. I don't want to vote on yes up here not knowing vetting the numbers we're voting on that we're committing to without seeing those numbers. So, this really isn't committing. So, I think I understand what you're asking, uh, Councilman. So, this is just to to get the property from them as far as you could build a really great park and but you're not committed to that. You're only saying we're going to accept this land. So, in your budgeting process, if you decide to do more or less, you can do that. But, Right.

But this will just be for the for what they're going to do. So, do I have a motion? Motion to approve. Do you have a second? Second. Motion and a second. Other discussion? All in favor say I. I.

Any [clears throat] opposed? Motion passes. Now we'll move to item B, which is consideration and authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement between the town of Smyrna and Vester Waldron FLP relative to the vintage. Yeah, this is the the agreement. This is for the offset of the parks impact fees, the one point 1,548,253.98. Um, that would be the maximum amount that would be offset. Um, [clears throat] and so that's that's what it is. There's there again this is the the for the ventures development phase one is already completed. So those those fees obviously they've been paid already. It would not be rebated. It would just be for the other three the next the rest of the development the three more phases. Um the um basically the the town would receive that land and we would just offset the fees and at the maximum amount of that that dollar amount. Um and so again that's that's all that I have I guess on that. Nothing new, nothing additional. Nothing's changed on this, I don't believe, since we talked about it at the workshop as far as the the offset agreement. [clears throat]

Questions on this on the offset of the 1.5 that is the max the max that that we can give them towards. It doesn't mean that they will that they are going to only build that amount from my understanding of what the park that they're looking at at building um and then turn it over to us. But um that's the max that we will give them in offsets. Correct.

Just just so I'm clear. I don't hate to confuse everything. is that we're um we're going to give them that amount in um impact fee credits and they're building the park. Correct. And then if there's any additional if we want the walking trail then we're going to be responsible for it and we'll discuss that at budget time. We will be getting walking trail out of this. It would be a mulch trail that they would pay for as part of this. If we want to upgrade that to asphalt, we have that option. And we have a we have an estimated cost. We do have asphalt. We do. It's it's

I'm trying to find it. It was less than 200,000. I want to say it was between 150 to 200,000 to uh to do that. Mike, do you have that number? I do. I don't have the total. What you're looking for? Yeah. One of them is 300,000, one of them is 200,000. It depends on the width. If you're doing an 8 foot or 10 foot, right? Yeah. There there were a couple factors depending on how how large we want. So, we would we would kind of have to take a look at that, make some recommendations to the council in terms of how large of a trail we wanted, 8 foot, 10 foot, and me and Mike haven't had any opportunity to really those cost.

So, for the 10-ft trail, it was approximately 300,000. And for the 8ft trail, 8ft wide trail, it's approximately uh 120 200,000. Okay. But that will come back before us. That would come back as another agenda item for us to on that. Yeah. Now I want to say the m the mulch trail was about 50,000 if I remember correct. So you would deduct the cost of that from that those numbers whichever one we use. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Do we have a motion? Move to approve. Motion. Do we have a second? Second. Motion is second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion passes. I'd just like to say um how much we appreciate. These are projects that we really like to partner on and um I think it'll definitely be a benefit to our citizens in getting um this park and um having having the developer do the park for us and then turn it over um makes life a lot easier for the town of Smyrna. So um and Mike, thanks for you and the parks department working with them on what it is that you thought that we needed up in that area. So,

yep. Item C is consideration of the Smyrna Police Department policy revisions relative to the court attendance, promotions, conduct, and responsibilities and discipline. Chief and council, this again is just asked for approval to revise these policies as we continue our accreditation process with uh CLEA. And the biggest part is um was presented by Detective Anderson uh at the workshop is the discipline matrix we're trying to implement. This was um the PowerPoint that we went over at the workshop. So were there any additional questions? Seeing none, do we have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve.

Okay. Do we have a second? Second. Motion and a second. Any [clears throat] discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. We'll move on to item D, which is consideration of an ordinance amending title one, general administration section 1-104, order of business of the municipal code, relative to the public comment to meetings. Amber, are you taking this? Yes, ma'am. I can.

Great. Uh so this is just taking council's uh recommendations in moving the public comment period uh within the meeting to allow citizens more time to uh attend and participate. What will what this ordinance change will be doing to title one uh it will just move the public comment period uh for general comments to the end of the meeting after new business. If someone wants to sign up to speak, the policy remains the same. So, they'll still have to sign up 24 hours in advance of the meeting as they do now. So, all of that verbiage will will remain the same. Um, it will just take place at the end of the meeting after new business unless they are speaking on an item that is listed within the agenda itself, at which time you guys will hold uh public comment right before that agenda item. Okay, any questions on this?

Thank you guys for looking at this and we may try it for a while and see that it doesn't work or it's not what we were looking for and we may end up changing again. So, um I think it'll be beneficial especially if they can speak right before the agenda item, you know, to express their comments. Yeah, I think the only ones that it may create an issue for is like Mr. Adams who spoke. Yeah. Yeah. he he wasn't speaking to anything on the agenda item and under this new policy he would have to wait till the end of the meeting. That would be the only negative or downside that I can see. But or if it's a two-hour meeting and somebody's there to speak and we're hoping they could speak and then leave and Yeah. and but

I think they need to if they want to speak on an item, I think they need to hear what our comments are as well. So, um so do I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. I will just ask um I'm assuming we'll start this next meeting. So it will have to Oh, that's right. Second reading. Second reading. Um so it would be February if approved. Yeah. I would just ask whenever it does start, you all be patient with us in learning down the new flow. It may take us a little while. So,

will you be uh will you be notifying people as to when they would appear in the agenda? Yes, sir. I mean, of course, within the actual agenda, if it's germanine to an item, um it'll be kind of hard to gauge it, but I will tell them the new process and make sure that they know. Steve brought up a good point about the gentleman that was here earlier. He would want to know, you know. Yes. So, yes, sir.

Okay. Okay. Item E is consideration with appointment of one member to the BCA to serve an unexpired term ending in 2026. If you recall, Vanessa Haley was appointed um to fill the uh planning commission vacancy and with Vanessa leaving BZA, we now need to appoint for BCA. Um this is staff uh recommends uh and we had one person that applied Tyler Short and this is um Amber board recommendation or council recommendation. Council nomination. Yes ma'am.

Since we only had one person applied um I uh all in favor of Tyler Short. I vote for Tyler. [laughter] I uh any opposed? Congratulations, Tyler. You'll be with Jerome on BZA. Yep.

Great. Okay. And next is um the library [clears throat] uh the consideration of appointment of one member of the Limeball Library Board of Directors to serve an unexpired term ending in 2027. We um this was Lisa Brewer resigned and um [sighs] uh this is also uh we only had one person Lynn Reynolds. So all in favor of Lynn say I. Any opposed? Congratulations Lynn. Um I did not see anything on the desk tonight under other. Was there anything under other?

Charles to make an emergency purchase. So now Charles has an emergency. Charles, what is your emergency? Uh this is a notification of an emergency purchase for the repair of guardrail on Seven Oaks Brontage Road. We were notified back in November that it had taken a traffic hit and we've gotten an estimate for it for $11,025 for the repair. Just need to announce, not vote. Correct. Any questions on Charles's emergency? Usually it's HG with the emergency. You [laughter] did tonight. He picked up his slack. Thanks, Charles. You know, we're moving pretty quick tonight without HG.

Don't Don't [laughter] jinx us. Don't jinx us. I hope he's paying attention. Uh oh. I'm sure I'm sure that he is. Yeah, that was for him. Yeah. Um sent you a message. Yeah, [laughter] he'd tell me to be kind. Status reports, Sierra. Okay, I have a slide. So, October state share tax came in at 790,000. Local sales tax came in at a little over 1.8 million. We're pretty much running right on track with what was budgeted. Okay.

It's a pretty pretty nice number for October. It's up a little bit, which is good. Yeah, we really need people for the holidays to shop local. That makes a huge difference for us. It's how we keep their taxes. That's exactly right. Yep. Exactly right. Okay. Um correspondence and announcements, anything tonight, Amber or Dave? No, ma'am. Okay. Directors or department heads? Anything tonight? Oh, Mike Moss, they're giving you the evil eye.

Well, I do the same. works both ways. Um, I just got an announcement uh based on purchasing uh the golf course in our capital budget had $80,000 for uh battery replacement on existing golf carts. Um Scott and his team been doing some research.

Uh doing research on uh refurbished carts through the Omnia Partners um purchasing co-op and you can get easy goes for basically 38 $166 a refurbished 2020 20 I mean 2020 cart um basically brand new with the right batteries in it. So we would like to move forward with that. Dave has approved it. um wanted to make that announcement to buy 15 carts um under that purchasing program and they'll be black and color kind of changing that up but also kind of get that new battery comes with the newer batteries and they should last a lot longer and then we're just trying to phase out the other ones through the budget process. The budget I mean the battery replacement cost is going to be like $2,000. So for $1,800 more, $1,900 more we could get new carts, refurbished carts and they felt like it was a better program. Scott's here. He he might be able to answer any other questions. I can't, but I think it's a good move. Uh Dave's approved it and I think we can move forward like that.

We just wanted to make sure we brought this up here because obviously that was a discussion that we had during budget process. We talked about the plan to replace uh the batteries in the existing carts and that was going to be the plan. So change of plan and just want to make sure you all are are comfortable with that. I like this plan pretty good. I like the cost, right? If if when when we talked about it before the cost was quite a bit different. Now that it's come down with these refurbished and it's closer, it just makes sense. Yes. And that's trading in the old carts which brought that cost way down. So that's another reason we like to bring it before council because you are losing those.

The plan will be going forward to to kind of start a um a refresh cycle, right? So 15 or 20 or 10 or whatever each year. Yes, sir. to keep instead of doing these large purchases of 70 or 80 carts. Yes, sir. Right. Do 15 this year and hopefully do whatever we put [clears throat] in the budget next year, but keep enough money back to replace batteries in existing carts is what I understand. Yeah. If you have some go down. Yeah. And these new carts, I was talking to Scott about them. They're a little nicer as well. They've got bag covers for rain and they've got uh um sand figured state sand repair bottles on the cart. So there's some things important. Yeah. Absolutely. Those are absolutely important.

Have you ever played golf in the rain? Um I can assure you not. If you had, you would understand why [laughter] that's important. She's the reason we need sand bottles on the car. No, we need sand buckets for [laughter] I need a rake and a T. Any questions for Mike? Thank you. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate that. Okay, Miss Amber. No, ma'am. Dave, [clears throat]

just a few announcements uh this evening. Okay, first uh I want to thank everyone who came out for the annual Christmas tree lighting uh just before the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a wonderful event. Weather was great. Um and Santa and Mrs. Claus helped us kick off the holiday season at the depot district. Got to light up that tree, take some pictures, have some great music, and just want to thank you thank everyone for for coming out to that. Uh secondly, our our office hours as we roll into the holiday season. Uh the town offices will be closed on Wednesday, December 24th and Thursday, December 25th. Regular hours will resume on December 29th. Offices will also be closed on New Year's Day, January 1st, with regular hours resuming on Monday, January 5th. Just wishing everybody a happy and healthy holiday season. Merry Christmas and happy new year as we will not see uh each other until after the new year.

Great. Jeffrey, nothing for me. Drum.

Um yes, I have a public service announcement. the uh seasonal skating rink. Join Smyrna Parks and Recreation for a festive season of skating, hot chocolate, music, and theme nights. Bring your family and friends for winter fun on our synthetic skating ring perfect for all ages. Admission uh kids are $5, adult seven, and it's free with a SOAK all-inclusive membership. Hours of operations, November 29th through the 21st. Friday 4 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday 12 to 8. Sunday 1 to 6. December 23rd through January 4th. Will be closed on Mondays. Tuesday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m. Sunday 1 to 6. Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. And I'd just like to echo the turnout to the uh Christmas parade was I think one of the biggest ones I've seen and and just to see the kids light up when you're going by was just made it worthwhile. U like to wish my lovely wife Teresa a belated happy birthday which was Saturday. She's recovering from some surgery, carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel. And also Miss Appleton's birthday was Saturday as well. So happy belated birthday to you, Miss Appleton.

Did you get Teresa a gift? I did. Good. Todd, did you hear that? I've got I've got one ordered and she does not know what it what it is, but she's been hounding me to get it since we built the house. Just Just give us just just give just give us a hint, Jerome. Come on. Just Nobody will tell her. Nobody will tell. It's a warm gift. A warm gift. Okay. Will you tell us once you've given it? Just so Okay. Okay. I already know what it is. Just warm clue. From a warm gift. Yeah. Warm gift. I'm not I'm not going to tell [laughter] Jerry.

Okay. I've got a couple announcements. Uh the first one is join us at the Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center as we ring in 2026 with our midnight at noon celebration. This is a kind kid-friendly New Year's countdown party designed so families can enjoy all the fun of New Year's Eve without staying up until midnight. We'll have a glow themed activities, snacks, and plenty of festive activities uh excitement. And don't miss our signature moment, which is the balloon confetti pop happening right at 12:00 p.m. That's 12:00 p.m. on at noon. This is going to be on Wednesday, December the 31st from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. free with a SOAK admission. So, if you want a place to uh bring your children, um this would be a great place to do it. The second one is uh Recreate Smyrna. The Smyrna Parks and Recreation Department is updating the parks master plan which will serve our road map for the next 5 years. This plan will guide decisions on recreational opportunities, activity programs, future facility improvements throughout our community. We invite you to share your thoughts and ideas to help us better understand Smyrna's recreation needs and priorities. Your input will play a vital role in shaping the future of our parks and recreational system. Please take a few minutes to complete our survey and make your voice heard. So scan the QR code or click quick survey. So if you feel that there needs to be restrooms out there, feel free to put that in any place you want.

Um, how many have you done with restrooms, Jerry? How many have I put in?

How many have you put in? Four. Okay, I have um a few birthdays in uh this month and all family and kids and wife. So, um this Saturday, my granddaughter McKenzie is having a birthday. On the 27th, a couple of days after Christmas, my son Trenton's having a birthday. And then Patty, my wife, will have a birthday that all of you will celebrate on January the 1st. So, happy birthday to all of them. So, and merry Christmas to everybody. And Miss Appleton, I know we've talked with before, but again, happy birthday to you as well. Okay, that's all I got.

Steve.

All right. I have a slide as well. Um, highlight Smyrna. We want to see your holiday lights. Uh the town of Smyrna is inviting the residents to go to our My Smyrna app and uh submit uh your holiday lights uh displays through the app. Submissions are featured on an interactive map so visitors and neighbors can look at the map and know right where they are and visit them. Um so bring the magic to the season of the life and help us light up Smyrna. Um submit your display on the Smyrna app today. Uh, I also noticed that I think after our last meeting, Amber, you added a button so that now when you go to the app, you can click it and it'll automatically change the map to be able to see those displays themselves. You don't have to do the filtering yourself. So, [clears throat] uh, thanks for doing that. Uh, I also have a couple of birthdays. Um, apparently Saturday was a very popular date. My dad's birthday was Saturday. Uh, I won't say how old he is, but he can no longer say he's um 39. Let's just say that. Um, we uh my my um um my brother also has a birthday coming up at the end of December. We won't meet again, so happy birthday to him. Uh the the uh Christmas parade, Jerome, you mentioned I've said all along all all the time, but Christmas parade is one of my my favorite events. Uh it really is um it's one of the few events where we get positive feedback almost immediately as you're driving through town passing out candy. It's uh it's it's fun to fun to see all the kids smiles and everybody's everybody's happy at this event. So don't get a lot of complaints at this event. Uh so it's uh it's a great event. Um I think that's it. I feel like I'm forgetting something, Jerry. What am I forgetting?

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. That's it. I'm I'm I'm forgetting something, but I don't know what it is. I'll tell you what, don't throw candy one year at a Christmas parade and you will I promise you you will get the feedback won't be positive. Yeah, even along the parade route, it won't be positive. So, yeah, we tried that for safety one year and uh it won't be tried again. Who was the town manager then? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. No, I'm just I'm just kind of sending a message today [laughter] to make sure he he doesn't make that mistake. Yeah,

I have a slide. [laughter] Um, this Friday, December 12th, from 11 to 1, you'll want to go to Tootses Restaurant in Smyrna. They're doing tip a cop event. This is always packed. I'd get there early if you want to eat lunch and sit. Uh, your generosity actually helps provide Christmas gifts, jackets, clothing for over 100 kids, and some other area needs for uh, students. So, don't forget Friday 11 to1 at Tootses. Uh, real quick, I want to send condolences to um Howard Brimley. Uh, many of you know Howard and he lost his wife Tanya this week. So, we want to make sure the Brinley family are lifted up in our thoughts and prayers. Um, HG, I think, might be watching. He's out of town, but uh, HG, for your benefit, I'm going to ask everybody to shop local and be kind, just like I did to you a while ago. And uh Miss Appleton, you looked awfully awfully in charge in that golf cart at the parade the other day. You were up there looking pretty proud. So, happy birthday to you. And merry Christmas to everybody. Remember the reason for the season. And God bless your families.

Master, let me go back. I remembered what I forgot with the help of my wife. And for the record, I did not forget on the day. I just forgot today. Uh but my wife and I celebrated our 33rd anniversary on [laughter] Friday. And she just reminded you. She did just remind me. So, uh, you're not going to get positive feedback. Well, I I did [laughter] not I did not forget on the day. It was Friday. I just forgot now.

And positive feedback is not what the the other thing I'm supposed to uh remind or tell everyone about is we are on officially going on baby watch this week. Um Kevin and Kennedy are at the 36th week and can happen any time recently. So, another grandbaby on the way. This will be the the third. So Pam is watching. So Pam, you might want to text him before every meeting and give him some cliff notes. I did not get to go home before the meeting today to get my instructions. [clears throat] So

um couple of items. Um want to say how excited we were to receive a Tennessee Department of Tourism tourist development uh grant was presented to the town of Smyrna at $20,500. It was a tourism enhancement grant to support planned renovations and improvements at the Smyrna Event Center. Um Dennis just keeps on raking in that money. So um thanks to um for him for uh getting that. We'll be getting a new AV system, fresh paint, refinishing work, and associated labor and installation at the event center. Um, we attended the GNRC, the Greater Nashville Regional Council Awards and Appreciation event. I'd like to thank staff and council that attended. It was at the Titan Stadium and um it was a great night. We're always glad to be part of that um that that group. [laughter and gasps] Those must be birthday wishes.

And then um the Tennessee I was able to attend the Tennessee Financial Wellness Scorecard Summit that was hosted by Senator Shane Ree and State Representative Charlie Bomb. It was actually held here at the Smyrna Event Center. Um it was uh hosted by the Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission and we had lots of great conversation and small groups about what can we do in our community to help people be uh more financially uh sound and what things could be offered even if it's starting in school doing that. We know that they do that in high school but maybe we need to start a little younger. So it was a great summit. Um, we've talked about it quite a bit. The 50th annual Smyrna Christmas parade was a huge success. We want to thank all of our town staff and volunteers that helped to put this event on. We all get to go have a good time and they work their tails off really all year to make sure that that it happens. Um, Casey and Heather, I know you all kind of lead this event and we really appreciate what you do to make it possible. Um, a couple of items. Council, please make sure you check your emails. I forwarded you all an email that I sent to the director of the MO based on the uh letter that we got back from Commissioner Reid. So, make sure that you look at that. Um, thank you to staff uh for the employee lunchon. It was a huge success. I think that um that the employees had a great time. um we appreciate everything you do to make that possible. I'd like to congratulate Bill and Paty Brown was able to attend their 65th wedding anniversary um at the senior center um this past weekend. So

congratulations to Bill and Paty. Uh Dana Kelly and Charie put on a great event. Um Derome, you talked about skating, ice skating, and um it made me think that family passes purchased from the event center would be great Christmas gifts if you're looking for something. A family pass for the pool and soak would be um a really great gift. Last thing is um Dave, I know we've talked about it. Um, I've been getting a lot of really good feedback about the PSAs that we're doing that directors are doing um, for the town to inform citizens of what we're doing. So, I hope we can continue to do those within each department of putting things out of what are taking place here in our community, whether it's roads or police or fire or uh, parks. I think it's something that's really good and

feedback on I have too. I've gotten great feedback. So um so directors we appreciate what you're doing and we'd like to see more of that. So yes, we will not get together at the end of the month for a workshop. It has moved to the first Tuesday in December in January. In January, which is January 6. Okay. So we will not have the January workshop in December like we normally do. It'll be January the 6th because of the holiday and then we will have the workshop the very next week. The voting meetings. The voting meeting 6 is workshop. January 13th is a voting is the voting meeting. Yes.

Okay. Okay. Anything else? Merry Christmas and happy new year. Um we wish you nothing but the best and um thank you to our employees for everything you do to make um the town special. We appreciate you. Merry Christmas.