Board of Mayor & Aldermen - Regular Meeting

We welcome everybody to the Springfield Board of Mayor and Alderman regular meeting for June 16, 2026. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing after the pledge for a moment of silence.

in the visible with liberty and justice for all let us pray eternal God again we want to thank you going along with this is a day that you have made and we will rejoice and be glad in it we thank you Lord for allowing us to come to assemble to take care of the people's business we ask Lord for good decisions, we ask, Lord, that everything would go in accordance to your will. We pray for this country. We pray for the citizens of Springfield. We pray, Lord, that we all need to remember many came from one, and one nation under God. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We thank you again for this great country. God bless America. In your name we pray. Amen.

I'd like to welcome everybody here tonight. The first item on our agenda is approval of minutes from regular meeting of the Board of Mayor and Alderman held May 19, 2026. Do we have a motion? We have a motion by Alderman Bradley and a second by Alderman Trotter. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

I'm resetting. Did I get it?

Yes, you got it.

Okay.

Motion passes five to zero.

All right. I'll come back. At this time, I'd like to recognize the gas department director, Mr. Benji Davis. He has some scholarships to award. Benji, you have the floor.

Come on, Mr. Hubbard. Is it on? Hey, good evening, everybody. Since 2012, Springfield Gas has awarded scholarships to local high school students in Roberson County. These scholarships are awarded to academically qualified high school students who attend to pursue it or earn a certificate or degree at an accredited technical school, vocational school, or community college. I'd like to thank the following folks, Alderman Hubbard to my left, Mike Stafford, who is not here tonight, and Candace Tillman, the assistant city manager for their assistance in the selection process. So first off, we have six scholarships. Four of those folks were not able to attend tonight due to other various conflicts. I will announce them first, and then we'll bring up the folks that are here. Not in attendance is Lachlan Mitchie. He's graduated from East Robertson High School and will be attending University of Tennessee Knoxville. Trevor Steinbrook. graduated from South Haven Christian School and will be attending Pensacola Christian College. Lily Holloman graduated from Greenbar High School and will be attending Austin Peay State University. And Daniel Burnett graduated from Innovation Academy and will be attending Middle Tennessee State University. So now on to those folks that are here. Jayden Hurst, son of Mystery Duran, graduated from Springfield High School. and will be attending the College of Wooster, majoring in criminal justice. And Ella Resha, daughter of Jake and Marie Resha, graduated from Joe Burns High School, and will be attending Austin Peay State University, majoring in history. If the rest of the board would like to join us, we'll take a group picture right quick. Yes, sir.

First of all, I'd like to thank the former gas director, George Hall, for this initiative. And George stressed academic success, and I echo that. And we're proud to encourage you all that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. pursue your dream, but your dream has to come with some form of education.

Moving on to our agenda.

Item 1.5 for the comment period. We do not have anyone that cares to speak tonight. We move into our public hearing. Item number one, Ordinance 26-20, an ordinance rescinding Ordinance 23-19 in its entirety and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for sanitation service. Is there anyone here that cares to speak today? Seeing no one. Item two, ordinance 26-21, an ordinance adopting the annual budget and tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027. Anyone here care to speak to that item? Seeing none, item 3, ordinance 26-22, ordinance rescinding ordinance 21-28 in its entirety and setting a new standard of rates and charges for gas service. Anyone here care to speak to that one? Seeing none, item 4, ordinance 26-22, 23, an ordinance rescinding Ordinance 25-09 in its entirety and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for wastewater service. Anyone here to speak to that item? Seeing none, at this time we will close our public hearing portion of our meeting. No, item five, I'm sorry. Ordinance 26-24 and the ordinance amending Ordinance 25-24 and Ordinance 26-19 and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for electric service. Anyone here to speak to that item? Hearing none, we will close our public hearing portion of our agenda and move into our legislative portion. Item 2.1, discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-20. On second and final reading and ordinance rescinding, ordinance 23-19 in its entirety and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for sanitation service. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Alderman Bradley. Any questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, are we ready to vote? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 2.2, discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-21 on second and final reading and ordinance adopting the annual budget of tax rate also for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. We have a motion by Vice Mayor Harris, a second by Alderman Hubbard. Any questions or comments?

My comment is this is a great budget. It's sort of turning the page in the life of the city of Springfield. Like we used to say at 82nd, Capri diem, which means seize the moment. So you're active in the right direction. Thank you, city manager. Thank you, staff, for making us such a fine bunch.

Thank you. Agreed. Any other questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 2.3, discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-22 on second and final reading and Ordinance rescinding, Ordinance 21-28 in its entirety and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for gas service. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Alderman Trotter. Any questions or comments? Are we ready to vote? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 2.4, discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-23 on second and final reading and Ordinance rescinding Ordinance 25-09 in its entirety and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for wastewater service. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Alderman Bradley. Any questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 2.5, discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-24 on second and final reading and amending Ordinance 25-24 and Ordinance 26-19 and setting a new schedule of rates and charges for electric service. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Vice Mayor Harris. Any questions or comments? Are we ready to vote? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 2.6 discuss and possibly take action on Ordinance 26-25 on first reading and Ordinance amending the fiscal year 2026 annual budget for the City of Springfield by amending certain general fund And utility fund operating budgets. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Alderman Bradley. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 2.7, discuss and probably take action on ordinance 26-26 on first reading and ordinance rezoning property located at 329 North Main Street from core commercial district to commercial services district. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard. I have a second by Alderman Bradley. I believe City Manager Ryan Martin has something to share with us on this item.

Thank you, Mayor. So this application for rezoning comes to you with a unanimous negative recommendation from the Planning Commission. They recommend a denial of the rezoning request. The rezoning request originates for the property located at 329 North Main Street, which is just next door to the center here. It is from the Robertson County Sports Alliance, I believe is the applicant. I think they would like to do a daycare at that facility and open a daycare. I believe that's one of their core vision principles that they would like to do with their organization. I want to preface, and I say that to preface by saying that the negative recommendation from staff and the Planning Commission has absolutely nothing to do with the Robertson County Sports Alliance or the need for a daycare. That's a wonderful organization. They do a lot of great work in the community, and we do need a daycare. The issue stems from more of a mechanical aspect, a regulatory aspect. It is inconsistent with the comp plan to rezone that property from CC to CS. It would also open up any use for CS. And so there are numerous issues with that parcel, parking being one of those. And I believe in order to accomplish having a daycare there, they were going to have to request nine different variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals. even if it was consistent with the comp plan. So I think we just have a location that's really not made for CS zoning, regardless of the use, and that the comp plan sets forth that principle as well. So if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

Any other questions or comments?

So if we follow the recommendation from the Planning Commission and staff, we would vote no.

No, sir. The ordinance is to rezone the property. So you would need, in order to follow the recommendation of staff, yes, I think you said it right. And I got twisted. You would vote no. That's right.

Everyone clear on that? Are we ready to cast our votes? Let's vote. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please? motion fails to pass zero to five item 2.8 discuss and probably take action on ordinance 26-27 on first reading and ordinance submitting sections a-203 a-306 and a-1306 of the springfield zoning orders pertaining to data related land uses we have a motion by alderman hubbard a second by alderman bradley I believe City Manager Ryan Martin has something to share with us on this item.

Thank you, Mayor. So these are regulations that comes with a unanimous favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission to adopt regulations that really are centered around data centers and those server warehouses. We don't currently have any regulations that govern data centers. And Alderman Bradley and I had talked about this. Our current zoning ordinance was written before data centers were a thing. And so it really has data processing services, which really isn't contemplating the more industrial, extensive impact use that a data center is. So what these regulations set out to do is, A, separate that via definition in the zoning ordinance and classify data centers as an extensive impact. And so that puts it in a category. which also puts it in a zoning classification, which would be an industrial zoning classification, which means it wouldn't fit into a commercial zoning classification, and then lays out specific development and operational standards via conditional use permit requirements that would have to be met. And you can see those, I believe there are, and they're also in your packet if you flip to page... Four of the PDF, you can see special conditions for data centers. I believe there are 10 different standards that would have to be met there that take into account. Some of those include site access, noise, and vibration. It would require the applicant to do a noise study. Water and wastewater capacity would have to be studied and established, as well as utility coordination, emergency response plan, air quality, all sorts of things that would... Right now, those things wouldn't be in place, and so it would be much easier for a data center to come in in place. Some folks have asked about a moratorium. A moratorium is... kicking the can down the road. A moratorium by definition is a temporary pause on taking some sort of action until a predetermined event, whether it be a study or whether it be changing your regulations or a certain time frame. So there's really not a need to do a moratorium. We can confront this issue now and adopt regulations that put protections in place for our citizens because we all have studied and researched and understand the the negative side of what data centers bring as it pertains to quality of life, particularly near residential areas. So this makes it extremely difficult with a lot of standards that would have to be met in order for a data center to come to Springfield. But I will be clear, we have no such interest right now in the city for a data center. I'm not aware of anything, and we've received no inquiries or formal applications at City Hall.

Thank you, Ron. Question? I echo the sentiment of not wanting one here in our city. South Texas, starting somewhere in the neighborhood about 80 or 90 miles south of where I'm from, and particularly Corpus Christi, Texas, they have two major data centers. that have literally drained the fresh water, the fresh water lake, and they're at about six months of fresh water. So besides being hard on your fresh water, being hard on your electrical systems, the noise and stuff, it's unbecoming. And I'm not against pro-growth, per se, but I'm just not in favor of us even dealing with that.

Any other questions or comments?

No, I just want to say thank you after the conversation for getting so quickly some rules and regulations on the books. I thought it was important just to protect the city, and thank you guys so much for acting so quickly and getting such a good plan in place.

Is it just a general protection policy that's out there that we're adopting, or is this something you wrote?

It would be in the zoning regulations. So these are Ms. Durham compiled. She did a lot of research on regulations that other municipalities and areas had adopted and kind of compiled some of those and put a lot of, I believe, adequate protections in place for our citizens and the quality of life. One thing, Mayor, I forgot to mention is that some people have asked, well, why don't we just ban data centers? Well, Banning a particular land use, carving out or specifying a particular land use and outright banning it citywide brings in constitutionality or legal concerns. I'm not the city attorney, but there are concerns with banning a particular use. One of the analogies that is frequently made is adult entertainment, right? So banning adult entertainment has constitutionality concerns from a First Amendment perspective, from a land use regulation perspective. So what do you do? You put certain protections in place where you regulate those businesses such that those protections are in place for your citizens and make sure your quality of life isn't jeopardized. That's the same thing that we're proposing to do here.

And you hit the point, the quality of life. I mean, you know. We're trying to build a small city second to none. And most of our citizens are happy, the ones I talk to, with the growth and the way the city is. And I just don't want to bring something in that's going to diminish that. That's my argument.

Mr. Strada, do you have something?

We're going to vote.

All right. Agreed. Let's cast our votes.

Thank you, Larry.

Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

And thank you for y'all's work on that. The city appreciates that. Item 2.9, discuss and possibly take action on resolution 26-13, a resolution declaring certain property surplus and authorizing disposal of such property. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, have a second by Vice Mayor Harris. Any questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 2.10, discussion of how they take action on resolution 26-14, a resolution authorizing purchases through by-board purchasing cooperative. We have a motion by Alderman Bradley, a second by Alderman Hubbard. Any questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their votes? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 2.11, Discuss and Properly Take Action on Resolution 26-15. A resolution accepting a performance bond from Reyes Construction Incorporated to guarantee the completion of required improvements in Summit View Phase 2. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Vice Mayor Harris. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Tally the votes, please.

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 2.12, Discuss and Public Take Action on Resolution 26-16. A resolution accepting a performance bond from Reyes Construction Incorporated to guarantee the completion of required improvements in lookout crossing phase 1. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Alderman Bradley. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 2.13, discuss and possibly take action on Resolution 26-17, a resolution accepting a performance bond from Lennar Homes of Tennessee LLC to guarantee the completion of required improvements in Blackwood Farms Phase 1 North. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Alderman Trotter. Any questions or comments? I'll keep my... I keep my comments to myself. All right. Anyone else? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their votes? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

item 2.14 discuss and possibly take action on resolution 26-18 a resolution accepting a performance bond from the narr homes of tennessee llc to guarantee the completion of required improvements in blackwood farms phase one south we have a motion by alderman trotter second by alderman hubbard any questions or comments Hearing none, are we ready to cast our votes? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Now we'll enter the administrative phase of our agenda. Item 3.1 discuss and property take action on adjustment of retail electric rates due to the wholesale fuel cost Adjustment by Telsea Valley Authority. I have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Alderman Trotter. Electrical Department Director, Mr. Terry Rishia, what do we have?

2.7.

Any questions or comments? Thank you, sir. Are we ready to vote? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 3.2, discussion is promptly take action on adjustment of monthly gas rates. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Vice Mayor Harris. The gas department director, Mr. Benji Davis, what do you have for us?

Rates decreased an average of 6.82%.

Any questions or comments? ready to vote let's cast our votes anyone care to change their vote would you tally the votes please motion passes five to zero item 3.3 discuss and possibly take action on an annual contract with regional transportation authority of middle tennessee rta for bus service between springfield and nashville we have a motion by alderman bradley Have a second by Alderman Hubbard. Any questions, any comments? Continue to good service.

Absolutely.

Are we ready to cast our votes? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? would you tally the votes please motion passes five to zero item 3.4 discuss and properly take action on a contract in the amount of fifty four thousand six hundred and twenty two dollars with above standard building maintenance of greenbrier tennessee for janitorial services have a motion by alderman hubbard a second by vice mayor harris Any questions or comments?

This is a one-year contract? It is, yes, sir. For all buildings that were named?

For not all. So, for instance, the center is not included in the facilities for this cleaning contract, but the ones listed are City Hall, Public Works, Electric, Gas, Water, and Wastewater Building, and Police. Fire Department's also excluded.

What do they do, the buildings that are not included?

So the fire department, they clean their own building. The firefighters, when they're there, same for the center. The folks, the employees at the center clean their building.

Any other questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 3.5, discuss and possibly take action on a one-year extension of the Recycling Services Contract with Green Village Recycling Incorporated. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Vice Mayor Harris. Any questions or comments?

About how many citizens do we have using that service? Do we have any ballpark?

As of today, we're at 398 customers. I believe we've had two additional sign up according to Mr. Moore today, and so we'll have an even 400 beginning in July.

Thank you. Any questions, comments? If not, let's vote. Anyone care to change their vote? would you tally the votes please motion passes five to zero item 3.6 discuss and possibly take action on an interlocal agreement for e911 dispatching services have a motion by vice mayor harris a second by alderman hubbard any questions or comments my neighborhood is loving all of our addresses being changed just want to throw that out there

So let me clarify, this is for dispatching services. Now we do have, it's the same entity, and we do have an agreement in place where we have designated them to address. We name the streets and they number them, and I understand that the new national standard that they're following has created quite a bit of renumbering in and around the area.

Change is always hard.

Any other questions or comments? Let's cast our vote. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes 5-0.

Item 3.7, Discussion of how to take action on a contract with USG Water Solutions for water piping repairs at the water treatment plant. I have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, second by Alderman Bradley. Any questions or comments? If not, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 3.8, discuss and possibly take action on task order number six to the engineering services agreement with Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated for hydraulic water modeling. We have a motion by Alderman Hubbard, a second by Alderman Trotter, Any questions or comments? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their vote? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Item 3.9, discuss and possibly take action on appointments to various boards and commissions. We have a motion by Vice Mayor Harris, a second by Alderman Bradley, Questions or comments? We appreciate these people that are willing to serve our city. Hearing none, let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their votes? Would you tally the votes, please?

Motion passes five to zero.

Moving to the consent agenda.

Mayor, without objection, move take as one.

Second.

Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor Harris.

I need a second.

Any questions? I need to read these, I suppose. Item 4.1, Police Department requests for approval to purchase four mobile surveillance systems in the amount of $151,996 from Critical Tech Solutions of Knoxville, Tennessee. Budget, BCIF, Visco, Graham. Second item, police department request for approval to purchase a 2026 Ford police interceptor utility all-wheel drive SUV in the amount of $44,240 from Two Rivers Ford of Mount Juliet. Utilizing SWC number 209, budget drug fund. Item 43, administrative department request for approval to award the bid for citywide bone and spring litter removal services in the amount of $106,700 to Dunbar's Law Care of Springfield, Tennessee. Do we have a motion? Do we have a motion? We have a motion and a second. Any questions, comments? Let's cast our votes. Anyone care to change their votes? Would you tally the votes please?

Motion passes five to zero.

At this time, City Mayor Jerron Martin.

Thank you, Mayor. The first thing I would like to do is recognize the gentleman in the back, Corey Williamson. Corey, if you'll stand up, please. Corey is our new IT systems analyst, so you will see. Everybody claps because we're thrilled to have an IT person on staff again. Corey was working with us on a contract basis for some supplementary assistance that we needed during a transitional period. And once the position opened up, we've moved Corey into a full-time position. We're thrilled to have him on staff. People really appreciate his attitude and his demeanor. and his willingness to help and assist. So we're thankful to have Corey, so that's why you'll be seeing him in the future. Local option sales tax finished. We received our report for June. Local option sales tax will finish the fiscal year about 4% ahead of budget, which equates to about $300,000. That's a good... It's good bellwether for our economy. Obviously, inflation plays a role in that. Again, I say this not because we care about tax money. It's because that local option sales tax is really an economic indicator of how well our local economy is performing, how people are shopping local. when they do shop, and so we appreciate that, folks. That helps our economy tremendously and helps the folks that work and have businesses and everything in our local economy. I do want to remind you about the development tracker. Some of you get constituent questions from time to time. What's going here? What's going there? What's that going to look like? How many units is that? the development tracker is on the website and you can go to any development that's proposed or approved inside you can click on that parcel and all of the documents are there the site plans there they're usually some elevations or renderings that are there and that's a great tool i was at church and was talking to someone and they said you told me about the development tracker and i used it and answered a question the other day so i i would highly recommend uh Making sure our citizens know we try to be as transparent as possible. That's the idea, is to put everything out there. That's the reason we live stream these meetings. That's the reason we put the newsletter out there. We want people to come to the meetings. But if they can't come to the meetings, we want them to be able to see the meetings. And so we want them to know there are no secrets in what we do. And so we put everything out there about proposed development and approved development. Update you briefly on the Coopertown water territory. We've continued those meetings. We do expect that to drift over into the fall as we are still in the due diligence period before we get a firm offer from them on that particular territory to resolve that situation in Coopertown. And, Mayor, that's all I have.

Thank you.

Mr. Martin, anyone else? Mr. Martin, Freedom Fest. Yes. July 3rd.

June 10th. Are you going to do it? June 10th is this weekend. Is it out of Bransford?

Yes.

I thought it was.

Yes.

To remind the community?

By the evening, isn't it? Yes, six days. And because of the bad weather, I thought I would be in Texas where June 10th started.

We'll see you there. Anything else? Thank you so much for your attendance, participation.