Crossville city council approves industrial site price and sewer connection to Homestead Tower Museum

Crossville city council approved a number of items, including setting the price of the industrial property being developed by the city with help from the state and the county, a water sales contract for South Cumberland Utility District and a sewer connection to the Homestead Tower Museum.

Council approved a price per acre on property in the Interchange Business Park that will soon be the site of a 200,000 square foot building pad for quick use by a potential industrial prospect. As part of the project funded by state funds and city and county taxpayer funds, a certified price must be approved. The property was purchased several years ago by the city.

Proposed industrial site located in

Interchange Business Park at

I-40 And 127-N

Councilman Graham moved to set the price at $75,000 per acre for the 20-acre property that could house a company with up to 300 employees. Councilwoman Harris seconded the motion.

Engineering on the project is in the final stages and bids will be called for a bit later on in the year according to city engineer Tim Begley. Councilman Scot Shanks asked if the county would have a say in the price since they were funding part of the project? Mr. Graham addressed the question saying that there could be a lot of incentives for the purchase of the site.

City manager Wood said they were working on a matrix of incentives that may offset some of the price including a credit of up to $5000 per job hired by the purchaser. In addition, the matrix looks at capital investment and average wage. The motion passed unanimously.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car stores; not near the price!

Crossville city council easily approved a renewal of the water sales contract between the city and South Cumberland Utility District. The brief discussion included information from city manager Greg Wood who advised the council that the SCUD board unanimously approved a request to the city for the renewal for a ten year period at the same terms.

Councilman J. H. Graham III moved to approve the request quickly seconded by Councilwoman Pamala Harris. The motion was approved by unanimous vote of the council.

Council also approved a request from the Cumberland Homesteads Tower Association for a connection to the city sewer. The tower museum has been operating on a septic system that has failed and the museum no longer has a public restroom facility for their visitors.

Cumberland Homestead

Tower Museum

Councilman Danny Wyatt moved that the city pay $10,371.47 to run the sewer line from where it is to the tower. This would install the line and would leave the cost of a grinder pump of around $5,000 that the CHTA is seeking from Cumberland County. The tower is leased from the county school system.

Mayor James Mayberry seconded Wyatt's motion. A budget amendment was added to the motion on first reading and the motion was unanimously approved by the council.   

Crossville council waiting on Chamber approval of contract changes, removes chamber report from agenda

A majority of the Crossville city council agreed to remove the regular monthly report by the Chamber of Commerce from the council's agenda but the chamber could still speak at the council meeting if needed.

The council also briefly discussed the contract for services with the chamber after some proposed changes suggested by the city are under consideration by the chamber's board. The council also approved the chamber report card to be used to report to the city.

Chamber President Brad Allamong, right, addresses the Council.

The chamber report has followed the city's marketing report where a slot for Cumberland County government or the Chamber could report to the council. The county government has not taken advantage of the opportunity but the chamber director/president Brad Allamong has.

At that point in the agenda, Mayor James Mayberry called for the chamber report but council member J. H. Graham said the next item on the agenda was a discussion of the chamber's contract. Allamong took the podium to present the chamber's new scorecard that will be used to report to the city on activities and progress toward goals. Allamong also presented council with copies of the new Lifestyles magazine that he said the Chamber uses to raise funds making about $14,000 from the publication. Copies of the magazine are sent to those inquiries about visiting, retirement and moving to the area and industrial prospects.

Near the new car stores; not near the price!

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Allamong pointed out some numbers from the report card including 412,000 website hits for the month. The chamber has several contacts in progress with potential new businesses prospects.

The chamber board will discuss the city proposed changes to the contract and will get back to the city at a future date. The council unanimously approved accepting the chamber report card to be used for reporting to the city.

Councilman Danny Wyatt addressed the monthly chamber report saying that the report card needed to go through the city manager who would provide information he thought important to the council members. Councilman Scot Shanks sought clarification to make sure that the council could still speak before the council if they needed to.

Council discussion on Chamber part 1

Council discussion on Chamber part 2

Wyatt said that the manager was doing a good job of keeping the council informed and as the CEO of the city, he needs to be in the loop to know what information needs to be sent along to the council.

Mr. Wyatt moved that the item be removed from the council agenda on the first reading of an ordinance the council must approve three times to make the change. The motion, seconded by Mr. Graham, was approved with three votes in favor from Wyatt, Graham and Pamala Harris. Mayor Mayberry and Mr. Shanks voted no.

Graham returned the discussion to the contract requesting that a clause be added to inform the city manager of the details of any prospective industrial prospect. Ms. Harris also clarified that the contract would not automatically renew each year but come back before council.  

First meeting for new city council expected to restore work sessions and look toward new city manager

The first regular city council meeting after new members Scot Shanks and J. H. Graham are sworn in will be Thursday December 8 and may see the return to monthly work sessions and possibly a return to council meetings on Tuesdays.

In addition, council will elect a mayor pro-tem, and appoint a city judge.

The council's evening starts off at 5:00 PM with the monthly audit committee meeting and will be followed by a closed executive session with city attorney Will Ridley at 5:30 PM. The council meeting as the beer board is scheduled for 5:45 and a public hearing on annexation progress report for 103 Meadowview Ln will be held at 5:50.

The council's regular agenda starts at 6:00 PM. Under the consent agenda, council is expected to approve first reading on the removal of two sections of the city code. One section, 11-703 concerns the circulation of unsigned material that J. R. Blankenship was prosecuted under but the city has agreed to rescind the charges at the $1500 fine assessed by the city judge in the case. The second section 11-705 addresses “posting notices and the like” and is also proposed for removal.

Section 11-703 states:

(A) It shall be unlawful for any person, organization or corporation, or other entity, to circulate or cause to be circulated, or to aid in any way the circulation of, or to attempt to circulate in the city, any unsigned printed, typed, reproduced, mimeographed, written or other papers or materials containing print, type, reproduction, mimeographed, written or other reading matter, excepting for the circulation of the regular newspapers in their routine business in publishing and circulating their papers.

   (B)   All written or printed circulars, advertisements or other statements with reference to any person who is a candidate for any public office in the city or with reference to any election in the city for any purpose, shall be signed by the writer thereof, or, if the same purport to be issued by any committee, or organization or other similar associations, the same shall be signed with the names of the principal officer of the association.

   (C)  UNSIGNED means any papers or matters as are described in section one thereof which do not contain the genuine signature of the person, or the principal of any organization causing same to be produced or reproduced or having same produced or reproduced.

   (D)   The possession in the city of more than three of any unsigned printed, typed, reproduced, mimeographed, written or other paper or materials containing such as described in this section, excepting the circulation of a regular newspaper, will be prima facie evidence that there has been a circulation of such in violation of this section.

11-705 states:

No person shall fasten, in any way, any show-card, poster or other advertising device upon any public or private property unless legally authorized to do so.

Other items under the consent agenda include a contract with Larry Kidwell of Kidwell & Co. for financial consultations and a contract on the transfer of waterlines from South Cumberland Utility District to the city.

After over 5 years, the bids on construction of the sidewalks on Fourth Street and Myrtle Avenue have been approved and work has started on the project. The TDOT grant will fund nearly $403,000 of the work and the city will fund just over $146,500 of the total project. On the agenda is the first reading of a budget amendment for $250,000 necessary to fund the city's match and additional work to complete the project.

Council will consider approval of a TDEC grant for site preparation on a 20 acre site in the Interstate Business Park. The grant along with the city's matching funds will construct a pad ready for construction of an up to 200,000 square foot industrial building. The grant will be discussed during council's Monday work session.

Council will consider the possibility of a special census in the city limits, an activity that has be financially beneficial to the city in past years. Other items council will consider is health insurance for the city judge and city attorney as well as a property tax freeze for eligible senior citizens.

A discussion on the process for interviewing candidates for city manager is also up for discussion on the agenda and council will revisit the request from CCHS for assistance in renovation of the Jets football field. The project has a total estimated cost of $100,000 and CCHS has a commitment so far for $10,000.   

Final regular council meeting for Souza and Kerley includes ethics complaints, grants and funding request for Jet Stadium

The final regular Crossville city council meeting for the current version of council comes two days after the election for two new members of the council. The agenda for the November regular council meeting includes a long list of the ethics violations filed by councilman Pete Souza that may or may not be investigated depending on the vote of a majority of council.

Crossville city hall

The council's evening starts at 5:15 PM with the council meeting as the audit committee in conference room 317.  A public hearing on annexation progress report is set for 5:50 PM and the council's regular meeting starts at 6 PM.  

In addition to the ethics complaints that come near the end of the meeting's agenda, council will also consider grant applications for site preparation for an industrial site building pad and a tourism development grant for the shooting sports park. Council will again consider a sidewalk proposal for Dunn Ave near Walmart and a request for funding by Cumberland County High School for repairs to their football field.

The list of ethics complaints can be found at this link. City attorney Will Ridley recommended the items should be covered at a special called meeting and one was close to being scheduled but was pulled just before the notice was to go out. Councilman Souza then asked that the items be included on the regular meeting's agenda.  

All 13 of the complaints are listed as individual agenda items and in each case, the council has three options, to determine that the complaint has merit, determine that the complaint does not have merit or determine that the complaint has sufficient merit to warrant further investigation. If the Council determines that a complaint warrants further investigation, it would authorize an investigation by the City Attorney or another individual or entity chosen by the City Council to make that investigation.

The Chamber of Commerce is seeking permission to apply for a grant of up to $500,000 for a Tennessee Department of Economic and Community development site development grant. The grant will require a minimum $214,000 match up to a maximum of $500,000 match from the city to construct a 200,000 square foot pad ready for construction to start.

The site for the pad is in the Interchange Park at I-40 and 127-N and the plan would include space for some 255 parking spaces and an area for trucks as well.

Council will also consider making an application for a tourism enhancement grant to assist in the development of the Shooting Sports Park proposed for the old city landfill property at Chestnut Hill. The project construction will be funded though the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency at $2.3 million to develop the park. The city can request up to $50,000 for the toursim grant and a $15,000 match will be required for the grant. The grant looks at bringing people more than 50 miles from their home and a method for measuring the impact.

Once again the council will look at a proposal for construction a sidewalk on Dunn Avenue between Interstate Drive and Matherly St. Property owners on the street have agreed to fund 50 percent of the material to build the curb gutter and sidewalk with the city funding the balance and labor.

The project was discussed at a work session in 2014 where council accepted a recommendation that the owners provide all the material and the city would fund the labor and ranking the project with other sidewalk projects. The project also came during two subsequent work session and deferred.

CCHS principal Jon Hall has requested help from the city on a project to make major repairs to their football field. Problems include drainage issues and a need to replace drain pipes under the field, redoing the sideline hillsides, irrigation system and new sod. The total cost of the work is estimated at $100,000 and so far they have received a commitment of $10,000 from Pilot/Flying J. Hall's email to the city also says the school system had “some funds” to help but no amount is known at the current time.

Interim city manager Steve Hill's fate back on the council's October Agenda along with sidewalks and Wyatt Court land purchase

The majority of the city council's regular October agenda is mostly routine, but one item is anything but routine.  The meeting is Thursday October 13.

Councilman Pete Souza is proposing an item to hold “discussion and action on removal and replacement of interim city manager.” The current interim city manager Steve Hill has held the position since April when a majority of the council dismissed city manager David Rutherford and appointed retired parks and recreation director Hill as interim manager.

Interim city manager Steve Hill listens to discussion at a previous council meeting.

Hill has attracted a lot of attention with some of his actions including removing derogatory items from his personnel file from his time with the parks and recreation department. Those items have since been returned. Story on Hill and missing documents returned.

Councilman Souza has filed a number of ethics complaints against Hill including questions about what happened with some city property during his time with Parks and Recreation, several items related to the investigation of the incident between Mr. Souza and councilman Jesse Kerley and his father following a meeting June 2, and providing false information to the media on supposed investigations into actions by interim police chief Rod Shoap. Souza files ethics complaints story. 

The schedule for the evening's meetings starts with the audit committee meeting at 5:00 PM followed by a closed executive session at 5:30. The beer board meets at 5:45 PM and a public hearing on annexation of Orange Circle will be held at 5:50 PM

The council's regular agenda gets underway at 6 PM in the council chambers at city hall.

Council once again takes up the bid on the long delayed safe routes to school sidewalks on Fourth St and Myrtle Ave. The project has run into numerous problems and has passed two absolute deadlines that have been extended to try and complete the project. The low bid has been approved by TDOT and the project may finally get underway.

Additional bids and purchases by the city include cemetery record keeping software and a new playground for Meadow Park Lake. The cemetery software would tie into to GPS location of plots and allow for genealogical research.

The purchase of the final usable plot in the Wyatt Court industrial park to L. E. “Butch” Smith will be considered by the council. The cost of the property is 227,075 for the 9.09 acres just off of Woodlawn Road. Originally Mr. Smith was seeking a credit against the purchase price for the addition of jobs but that part of his request has been dropped. The public notice of the sale was published back in April and now only requires the approval of council. Smith previously said he planned to construct a 50,000 square foot speculative building on the property at an estimated cost of $2 million.

The vacant land in the foreground is the property proposed for purchase be Butch Smith.

The council will consider the final approval of the sale during the October council meeting.

UCBJ article on a new industrial spec building for Crossville

From the May issue of the Upper Cumberland Business Journal.

http://ucbjournal.com/crossville-businessman-plans-spec-building/

My story about Butch Smith's proposal to build a spec industrial building.

Council OKs purchase of industrial property by local businessman Butch Smith

The Crossville city council approved the offer of local businessman Butch Smith to purchase a 9.09 acre lot in the Wyatt Court industrial park off of Woodlawn Road.

The property is prices at $25,000 per acre and Smith is proposing to construct a 50,000 square foot industrial spec building on the property.  Smith currently owns the adjoining property that is currently being leased by CoLinx for their latest expansion and the plans could eventually allow the two buildings to be joined creating a 150,000 square foot facility.

Smith's proposal is for the city to give the project 3 years and deduct $5000 per full time job created by the project from the land cost up to the purchase price.  Smith told the council the total investment in the initial part of the project would be some $2 million.

Smith also requested property tax abatements similar to payment in lieu of taxes programs offered to other industrial firms locating in Crossville. In addition, Smith requested some fill material located on adjacent city property that the city has stored to fill in part of the property to bring it up to grade and provide additional truck parking to the project.   

The sale is contingent on the charter provisions that allow a petition of 10 percent of registered city voters to put the sale to a referendum and a a sales contract by city attorney Will Ridley.  

Chamber of Commerce Brad Allamong praised the project saying currently there are no local industrial buildings to show potential industrial prospects.  Allamong added that he hoped additional local investors would step forward.  "This is really unique, talking about a private person making a commitment to the community and I'm all for it," Allamong concluded.

The motion to accept the offer of Smith was approved with all council members in favor.