[0:00] e

[0:39] uh welcome to those here in attendance

[0:41] and online to the March 6 2025 meeting

[0:44] uh this Thursday evening of the Johnson

[0:46] City city commission held here at the

[0:47] water and sewer comp Ser sewer Services

[0:50] complex it's currently 6 o' and we will

[0:53] call the meeting to order if everyone

[0:55] would please uh stand uh for pastor Pete

[0:58] tacket and as he gives the invocation

[1:01] and remain standing for the

[1:03] pledge thank you let's pray father we're

[1:06] thankful to live in a good city like

[1:08] Johnson City Tennessee we're thankful

[1:11] for our leadership we recognize that

[1:13] these have been challenging days but we

[1:15] thank you Lord that we are now in a

[1:16] place that we can look ahead strain

[1:19] toward the things that are ahead instead

[1:20] of looking backwards God I pray you

[1:22] continue to heal continue to lead

[1:24] continue to direct our city thank you

[1:26] for this night thank you for these men

[1:28] and women who will make good decision

[1:29] decisions and do what they can to lead

[1:32] us in the direction that we need to go

[1:34] bless them in their deliberations

[1:36] tonight I pray in Jesus name

[1:40] Amen to the flag of the United States of

[1:44] America and to the Republic for which it

[1:47] stands one nation under God indivisible

[1:51] with liberty and justice for

[1:58] all um

[2:01] Miss Paul yes um Commissioners your

[2:03] first order of business is to consider

[2:06] the approval of the minutes for the

[2:08] regularly scheduled City commission

[2:10] meeting held on Thursday February 13

[2:13] 2025 move approval second Miss L

[2:16] commissioner Brock yes commissioner wise

[2:19] yes mayor Hunter

[2:20] yes um mayor your next item is

[2:24] proclamations Miss Paul oh yes do we

[2:26] need to change anything on the agenda oh

[2:29] yes uh thank thank you so much um I

[2:31] would ask that you if we could move item

[2:35] and I'm looking for it on the agenda

[2:38] item number 10.3

[2:41] 10.3 10.3 which is under presentation

[2:45] audit presentation by Blackburn

[2:47] children's and stal which is our

[2:50] um uh our audit if we could move it up

[2:54] under presentations and if we could move

[2:55] it to item

[2:58] 5.4 if the commission would would allow

[3:00] I would so move second Miss L

[3:03] commissioner Brock yes commissioner wise

[3:05] yes mayor Hunter yes and um mayor we had

[3:09] no one signed up for public comment

[3:10] tonight okay next we have a present

[3:14] presentation of retirement uh in honor

[3:17] of Dr Steve Barnett

[3:39] Dr Barnett no he's new at this minute Dr

[3:44] Barnett is that working now yeah U glad

[3:49] to have you here it's um appreciate kind

[3:52] of momentous I think what eight years

[3:54] ago that's right I was on the school

[3:56] board and and we taking a chance on and

[4:00] we did great I mean you did great and

[4:02] you've weathered a lot and done a great

[4:04] job and you'll be sorely missed and uh

[4:07] so we'll read this Proclamation for you

[4:10] um whereas Dr Steve Barnett has

[4:13] dedicated 32 years to to education

[4:16] shaping the lives of countless students

[4:18] and Educators through his commitment to

[4:20] academic excellence and Leadership and

[4:24] whereas Dr Barnett a Navy veteran and

[4:27] distinguished graduate of East Tennessee

[4:29] State University the University of

[4:31] Tennessee and Tennessee Tech University

[4:34] has demonstrated a a lifelong dedication

[4:37] to learning and service and whereas Dr

[4:40] Barnett devoted 20 years to Johnson City

[4:42] Schools serving as principal of town

[4:44] Acres school elementary school for 12

[4:47] years before being selected

[4:49] superintendent in 2017 leading the with

[4:52] vision and integrity for eight years and

[4:55] whereas during his tenure as

[4:57] superintendent Dr Barnett collab

[4:59] collaborated with the Johnson City Board

[5:01] of Education and City commission to

[5:04] implement a comprehensive restructuring

[5:06] plan returning fifth grade to the

[5:08] elementary schools establishing two

[5:11] middle schools for grades 6 through

[5:12] eight and the expansion of elementary

[5:15] school facilities and a new town Acres

[5:17] Elementary School to accommodate the

[5:20] city's growing student

[5:23] population and whereas Dr Barnett played

[5:26] an important role in maintaining

[5:28] academic excellence during the covid-19

[5:31] pandemic making student- centered

[5:33] decisions that contributed to Johnson

[5:35] City Schools being among the select few

[5:38] Nationwide and one of only four in

[5:42] Tennessee to surpass prepandemic

[5:44] performance levels in math and

[5:46] reading and whereas Dr Barnett's

[5:49] leadership dedication and passion for

[5:51] Education have left a lasting impact on

[5:54] Johnson City schools and the broader

[5:56] Community ensuring continued growth and

[5:58] opportunity for future

[6:00] Generations now therefore I John Hunter

[6:04] mayor of the city of Johnson City

[6:05] Tennessee do hereby recognize and honor

[6:08] the career and retirement of Dr Steve

[6:10] Barnett and encourage all citizens to

[6:12] join in celebrating his legacy of

[6:14] service and commitment to the students

[6:16] Educators and families of Johnson City

[6:19] thank

[6:20] [Applause]

[6:25] you mayor

[6:28] [Applause]

[6:38] I'm just coming Jenny

[6:41] told T thank you

[6:44] congratulations thank you you're a

[6:46] hugger that's right I could give you a

[6:48] hug from Over the I am not a

[6:55] hugger I'll I'll just start I I just is

[6:59] the biggest honor of my life

[7:02] professionally to uh to be able to be

[7:04] the superintendent Johnson City Schools

[7:06] what a wonderful Community what a great

[7:08] place to live to raise children and I

[7:12] think a lot of that has to do because

[7:14] our community sees education as an

[7:16] investment investment in our children

[7:19] investment in our community not an

[7:21] expense and uh what an honor to be able

[7:24] to do that and my wife is in the

[7:26] audience and she made

[7:30] my job doable because of the support she

[7:33] provided for me at home and I really

[7:34] appreciate her and I never want to leave

[7:37] her out of that but what an honor what a

[7:40] privilege and I get to do work now that

[7:43] supports uh education and outcomes

[7:45] across all of Northeast Tennessee and uh

[7:49] and across the whole state with the nice

[7:51] warer foundation so looking forward to

[7:53] the work that we're going to do and the

[7:55] support we'll continue to provide school

[7:57] systems like Johnson City and Washington

[7:59] County and the surrounding areas but

[8:01] thank you all so much for this I really

[8:04] appreciate it and like I told Mr Hunter

[8:06] was on the school board and and uh

[8:08] Schoolboard members that were there when

[8:10] they selected me I always wanted to say

[8:12] to them thanks for taking taking a

[8:14] chance on me thank

[8:18] you um Steve um this is a very moving

[8:22] moment for for us because this

[8:25] commission that uh a portion of it

[8:27] standing in front of you right now has

[8:28] worked with you over the last uh how

[8:31] many years eight years yeah and as a

[8:36] result of that we have one of the

[8:38] greatest school systems in the state of

[8:40] Tennessee under your

[8:42] leadership uh when I was on the school

[8:44] board you were the principal of town

[8:46] Acres Elementary School and I remember

[8:50] one day we were advertising for the

[8:52] Turkey

[8:53] Trot and I was the turkey I was had on

[8:56] the mascot uniform well the thing I

[8:59] didn't do that day was to attach the

[9:02] head under my arms and so we went to the

[9:05] cafeteria do you

[9:07] remember and they turn some music on and

[9:10] Steve comes over and grabs me as the

[9:13] turkey to

[9:15] dance and so we danced in the cafeteria

[9:17] the kids were going wild right but he

[9:19] spun me around and my head almost flew

[9:23] off and that would have really been

[9:26] scary for those kids I can tell you but

[9:29] but you were always involved you

[9:31] committed everything to everything we're

[9:32] doing here in Johnson City we we are

[9:35] really going to miss your leadership the

[9:37] school you left the school in a great

[9:39] position and that's what I've told the

[9:42] people that that are coming in behind

[9:44] you is you've left them in great

[9:46] position don't mess it up okay but thank

[9:49] you so much for all that you have done

[9:52] and um you know the place I would see

[9:54] you most would be on the Tweety Trail

[9:56] because of your commitment to to to

[9:58] Fitness and and staying in good health

[10:00] and we appreciate that and I will see

[10:02] you out there again thank I just would

[10:06] say I don't think there are too many

[10:07] jobs in a community as challenging as

[10:09] the Director of schools there's probably

[10:11] about a half a dozen jobs that make a

[10:13] community function they're at the heart

[10:15] of what is happening and the last eight

[10:17] years has presented a number of

[10:19] challenging seasons and you have led

[10:22] through all of them and I think we are

[10:24] in a better place for it and I

[10:26] appreciate you and your family for the

[10:28] sacrifice you made on behalf of our

[10:34] community thank you um I have had the

[10:36] privilege um to work with Dr Barnett for

[10:39] about three and a half years I've worked

[10:41] with a lot of superintendents in my

[10:42] career and I will tell you you're the

[10:44] best of the best um what you've done for

[10:47] the school system what you've done for

[10:48] the community your integrity stands

[10:51] above any any anybody I would say you're

[10:55] the consumate professional um I I think

[10:58] you you live and you walk by what you

[11:01] say and uh that's big when you're

[11:04] leading a bunch of kids and they're

[11:05] looking at you every day and you're

[11:08] going to you're really going to be

[11:09] missed it's going to be hard for us to

[11:11] continue the path we'll do it but we'll

[11:14] probably be making a lot of phone calls

[11:15] to you asking for advice but thanks

[11:19] thanks Big thanks this community owes

[11:21] you a huge debt of gratitude thank you

[11:23] so

[11:24] [Applause]

[11:29] miss ball actually if you'll stay down

[11:31] here um next item on the agenda yeah the

[11:35] next item on the agenda we are so

[11:37] excited I don't know if we've given many

[11:39] keys away um this is maybe our first key

[11:43] not in a long time uh to the if you

[11:47] haven't noticed we have the big South

[11:49] going on right now and very proudly so

[11:53] um we want to give it to commissioner

[11:54] sharica Montgomery and if you will come

[11:57] up and join us and we are so so excited

[11:59] to have you here we're excited to have

[12:01] the big South here and we are cheering

[12:03] the whole

[12:12] time if I could if uh Aaron Murphy could

[12:16] come up Aaron was on the commission when

[12:19] when we were awarded this and we love to

[12:21] have him up here with us so the city of

[12:24] John city of John city is as

[12:27] a as uh city manager ball mentioned uh

[12:31] has not I think the most recent I could

[12:34] see that I could find online was in 1962

[12:38] so it's a pretty big deal that uh we

[12:40] brought the key out and uh we are

[12:43] extremely excited and thankful for you

[12:46] your selection of Johnson City for 25 to

[12:48] 27 and hope that we see you here for

[12:50] many years beyond that um thank you for

[12:54] you know bringing the people to our

[12:56] region and the teams and and we're just

[12:58] extreme

[12:59] thankful for your all presence would you

[13:02] like to say

[13:04] anything thank you so much um first and

[13:07] foremost I'm absolutely honored and

[13:09] elated to St here and accept this not

[13:11] only as an individual but on behalf of

[13:13] the entire Big South Conference we are

[13:15] so excited we have felt welcomed since

[13:17] the first time we had an opportunity to

[13:19] step into this city and I'm just honored

[13:21] to say that we have a total of 18 men's

[13:24] women's basketball programs they are

[13:26] experiencing Johnson City on another

[13:28] level both in the arena outside of the

[13:31] Arena you all have stepped forward in a

[13:33] way that we are just immensely grateful

[13:35] if you have not already attended we

[13:38] would love to see you all out the

[13:39] Freedom Hall Civic Center this weekend

[13:41] the action will continue to be amazing

[13:43] but more than anything Miss Brenda um

[13:46] I'd be remiss a lot of people have asked

[13:48] me how did we you know land on Johnson

[13:50] City and there's one word that continues

[13:52] to come to mind partnership when we were

[13:55] going through the bid process it is

[13:57] something that stuck through that this

[13:59] would be a true partnership someone that

[14:01] we would be able to work with and really

[14:03] feel a level of reciprocity and that's

[14:05] exactly what this first year has been

[14:07] and we look forward to many years so

[14:09] once again on behalf of the Big South

[14:11] Conference thank you for not only

[14:12] welcoming me to this session but all of

[14:15] our member institutions to this fine

[14:16] City here in Johnson City thank

[14:19] [Applause]

[14:25] you well sharica um as we said last

[14:28] night tonight um guys you got to go to

[14:31] Freedom Hall it is amazing the way it

[14:34] has been transformed into the Big South

[14:37] basketball Conference Finals and it's

[14:39] just great it's a great place and I do

[14:41] also want to call out Brenda Whitson

[14:43] with the convention of visitors bureau

[14:44] CVB for working the bid to begin with

[14:47] but then working getting everything here

[14:50] and Steve Willis who's on City staff uh

[14:53] assistant city manager um and all the

[14:56] other staff here in the city who have

[14:59] really transformed Freedom Hall into a

[15:02] competitive Arena that is so exciting

[15:05] and everybody needs to go so get on up

[15:08] there but thank you so much for choosing

[15:10] us as I said it raises the bar as to

[15:13] what we are doing here and I think other

[15:15] people will be taking a view of Johnson

[15:17] City in a very positive way and by the

[15:19] way folks it's on TV and Kathy and I

[15:22] were there last night and we were on

[15:24] ESPN so you know so please go uh take

[15:29] take your young children take your

[15:31] grandchildren uh it's just an exciting

[15:33] place to be but thank you and Welcome to

[15:36] our city and this won't be the last time

[15:38] right not the

[15:40] last well um thank you as everybody else

[15:43] has said um the energy level when y'all

[15:45] got here was just incredible and I felt

[15:48] giddy I feel like a little kid and

[15:51] obviously I'm not but um but the energy

[15:53] level the excitement um somebody said

[15:56] last night when I was saying you know

[15:59] what can we do better what we can do

[16:00] they said you make us feel welcome and

[16:02] that's what we want to do if we know

[16:04] anything our motto is go all out we hope

[16:07] that you felt that that that that came

[16:10] up before I got here but um we hope that

[16:13] you felt that and of course we're doing

[16:15] it because we want more of you we want

[16:18] you to come back so thank you so

[16:23] much well it's so exciting to have you

[16:26] guys come to our city um I'm an have it

[16:28] back basketball fan and uh there's a lot

[16:30] of people that's ready to support you

[16:33] from the from the start to the finish so

[16:35] whatever you need please feel free to

[16:37] reach out we're here for you thank you

[16:39] so I would just say yes and this is me

[16:42] being

[16:45] giddy

[16:48] thatc if you'll come over here JT you

[16:51] want to take some good

[16:55] pictures watch the TV

[17:14] I

[17:31] thank

[17:33] [Applause]

[17:54] you and last but not least uh we have uh

[17:58] Comm commissioner Aaron Murphy here with

[18:00] us and we want to as a Time honor

[18:02] tradition recognize your your service on

[18:04] the commission uh with this plaque and

[18:07] you know Aon it was a pleasure serving

[18:10] with you the last four years and uh

[18:12] getting to know you and uh having you uh

[18:15] be a part of some really big things over

[18:18] the past four years and um you know hope

[18:21] to see you again and and uh we

[18:24] appreciate it

[18:26] sir well I'm greatly uh honored to have

[18:29] served the city for four years and I'm

[18:32] continuing to serve as we know that

[18:34] positions and titles do not define who a

[18:37] person is and so uh I look forward to

[18:40] continuing to represent our city well

[18:43] and uh model uh servant Le leadership uh

[18:47] that everyone's pleased with so thank

[18:48] you I've enjoyed all of you and uh I'm

[18:51] still here in the city if you need me

[18:53] thank you

[18:55] [Applause]

[19:00] Aon first of all um I want to say thank

[19:02] you for your commitment to Johnson City

[19:05] I know it is real I know it's true and

[19:07] I've seen the variety of of things that

[19:10] you have done for this city that make a

[19:12] difference and so um and usually then

[19:15] you'll pick up the phone and call one of

[19:16] us and say you need to be here and so we

[19:19] would we would come down so thank you so

[19:21] much for that um you've been the

[19:25] prayer for the Turkey Trot so I'm a

[19:28] officially inviting you again for this

[19:30] next Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning

[19:34] to show up all right thank

[19:36] you I just to Echo what was already said

[19:39] and acknowledge the considerable

[19:41] sacrifice of time and energy that you

[19:43] put into our community and the sacrifice

[19:46] that your family has made of your time

[19:48] and your energy to invest in our

[19:51] community thank you um vice mayor um the

[19:55] past three and a half years um and which

[19:59] through a lot of it but have been very

[20:01] challenging as you know for the city and

[20:03] I just want to say a special thank you

[20:05] for the times that you've lifted us up

[20:08] you've Lifted Me Up um during very

[20:11] difficult and challenging times uh of

[20:13] the of the heart of the soul and um we

[20:16] knew we would come through it and we

[20:18] have and thank you for being a part of

[20:20] that and thank you for staying with us

[20:22] through that so we you're very much we

[20:25] very much appreciate that so thank you

[20:30] thank

[20:32] [Applause]

[20:43] you we don't

[21:28] commissioner

[21:29] the next item as you have moved forward

[21:31] under item

[21:32] 4.3 is a presentation of the audit by uh

[21:36] Blackburn CH uh children and steagle and

[21:40] if you will come forward thank you so

[21:42] much

[21:43] Tara thank you all for having me um and

[21:46] thank you for moving me up on the agenda

[21:47] I greatly appreciate that um I am Tara

[21:50] finner with Blackburn children's in

[21:52] Sagal I'm an audit partner that

[21:53] partnered the audit for the fiscal year

[21:55] 24 for the city of Johnson City um I

[21:59] want to commend Stephanie LA and the

[22:00] finance department for their great work

[22:02] and all the support and assistance that

[22:04] they give us throughout the audit

[22:05] process I know it's a huge undertaking

[22:08] and we ask a lot of you and I greatly

[22:10] appreciate all the help that you've

[22:11] given us through that process um we did

[22:14] have a clean audit opinion this year

[22:16] which is fantastic it's the best that

[22:17] you can get and that covers the

[22:19] financial statement audit presentation

[22:21] and then as well as the schedule of

[22:23] expenditures of federal Awards um the

[22:27] net position for the city overall for

[22:30] the fiscal year ended um June 30th 2024

[22:34] was 5.4 million of that amount 393

[22:39] million is invested in capital assets

[22:41] and that word invest and investment has

[22:43] come up several times even tonight um

[22:46] and that

[22:47] basically um supports the fact that you

[22:49] all are investing in your communities

[22:50] you're investing in road projects

[22:53] constructions um classroom modifications

[22:56] Parks improvements all of those things

[22:58] school buses that keeps the city running

[23:01] so that's what that number really means

[23:02] and that's a huge um part of what you

[23:04] all do and the services that you provide

[23:06] to your community um the net in the net

[23:10] position increase for the year was 22

[23:13] million um so that's great you always

[23:15] want to have an increase that's much

[23:16] better um shows the strength of the

[23:18] city's finances for debt activity for

[23:21] the year you did pay down debt totally

[23:24] of 18.8 million that includes bonds

[23:27] notes Capital leases and subscription

[23:31] contracts there were no new bonds issued

[23:33] you did have a final draw down on a

[23:35] previously issued Bond of 535,000

[23:39] um Grant awards for the year Federal

[23:43] expenditures totaled 19.4 million and

[23:47] those programs covered Food Service

[23:49] police Public Service Community

[23:51] Development the transit system and the

[23:53] arpa programs um for State expenditures

[23:57] your totals were 4.7 million and those

[24:00] were primarily related to Transit

[24:02] programs Community Development education

[24:05] is huge part of that state funding um

[24:08] and then Public Safety for the grants

[24:11] that we tested as major for the year

[24:13] those covered the Federal Transit

[24:15] cluster coronav virus state and local

[24:18] fiscal recovery funds the State

[24:20] education funds and the highway planning

[24:22] and construction cluster through all of

[24:25] that testing that we did for the major

[24:26] programs we did not have any finding

[24:28] related to any of your Grant programs so

[24:30] that was

[24:31] fantastic um we really overall had a

[24:34] great year we were able to issue um by

[24:38] December 31st which is always the goal

[24:41] um and that's a huge um a huge success I

[24:45] think for the city and for us um

[24:47] especially following the huge software

[24:50] conversions and things that were really

[24:52] a struggle for the last couple years so

[24:54] it's great to report that those have all

[24:55] improved and you all are well on your

[24:58] way to um really successful financial

[25:01] position yeah any

[25:05] questions um I'd just like to say and I

[25:08] think you'll agree with me that uh thank

[25:11] you to miss LA and your team your whole

[25:14] team that has um made this audit much

[25:19] easier for our Auditors right yes yeah

[25:22] for sure but um it's it's really an

[25:25] honor to serve um on a commission and

[25:29] with the administration of the city um

[25:32] that we um you know I I do believe we're

[25:35] in a strong financial position and we

[25:37] manage

[25:38] conservatively uh but but invest in our

[25:41] city and we we can't

[25:44] deliver uh excellence in Services unless

[25:47] our employees have the tools that they

[25:49] need to do that absolutely and so that's

[25:52] the investment that's very uh important

[25:54] for us to consider on an ongoing basis

[25:57] but thank you for your work for

[25:59] Blackburn children in stal and wish you

[26:02] well on your move out to gray thank you

[26:04] I really appreciate that any other

[26:06] comments or questions is there any

[26:08] action item or action on this no sir

[26:11] okay thank you miss ball Commissioners

[26:15] the next order of business is

[26:16] consideration of an appointment to the

[26:19] Civil Service Commission per City

[26:21] Charter this is a police department

[26:23] appointee and our our assistant city

[26:25] manager Steve Willis is here to present

[26:27] this item mayor Hunter Commissioners

[26:29] Miss L miss ball my name is Steve Willis

[26:32] assistant city manager happy to be

[26:33] before you tonight but I must say it's

[26:35] with a bit of sadness that we bring this

[26:37] before you for your consideration this

[26:39] evening the reason for this vacancy is

[26:41] due to the passing of a longtime

[26:43] volunteer board member Mr William bones

[26:47] Adams and those who know

[26:49] Bones have to think about him in an

[26:52] affectionate way because he had a heart

[26:54] as big as this room and he was a model

[26:57] volunteer board board member he sat on

[27:00] the Civil Service Commission for 17

[27:01] years with the vast majority of those

[27:03] being as its chairman and he did that

[27:06] because he cared about his community and

[27:09] he loved the men and women who worked in

[27:11] public safety whether that be police or

[27:13] fire and Mr Adams always showed up and

[27:16] he always stayed all day and that's with

[27:20] a lot of health challenges that he faced

[27:22] along the way so out of respect for him

[27:24] and his service we delayed this

[27:26] appointment just a bit but but the

[27:28] police department has held an election

[27:30] and their recommendation to this board

[27:32] this evening is for Mr Brian O'Hare to

[27:34] be selected to fill the remaining term

[27:36] of Mr Adams which would be the balance

[27:39] of calendar year 2025 as well as all of

[27:42] calendar year

[27:43] 2026 Mr O'Hare has about 37 combined

[27:47] years of law enforcement experience with

[27:49] 24 of those being a special agent to the

[27:52] FBI so he certainly qualified to fill

[27:54] this role and I would recommend that you

[27:57] approve this appointment move approval

[27:59] second Miss L commissioner Brock yes

[28:02] commissioner wise yes mayor Hunter yes

[28:05] Miss Paul Commissioners your next order

[28:07] of business is consideration of the

[28:09] consent agenda I guess I'll start to my

[28:12] left M Brock any items uh I I do want to

[28:17] pull the one just for kind of a brief

[28:19] overview Mr um trivet on the um Cherokee

[28:25] Park that we'll be doing in the next

[28:27] year

[28:29] get what number that

[28:31] is

[28:33] 7.1.1 yes

[28:35] ma'am um Mr wat and perhaps while Mr

[28:39] trivet is at the podium 724 and

[28:43] 725 just to briefly touch on what we're

[28:46] doing there and how it's kind of in

[28:49] tandem with some existing state

[28:51] investment and how that effort works

[28:54] great thank you Mr miles Mr trivet is

[28:57] that all

[28:58] uh good evening I'm Randy triet the

[29:01] deputy city manager it's good to be

[29:03] before you tonight I've got director

[29:05] Jason Miles with public works with me as

[29:08] well because his department will be

[29:10] handling all three of these items that

[29:12] you've asked us to look at and I'll I'll

[29:15] say a couple things about

[29:17] 7.1.1 on the uh uh the Cherokee Street

[29:22] Extension uh pond that's going in a

[29:24] storm water retention Basin it's going

[29:26] to be more like a park like said

[29:28] that's going to uh mimic Founders Park

[29:32] and King Commons just a little smaller

[29:34] scale because of the space that we've

[29:36] got uh a few a few months ago you guys

[29:40] approved a a land swap out there with

[29:43] one of the adjoining property owners so

[29:45] this Pond will come around into an

[29:47] l-shape and follow along um State of

[29:50] Franklin Road so that uh that people can

[29:54] be able to get out and enjoy and enjoy

[29:56] walking around the the water features

[29:59] there'll be some other amenities that'll

[30:01] be in there there'll be some additional

[30:03] parking um that has been added to um the

[30:08] area so that people can park they can

[30:10] walk there they can enjoy West walut

[30:12] Street and all the amenities that'll be

[30:14] going on with that uh the item that's

[30:18] brought before you tonight on the

[30:19] consent agenda is uh the since the the

[30:24] hurricane hit in our area and the

[30:26] devastation that was occurred there uh

[30:29] TC has decided to wave the matching

[30:33] Grant funds for this and so uh the

[30:36] matching grant for the city was about

[30:39] $597,000 almost

[30:41] $600,000 with them waving that then we

[30:44] have to pay zero and match to this would

[30:47] be 100% Grant funded which ends up being

[30:50] nearly $3.3 million to do the

[30:53] construction of this Wetland do you have

[30:55] anything you want to add to that or Mr

[30:58] trivet this the primary purpose of this

[31:01] area is storm water detention absolutely

[31:05] especially coming off the renovation of

[31:08] West Walnut Street and the water that

[31:09] comes down through there uh this will be

[31:12] to hold off some of that water so that

[31:15] it's uh uh held back before it gets

[31:17] across into Brush Creek so we're just

[31:20] happening to turn it into a park-like

[31:22] setting as well that if if it does flood

[31:25] the park will flood first absolutely and

[31:27] that's a theme that we're trying to

[31:29] approach all across the city when we

[31:31] have that opportunity that if we have to

[31:34] build in any type of larger retention or

[31:38] larger storm water management control

[31:40] plans that we turn those into park-like

[31:43] settings and uh we're we're we're in the

[31:46] negotiations and working on one up on

[31:48] West wut where the Burlington Mill

[31:50] property is at We own a lot of property

[31:52] there that we purchased for uh storm

[31:55] water management and so we know the

[31:57] capacity and as that Park uh as that

[32:00] storm water plan gets developed it'll be

[32:02] a park-like setting as well open to the

[32:04] public and open to the community uh to

[32:07] enjoy when it's not in flooding season

[32:09] now the timeline I noticed on the news

[32:12] we've I think WCYB covered it this is

[32:15] almost through on West Walnut Street I

[32:18] think that was their yeah almost almost

[32:21] through or something like that but this

[32:23] is going to take a little bit longer I

[32:24] mean the street and all the improvements

[32:26] that have been made on the on West

[32:28] wallant proper are just about

[32:31] completed this is kind of off to the

[32:33] side and it's going to take about a year

[32:35] to do it more than that yeah about 18

[32:39] months I think to get it completed we're

[32:41] probably and this is a separate project

[32:43] this was separate funding that became

[32:45] available there was already a detention

[32:48] that was needed at this location when uh

[32:51] West W it was designed but when this

[32:53] grant opportunity came up and we applied

[32:56] for it uh through Public Works

[32:58] uh it was able to improve it and enhance

[33:01] it and make it more of a park- like

[33:02] setting before it was just going to be a

[33:03] water retention holding area but now

[33:06] that we can have some additional funds

[33:09] as a separate Grant we're going to be

[33:10] able to enhance it and make it a lot

[33:12] more appealing a lot more attractive

[33:15] with landscaping and other park-like

[33:17] amenities uh but the West walut Street

[33:20] project will be completed by this by May

[33:23] of this year uh what we're waiting on

[33:25] now is the final top coat of Asal

[33:28] uh we were waiting on some like the

[33:30] demolition of the copy net building so

[33:32] that heavier trucks and demolition

[33:34] equipment wouldn't be dra traveling

[33:36] across new fresh pavement and so and

[33:39] then uh you have to have perfect weather

[33:42] in order to put down asphalt to make it

[33:44] last a lot longer but uh Landscaping is

[33:46] gearing up right now and purchasing all

[33:49] the plants uh they've actually even got

[33:51] some volunteers from the Main Street

[33:53] program who are wanting to come in and

[33:54] help them plant some of this Landscaping

[33:56] along the the the uh other side of West

[34:00] Walnut as it's going through so you'll

[34:02] uh once Spring weather hits and we're

[34:04] getting very close to that you're going

[34:06] to get to see a lot more activity going

[34:08] on out there and that project being

[34:09] finished up as well but this project

[34:12] with it being an arpa Grant uh the

[34:15] design was due to be 60% complete by the

[34:18] end of January which uh barge uh designs

[34:22] hit that Target date they will finish up

[34:24] the design uh over the next couple three

[34:27] 3 months and then we'll put it out to

[34:29] bid um to uh have the project completed

[34:33] and it'll probably take about 18 months

[34:35] but our deadline to have it completed is

[34:38] uh September of

[34:43] 2026 looking great over there I know our

[34:46] businesses are very happy about the

[34:48] result of it it's going to be a

[34:49] beautiful place and we really hope this

[34:51] really everything that the city's

[34:53] invested in this and that you all have

[34:55] approved we really see the the roots of

[34:58] that when developers and and and

[35:00] buildings and things start being built

[35:02] over there that will be producing

[35:05] activities for the public to to

[35:08] enjoy uh do you want me to go on into

[35:10] the next one yeah just speak to how it

[35:13] fits in with what the state already does

[35:15] and how citizens see this happening on a

[35:19] day-to-day basis yeah these are mowing

[35:21] contracts that we contract out uh uh

[35:24] every year uh and we and there's two of

[35:27] them because one of them is the i26 the

[35:29] interstate mowing the interstate mowing

[35:32] uh there as you notice at a lot of the

[35:35] exit ramps there's a lot of Green Space

[35:38] there um and so the state will contract

[35:41] with local municipalities who can

[35:43] perform the work to do the Mowing and

[35:46] the litter pickup and they reimburse the

[35:48] cost of that up to a certain level now

[35:51] we probably mow and and I know for a

[35:53] fact that we mow and do litter pickup

[35:56] way more than what the state State

[35:57] reimburses us for but that's because we

[36:00] take pride Public Works takes pride in

[36:02] in the city and how it looks and wants

[36:04] to keep it looking really good but we do

[36:06] get reimbursed for that up to a certain

[36:08] limit based on acreage the other one is

[36:11] uh our mowing zones that we've

[36:13] identified throughout the city that

[36:15] aren't adjacent to someone who would

[36:17] keep their property mode that are more

[36:19] along rideways or uh other areas that

[36:23] are adjacent that aren't related to

[36:25] Parks or anything so are we have mowing

[36:28] Crews that we contract with to mow those

[36:31] areas as well and to do litter pickup uh

[36:35] along those too we do not get reimbursed

[36:37] for those unless they're associated with

[36:39] the interstate that's mostly when we get

[36:41] reimbursed for those thank you and I do

[36:45] think it would be really helpful to our

[36:47] citizens who live in Johnson City let's

[36:50] not litter and uh when you um when you

[36:53] pass pass some uh trash pick it up put

[36:56] Gage can but we need everybody all hands

[36:59] on deck on this to get cleaned up

[37:02] absolutely thank

[37:03] you thank you all thank

[37:06] you commission the next order of

[37:09] business do we need to make a motion got

[37:12] vote a move approval on the consent

[37:14] agenda second Miss La commissioner Brock

[37:16] yes commissioner wise yes mayor Hunter

[37:20] yes okay um commission your next order

[37:23] of business is item

[37:25] 8.1 this is an ordinance ordinance

[37:28] number

[37:43] 496-2523

[37:44] district for property located on Buffalo

[37:48] Road thank you Miss

[37:50] Paul good evening mayor and

[37:52] Commissioners my name is Bryce mcnamer

[37:54] planner with the development services

[37:56] department this is the second reading

[37:58] and public hearing for this request for

[37:59] resoning along Buffalo Road just a brief

[38:02] overview on this this was a request to

[38:04] go from the I2 heavy industrial district

[38:06] to R3 medium density residential

[38:08] district to accommodate for development

[38:11] of two single family homes on a common

[38:13] lot as part of the R3 regulations there

[38:16] is a binding concept plan requirement um

[38:19] as we can see on this slide here with

[38:21] the locations of the two

[38:23] homes uh the main consideration in

[38:26] reviewing this specific request going

[38:29] from an industrial district to the

[38:30] residential district is the topography

[38:32] and the existing conditions of the site

[38:35] um with most of the permitted uses of

[38:38] the I2 being highly intensive and um

[38:41] very impervious uh the site is likely

[38:43] very unsuitable for an industrial

[38:45] development uh so the less intensive use

[38:48] of two single family homes is

[38:49] appropriate there have been no changes

[38:51] to this request and staff recommends

[38:55] approval this is second all public

[38:57] hearing public hearing public hearing um

[38:59] so open it up to public comment

[39:03] hearing anybody here to speak for or

[39:07] against seeing none we will close the

[39:10] public hearing move approval or second

[39:12] whichever way move for approval Miss

[39:14] we're gonna switch back commissioner

[39:16] Brock yes commissioner wise yes mayor

[39:18] Hunter yes Miss

[39:21] ball yes mayor the next order of

[39:23] business is item 9.1 this is ordinance

[39:26] number 497-2336

[39:57] and repealing all ordinances and parts

[40:00] of ordinances in Conflict

[40:05] herewith uh good evening again

[40:07] Commissioners my name is Randy tret

[40:08] Deputy city manager uh there's not been

[40:11] any changes since the uh previous two

[40:14] readings and public hearing this is

[40:16] property that we're cleaning up a little

[40:18] bit of the conveyance of the property to

[40:21] uh the Johnson City Energy Authority

[40:23] which is also known as Bri Ridge and

[40:25] it's to access their sub station out off

[40:28] of uh novice drive and then also

[40:31] adjacent to that they've requested an

[40:33] easement which would be a non-exclusive

[40:36] easement on our property to be able to

[40:38] access some of their transmission lines

[40:40] that are down closer to the railroad

[40:42] tracks move approval second Miss La

[40:46] commissioner Brock yes commissioner wise

[40:48] yes mayor Hunter yes Miss Paul next

[40:51] order of business is under other item

[40:53] 10.1 is a public hearing is a public

[40:56] hearing to consider approval of an

[40:58] amendment to the 802 Country Club Court

[41:03] 2023 concept

[41:08] plan good evening Commissioners my name

[41:10] is Cali McGrew with planning and

[41:11] development services and I'll be

[41:13] presenting this concept plan amendment

[41:15] to you guys for 802 Country Club court

[41:17] or the matter Matterhorn Club

[41:21] Lots petitioner request to amend the

[41:23] previously approved concept plan to

[41:26] change from 4 four Town Homes to nine

[41:29] single family lots this um site is

[41:33] located at the corner of east UN and

[41:36] Country Club Court the site is currently

[41:40] vacant and it is a total of

[41:43] 3.17 Acres um split it's technically two

[41:48] different sites one is 2.89 acres and

[41:50] the other is 28 Acres um a little bit of

[41:55] background

[41:58] in 2007 the property was rezone from R2

[42:02] low density residential to R4 medium

[42:05] density residential to develop 30

[42:08] residential

[42:09] units then in March

[42:12] 2023 the 2007 concept plan was amended

[42:16] to increase the number of units to

[42:21] 44 now due to a change in ownership of

[42:24] the lot the new owners propose switching

[42:28] the unit type from 44 Town Homes to nine

[42:31] single family lots with separate

[42:33] driveways off of Country Club Court the

[42:36] concept plan meets the minimum lot

[42:38] requirements of 7,000 square ft with a

[42:41] minimum lot width of 50

[42:45] ft the 2020 future land use map shows

[42:49] this site as being used for Community

[42:51] areas however since it was rezoned or

[42:54] currently zoned to R4 The Proposal is

[42:57] consistent with that district and then

[42:59] the draft 2045 future land use map shows

[43:03] this area as compact

[43:06] residential um as well as downtown

[43:10] connected we held a neighborhood meeting

[43:13] on January 29th 2025 and there were zero

[43:17] attendees and then on February 11th

[43:20] Planning Commission um unon unanimously

[43:24] recommended approval of this concept

[43:26] plan amend

[43:27] therefore staff recommends approval on

[43:30] the basis that the project increases the

[43:33] supply of housing within proximity of

[43:35] existing amenities and alignance with

[43:37] both the 2020 land use map and our draft

[43:41] 2045 land use map I will um make a

[43:45] motion to approve and just say as I'm

[43:47] doing this this is a um this is a really

[43:50] good project and I think just the right

[43:53] number of homes in there second public

[43:55] hearing no H oh it says oh it says

[43:59] public sorry read the back

[44:03] in good for you um are there any

[44:06] questions or comments though to

[44:09] staff in our Workshop we talked about

[44:12] sidewalks and the road in front of it

[44:14] can you speak to that um it is a public

[44:17] road so we will have um there will be

[44:23] Road widening by 10 ft required as well

[44:25] as a 5ft sidewalk and will that which

[44:28] side of the road would that be on I'm

[44:29] just curious cuz we've got the park side

[44:31] on and and I didn't know if there was

[44:33] any that is a great question do you know

[44:39] okay good evening Commissioners um so

[44:42] this will be widened on the country club

[44:44] court side they're providing additional

[44:45] RightWay um for the development and the

[44:48] sidewalk will be on the the development

[44:51] side as well so it will not touch Lions

[44:53] Park okay great thank you uh I will open

[44:56] for for public hearing anyone wishing to

[44:59] speak for or against is

[45:02] welcome seeing none we'll close public

[45:05] hearing shall I make my motion over yes

[45:08] ma'am okay Sor about that move to

[45:10] approve all right second Miss Los

[45:12] commissioner Brock yes commissioner wise

[45:14] yes mayor Hunter yes thank you next item

[45:17] is 10.2 this is a presentation of an un

[45:20] audited financial statement by our

[45:22] finance director Stephanie la

[45:33] pardon me for one second

[45:45] Stephanie good evening mayor

[45:47] Commissioners

[45:49] Kathy I'm Stephanie L I'm the finance

[45:51] director and I'm going to give you a

[45:54] brief overview of the financial

[45:56] statement

[45:57] uh as of December 31st

[46:00] 2024 um these are un audited and I know

[46:04] it's the second Financial presentation

[46:06] you've gotten today so

[46:25] yeah

[46:55] e

[47:25] e e

[48:24] and we will call this meeting back to

[48:26] order from us from technical

[48:28] difficulties if you want to yep I'll

[48:30] just pick up where where I stopped um so

[48:34] we were talking about the the revenue in

[48:35] the general fund um that we are the

[48:38] general fund's only at 47% of of the

[48:41] revenue of the of the budget we would

[48:43] expect to be around 50 that part of that

[48:45] is because of our property taxes not

[48:47] being due until February 28th so as of

[48:49] December 31st we had collected about

[48:51] 19.3 of $43 million in property taxes

[48:54] for 2024 um I would expect that number

[48:58] to be around 40 million by the end of of

[49:01] of February so I would that number will

[49:03] definitely jump up and be closer to

[49:05] really about 98% collected by the end of

[49:09] the fiscal year the other other

[49:11] information um wanted to share with you

[49:13] guys since it is February after February

[49:16] and we've gotten the uh taxes in the

[49:18] partial payment plan program that you

[49:20] guys approved earlier this year for

[49:23] property taxes we had

[49:24] 245 citizens take advantage of that um

[49:27] out of 26,000 but we had 245 people who

[49:30] made payments on their on their property

[49:32] taxes um majority about 86% of that made

[49:35] two payments but we had some people that

[49:37] made as many as 10 so I know that the

[49:39] citizens really liked that program and

[49:41] it did not cause any hardship for our

[49:43] for the administrative side so um other

[49:47] local taxes are about 48% 50% of budget

[49:51] uh the biggest one there is our local

[49:53] sales tax we're at 51 a half% of budget

[49:56] so we're trending to be about a million

[49:57] dollars over budget for our local sales

[49:59] tax for the for the fiscal year

[50:02] wow uh all all other local taxes are at

[50:05] about the 50% Mark or they have a later

[50:07] due date like motor veh uh mobile food

[50:09] vendor permits are not due until the end

[50:11] of February so we wouldn't expect to see

[50:13] those picked up yet and in lie of taxes

[50:16] if people might see that it's a very low

[50:18] number but those are one-time payments

[50:20] from Mostly our utilities yes there is

[50:23] one payment in there that is about $4.3

[50:26] million that will come in in around May

[50:27] or June so that that will be at at or

[50:32] close to 100% by the end of the fiscal

[50:37] year uh this is the same type of slide

[50:39] that I showed you guys last month or

[50:41] last quarter that I wanted to share if

[50:42] you remember last quarter it was really

[50:44] skewed our budgeted revenues were

[50:47] exactly as they are here where property

[50:48] tax about

[50:50] 37% uh other locals 37 and last last

[50:54] quarter the actuals were nowhere close

[50:56] to that because the property taxes

[50:58] hadn't come due yet uh so I wanted to

[51:00] show you that now that property taxes

[51:01] have been assessed and have been started

[51:03] to be paid they are we're much closer to

[51:06] our budget we're much closer closely

[51:08] aligned with the revenues and the way

[51:09] that we would expect to see them coming

[51:12] in general fund expenditures are 59 59.5

[51:17] million which is about 48.8% of budget

[51:20] um same thing 50% threshold we would

[51:23] expect to see and the biggest thing

[51:26] right there everything's around 50%

[51:28] other than our miscellaneous

[51:29] Appropriations and other financing

[51:31] sources um other financing sources and

[51:34] uses is because of transfers out and we

[51:36] do a lot of transfers upfront the

[51:38] beginning of the year for capital

[51:39] projects Debt Service um so those are

[51:42] those are very front loaded and then

[51:44] with the miscellaneous Appropriations We

[51:46] were finishing up the lhp tapestry

[51:48] program um so that payment is in there

[51:50] but was budgeted in the prior year

[51:54] so Enterprise funds uh water and sewer

[51:57] they're slightly ahead of the 50% of

[52:00] budget uh the Water and Sewer sales are

[52:01] at 53 and a. half% and 51% respectively

[52:05] uh their expenses are below so they're

[52:07] trending to to end the end the year with

[52:09] a surplus uh they're at 46% of budget um

[52:13] timing of debt payments does affect some

[52:15] of the expenses that we show there but

[52:17] overall their net position is ahead of

[52:19] the budget by $ 1.5 million now we do

[52:22] have like I said we do have some uh debt

[52:24] service that'll come later in the in the

[52:25] year but they they will finish

[52:29] above these are our other Enterprise

[52:31] funds Regional Solid Waste City Solid

[52:33] Waste and storm water they're all

[52:35] trending to finish the year

[52:37] approximately the same same way that

[52:38] they do in in other in other years they

[52:40] tend to be pretty solid with what they

[52:42] what they end the year

[52:46] with Freedom Hall um Freedom Hall is

[52:50] operating with a a deficit of about

[52:53] $371,000 Helen had a very significant

[52:56] impact on Freedom Hall um they lost I I

[52:59] talked with Mark a little bit they lost

[53:00] half their circus Revenue had a sold out

[53:03] Zack Williams show that was canceled and

[53:05] refunded the bull ratting event was

[53:07] canceled because they didn't have

[53:08] scholarships um they had some delays in

[53:11] Booking so the positive side of this

[53:14] though is that with the big South

[53:15] tournament coming in we did a lot of the

[53:18] work for Big South inh housee instead of

[53:20] having to go out and and contract and

[53:22] pay for that work and Mark estimates

[53:23] that it's about1 to $150,000 savings for

[53:26] them doing the work inhouse versus

[53:28] sending it out um for the second half of

[53:31] the year they're really hoping to pick

[53:32] back up got a couple good concerts

[53:34] coming Globe Trotters uh the Big South

[53:36] tournament that's going on right now and

[53:38] then some some several other events that

[53:39] are

[53:42] planned and that's all I have for you

[53:44] guys you have any

[53:47] questions thank you very

[53:49] much thank you thank

[53:52] you miss ball yes um Commission the last

[53:57] item I have for you is a manager's

[53:59] report and if you will excuse me and let

[54:01] me go down to the podium

[54:07] absolutely good

[54:19] job mayor and City commissioners um it

[54:22] is my honor to be able to provide you

[54:24] with an update um I'm going to be

[54:27] providing you with updates um at each

[54:29] meeting uh at the end of each meeting

[54:31] and they'll be brief um but I want to be

[54:34] able to take um one of the values that

[54:38] the core values that you all have put in

[54:40] place and to be able to highlight that

[54:42] you had a retreat as you know on

[54:44] February the 19th and 20th and you

[54:47] reaffirmed that these were your core

[54:49] values and so what I want to be able to

[54:51] do is to demonstrate how the

[54:52] organization is fulfilling these core

[54:54] values so what do each time is either

[54:57] highlight one or two of these show you

[55:00] how we're doing these and be able to

[55:02] focus in on some of these areas these

[55:04] will either be things that have happened

[55:06] in the past two weeks or they'll be

[55:08] things that are ongoing um and not only

[55:11] to let you all know but also to let the

[55:13] community know the good work that's

[55:15] happening in Johnson City and with our

[55:17] staff in as we show in this

[55:24] one this time I will be highlighting the

[55:27] Excellence in go in government and this

[55:30] one you all spend a lot of time on I

[55:31] think you the commission takes a lot of

[55:33] pride in making sure that we have

[55:35] excellence in govern in government um

[55:38] you've demonstrated a lot tonight with

[55:40] the questions that you ask about taking

[55:42] care of mowing uh how we spend our money

[55:45] looking at a lot of different items um

[55:48] so you demonstrate that and we continue

[55:50] to demonstrate it with the employees

[55:52] that we have and that's what I'm going

[55:53] to focus on as as in this next slide one

[55:57] of the ways that we go all out is in the

[56:00] way our employees um perform their jobs

[56:04] um

[56:05] I'm extremely passionate in the fact

[56:08] that we have over a thousand employees

[56:10] or around a thousand who are dedicated

[56:12] to serving this community and when when

[56:15] it comes down to it the way they do

[56:16] their service and how they do their

[56:18] skills is really what makes a difference

[56:20] in this community that touches the

[56:22] majority of the people um it with our

[56:25] team of marketing

[56:26] they've been able to highlight some of

[56:29] the work that they have done and we'll

[56:30] be able to Showcase those through those

[56:32] through our social media areas so again

[56:36] um several of our residents are able to

[56:38] see the work that they've done so a

[56:41] series of videos will be uh provided I'm

[56:44] going to just highlight a little bit of

[56:46] these in a very short clip for you

[56:48] tonight so that you can see some of

[56:51] these and we'll continue to go

[56:52] throughout so that we can show what

[56:54] these employees do we also hope that as

[56:57] these employees see that they can see

[56:59] how much we appreciate the work that

[57:01] they do and what a difference it makes

[57:03] in our

[57:04] community um I will note that as you

[57:07] look at these and we do have one of

[57:09] these in the room Riley is with us um so

[57:13] Callie is with us I'm sorry cie is with

[57:16] us so um I appreciate her being here and

[57:19] she's probably going to be a little

[57:20] bashful sitting here while everybody's

[57:22] looking but um we are very fortunate we

[57:24] also have two others that worked very

[57:26] hard on this Sarah Nobles and Nick

[57:28] Harris Harrison did the work to produce

[57:30] this video so um with that being said uh

[57:35] these three are the initial launch so

[57:37] they're going to tell you a little bit

[57:38] about what they do they're going to give

[57:40] you a little bit of highlight this is a

[57:41] short clip of the work that they do the

[57:44] actual reel will have more information

[57:47] about their actual jobs um as you may

[57:49] have noticed a few weeks ago Cali was at

[57:52] the podium doing uh some of her

[57:54] presentations and there was filming

[57:56] being done just for this purpose so some

[57:58] of that has been included in

[58:00] there uh and then all the all those uh

[58:03] these videos in full can be found on all

[58:06] of our social media

[58:08] Outlets hi I'm Adam Dixon and this is

[58:11] how I go all way hi I'm Callie McGrew

[58:14] and this is how I go all out my name is

[58:16] Josh Collins this is how I go all out

[58:19] [Music]

[58:27] I have worked for the city of Johnson

[58:29] City for 5 years I serve as

[58:32] Multicultural engagement manager for uh

[58:36] the Langston Center which is part of the

[58:38] Parks and Recreation Department and in

[58:41] that role I oversee activities that take

[58:44] place at the Langston Center we are a

[58:47] multicultural facility and so we uh want

[58:50] to be authentically Multicultural we

[58:53] have a whole host of programs and

[58:55] initiatives and uh different activities

[58:58] uh for the community at large what

[59:01] surprises me most about my job is how

[59:03] multifaceted it is sometimes I'm working

[59:06] on a project that is going to be rolled

[59:10] out in a month and sometimes I'm working

[59:12] on a project like the parking study or

[59:15] the housing plan or Horizon 2045 the

[59:19] most rewarding part is being able to

[59:22] work as a team on my smaller of three

[59:26] people but also getting to work across

[59:30] um the different departments and to see

[59:32] a project come to life so what I do for

[59:35] the city is I'm the trails operations

[59:37] manager so I'm over the maintenance and

[59:41] construction of of trails in our area in

[59:43] our city parks the most rewarding part

[59:46] of my job is seeing folks out enjoying

[59:48] the trails uh usually trails are a place

[59:52] that folks go for for relaxation to get

[59:54] away from The Busy World so to be able

[59:57] to improve on that is just very

[1:00:00] rewarding so when you go all out in my

[1:00:03] mind impact is what comes to me and so

[1:00:06] uh so as for Adam Dixon if I'm going all

[1:00:10] out uh I want to make an impact at the

[1:00:13] linkston center we say that you enter to

[1:00:15] learn and you depart to serve and so I

[1:00:19] think that that frames nicely align with

[1:00:22] go all

[1:00:24] out impact also make anything I design

[1:00:28] go all out as an opportunity to do my

[1:00:33] best to make this community a great

[1:00:36] place for people to live work and play I

[1:00:39] Define go all out by bringing world

[1:00:42] class Trail experiences to the area um

[1:00:45] whether that be through beautiful Mason

[1:00:48] Stone steps in like Jacob Nature Park

[1:00:52] whether that be world class Trail

[1:00:54] experiences at hry

[1:00:57] um I just try to to bring the best

[1:00:59] experience for trail

[1:01:04] users thank you all so much um as you

[1:01:07] can see there not only with these three

[1:01:09] employees and the work that they do um

[1:01:11] you can see I mean just incredible work

[1:01:13] but so many other employees that that

[1:01:16] put so much heart into all that they do

[1:01:18] so thank you for letting me share a

[1:01:20] little bit of that with you and huge

[1:01:22] thanks to all the employees but

[1:01:23] especially to those three for the work

[1:01:25] that they do

[1:01:26] absolutely very nice thank you very much

[1:01:29] for sharing that and to the three

[1:01:31] employees who are featured there Callie

[1:01:35] that was great Adam that was great Josh

[1:01:38] that was great and I know from just

[1:01:40] personal experience with these three

[1:01:42] they they just do an amazing job for the

[1:01:44] city and it and that's across these

[1:01:47] thousand employees that uh Kathy's been

[1:01:49] talking about so thank you for sharing

[1:01:51] that and also the great work of Nick and

[1:01:53] Sarah to produce it and it's quality

[1:01:58] exactly um well miss Paul do you have

[1:02:02] anything else on no thank you so I'll

[1:02:06] actually start um every two years we

[1:02:08] reorganize after elections and the

[1:02:11] commission um decides a mayor and vice

[1:02:14] mayor but we also serve on several other

[1:02:16] boards and commissions as part of our

[1:02:18] service on the city commission and and

[1:02:21] so in that reorganization we also

[1:02:23] realign ourselves on those boards and

[1:02:25] committees

[1:02:26] and so I will go over uh who's on what

[1:02:31] um real quickly um first an animal

[1:02:35] control uh commissioner Brock and uh

[1:02:39] Bob Wilson right uh will remain on

[1:02:43] Animal Control I I will remain on

[1:02:46] brightridge board and the Chamber of

[1:02:49] Commerce um commissioner Fowler and

[1:02:52] commissioner Brock will remain on the

[1:02:54] CVB

[1:02:56] um the East Tennessee railroad Authority

[1:02:58] I will step down from and vice mayor Cox

[1:03:02] will take that

[1:03:04] role um commissioner Fowler and Steve

[1:03:08] Willis uh assistant city manager will

[1:03:11] stay on the EMS board Todd's term will

[1:03:16] end June 30th um Johnson City

[1:03:19] Development Authority commissioner wise

[1:03:21] will remain Johnson City Public Library

[1:03:24] I will step down and vice mayor Cox will

[1:03:27] step in to that role uh the Metro

[1:03:30] Metropolitan Transportation Planning

[1:03:33] organization executive board Randy

[1:03:35] tribet will U step down and I will take

[1:03:38] that role Planning Commission will be

[1:03:41] filled by commissioner Todd Fowler on 71

[1:03:45] and I

[1:03:46] will serve in that role until June 30th

[1:03:49] of

[1:03:50] 2025 school facilities committee has two

[1:03:53] Commissioners and that will be

[1:03:57] uh commissioner or vice mayor Cox and

[1:04:00] commissioner Brock tax increment funding

[1:04:04] Advisory

[1:04:05] Board um Joe commissioner wise and and

[1:04:08] myself will remain on that and the

[1:04:10] Washington County Economic Development

[1:04:13] Council miss ball and commissioner Brock

[1:04:16] will remain and I will attend those

[1:04:18] meetings with you all Carter oh and then

[1:04:21] the Carter County uh joint Economic

[1:04:25] Development Board of Carter County and

[1:04:27] elizabethon um I will step down from

[1:04:29] that and Miss Brock will commissioner

[1:04:31] Brock will take that role some people

[1:04:33] may wonder why we are filling a seat on

[1:04:36] the Carter County Economic Development

[1:04:37] but uh a mutual agreement between the

[1:04:40] because we have a part of uh Carter

[1:04:43] County in the city out in Martin del

[1:04:46] States and all out there so we have a

[1:04:47] seat on it y uh commissioner Brock do

[1:04:50] you have any comments or committee

[1:04:52] reports uh

[1:04:56] you know the big comments we've had a

[1:04:58] lot of it tonight I think it's been a

[1:04:59] great meeting but um there's just such

[1:05:02] good activity in town um in spite of the

[1:05:06] cold weather but uh just hope everybody

[1:05:08] can get out and and enjoy some of it um

[1:05:12] I sered on the animal control board uh

[1:05:15] we were at a a place about two and a

[1:05:17] half weeks ago where we only had 79 dogs

[1:05:20] and 200 cats but I'm afraid that all

[1:05:23] changed last week when we had almost 80

[1:05:27] animals surrendered uh at the shelter so

[1:05:30] if anybody needs to adopt please come we

[1:05:32] have good

[1:05:34] selection and span neuter your pets

[1:05:37] please we have puppies puppies

[1:05:39] everywhere so if anybody needs puppies

[1:05:40] that would be great really needs

[1:05:43] commissioner wiv you're fine um jcda met

[1:05:46] last week um I don't think there was

[1:05:49] anything particularly newsworthy I think

[1:05:52] we were just kind of maintaining um

[1:05:56] progress on the tapestry at ran which is

[1:05:58] the replacement housing so things are

[1:06:01] essentially on track there and then a

[1:06:03] status report on some of the RFQ and RFP

[1:06:07] process around the Redevelopment of the

[1:06:08] John Sever and it and it's a approximate

[1:06:11] timeline so there wasn't anything new

[1:06:14] but I guess what was reported was we're

[1:06:16] still kind of on track with the dates

[1:06:18] that were last reported and as a

[1:06:20] reminder for myself when when is the

[1:06:22] tapestry expected to be completed or do

[1:06:24] you recall yourself did I put you on the

[1:06:27] spot I do recall but you did put me on

[1:06:29] the spot yeah the Target right now is

[1:06:31] that that would be like November

[1:06:33] December of this year late this year

[1:06:37] um it you know they might beat That by a

[1:06:41] few weeks but it's going to be the last

[1:06:43] quarter for sure great thank you Miss

[1:06:46] really a nice looking development too

[1:06:48] yeah no mayor okay thank you uh seeing

[1:06:51] no other business we will adjourn the

[1:06:53] meeting

City Commission - Mar 06 2025

Transcript