[0:02] We'll call to order the August 4th meeting
of the Morristown City Council and
[0:07] welcome those of you who are here with us
today.
[0:10] We will begin as we traditionally do with
our invocation followed by the Pledge of
[0:16] Allegiance to our flag,
[0:18] and our invocation today will be led by
Morristown Police Department Master
[0:23] Morristown Police Department Master
Chaplain
[0:23] Mark Campbell. Good afternoon.
[0:25] Let's pray together. Father, I thank you
for this day.
[0:28] I thank you for the opportunity we have to
live in this country.
[0:32] And Lord, we, we're grateful for the
freedoms that we have here.
[0:35] And we pray that the business conducted
here tonight would benefit our city.
[0:39] We thank you so much for those that lead
and for those that serve and those that
[0:44] protect. And we pray that you would watch
over those on duty tonight.
[0:47] We pray for the mayor and the council and
ask, Lord,
[0:50] that all of the things that happen here
would benefit the citizens protect,
[0:54] protect our country.
[0:55] We pray for those men and women that are
protecting us tonight in war,
[0:59] and we pray that you would watch over them
and bring them back to us safely.
[1:03] We pray in your name. Amen.
[1:04] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[1:12] United States of America and to the
[1:19] Republic for which it stands,
[1:25] one nation under God, indivisible,
[1:31] with liberty and justice for all.
[1:38] Thank you, Mark. Now, uh,
[1:43] council members, let's check in.
[1:49] And as you can see, all are here
[1:55] officially, and we have an agenda before
[2:03] us. Is there a motion that the agenda be
[2:11] adopted?
[2:13] So moved.
[2:14] Motion, A.
[2:14] A'Hearn.
[2:14] Do we have a second?
[2:15] Second.
[2:15] We have a second. Any comments,
corrections? Let's vote.
[2:21] And we have an adopted agenda.
[2:24] I'm going to ask Deputy Chief Michelle
Jones, would you join me at the front,
[2:31] please? No, we didn't pass out
recognition.
[2:36] Those members proud, and those that know,
uh, Michelle Jones,
[2:42] who has been our deputy chief here for 20
years.
[2:46] Some folks don't want to tell, have they?
[2:50] Uh, of course, our police department has
been very active with the Tennessee
[2:58] Association of Chiefs of Police.
[3:01] And Chief Barbara Holt and Deputy Chief
Johnson have both been active in that
[3:08] group. And for her work this past year,
the, uh,
[3:13] the TACP is a longstanding organization,
and this is their 56th year,
[3:20] and they always recognize excellence.
[3:24] And Michelle this year received some new
recognition for her service as chair of
[3:31] the TACP Professional Standards Committee.
[3:35] She's helped guide different agencies
across the state through that organization
[3:43] with the Tennessee Law Enforcement
Accreditation Program.
[3:49] She's helped police departments strengthen
accountability, professionalism,
[3:56] and public confidence.
[3:58] And for that leadership and that
mentorship and that work that she's done,
[4:06] this year she was presented with the
Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police
[4:13] The President's Award, and we, uh,
[4:17] congratulate you for that and thank you
for your service, all 14 years.
[4:23] George, would you join me?
[4:26] I doubt there's anyone in the room who
doesn't know George.
[4:32] There's some new faces in here. Well, I've
heard it asked for years.
[4:38] We've done some work on this. And this is
a special moment.
[4:44] George has served for many years on the
Utility Commission.
[4:50] In fact, for, uh, if I do my math right,
about 49 years, right?
[4:56] That's right.
[4:57] On our utility board.
[4:59] This is kind of a legacy moment from the
'50s and '60s on through.
[5:04] This is a generational change here of many
things that have happened in Morristown
[5:11] through the years that it had some
MacGuffin fingerprints on.
[5:16] Your mom and dad, both prominent members
of the Lawrence County community.
[5:22] You're sort of the middle generation
because now your sons are coming through,
[5:28] and Frank and Patrick and Michael are all
part of it.
[5:32] But your role in leading our utility
commission, that's an important operation,
[5:38] and George's leadership has been well
felt. He's He's mentored others.
[5:44] He's helped me when we had issues and
challenges.
[5:48] George is good at taking on challenges,
[5:51] and I've appreciated his leadership
helping me.
[5:55] So George, I want to present this to you.
[5:58] I have probably not thrown enough deserved
praise,
[6:02] but thank you for your work and your
service.
[6:06] Thank you.
[6:17] Let me just say something, Danny.
[6:20] Your mentor, John Johnson, was mayor,
[6:24] and he's the one who first appointed me to
the commission in 1977,
[6:31] 49 years ago.
[6:32] That's right.
[6:35] It's been a real pleasure for me.
[6:38] When we go to meetings and conventions and
people come up and say,
[6:44] you're from Morristown, Tennessee,
[6:47] we'd like to know how you all got in the
cable business or the internet
[6:54] business.
[6:56] We'd like to be able to do that.
[6:57] Well, I think So Morristown's always been
one of the premier, if not the premier,
[7:03] association for communities our size.
[7:06] And it's been my distinct pleasure to have
been a part of that for half a century.
[7:12] Yeah.
[7:32] Okay, Council, we'll— as we move into, uh,
citizen comments, uh, about agenda items,
[7:38] if you would like to address an item
that's on our agenda today,
[7:42] if you come to the podium, introduce
yourself by name and address,
[7:47] please identify the item about which
you're speaking.
[7:51] You'll have 3 minutes to address the
council.
[7:54] Seeing no one come forward, we will close
this portion of the citizen comments.
[7:59] There will be another opportunity at the
end of the council meeting.
[8:04] Council, we have a minutes to approve from
the July 21st meeting.
[8:08] Is there a motion they be approved as
written?
[8:12] So moved.
[8:12] Motion, A'Hearn. Do we have a second?
[8:14] Second.
[8:15] We do have a second. Any corrections?
Hearing none, let's vote.
[8:21] And the minutes are approved. We move into
our old business.
[8:27] We had a, uh, public, uh,
[8:30] hearing scheduled today on the ordinance
of a text amendment,
[8:36] Title 14, the zoning and land use control.
[8:40] Steve?
[8:41] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Would you like to
introduce that?
[8:44] Yes, as we mentioned at the workshop, this
is an amendment to the RD-2 district.
[8:50] The intent is to make it a single-family
district.
[8:54] We amended the lot size to 7,500 square
feet,
[8:58] and we amended the uses to those that are
similar in other single-family districts.
[9:05] So the, the whole purpose of this was to
try to alleviate some concerns with the
[9:11] try to alleviate some concerns with the
R-2
[9:11] district that was given,
[9:13] in that if we had a request for rezoning
to R-2 or an annexation for R-2,
[9:19] there was no guarantee that it would
remain as a single-family use.
[9:24] And so this was an attempt to address
those concerns,
[9:29] and we expect we'll see a lot of use of it
in the future.
[9:33] As this is a public hearing,
[9:35] we've We'll open the floor if anyone
wishes to address this matter,
[9:40] has comments about it. The floor is open.
[9:43] Seeing no one come forward,
[9:45] we'll close the public hearing portion and
entertain a motion that this item be
[9:51] adopted.
[9:51] So moved.
[9:52] Motion, Pedigo. Do we have a second?
[9:54] Second.
[9:55] We have a second. Any comments from the
council?
[10:00] Hearing none, let's vote. And that motion
is approved.
[10:06] Next, we go to a second and final reading
on an ordinance on a budget
[10:14] amendment concerning the e-citations.
[10:18] As mayor and council, you'll recall that
despite being in the budget books,
[10:22] the e-citation fund was not identified in
the final budget ordinance.
[10:26] So this amendment simply Recognizes it
again.
[10:29] Um, going forward, we are exploring some
methods of accounting for the e-citations
[10:33] differently, especially now that the—
[10:35] each year the funds use will get less and
less,
[10:37] but we'd recommend approval of this
amendment.
[10:40] Is there a motion to accept that
recommendation?
[10:41] Move for approval.
[10:43] Motion, Kay Senter. Do we have a second?
[10:45] Second.
[10:46] We do have a second.
[10:48] Questions or comments from the council?
[10:52] Hearing none, let's vote. And that motion
carries.
[10:58] And we have an ordinance, uh, before us,
[11:02] this to repeal an ordinance, uh,
previously, uh, passed,
[11:08] ordinance number 4838.
[11:11] Uh, yes, you'll recall from the last
meeting, uh,
[11:13] this was the May 2026 item related to
Central Church Road that staff recommends
[11:17] repealing as an ordinance. We recommend
repealing it as an ordinance.
[11:20] So this is the second and final reading.
We recommend approval.
[11:23] Is there a motion to accept that
recommendation?
[11:26] So moved.
[11:26] Motion, Pedigo. Do we have a second?
[11:29] Second.
[11:30] We do have a second. Questions or comments
from the council?
[11:35] Hearing none, let's vote. And that motion
carries.
[11:39] We roll into new business. We have an
introduction.
[11:44] On the first reading of the ordinance,
which is a budget amendment.
[11:50] This is carrying forward some purchase
orders.
[11:54] Uh, yes.
[11:56] Following the change of our budget—
budgeting method, uh, ahead of last fiscal
[11:59] budgeting method, uh, ahead of last fiscal
year,
[12:00] it will now be necessary to amend the
budget early each fiscal year to recognize
[12:03] budget early each fiscal year to recognize
and
[12:04] carry forward all the purchase orders that
were still open at the end of the prior
[12:07] year. These are for purchases and projects
that were still underway as of, uh,
[12:11] June 30th. We'd recommend approval.
[12:14] Is there a motion to accept this
recommendation?
[12:15] So moved.
[12:19] Motion, A'Hearn. Do we have a second?
[12:20] Second.
[12:22] We do have a second. Any questions or
comments from the council?
[12:29] Hearing none, let's vote. And that motion
carries.
[12:35] The awarding of bids and contracts first
is with the police department,
[12:43] a multi-factor authentication.
[12:46] The police department relies on the TBI
for access to the NCIC database.
[12:51] TBI is requiring multi-factor
authentication on the police department
[12:55] authentication on the police department
user side for
[12:55] heightened cybersecurity protection of
sensitive information.
[12:59] This vendor provides a solution that will
comply with TBI's requirements and ensure
[13:04] that the police department maintain
secure, uninterrupted access,
[13:08] that we'd recommend approval.
[13:10] Is there a motion to accept this
recommendation?
[13:12] So moved.
[13:14] Motion, Bivens?
[13:15] Second.
[13:16] We do have a second.
[13:19] Any questions or comments?
[13:24] Hearing none, let's vote.
[13:28] And that motion carries.
[13:32] Next, uh, tasers.
[13:35] Yes, tasers and the battery packs for
those tasers are regularly budgeted items.
[13:39] This was a sole source purchase for which
we are requesting council
[13:43] acknowledgment.
[13:44] Is there a motion to accept this proposal?
[13:47] So moved.
[13:49] Motion, Kay Senter. Do we have a second?
[13:51] Second.
[13:52] We do have a second. Any questions or
comments from the council?
[13:58] Hearing none, let's vote. And this motion
carries.
[14:03] And we, uh, another purchase item, side
loader garbage trucks.
[14:08] We know what those are. Yes.
[14:11] Uh, this is for one 31-yard truck and one
20-yard truck,
[14:14] which were included in the budget plans
for this year.
[14:17] However, even under the SourceWell
contract, quotes exceed, uh,
[14:21] our budgeted amount by $46,900.
[14:22] Funds have been identified to cover the
overage through a line item transfer,
[14:26] and I would recommend that we proceed with
the purchase.
[14:29] And then as the fiscal year progresses,
[14:32] we'll determine whether or not a budget
amendment is warranted or not.
[14:35] We recommend approval.
[14:37] Is there a motion to accept this
recommendation?
[14:39] So moved.
[14:40] Motion, A'Hearn. Do we have a second?
[14:43] Second.
[14:43] We do have a second. Any questions or
comments from the council?
[14:46] Andrew, would you, uh, mind telling, uh,
[14:49] the public The difference in those sizes
and why?
[14:52] Uh, the 31-yard is, is what you see out on
the street currently that we've used for
[14:57] several years. The 20-yard truck is a
smaller truck that will allow for better
[15:01] access into some alleyways and smaller
areas that the 31-yard truck can't get to.
[15:06] Thank you.
[15:07] Any others? We ready to vote?
[15:12] Let's vote. The motion carries.
[15:18] The 2026 CDBG Annual Action Plan is
[15:25] before us.
[15:27] Uh, this action plan is a component of the
5-year consolidated plan, uh,
[15:32] and the funding is similar to, uh, prior
year allocations.
[15:36] We were awarded $336,465 this year, uh,
and this This is 100% federal funding.
[15:42] We'd recommend approval.
[15:43] Is there a motion to accept the
recommendation?
[15:45] So moved.
[15:47] Motion, Bivens. Do we have a second?
[15:49] Second.
[15:51] We do have a second. Any questions or
comments from the council?
[15:57] Hearing none, let's vote. And that motion
carries. We have one appointment.
[16:03] This is a council appointment to the
Airport Commission.
[16:08] The term that is expiring is Paul
LaBelle's.
[16:12] Paul came on to— he's completing serving
an unexpired term,
[16:17] and he has indicated he would,
[16:19] he would be willing to serve the full term
if the council so chooses.
[16:25] So is there a nomination?
[16:27] Mayor, I would like to nominate Paul
LaBelle.
[16:31] We have a motion for Paul LaBelle. Is
there a second?
[16:34] Second.
[16:34] We do have a second. Are there any other
nominations?
[16:39] Hearing none, let's vote.
[16:42] And Paul Laville is approved,
[16:45] and he'll serve on the Regional Airport
Commission until—
[16:50] it's a 6-year term. And we thank Paul for
his willingness to serve
[16:57] that. Andrew, we come to your report.
[17:01] Just a handful of items here.
[17:03] August 7th, uh, this Friday,
[17:05] will be the Chamber's First Friday concert
series and night market at the farmers
[17:09] market in downtown Greene.
[17:11] Then August 10th, Monday,
[17:12] is our open house for the Parks and
Recreation Master Plan.
[17:16] That's at 6 PM at Talley Ward. Um,
definitely need to come out to that.
[17:20] The, uh, I guess the details from that the
consultants have gathered from public
[17:25] input up to this point.
[17:26] We've got some draft recommendations,
[17:28] but this is still an opportunity for the
public to comment further.
[17:32] When is that again?
[17:33] 6 PM Monday the 10th. Uh, next week we
will also start in our FY27 paving
[17:38] will also start in our FY27 paving
schedule.
[17:38] There's about 9.5 miles scheduled for
paving this year.
[17:41] We'll get those notices out to, uh,
[17:44] to the neighborhoods as the contractor is
working.
[17:47] Eastmore Boulevard is 100% complete now.
[17:49] Of course, I've mentioned to the council
there's still one change order, uh,
[17:54] to come. We're still waiting for the
paperwork on that,
[17:57] but that project itself is wrapped up.
[18:00] We also opened bids today on the Martin
Luther King-Jarnigan-Lincoln project.
[18:04] Those bids are under review,
[18:06] and I expect that we'll have a
recommendation at the next council meeting
[18:10] recommendation at the next council meeting
to be able
[18:11] to move forward with that.
[18:13] And then following today's Finance
Committee meeting,
[18:16] we'll plan to bring a series of those,
[18:18] those financial policies to the council on
August 20th as well.
[18:22] And then last year we had some garden
planters placed at the upper parking lot
[18:27] planters placed at the upper parking lot
of
[18:27] Fulton— not Fulton Hill Park, sorry, Frank
Marino Park, after we repaved that.
[18:32] It just looked like a big wide-open sea of
asphalt,
[18:35] and we just decided it would be nice to
break it up with some planters at the ends
[18:40] of the parking aisles.
[18:41] That's true.
[18:42] And I had no idea they would end up
looking this good.
[18:45] Um, but kudos to Mike Cupp and his, uh,
the horticulture crew.
[18:48] Uh, they look fantastic.
[18:49] I mean, they look like a repeat of the
hanging baskets downtown almost.
[18:52] But, um, if you haven't been down there
and driven through, they look really,
[18:56] really nice. So, uh, great job to Mike and
his crew. That's my report.
[19:00] Thank you, Andrew. We come to comments
from citizens and council members.
[19:05] We'll let citizens go first if there's
anyone who wishes to address the council
[19:10] about any particular topic. The floor is
now open. You have 3 minutes.
[19:15] Introduce yourself to us.
[19:17] Linda Noe, 2343 Joe Stevens Road.
[19:20] I would like to thank you for the vote
tonight on second and final reading
[19:27] to repeal Ordinance 4838,
[19:30] which was the ordinance that originally
Annexed 1/3 of an acre on Central
[19:37] Church Road, which we found out would be
for a road,
[19:42] an expansion of a mobile home park, would,
[19:46] would create more traffic and safety
concerns as well.
[19:52] I know it was a hard decision.
[19:55] You know, we had the ordinance that passed
Well, not, not unanimously.
[20:02] There were some of you who stuck by the
citizens and refused on the initial
[20:09] annexation, and then we are thankful that
everyone else came forward with
[20:16] this repeal. I just want to let you know
we appreciate it,
[20:22] and the people on Central Church as well
as near Central Church appreciate
[20:29] it too.
[20:30] Thank you.
[20:31] Thank you.
[20:31] Who's next?
[20:38] East First North Street, Morristown,
Tennessee. Lu Chen.
[20:44] Basically, I just want to repeat what I
have already said at the
[20:52] pre-workshop, but the core of the item— I
mean,
[20:58] the theme that I was talking about is that
how can—
[21:04] maybe we should, maybe that's already
there, I do not know—
[21:11] how do the highest level, well, sort of in
our administration,
[21:19] which is the council, if something—
[21:23] if some citizen or within The board sends
something that needs to
[21:31] correct or take it and let everyone else
focus. How do we do that?
[21:39] We need to do that. That is too many of
the situations that law,
[21:46] regulation, and custom does not cover.
[21:51] And we should find a way that it
encouraged the conversation going
[21:59] on. I had mentioned a long time ago,
[22:03] between the pre-workshop and the regular
meeting,
[22:09] so often That is half an hour or so of the
gap.
[22:15] Maybe we should use it much more
effectively.
[22:20] The room to carry on the 2 meetings
already allocated.
[22:27] The personnel has already been paid.
[22:31] Maybe we should use it as a chance to
encourage the citizens to
[22:39] exercise to the involvement in a way
that's not too formal.
[22:46] 3 minutes. Maybe we should have a kind of
like a borrowed Chatham
[22:54] House Rules style of the conversation that
encouraged openness,
[23:01] but at the same time,
[23:04] no one will review whatever talk within
the meeting.
[23:10] All the citizens can join and talk to the
council member,
[23:17] but whoever joined has to promise the
self-restriction—
[23:25] restraint—
[23:26] that would not reveal the details,
[23:29] point out the personnel's opinion during
the conversation.
[23:34] I think that is the gateway method to get
more citizens feel
[23:40] comfortable and get involved for a long
time.
[23:44] Thank you, sir.
[23:44] Thank you, Mr. Chesney.
[23:45] Your time has expired. Uh, is there anyone
else who wishes to address the council?
[23:51] Seeing no one come forward,
[23:53] we'll close the citizen comment portion of
the meeting and go to comments from mayor
[24:00] and council members, minor comments.
[24:03] A council reminder, we have a beer board
following this,
[24:07] and And then a brief workshop following
the Beer Board Committee.
[24:12] I had the opportunity to visit the Marine
Corps Museum this summer in Triangle,
[24:18] Virginia, just outside of Quantico,
[24:21] and I highly recommend that if you get up
that way that you go and visit that
[24:27] museum. It's quite impressive.
[24:30] and educational, especially for young
adults and anyone else.
[24:35] Thank you.
[24:36] Mayor, I just want to remind individuals
that Saturday's a busy day in Morristown,
[24:41] starting off with the Boys Club Super
Auction starting at 10 o'clock,
[24:46] and then you can move to Fulton Hill for
the Juneteenth, 2 to 7,
[24:50] and the Tams are playing,
[24:52] and Joe said they're not ready him yet is
what I believe you said last meeting.
[24:57] No, they're not ready for me and my base
to come up there.
[25:03] You don't want to show them up?
[25:05] No.
[25:05] And then the Senior Center bingo that
evening at The Landing.
[25:09] I'd also like to point out that the CVS on
the west side of town on West AJ—
[25:14] I mentioned this at the 4 o'clock—
[25:16] they have taken the winner of the state
The student art, and that has been
[25:21] The student art, and that has been
wrapped.
[25:22] That picture of their art has been taken,
it's been wrapped.
[25:26] I think it's just a phenomenal way to
display our student art,
[25:30] and that is called the Sunset Serenade by
Bailey Bartley.
[25:34] So I think, Rachel, I don't know, I think
you and Cindy worked on that,
[25:39] and maybe some other people too. It was a
team effort.
[25:42] I would like to see you do that with more
things around town.
[25:47] Okay.
[25:47] Very, very, very good. And have we— do we—
I feel like I'm under the sunshine.
[25:52] Have we put in new lights up here? This
one, somebody cleaned it.
[25:56] I don't know what it is. It's really
bright right here.
[25:59] Cataract surgery.
[26:00] That was the cataracts, right? That's what
it is, the cataract surgery.
[26:03] Well, it's really bright up here. Thank
you.
[26:04] I would like to take an opportunity to
remind everybody that we
[26:10] probably get as many phone calls as
council So on Parks and Rec,
[26:15] as we do anything, and they're having that
meeting Monday night at
[26:21] Talley Ward at—
[26:22] 6.
[26:23] 6 o'clock. That should be one of the most—
[26:25] the largest attendance that we have in
anything,
[26:29] because people are always saying this is
what we need.
[26:32] You're going to have an opportunity to
listen to what the people have to say.
[26:37] about that, and I would encourage
everybody to show up at that.
[26:41] We, we've got flyers. Where— how— where
are we distributing those flyers?
[26:48] There are some at parks.
[26:50] There's, there's on our social media.
[26:54] Um, yeah, newspapers. It's been on the
radio.
[26:58] It was a good article in the newspaper.
Yes, I agree.
[27:02] All right, anything else? There's no, no
other items to to come before the council.
[27:07] I will entertain a motion we stand
adjourned.
[27:10] So moved.
[27:11] We're adjourned.