[0:00] Mary Martin coming? Oh, she—

[0:04] I guess she had a conflict.

[0:09] All right, is everybody ready to begin?

[0:15] I need a few more minutes or ready to go?

[0:22] I'm ready.

[0:27] Ready? Everybody got your mics on?

[0:29] Yeah, mine's on.

[0:33] This is pretty unprofessional. We're getting it done. It's next time.

[0:38] Yeah, thank you.

[0:42] I can already tell you're going to be savvy.

[0:51] I don't know what month it was for a while.

[0:55] Okay, uh, why don't we go ahead then and come to order?

[1:00] This is a special called meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the

[1:06] City of Oak Hill for September 1st, 2026,

[1:10] and we will begin with introductions. Marshall, begin with you.

[1:16] My name is Marshall Albritton. I'm the city attorney.

[1:19] Jennifer Liepis, Commissioner.

[1:20] David DeMarco, Commissioner.

[1:22] Dale Grimes, Mayor. Winston Evans, Vice Mayor. Matt Harris, Commissioner.

[1:28] Uh, Steve Collie, City Manager.

[1:30] Desiree Lohr, City Reporter. All right, please join me in the Pledge of

[1:34] please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[1:38] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:44] United States of America and to the Republic

[1:45] for which it stands, One nation under God, indivisible,

[1:49] with liberty and justice for all.

[1:51] All right.

[1:59] We have an agenda. Proper notice has been given of this meeting,

[2:04] and all commissioners are present. And so we will begin.

[2:09] The main item, the only item on our agenda is Yes.

[2:13] To review and discuss FAA decisions and flight patterns that impact Oak Hill.

[2:20] And I guess before we begin that,

[2:23] I just want to make one comment about another issue that the city is facing and

[2:29] dealing with right now, and that is the proposed or the changes,

[2:35] potential changes to I-65 that are being considered by the State Department of

[2:41] Transportation and their consultants.

[2:44] And there was a suggestion that we received yesterday that we add that to our

[2:51] received yesterday that we add that to our agenda

[2:51] for today to discuss that. We— there was not time.

[2:55] We were already too close to the meeting to add another agenda item under our

[3:02] to add another agenda item under our rules.

[3:02] And so we have not been able to do so.

[3:06] But I will say that just for anybody who's listening, Yes.

[3:10] That there was a public meeting, I think it was August 11th,

[3:15] but it was sometime several weeks ago,

[3:19] that the Department of Transportation and these consultants had for our area,

[3:25] that being everything from Thompson Lane south to Brentwood.

[3:30] And the Vice Mayor, Winston Evans, and myself attended that meeting.

[3:36] There weren't that many attendants there, attendees there.

[3:41] There were a lot of TDOT people and their consultants.

[3:45] They outnumbered, I think, all the other people combined.

[3:50] And so I guess you might say that we had louder voices than we might otherwise have

[3:57] had. It was not a meeting like a sit-down meeting like this and people in the

[4:03] audience raising their hands to say things.

[4:07] The people— the DOT people and the consultants were spread around with

[4:13] consultants were spread around with storyboards

[4:14] around the room, and so you just went from each one all the way around.

[4:20] And so I think Winston and I told everybody that we met, and that was quite

[4:26] everybody that we met, and that was quite a few,

[4:26] that Oak Hill definitely needs sound walls along I-65.

[4:31] So we have— we've made that loud and clear.

[4:35] And in addition, both the Vice Mayor and I—

[4:38] And the Mayor.

[4:39] Um, separately, uh, wrote, uh, written comments that we turned in, um,

[4:44] and they were going to take those.

[4:47] And then I know that some citizens have written in.

[4:51] I know that a former commissioner, um, has— of this board has written.

[4:57] And so, um, you know, we're getting, we're getting the word in there,

[5:02] but we need to get more people, I'm sure.

[5:05] Um, so any of you who are who believe that we should have sound walls in Oak Hill or

[5:12] have any other suggestions for improvements to I-65 along that stretch,

[5:17] please send in your comments. The deadline is September 8th. Is that right?

[5:23] Yeah.

[5:24] September 8th or 9th? 8th, I believe.

[5:27] And so please, please do send in comments for that.

[5:31] So I just wanted to let you know that it's not an issue that the board is ignored.

[5:37] I've made this announcement before.

[5:40] I've sent it out in writing to people who are on my email list,

[5:45] and it was posted on the city website about this deadline and also the need to

[5:51] about this deadline and also the need to get

[5:52] comments in. So I ask you to do that.

[5:54] And that's how we're dealing with it at this point.

[5:59] And we won't— we will not have another meeting before—

[6:03] of this board before the Before the deadline of September 8th.

[6:08] So we just need you all to take the initiative and write in.

[6:13] And I think the City Manager, from his long experience in dealing with such

[6:19] long experience in dealing with such matters,

[6:19] has said that having a big crowd of people writing in is probably going to make more

[6:26] of a difference than for the City of Oak Hill to pass a resolution saying that

[6:32] Hill to pass a resolution saying that we're

[6:33] for— We're for Oak Hill. Sound walls. So, um, power in numbers.

[6:38] Now with that, we will move to the actual agenda item here.

[6:43] And, um, I know that we've got executive session on here for after the review and

[6:49] discuss FAA decisions, etc.,

[6:51] but I think probably everything we're going to Just learn about this is going to

[6:58] need to be in executive session.

[7:00] I think the, uh, I think the best way to go about this would be go into the

[7:05] executive session and then come back out of the executive session if you're going

[7:11] of the executive session if you're going to

[7:11] make, uh, make a decision or ruling on one way or the other.

[7:15] And we can, we can talk a lot more freely and have our guests talk about things that

[7:20] could be or could not be privileged in some of the conversations we've had with,

[7:26] with the attorney that's representing Creve Hall.

[7:29] So I think it would be—

[7:31] I think it would be in our best interest to do that at this time.

[7:35] And then we can, we can come back out of the session if there's any decision to be

[7:40] made.

[7:41] Okay, so why don't we have a motion to go into executive session,

[7:46] and we need to include in there that Obviously, the City Manager,

[7:51] we want to be in that discussion. And Mr.

[7:54] Mike Brennan, who is our guest today and has been working on this issue with

[8:00] some other groups, we'd like for him to be in that session as well.

[8:06] And Mr. Brennan, just for the record, is an attorney.

[8:08] And he is an attorney.

[8:09] He's a licensed attorney.

[8:10] Correct. What are we relying on, the attorney-client privilege or the common

[8:14] attorney-client privilege or the common entry?

[8:14] Mr. President, if you're both—

[8:17] well, the executive session allows the board to ask questions of attorneys that

[8:23] they wish to consult about matters that the city is facing,

[8:27] and it's just that simple.

[8:28] We're not going to try to limit ourselves to any theory at this

[8:34] point. Okay. All right,

[8:36] is there a motion to go into executive session with Mr.

[8:42] Collie and Mr. Hearing so moved. Is there a second?

[8:46] DeMarco second.

[8:47] All right. All in favor, please say aye, beginning with Commissioner Liepis.

[8:53] Aye.

[8:53] DeMarco, aye.

[8:54] Grimes, aye. Evans, aye.

[8:59] Hear us out. And so the video record, if I may, will be clear, uh, I will be— I,

[9:03] the city attorney, will be in that meeting as well.

[9:06] Of course. Sorry, I just assumed that you—

[9:10] Yeah, right.

[9:10] Okay, so now what— how are we going to—

[9:13] We are going to remain in this room. The video will be shut down.

[9:18] The microphones will stay hot for the inside the room,

[9:22] but the video will be shut off.

[9:24] And then when we come back out of executive session,

[9:28] we'll open up the video streaming again.

[9:34] So if I go to the video, what will show?

[9:36] It will just show not streaming yet.

[9:38] Okay.

[9:41] Is that correct, Desiree?

[9:43] We on? Okay, thank you.

[9:45] All right, so we're back on the record now after We are being in

[9:52] executive session with the board and our counsel,

[9:58] Marshall Albritton, and the city manager, and also Mr.— Mr.

[10:04] Brennan, who is also an attorney and was with us.

[10:09] And we have been discussing the legal issues involved with possibly

[10:17] Considering legal action involving the FAA and the decisions that

[10:24] they have made regarding flight patterns that are affecting,

[10:30] in our particular instance, Oak Hill.

[10:34] And so we've completed that and I believe we're now ready for a

[10:41] motion. Does someone have a motion to make at this point?

[10:47] So moved.

[10:54] Do we need a motion?

[10:57] We have a motion to authorize Oak Hill joining a

[11:04] lawsuit that is— a lawsuit involving the FAA and

[11:11] authorizing the City Manager and the City Attorney to

[11:19] negotiate with the— yeah, may I name that?

[11:25] Thompson Burton.

[11:26] Okay, it's out now. I was trying to—

[11:30] the Thompson Burton lawsuit—

[11:33] law firm to represent us in that action.

[11:38] And if no one else will, I will so move. Hear, hear.

[11:44] Second.

[11:47] All right. Any discussion that we can have on the record?

[11:53] I think we've thoroughly discussed it.

[11:57] Everybody ready to vote? Ready to vote? Or— okay. All right.

[12:03] We'll begin with Liepis.

[12:06] Liepis, aye. DeMarco, aye.

[12:08] Grimes,

[12:12] aye. Aye.

[12:17] Harris, aye.

[12:18] Okay, 5-0. The motion is adopted,

[12:22] and I think we have no other business to conduct,

[12:27] and so we are hereby adjourned.

[12:30] Okay, very good. Good work.

[12:34] Thank you very much.

Board of Commissioners Special Called

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