[0:09] Gentlemen, if you'll gather around,

[0:11] we'll begin. And ladies,

[0:23] first of all, I would like to welcome

[0:25] all of y'all to the October

[0:30] Public Works and Planning Commission

[0:32] meeting. This is our first meeting for

[0:34] the new commission. I welcome all the

[0:37] new commissioners to this meeting. Uh I

[0:41] welcome our mayor Randy Allen to the

[0:43] meeting. It's very different for at

[0:45] least the last four years to have him

[0:47] sitting at the bench in a public works

[0:49] meeting, but he's more than welcome to

[0:51] be here.

[0:53] Rachel, if you would call the role.

[0:58] Commissioner Clark

[0:59] >> here.

[1:00] >> Commissioner Dodie

[1:01] >> here.

[1:02] >> Commissioner Kush

[1:03] >> present.

[1:04] >> Commissioner McGawan

[1:05] >> here.

[1:06] >> Commissioner P

[1:07] >> here.

[1:07] >> Commissioner Watts

[1:08] >> here.

[1:09] >> Chairman Piery

[1:10] >> here.

[1:10] >> We have a quorum.

[1:13] >> Before we get started, I would like to

[1:15] introduce myself. My name is Steve

[1:18] Piery. I'm the chair of this uh planning

[1:21] uh public works and planning commission.

[1:24] I'd like for Mike Kush to stand up. He's

[1:26] our vice chair.

[1:29] So, everybody will know who everybody

[1:31] is.

[1:32] We have four new commissioners here.

[1:36] We'll start with the lady on the right.

[1:38] I'd like you to stand up, introduce

[1:40] yourself, tell us who you are.

[1:42] >> Hello. I'm Commissioner Kathy Watts. I

[1:45] represent District 16.

[1:47] >> Welcome.

[1:48] >> Thank you.

[1:49] >> Next,

[1:51] I'm Brendan Dowy and I represent

[1:53] District 13.

[1:56] Next,

[1:59] Commissioner Laura Clark representing

[2:01] District 21.

[2:03] And next,

[2:04] >> Shawn McGowan, District 15.

[2:07] >> Now, they know who all of you are, and

[2:09] they know who to call when they have a

[2:11] complaint. But we have Mr. P in the

[2:13] back, too. I missed him sitting on the

[2:15] back row. He's one of our elder, like

[2:18] Mr. Kush and myself, you know. Uh

[2:23] [laughter] we're we're old players here.

[2:28] [laughter]

[2:30] » That's tomorrow night.

[2:35] » And Rachel tells me we have no public

[2:37] comments.

[2:39] So we will move on to planning and

[2:42] engineering

[2:44] director Doug Damasi.

[2:47] I'm going to ask something dear. Y'all

[2:48] gonna get tired of me. Anyway, I'm going

[2:51] to ask something different of all the

[2:53] department heads. When you come up to

[2:56] the whale, tell us who you are and give

[2:59] us just a twominut splurge on what your

[3:02] office does.

[3:07] » Oh, you want him to hear you? Okay. Be

[3:09] >> nice. [laughter]

[3:10] >> Thank you.

[3:12] Mr. Chairman, and good

[3:14] evening, everyone. Hope everybody's

[3:15] doing well tonight. I'm Doug Damasi. I

[3:17] am the planning director for Rutherford

[3:18] County. I've been with the county now

[3:20] for a little over 20 years. I've been

[3:23] planning director for a little over 19.

[3:25] Our office, uh, planning and

[3:27] engineering, we're a joint department.

[3:28] Mike Hughes is the county engineer. We

[3:30] work pretty closely together. Uh, we

[3:33] handle a lot of the zoning and

[3:35] development issues that come to the

[3:37] county. We also do a lot of plat and

[3:38] plan review. New subdivisions, new site

[3:40] plans for new uh, commercial or

[3:42] non-residential buildings. Those come

[3:44] through our office. We also do things

[3:47] like uh reviewing of construction

[3:49] drawings for new subdivisions after a

[3:51] preliminary plan is approved. Then the

[3:53] next step is construction drawing as

[3:55] that comes through us. We also handle

[3:56] any kind of long range planning uh you

[3:59] know ordinance changes, things like that

[4:01] to the zoning ordinance and or the

[4:02] subdivision regulations. Uh something

[4:04] that we do that a lot of people don't

[4:06] realize in our office is we handle the

[4:08] addressing for the unincorporated areas

[4:10] of Rutherford County. So all the numbers

[4:12] that you see especially at least in the

[4:14] unincorporated areas uh those at some

[4:16] point in the past have been assigned by

[4:18] our office. So each municipality handles

[4:21] their own we don't handle the addressing

[4:23] or planning responsibilities or

[4:25] engineering responsibilities for the

[4:26] municipalities. They have their own

[4:28] staffs that handle those kind of things.

[4:30] So that's just a quick blurb about what

[4:32] our office does. Does anybody have any

[4:34] questions or anything?

[4:37] If not I will jump into our report. Uh

[4:41] since we have several new commissioners

[4:42] and uh Mayor Allen as well, uh I will

[4:45] just kind of give a brief overview of

[4:46] what we typically report when we handle

[4:49] these. Uh the first thing we do is look

[4:51] at our available lot inventory. You'll

[4:54] see there's a couple of folders on

[4:55] there. That's not typical of what you'll

[4:57] see on your SharePoints. You'll see that

[4:59] there's a line there or a file there for

[5:01] August, but also a file there for

[5:03] September. That's just because public

[5:05] works didn't meet last month. So I had

[5:07] two months worth. Uh I probably just I'm

[5:11] just going to really give you an update

[5:12] over on September since that's the most

[5:14] recent one. Uh but you'll see in the

[5:16] available lot inventory. It's there's

[5:19] two separate parts of this report. Uh

[5:21] the first part of the report are

[5:23] available lots. Those are lots that are

[5:24] on the ground currently that could be

[5:26] issued building permits tomorrow if

[5:28] somebody were to come in. You'll see

[5:30] that that total available lot inventory

[5:32] right now is at 954. You'll find that on

[5:35] page six of nine pages. Uh the rest of

[5:39] that report is subdivision plats that

[5:41] have not been recorded. They're in some

[5:43] part of the approval process,

[5:44] preliminary. There's a final plat that's

[5:46] been approved and it just hasn't been

[5:48] recorded yet. So as one goes up, the

[5:50] other one typically goes down. I usually

[5:52] just report on the lot inventory. You

[5:55] can see that with 954 that's down from

[5:58] this time last year, which was at 995.

[6:01] Lately, this number has been fluctuating

[6:03] quite a bit. um it's been going down and

[6:07] you'll see that there is a file on your

[6:09] iPads as well in that same folder with

[6:12] September. There's a chart. I like to

[6:14] put that chart in quarterly just kind of

[6:16] gives you an idea of what the trend line

[6:18] looks like. We started tracking this

[6:20] back in 2004 at the time uh Mayor Ernest

[6:23] Burgess and I sat down. Uh this would

[6:25] have been after he was elected somewhere

[6:27] in 2006 2007 time frame and asked about

[6:30] hey how could we start tracking this? We

[6:32] came up with a, for lack of a better

[6:34] word, an arbitrary date of 2004, January

[6:36] 1st. We started at that point. We had to

[6:38] start somewhere. So, we started it there

[6:41] and we've been tracking it monthly

[6:43] since. So, that just gives you just a

[6:45] quick overview of that, what the trend

[6:47] line looks like. You'll see that really

[6:48] for the most part this year, the trend

[6:50] line's been going down. There is a

[6:52] little bit of a blip in the summer where

[6:53] it kind of went up a little bit. We just

[6:54] haven't seen as many of our larger

[6:56] subdivisions subdivision sections be

[6:58] recorded. And building permit activity,

[7:01] which director Bell will speak about

[7:02] here a little later, just has been

[7:04] lighter this year than what we've

[7:05] anticipated or expected from years past.

[7:09] So, that just gives you a quick overview

[7:10] of the available lot inventory. So,

[7:12] that's something we pass along just for

[7:14] your information every meeting. Uh, if

[7:16] there's no questions on that, I will

[7:19] jump into the other part of our report

[7:20] and that is our resoning report. Sir,

[7:24] >> if Mr. Chair, if I may,

[7:26] >> Doug, would you explain for the group,

[7:29] the new group, [snorts]

[7:30] >> uh, again, what the definition

[7:33] um of a of a nonrecorded plat is, the 5,898 lots?

[7:39] >> Yes, sir.

[7:40] >> Would you explain the difference between

[7:42] the two?

[7:43] >> Yes, sir. The first part of that report,

[7:46] the 954

[7:48] lots, those plats have been reviewed,

[7:51] those plats have been approved, those

[7:52] plats have been recorded, and somebody

[7:55] could come in and take out a building

[7:56] permit. The rest of that report from

[7:58] pages seven throughout the end of the

[8:00] report, those are plats and plans in

[8:03] various stages of development. For

[8:05] instance, there may be a preliminary

[8:07] plan that was approved but under

[8:09] construction right now, but no plats

[8:11] have been recorded for new lots. It

[8:14] could be just remaining lots like on

[8:15] that first page like Brewer Point's a

[8:17] good example. Um that preliminary plan

[8:20] was approved back in 2021. There are

[8:23] still 68 lots that are out that have not

[8:26] been recorded in that subdivision. So,

[8:28] they're still working through uh plats

[8:31] that they have been recorded

[8:33] in that one. But that's pretty much it.

[8:34] That wasn't a very big subdivision, but

[8:36] that just gives you an idea. So these

[8:39] part of the report is just saying, okay,

[8:41] these are plats that have been record

[8:42] I'm sorry, have been approved by the

[8:43] planning commission, but have not been

[8:45] recorded for any building permit

[8:46] activity yet. So you can see as as

[8:49] Commissioner Kush was talking about, you

[8:51] got close to five uh 6,000 lots that are

[8:55] still in some stage of of the approval

[8:58] process, but not recorded yet. And I

[9:00] will reiterate that this is just for the

[9:02] unincorporated area. This does not count

[9:05] anything inside Murphy'sboro, Smyrna,

[9:07] Lever, or Eagleville.

[9:08] >> So, just a quick question. Is there a

[9:10] statute of limitations on

[9:13] when a subdivision plat can be recorded?

[9:16] Because some some I see like 20 years

[9:18] old.

[9:19] >> Yeah. And some of them are uh there are

[9:21] vesting laws with the state of Tennessee

[9:23] and TCA. Uh typically once you see a

[9:26] preliminary plans approved and you have

[9:29] um plats that are recorded off of that

[9:31] from our standpoint that I pretty much

[9:32] locks it in. Some of these have been

[9:34] like you said existence for some time.

[9:37] There may be some that these are

[9:38] existing sections that uh like Davenport

[9:41] seation is a good example. There was

[9:43] older portions of that. Then there were

[9:45] some newer portions of that one. So

[9:47] that's why some of those seem as old as

[9:49] they are. But to answer your question,

[9:51] yes, there are there's vesting issues.

[9:54] So you just we have to everyone's kind

[9:57] of done on a case- by case basis. So

[9:58] it's hard to give a blanket statement on

[10:00] that.

[10:07] Any other questions?

[10:11] » Question please.

[10:12] >> More.

[10:12] >> So when they when [clears throat] they

[10:14] are approved and and they but they are

[10:19] not recorded, what are they approved

[10:21] for? They're approved for the start of

[10:24] the development of the lots. Like for

[10:26] instance, a preliminary plan. After a

[10:27] preliminary plan, which is basically the

[10:29] master plan is approved. The next step

[10:31] is construction drawings. That's not

[10:33] something the planning commission sees,

[10:35] but that's something that our staff

[10:36] review. So the preliminary plan is the

[10:40] master plan for the entire development.

[10:41] The construction plans are for

[10:42] individual sections. So typically what

[10:45] happens is after a preliminary plan

[10:47] approval the next step is they start

[10:49] submitting construction drawings for

[10:50] section one and then sometimes they may

[10:53] submit a couple but generally it's just

[10:55] for the first sections. So it just means

[10:57] that they have the ability to move

[10:59] forward to the next step of the

[11:00] subdivision process

[11:02] >> and and just for clarity for me

[11:04] following Commissioner McGowan's

[11:06] question once they're approved is that

[11:09] indefinite or

[11:10] >> it's not indefinite. Now, like I said,

[11:12] there are vesting requirements.

[11:14] >> Yes.

[11:14] >> So, let's let's just use like today's

[11:16] standards because some of these laws

[11:18] were in effect after some of these

[11:20] subdivisions were approved, these older

[11:22] ones. So, when it comes to vesting, for

[11:24] instance, let's say some of these newer

[11:26] subdivisions, the way the state law

[11:28] reads, they've got three years to start

[11:31] getting some sort of construction

[11:32] drawings approved, start prepping the

[11:35] site for site work. If they do a certain

[11:37] amount of work based on that, then they

[11:40] are vested for an additional two years.

[11:42] Then if they start construction, then

[11:44] they're vested. I think it's another

[11:45] five years after that. It's it it's in

[11:48] the law. It's frankly it's kind of

[11:50] convoluted the way the law is written,

[11:52] but uh that that's something that we we

[11:54] keep up with. Yes, ma'am.

[11:55] >> Thank you.

[12:02] » All right. There's no other questions.

[12:04] We will go ahead and jump into the

[12:06] resoning report. Every month, well

[12:09] almost every month, we typically at the

[12:10] planning commission will consider

[12:12] resoning cases. For resoning cases, the

[12:14] planning commission is just a

[12:16] recommending body. So they will make a

[12:18] recommendation on a zoning change and

[12:20] then that recommendation comes typically

[12:22] the following month to the board of

[12:23] commissioners and we report on that

[12:25] activity at this meeting. So you'll see

[12:28] at September's meeting, this the

[12:30] September 14th meeting, there were two

[12:31] resoning requests and I'll discuss those

[12:33] briefly. Typically at this meeting, we

[12:36] will if there's no meeting in July, we

[12:38] will also have resonings on here from

[12:41] August, but this year there were no

[12:43] August resoning requests. So really, we

[12:46] just have this the two that you see on

[12:47] your agendas for September. So that

[12:50] first one is by Tom Moon for Saddlewood

[12:53] Development. This is along Franklin

[12:55] Road, which is in Commissioner

[12:56] McMurray's district. Two tracks of land.

[12:58] The existing zoning for those tracks is

[13:00] planned unit development, and they're

[13:02] asking to be zoned back to residential

[13:05] medium density. As way of a little bit

[13:07] of background and history on this, the

[13:10] planned development application for

[13:11] these properties were approved back in

[13:13] 2019. There was also an amendment making

[13:17] it an aged targeted community that was

[13:19] approved by the board of commissioners

[13:20] back in April of 2021. The pattern book

[13:23] indicated a total of 124 town home town home units which were going to be

[13:27] built in fourunit buildings and I've

[13:29] included minutes from those meetings

[13:30] with the agenda packets just to give you

[13:32] a little bit of background on that. The

[13:34] planning commission also saw a site plan

[13:36] for town home construction. They did

[13:38] begin construction on access drives

[13:40] within the development but then the

[13:42] development just ceased. They never did

[13:44] complete that. So, at this point, the

[13:46] developer of the property, the owner,

[13:49] uh, is looking to develop this in a

[13:51] different manner. Instead of doing town

[13:52] homes, they would like to resone it back

[13:54] to residential medium density, which is

[13:56] one of our base zonings in the

[13:58] unincorporated area, which stands for

[14:00] residential medium density. So, they're

[14:02] asking to zone it back from plan

[14:03] development to residential medium

[14:05] density. In your agenda packets, you'll

[14:08] see that there is a concept plan. I do

[14:09] want to state, just so everybody

[14:11] understands, approval of a zoning change

[14:15] Well, what they're asking for does not

[14:16] approve the concept plan. Okay, that's

[14:19] just showing what possibly could happen

[14:21] with this. There are probably going to

[14:22] be some changes. If this were to be

[14:24] approved, then they would go through the

[14:25] result or I'm sorry, the subdivision

[14:27] process, kind of what we were talking

[14:28] about just a moment ago, preliminary

[14:30] plan, construction drawings, those kind

[14:31] of things. So, the concept plan is just

[14:33] that. It is not binding, but it does

[14:35] give you an idea of how they would like

[14:37] to progress. This property does have

[14:39] access along Frank Franklin Road. Uh T

[14:42] do DOT approval would be required for

[14:44] any new or improved access points. The

[14:46] applicants are planning to use the

[14:47] existing access point that was granted

[14:49] for the town home development which does

[14:51] include turn lanes which you can see on

[14:53] the concept plan. Uh county schools took

[14:57] a look at this as well. Uh we did relay

[14:59] their concerns to you actually a little

[15:01] fur uh earlier in the report. You can

[15:03] see that there are some comments from

[15:05] the

[15:06] uh schools about what they wanted to to

[15:09] see on that. basically that a lot of

[15:11] their concerns. Oh, I'm sorry. Here, uh,

[15:13] sub streets would need to be 0.2 miles

[15:16] or shorter unless a turnaround is

[15:18] provided. These are things we would look

[15:19] at during the subdivision process should

[15:21] this application be approved. But yeah,

[15:23] that's just a little earlier in the

[15:25] staff report. You also see that we

[15:28] describe the landscaping and buffering.

[15:29] Uh, this would be a residential single

[15:31] family development. Should the zoning be

[15:33] approved, then something move forward.

[15:35] So, that's not anything that would be

[15:37] required at that time. neither would the

[15:38] performance standards apply. Typically,

[15:41] I like to give a recap of what happened

[15:42] at the planning commission meeting and

[15:44] you'll see that in the staff report as

[15:46] well. So, commissioners had questions

[15:48] about the public notice of the meeting,

[15:50] access to the property, traffic issues,

[15:52] including the future widening of

[15:53] Franklin Road. We discussed our

[15:55] notification protocol. We discussed the

[15:57] number of access points. There is one

[15:59] primary access point, but also one for

[16:00] emergency access, which was part of the

[16:02] original uh town home development. and

[16:05] also future plans for Franklin Road at

[16:08] some point. We know that's going to be

[16:09] widened to five lanes. It's not on T

[16:10] DOT's 10-year plan right now. Frank

[16:12] Franklin Road is a state road, so of

[16:14] course they'll be the ones that will be

[16:16] responsible for uh driving that project.

[16:19] Uh there were some comments as well

[16:21] during the public hearing about property

[16:22] boundaries and blasting. Uh following

[16:25] the public hearing, the commission had

[16:26] concerns about having less control over

[16:28] an RM development than a plan

[16:30] development in school capacity. Uh the

[16:32] applicant's representative came forward

[16:34] to address questions as to why the

[16:35] change was being requested. Basically,

[16:37] the market forces as they see them are

[16:39] not favorable for town home

[16:40] construction. And again, I emphasize

[16:42] that this is only for the zoning of the

[16:44] property. This would not approve the

[16:46] concept plan. So, following that

[16:48] discussion, the planning commission

[16:50] recommended approval of the application

[16:52] by a unanimous vote. Uh I will move on

[16:55] to the second, then we'll entertain

[16:56] questions on either case. If you just

[16:58] bear with me a second as I navigate.

[17:01] The second item is for a piece of

[17:03] property on Burnt Knob Road. This is in

[17:05] Commissioner James' district. They are

[17:07] asking for zoning from residential

[17:09] medium density to commercial services.

[17:12] Uh just for the new commissioners,

[17:13] commercial services is kind of what I

[17:15] would call our middle of the road zoning

[17:17] for commercial uses. We've got three

[17:20] commercial zones. We've got commercial

[17:21] neighborhood, commercial service, and

[17:23] commercial general. uh commercial center

[17:25] is sorry commercial service is kind of

[17:27] the center of the road of the three. So

[17:29] it doesn't allow things like auto sales

[17:32] and things like that but it does allow a

[17:34] lot of other retail. So just to give you

[17:35] an idea uh this property has been the

[17:38] subject of two resoning requests since

[17:40] 2018. Uh in 2018 the application was for

[17:43] CS as well. Uh it was in response to a

[17:46] zoning enforcement case. They were

[17:47] operating construction business on the

[17:49] property. That recommend application was

[17:51] recommended for denial by the planning

[17:53] commission and also by the board of

[17:54] commissioners was denied in April of

[17:56] 2018. Couple years later, the

[17:58] application came forward uh an

[18:00] application came forward for office

[18:02] professional which is a lighter zone.

[18:04] Doesn't allow a lot of commercial type

[18:05] uses, retail, those kind of things, but

[18:07] does allow a lot of office uses, but

[18:09] that was also denied as well. The

[18:12] applicant again proposing to ask for

[18:14] commercial service zoning for use as a

[18:16] construction business. Uh the existing

[18:18] house will be converted into an office

[18:20] and there are plans to add a second

[18:22] structure on the property as well. Uh

[18:24] this use is classified as a construction

[18:26] sales and service which is allowed by

[18:28] right in the CS zone. The [snorts]

[18:30] applicant held a neighborhood meeting on

[18:32] August 6th. Staff was present myself. Uh

[18:34] there were questions about activity on

[18:36] the property but from our viewpoint just

[18:38] from what I saw there did not appear to

[18:39] be much opposition to the request. I'd

[18:41] say there's probably about 10 people

[18:42] that were there. Uh you'll see that

[18:44] there is a concept plan in the staff

[18:46] report as well. The access is shown onto

[18:49] Bertnob road in the parking area between

[18:51] the existing house and proposed

[18:52] structure. We have not required a

[18:54] traffic study at this point, but we

[18:56] could in the future if this is approved

[18:58] and they do submit a site plan and we

[18:59] felt that one was warranted. And any

[19:03] uh any development of the site, it

[19:05] should just be approved. It have to have

[19:06] an engineered site plan which would be

[19:08] considered by the planning commission.

[19:10] Uh landscape and screening is also

[19:11] discussed. This would require type two

[19:13] buffers along their property lines

[19:14] adjacent to any residential property

[19:16] lines and performance standards would

[19:19] also apply. Uh prior to the public

[19:21] hearing, the planning commission had

[19:22] questions about the zoning of adjacent

[19:24] properties which staff explained using

[19:26] RGIS the maps that we have up at the

[19:28] meeting. Uh there were no other

[19:29] questions. Nobody spoke during the

[19:31] public hearing. Following the public

[19:32] hearing, the planning commissioner

[19:34] recommended approval of the request by a

[19:36] vote of nine for and one against. I will

[19:39] say that in the staff report, you'll see

[19:41] that uh for staff's recommendation. Uh I

[19:45] know that in the past this has been to

[19:46] the commission a couple of different

[19:47] times. However, there have been some

[19:49] other zoning changes in the area, most

[19:51] notably the expansion of the Rogers

[19:52] Group Corey to the northnortheast.

[19:55] So staff felt a little more comfortable

[19:57] about it now than we did in the past. So

[19:59] with that, I'll be happy to answer any

[20:01] questions that you may have on either of

[20:03] these zoning cases.

[20:10] How many homes are in the the first

[20:13] reszone? The Franklin Road approximately

[20:17] how many homes are they going to try to

[20:18] put there?

[20:18] >> Oh, you mean under their concept plan?

[20:20] Okay, let me I think it's around 90 to

[20:22] 100 somewhere in that range if I

[20:23] remember right now. Again, that's not

[20:26] the approved plan. So, a lot of it will

[20:27] come back to what kind of soil they end

[20:29] up getting and different things, road

[20:31] layouts, those kind of things, but it

[20:33] looked like about 90 to 100

[20:41] Miss Watt.

[20:42] >> Yes. Um, so how large are the lots? Say

[20:47] is that 1.01 and two? Is that one and

[20:50] two acre lots? Is that what that means?

[20:52] >> No, those are the par uh those are lot

[20:54] numbers is what you're seeing. 101 102.

[20:56] So now several of these lots are like

[20:58] step lots, detention ponds, things like

[21:00] that. Actual residential lots. I think

[21:02] it's closer, like I said, somewhere

[21:03] between 90 and 100. The minimum lot size

[21:05] in the RM district is 15,000 square

[21:07] feet, which is about a third of an acre.

[21:10] >> Okay.

[21:20] » Are there any more questions for Mr.

[21:22] Deos?

[21:27] Um, so originally it was um denied by

[21:31] the planning commission because of the

[21:34] blast concerns and things.

[21:36] >> Which case are we talking about? I'm

[21:38] sorry.

[21:38] >> The B

[21:39] >> the second one.

[21:40] >> Yes.

[21:41] >> Okay. No, the second one I think it was

[21:43] originally denied. I just think at the

[21:45] time the planning commission nor the

[21:47] county commission felt it was an

[21:49] appropriate use of the land at the time.

[21:51] But like I said, some of the land use in

[21:52] that area has kind of evolved and

[21:53] changed. So

[22:00] Doug, on the A project,

[22:04] >> does it change the density of the homes

[22:06] by going from a PUB down to residential

[22:09] medium density?

[22:11] >> Well, you're getting they're proposing

[22:13] less houses. So, the density that you

[22:16] would get would be consistent with

[22:18] what's allowed in RM. So, the same

[22:21] amount of acreage is actually going to

[22:22] have less lots. So I guess to answer

[22:24] your question, it would reduce that.

[22:25] Yes, sir.

[22:26] >> Thank you.

[22:29] >> So it would essentially be I guess

[22:32] larger homes to make up for that and

[22:34] more expensive homes.

[22:36] >> You know, without knowing the zoning

[22:38] doesn't dictate the size of the homes,

[22:39] just dictates the lot size. Now, I don't

[22:43] think what you're saying is necessarily

[22:45] inaccurate. Uh but I know that town

[22:48] homes weren't really what the they felt

[22:50] the market could bear. So, with a 15,000

[22:53] foot house or a lot, you could have a

[22:55] bigger uh envelope for a bigger house.

[22:57] Yes.

[22:58] >> Okay. I just know the concern for like

[22:59] more affordable homes and

[23:01] >> um you would think that um apartments or

[23:05] um town homes would be more beneficial.

[23:08] Um

[23:09] >> well, they were looking to do more of

[23:11] like an age targeted type situation or

[23:13] even to some extent age restricted uh

[23:15] >> age. Oh, like a like a

[23:17] >> similar the the development right next

[23:19] door to this uh the Southern Harmony

[23:21] development. It's an age restricted

[23:22] community. You have to be 55 okay or

[23:24] older to to live in that development.

[23:27] They were doing something similar with

[23:28] this. Uh originally this what they're

[23:31] proposing now there would be no age

[23:33] restriction. It would just be you know

[23:34] market whatever dictate.

[23:38] >> And you're just reporting to us. We're

[23:39] not voting yes or no as to whether or

[23:41] not we approve these.

[23:43] >> Oh, for this meeting today? Yeah. We're

[23:45] just presenting what happened. These are

[23:47] going to come to public hearing next

[23:48] week at the county. Yes. Yes, ma'am.

[23:49] You're not You're not

[23:50] >> You're just letting us know what's going

[23:51] on.

[23:52] >> That's correct. Thank you.

[23:53] >> Yes, ma'am.

[23:56] » I'll make a motion to approve.

[24:00] >> All in favor say I.

[24:02] >> I.

[24:03] >> Nay. Motion pass.

[24:06] >> Yes, sir. Uh just I know there's been a

[24:08] lot of uh interest and discussion

[24:10] regarding the upcoming public hearing

[24:13] this coming Monday at the planning

[24:15] commission for the data center

[24:16] moratorum. I just wanted to kind of just

[24:18] make sure everybody was aware of that.

[24:20] Uh I'm sure everybody here probably

[24:21] knows that but at the planning

[24:23] commission on Monday we'll have a public

[24:24] hearing. We've got some other ones too

[24:26] for resonings but but that is going to

[24:28] be coming up on Monday for discussion on

[24:30] that resolution. So just

[24:31] >> what what is the course of action? So

[24:34] say a moratorum gets approved Monday.

[24:37] What are the following steps? Does it go

[24:39] directly to the county commission or

[24:41] does it come here first?

[24:42] >> Well, what will happen? Right. What'll

[24:43] happen is the planning commission will

[24:45] make a recommendation kind of like we do

[24:46] for any kind of a resoning. So after

[24:48] that meeting then yes, it'll come to

[24:50] public works and planning committee here

[24:53] at that be in November and we would then

[24:56] at before that we would advertise it for

[24:58] a public hearing at the board of

[25:00] commissioners November meeting. So

[25:02] that's kind of what the general

[25:04] guideline, general schedule would be for

[25:06] that. Yes, sir. [clears throat]

[25:09] >> Doug, you didn't mention what time

[25:10] Monday.

[25:11] >> Oh, I'm sorry. 6 o'clock in this room.

[25:14] Thank you.

[25:23] » It's a 6 p.m. The the evening meeting 6

[25:26] p.m. The second Yeah, I'm sorry.

[25:28] Planning Commission meets twice a month

[25:29] except for November and December because

[25:31] the holidays, but the second Monday of

[25:33] the month is the evening meeting where

[25:35] we look at resonings and then the fourth

[25:37] Monday of the month, the one we just

[25:38] had, is a 9:00 a.m. morning meeting. So,

[25:40] we're doing plats and plans at that

[25:41] meeting. Yes, ma'am.

[25:46] » Thank you, Doug.

[25:47] >> Great. Thank you. Thank you all.

[25:51] >> The next item on our agenda will be from

[25:54] the highway department superintendent,

[25:56] Mr. Greg Brooks.

[26:04] » Welcome, Mr. Brooks.

[26:05] >> Good evening.

[26:08] >> How is everyone? Uh, I'll start off with

[26:12] saying Doug's always been a hard act to

[26:14] follow. He's very well spoken and always

[26:16] has his stuff together. So, I'll do the

[26:19] best I can to follow up what Doug what

[26:22] Doug says. Okay. So, I am the road

[26:24] superintendent, elected road

[26:25] superintendent. I've been uh I took

[26:27] office in 2012 and this is I'm assuming

[26:29] that you want us all a little overview.

[26:31] >> Yes, sir.

[26:33] >> So, I took office in 2012. Uh I run the

[26:37] highway department. The highway

[26:38] department is responsible for

[26:40] maintaining our county roads. Um we do

[26:44] our own paving

[26:47] uh with the exception of when we uh

[26:49] contract out some state aid work. We do

[26:52] our mowing. We have construction crew.

[26:56] Uh we we do our own trucking for our

[26:58] paving operation. And we also under the

[27:01] umbrella of the highway department, we

[27:03] have the public works department. The

[27:05] public works department was organized

[27:06] back in uh Commissioner P can probably

[27:09] help me with this around 2002 2004 I

[27:12] believe and it was uh put in place to

[27:15] try to alleviate some uh localized

[27:20] flooding concerns, drainage concerns.

[27:24] So, because the highway department by

[27:27] state law can only work on the road and

[27:29] the roadside ditch, the public works

[27:32] department can go off of the uh rightway

[27:36] that exist in the road book and and

[27:39] enter private property with an easement

[27:41] from those property owners. So, that's

[27:43] kind of an overview of of what we do and kind of who does what. I'm here

[27:50] tonight to Well, let me back up a little

[27:54] bit. The any we have a we have a seven

[27:58] member elected roadboard and uh we they

[28:02] meet once a month to uh discuss the

[28:05] finances and concerns of their

[28:07] constituents and and anything highway

[28:10] department/public work department

[28:12] related. We will discuss. Any action

[28:16] taken at that meeting will that that

[28:20] would need to be forwarded on to the

[28:22] full county commission would come here

[28:24] next to the public works planning

[28:26] department for routing for lack of a

[28:29] better for lack of a better definition.

[28:32] It could be that if it's it's if it's a

[28:34] financial thing, it could be uh that the

[28:37] next stop for it after this would be to

[28:41] send it to the budget committee or it

[28:43] could be that it could go from this

[28:46] committee straight to the county

[28:47] commission depending on what it is,

[28:50] whether or not I guess really whether or

[28:52] not we're spending money. Uh so

[28:55] any any action taken at the road board

[29:00] will this will be the next stop for it

[29:02] on its way to the full commission.

[29:04] So tonight what we have for you is some

[29:08] public works uh

[29:12] drainage e temporary drainage easements

[29:15] temporary construction easements. Um I

[29:18] have for you and I think you have them

[29:20] too. Uh couple from September because as

[29:24] you know this this this uh committee did

[29:26] not meet in September. So these were uh

[29:31] taken at the September roadboard meeting

[29:36] and then have some from our last road

[29:40] war meeting yesterday morning which

[29:41] would have been October the October

[29:43] meeting. So typically on something like

[29:46] these drainage echments, we would group

[29:48] them all together and you know I'd

[29:51] present them all and you'd approve them

[29:53] all at one time. But since we have two

[29:54] months, let's do September and then

[29:56] we'll do October.

[29:59] So for September we have u

[30:03] drainage easements on Pawa Springs Road

[30:09] and what these are for is we are doing a

[30:12] project

[30:14] on Paw Springs Road where we're doing a

[30:17] covert relline

[30:20] uh and that is contracted work.

[30:23] We bid that work out, but the uh work

[30:27] will exceed the existing rideway. So, we

[30:30] had to get some temporary construction

[30:32] easements to allow that contractor to

[30:34] come in and do the work. So, that's what happened in September. These

[30:40] are temporary construction easements to

[30:42] facilitate allow for the contractor to

[30:44] come in and make those covert

[30:47] improvements.

[30:53] We'll need a motion to approve his

[30:55] September easements.

[30:58] >> Making a motion to approve.

[31:00] >> Second.

[31:01] >> We have a motion and a second. Do we

[31:03] need to roll call this? There's money

[31:05] involved.

[31:10] » All in favor say I.

[31:13] >> Opposed. Motion passes. Carry on, Mr.

[31:16] Brook.

[31:17] >> Okay. Next we have uh

[31:20] a couple on um

[31:25] what we're going to call this is more of

[31:28] what we do dayto-day is it's a uh trying

[31:31] to alleviate some drainage.

[31:34] Um, typically

[31:37] we we go in and

[31:40] we have to be very careful when we when

[31:42] we start talking about drainage uh

[31:45] problems because we we have to account

[31:47] for the water. We can't just move it

[31:48] downstream. We have to count account for it. So these however are to

[31:55] clean up an existing drainage easement a

[31:58] platted drainage easement that is not

[32:00] part of the public works drainage e

[32:04] easement system. So we're going to go in

[32:06] is is more really it's more vegetation

[32:09] removal uh than it is uh dirt work so to

[32:13] speak. uh they they've become overgrown.

[32:16] The uh they've gotten away from the from

[32:19] the subsequent property owners. I think

[32:21] there about four or five that are

[32:23] involved in this and they're just more

[32:25] than they can do on their own. So, we're

[32:27] going to go in and clean up the debris

[32:32] and overgrowth and get it back to a

[32:35] state where it can be maintained by the

[32:39] uh adjoining property owners moving

[32:42] forward. So, we don't have to have a

[32:44] permanent easement. We can do a

[32:45] temporary easement.

[32:47] >> I'm sorry, sir. Um, which one did you

[32:49] say this was? I was trying to find the

[32:51] PDF.

[32:52] >> I'm sorry.

[32:53] >> This particular easement,

[32:55] >> uh, it's Ventura Court and Reynolds

[32:57] Drive.

[32:58] >> Thank you.

[33:01] And is it in the Fawnwood

[33:06] subdivision, I believe, if I'm not

[33:07] mistaken. Yes.

[33:12] Sorry, I should have clarified.

[33:18] But even though you see several, they all adjoin each other.

[33:30] » We have a motion to approve.

[33:32] >> Second.

[33:33] >> We have a second.

[33:35] Mr. P

[33:38] >> Greg, is there ever occurrence where we

[33:41] have to pay for these temporary

[33:42] easements or any easements?

[33:46] >> Public works has never had has never had

[33:48] to do that. No. The only time that I've

[33:52] ever seen anything like that happen is

[33:53] when we're trying to uh maybe acquire a

[33:56] rideway for road improvements, which is rare. We, you know, as you know, we really don't have

[34:03] the funds available to acquire property.

[34:06] We we a lot of times we can do the work,

[34:07] but acquiring the property is a whole

[34:09] different

[34:11] >> most of these cases people have come to

[34:13] us and have asked for this to be done.

[34:15] >> Absolutely. Yes, sir.

[34:16] >> On board with it,

[34:18] >> Yes, sir.

[34:19] >> Thank you,

[34:20] >> Miss Watts.

[34:23] Um, sir, this is on their property and

[34:26] they've asked us to do it. So, do they

[34:27] pay us anything or we do this out of the

[34:30] goodness of our hearts?

[34:31] >> It it is a service.

[34:32] >> Okay.

[34:33] >> It is a service.

[34:34] >> Thank you, Mr. Clark. Mr. Chair, and to

[34:37] follow up on that question, what what

[34:39] criteria makes you decide yes, we're

[34:43] going to do it when there's a request

[34:44] made as opposed to no, that's really not

[34:47] our

[34:49] job to do. Well, it's always it's always

[34:52] case by case, but in the case of the

[34:54] ones you see in front of you tonight

[34:55] that were that were accepted by the

[34:57] board yesterday morning, the the

[35:00] vegetation has gotten to the point where

[35:02] it's going to start causing flooding and

[35:05] the flooding the flooding will

[35:08] show up as you know what I what I would

[35:11] call nuisance water where it's in

[35:13] somebody's yard and then it will expand

[35:15] from that and then it starts doing you

[35:17] know property damage. So in an effort to

[35:22] cretail that because once that starts

[35:24] happening they're they're absolutely

[35:26] going to expect some you know relief. Uh

[35:29] it it's difficult sometimes to to decide

[35:34] which ones are good candidates and

[35:37] viable and should should receive help

[35:41] from the county because as you know we we can't spend anything we

[35:47] didn't take from someone. That's just

[35:48] the way it is. It's unfortunate truth.

[35:50] So, uh, in most cases,

[35:55] people people are receptive to allow us

[35:58] to come in and do the work and then try

[36:01] to maintain it themselves moving

[36:02] forward. In some cases that they don't.

[36:06] So, you know, at that point, they h they

[36:10] have some personal responsibility,

[36:12] accountability, I feel like. So, a lot

[36:15] of times that would be the deciding

[36:17] factor. Sounds like it's um you move

[36:20] ahead and do the work if the situation

[36:23] might result in a wider public damage or

[36:28] um risk or danger.

[36:31] >> Yes, ma'am. That that is accurate

[36:32] >> beyond just one property owner's

[36:34] property. When you talk about the

[36:37] flooding, that's you never know what

[36:39] that's going to affect. So,

[36:40] >> yes. Yes, ma'am. That that that's very

[36:42] accurate.

[36:42] >> All right. Thank you,

[36:45] Mr. P. When we originally

[36:49] conceived of having a we call it an

[36:51] infancy public works department, the

[36:54] criteria for who would go on there first

[36:56] was life safety. Uh second was property

[37:00] damage. So that's kind of the criteria

[37:03] that it started with. Uh most of the

[37:06] ones especially the life threatening

[37:09] ones we hope have all been taken care

[37:11] of. If not, they're being looked at and

[37:15] uh their board does a good job of

[37:17] vetting these.

[37:19] I know that. And our engineering

[37:22] department,

[37:23] you know, at one time all the

[37:25] commissions were either rural or urban

[37:30] when this started us rural say

[37:33] Commissioner Piery nodding along is he

[37:35] and I worked on this. uh Joe Frank

[37:37] Jernigan, you know, all the royal

[37:39] commissioners

[37:41] u at that time didn't have urban, but we

[37:45] needed some help. You know, if you're

[37:48] city commissioner,

[37:50] all you got to do is pick up the phone

[37:51] if you're in Murphy'sboro and say, "Hey,

[37:53] send public works out here and give me a

[37:55] hand." That takes care of it. Life's

[37:57] easy for a city commissioner sometimes,

[37:59] but now we've got both. We got

[38:02] commissioners that are both rural and

[38:04] urban. And anyway, this was an attempt

[38:07] to

[38:09] get a public works department started

[38:12] where we had extreme uh well danger. We

[38:17] had property loss and there's danger of

[38:20] people drowning from it. But anyway,

[38:23] that's how we started and that's how we

[38:25] actually said, "Hey, this is what we

[38:27] want to do." But that money set aside in

[38:30] the budget for them.

[38:33] It's been a really good program over the

[38:34] years in my opinion that they've done a

[38:36] lot of good. They've helped a lot of pe,

[38:38] you know, they the public works

[38:40] department that have helped a lot of

[38:42] people and you know, when it was

[38:43] implemented, uh it it wouldn't it

[38:47] wouldn't exist if it weren't for

[38:49] commissioners like Commissioner P. I

[38:50] mean, you know, he mentioned Joe Freight

[38:52] Jernigan who's who's passed who was very

[38:55] instrumental in in heading that up and

[38:58] getting it off the ground and buying the

[39:00] equipment and organizing the whole

[39:02] thing. And it's been it's been a good

[39:05] it's a very good asset for the county.

[39:06] It's a very good department for the for

[39:08] the county. There's no question about

[39:09] that. uh we we do what we can with what

[39:12] we have to work with, but unfortunately

[39:14] a lot of times uh you we can't just like

[39:19] I said we have to count for the water.

[39:20] We can't just move it from one property

[39:22] to the next property obviously but it

[39:25] it's uh it's been it's been very

[39:28] beneficial without question and they

[39:31] over the years we we have undertaken

[39:33] some very large very difficult projects and

[39:38] accomplished quite a bit. So, and over

[39:43] the over the years, you know, with the

[39:44] development of, you know, the this is

[39:47] going to sound ridiculous to someone as

[39:50] young as M Mr.

[39:53] [snorts] Dy here, but you know, when we started, we we didn't really

[39:58] have we didn't really have the

[39:59] technology available to us at at the

[40:02] click of a a mouse. You know, we can we

[40:04] can turn on topographical map right now

[40:06] and see what the drainage basin looks

[40:08] like. So, a lot of areas that were built

[40:11] in back in the day that had had the

[40:15] bene, you know, that public works

[40:17] benefited trying to drain some of that

[40:18] property um would not have happened had

[40:21] we had the technology available to us to

[40:23] our engineering department that that's

[40:25] utilized now. So, it's not it's not as

[40:28] bad as it was for sure.

[40:33] » Abby,

[40:34] >> um this is definitely beneficial. Um,

[40:37] and like you said, it would cause us

[40:39] flooding flooding if that vegetation

[40:41] continued um to be there. Um, I just

[40:44] want to know, is there any way that um,

[40:47] you know, maybe the indigenous plant

[40:49] rescue or anything, they could, um, kind

[40:51] of, um, look over that and see if

[40:55] there's any native or endangered species

[40:57] that are there? Because I know they they

[40:59] like to collect those kind of things

[41:00] instead of just tearing it all down

[41:02] without looking. Like, is that something

[41:03] that um, has ever been done or can be

[41:06] done? Well,

[41:07] >> I know it's private property, but just

[41:09] something that we could ask.

[41:11] >> Typically,

[41:13] that that type of problem could show up

[41:18] in a in a stream bed. And most of the

[41:21] areas that we work in are are

[41:26] ditches that were cut into,

[41:29] you know, subdivisions to to drain the

[41:34] property. um to a pond, usually a a

[41:37] detention pond or retention pond. So, a

[41:40] lot of the endangered species don't

[41:42] exist because it's very the the water

[41:45] there is very intermittent.

[41:47] >> Well, native species and like as well in

[41:50] general.

[41:50] >> I'm sorry.

[41:51] >> Like native species as well, not not

[41:53] just endangered. I'm sorry. I should you

[41:55] know, just native species to Tennessee

[41:57] um because there's an issue of those um

[42:02] going away. So I was just asking that

[42:07] >> well I I don't I don't know really how

[42:09] to answer the question other than the

[42:10] fact that you know we we are

[42:14] unfortunately

[42:16] we live in a society where you know

[42:18] humans are going to come first and we we

[42:21] try to be

[42:24] mindful and respectful of our of our

[42:28] plant life and animal life. But when you

[42:32] know when we're following up behind a

[42:34] development that has already put the

[42:37] drainage system in place then we we have

[42:39] to work we're you know having to work in

[42:41] that area.

[42:41] >> I understand. I just thought I'd ask

[42:43] because I mean if we don't have

[42:45] Tennessee native species we won't have

[42:47] um bees and we won't have vegetation at

[42:49] all. So um that's why I asked.

[42:52] >> Yeah. Development development say put us

[42:54] first. It's it's hard sometimes it's

[42:57] hard to coexist with you know the amount

[42:59] of growth we have and the development we

[43:00] have and and

[43:03] yeah there there has to be a balance

[43:05] there. I agree. So, there's no way we

[43:06] can partner if anyone knows. I'm sorry.

[43:08] This is just There's no way we can

[43:10] partner with anyone to uh see if there

[43:13] is a salvageable native species that we

[43:17] could because there there's um

[43:19] indigenous plant rescues that they

[43:20] collect things like that to grow them

[43:23] and um plant them in areas that will

[43:26] benefit the community as a whole. So, um

[43:30] is there no way we can do that at all?

[43:33] We can't even ask the owners.

[43:36] >> Let let me intervene. Mr. Brooks,

[43:39] what you're not understanding

[43:42] is by the time Mr. Brooks gets to a site

[43:46] to open these easements up. The damage

[43:50] has already been done through excavation

[43:53] for development. It's gone.

[43:55] >> So, it's only like broken trees and

[43:57] things like that. There's nothing

[44:00] growing there.

[44:01] >> Is that what you're saying? your your

[44:03] questions I think would probably need to

[44:05] go toward a developer because they get

[44:08] there first. Mr. Brooks just second down

[44:11] the line. The damage has done them been

[44:13] done to what you're concerned about.

[44:16] I will say that that we uh

[44:21] we through through partnering with plan

[44:24] engineering and storm water uh we we are

[44:27] um we would be aware if if there was u a wetland for instance that that has

[44:34] these native plants that are you know

[44:36] indigenous of of a wetland or something

[44:38] like that. So, so we have that tool in

[44:41] our toolbox, so to speak, but partnering

[44:43] with someone outside of there, I I I

[44:45] really don't.

[44:46] >> Well, that's good to know at least.

[44:48] >> Can I Can I just add a couple things?

[44:50] >> Absolutely.

[44:51] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[44:52] >> Yes,

[44:52] >> Brendon. It was a good question. Uh

[44:56] where

[44:59] Greg Brooks is talking about are our

[45:01] what used to be grass ditches, right? Uh

[45:06] they are not meant to hold water. there.

[45:08] It's a through drainage. So when you get

[45:10] a heavy rain, the water just passes

[45:12] right through

[45:12] >> conveyance.

[45:13] >> Yeah, exactly. Um over time,

[45:18] these were not maintained, not mowed. So

[45:21] you get large weeds, you get

[45:25] >> woody bird. Yeah. Bird droppings create

[45:28] seedlings that

[45:29] >> So you have just nasty brush.

[45:33] >> That's different than the wetlands you

[45:35] just mentioned, right? where they will

[45:37] for the most part hold some kind of a

[45:39] water which then you're talking about

[45:41] your critters and your your plants and

[45:44] that's when typically the storm water

[45:46] group or your your Rutherford County

[45:50] I can never say this right your ar the

[45:52] tree the tree guy or gal arborist or or

[45:56] uh there's a native the the person that

[45:59] studies the native species they'll come

[46:01] in and they'll analyze what's going on

[46:04] because we can't he can't we can't touch

[46:07] a wetlands

[46:08] >> right

[46:09] >> uh not without a state permission

[46:13] >> and then if you do disturb the wetlands

[46:15] you got to create a new one somewhere

[46:17] else you got to replace you got to

[46:19] replace you do a credit right so it was

[46:22] a good question it's just not applicable

[46:24] to the kind of ditches or work that his

[46:27] group is doing

[46:28] >> right imagine if you will a ditch that

[46:31] was cut through a subdivision 30 or 40

[46:33] years ago that was just like

[46:36] Commissioner Kush described, it was it

[46:38] was just a water conveyance. Um, then

[46:42] over time it could it could it be could

[46:45] become overgrown or it could silt in

[46:48] from um debris. Uh, you know, dirt moves

[46:53] around. You you you have the natural

[46:56] order of things. you know, leaves get

[46:59] bound up. And so, a lot of times, all

[47:01] we're doing is just getting it back to

[47:03] the original flow. We're just removing

[47:06] the sediment, if you will. For the most

[47:07] part, that's that's about what we do

[47:09] now, unless we're, you know, creating a

[47:11] whole new a whole new drainage system,

[47:14] which is which is rare currently. I

[47:16] mean, it's just it doesn't really happen

[47:18] much anymore. So, a lot of what we're

[47:20] doing, what we're doing is is silt

[47:22] removal.

[47:24] So,

[47:26] >> Mr. P,

[47:29] >> I just wanted to point out that, of

[47:31] course, you've got a couple of guys here

[47:33] that are on planning, fix to be on

[47:36] planning, and they'll find this out, but

[47:39] we actually do look out for protective

[47:43] animal life and plants in this

[47:46] community. There are maps that are not

[47:49] available to the public for some reasons

[47:52] because we don't want to advertise where

[47:55] some of these endangered animals or

[47:56] plants are, but our staff is very much

[48:00] aware that when development takes place

[48:02] in this county, that is taken into

[48:04] consideration. Uh I would advise you to

[48:07] go over and speak to uh Mr. Deamasi

[48:10] sometime since you've got a concern

[48:13] about this. But anyway, just to let you

[48:15] know, we don't just hill willy-nilly run

[48:19] around planting subdivisions where they

[48:22] shouldn't be planted. At least we

[48:24] attempt not to. Thank you.

[48:28] >> If there's no more questions for Mr.

[48:30] Brooks, we already have a motion and a

[48:32] second. All in favor of his report?

[48:36] >> Nays. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr.

[48:39] Brook.

[48:39] >> I think that's all I have for you. Thank

[48:41] you for your time.

[48:45] Next on our on our agenda is building

[48:48] codes from director Tanya Bale.

[48:53] Welcome, Miss Bale.

[48:56] >> Good evening and welcome to our new

[48:58] commissioners. Congratulations on

[49:00] getting appointed to the cool committee.

[49:03] Um, and unlike Greg and Doug, I am not

[49:07] very smooth and articulate. I tend to

[49:10] talk a little bit too fast with a wee

[49:12] bit of an accent. So, if I get talking

[49:13] too fast, just slow me down. Okay. Um, I

[49:16] have worked with the building coach

[49:18] department for 26 years. I started as a

[49:21] permit tech and made my way through all

[49:24] of the positions in the department to

[49:26] the director's position, which I've been

[49:27] in now for a little bit than 10 years.

[49:30] uh the building codes department

[49:32] does uh we start getting involved in the

[49:36] development process really at the

[49:38] application process just where I I do

[49:40] join Doug and planning and engineering

[49:42] and review um of site plans and stuff

[49:46] like that but just where it applies to

[49:48] building codes and uh any effect that

[49:51] building codes may have on those. Um

[49:54] ultimately once the uh plat plan uh has

[49:57] been approved by the planning commission

[49:59] and recorded those lots are then

[50:02] released by planning and engineering and

[50:04] therefore they're eligible for building

[50:05] permits. Um, so at that point when any

[50:10] project comes out of the ground, whether

[50:12] it be new construction, an addition in a

[50:16] private dwelling, an accessory

[50:17] structure, a garage, a swimming pool, a

[50:20] storage building, uh, addition, anything

[50:23] like that that requires a building

[50:25] permit. And we do the building

[50:27] inspections involved in that

[50:30] construction, both in residential and

[50:34] commercial. Um we we also have uh we

[50:39] also do the plans reviews etc that's

[50:41] involved with all of those um building

[50:43] projects. So we do plans reviews on them

[50:45] before they ever get released or before

[50:47] we issue uh building permits. We collect

[50:51] the school facilities tax and for those

[50:53] of you who are not familiar with the

[50:54] school facilities tax I'll give you a

[50:56] really brief overview of it. Rutherford

[50:59] County used to have a development tax

[51:00] which applied to the building lot and

[51:03] then the building itself. It was paid in

[51:06] two separate payments. The first half

[51:07] was paid by the developer when the lot

[51:09] was recorded. The second half was paid

[51:11] by the builder when they came in to get

[51:13] a building permit. The building the

[51:16] development tax was replaced by the

[51:17] school facilities tax in 2021. At that

[51:21] time it was adopted the count it's the

[51:23] county parts relief act. It's a

[51:25] Tennessee state law and Rutherford

[51:28] County adopted it. Um it was levied at

[51:32] $1 per square foot of new living space

[51:35] in Rutherford County in Rutherford

[51:37] County in the city of Murphy'sboro,

[51:39] Smyrna, Leverne, and Eagle. So we are

[51:42] responsible for collecting the school

[51:44] facilities tax for all jurisdictions

[51:46] within Rutherford County. Uh in 2023

[51:51] um the county powers relief act was

[51:54] rewritten by legislation um in up in the

[51:57] legislature and they increased it from a

[51:59] dollar to $1.50. They also changed

[52:02] restructured the payment when the

[52:04] payment was due and how we collected it

[52:06] etc. So um it they increased it from a

[52:09] dollar a square foot to $1.50 50 a

[52:11] square foot and and included commercial

[52:15] whereas in 2021 it just applied to

[52:17] residential. So in 23 they then included

[52:21] commercial. So we collect that for all

[52:24] of the jurisdictions. And then we have

[52:27] another division that is property

[52:29] maintenance, zoning enforcement and code

[52:32] enforcement. So anything that needs any

[52:35] kind of legal enforcement um we would

[52:38] take care of that. So we receive

[52:41] complaints from constituents from a lot

[52:43] of the times it's commissioners. Your

[52:45] constituents will call you and you can

[52:47] call us and we will establish a we will

[52:50] look into it and if it violates the

[52:52] zoning ordinance or the code or anything

[52:55] else then we will try and um pursue

[52:58] enforcement or abatement on it. Um so

[53:00] you'll you'll see that a lot of this

[53:02] will be in my reports here that I'm

[53:04] going to present to you and um feel free

[53:07] to stop and ask me questions. these

[53:09] reports, we present them like this. And

[53:12] um we've been doing this for the last

[53:13] few years, but there is a lot of

[53:15] information that we've got that may not

[53:17] necessarily be in these reports. So, if

[53:19] there's something in here that or that's

[53:21] not in here that you would like to see

[53:23] or that you would like to hear more

[53:25] about or more of these numbers broken

[53:26] down a little bit more or a little bit

[53:28] better, please do let me know and I'll

[53:30] try and

[53:32] >> Mr. Chair,

[53:34] >> back to the school facilities tax and

[53:36] thank you for talking about that. Um,

[53:39] you told us where it came from, but you

[53:41] did not say where it went. So, how is

[53:44] the school facilities tax used the money that comes from that?

[53:49] >> So, that is a commission we just

[53:51] collected. I'm just the offices office

[53:53] that collects it for you. The spending

[53:55] of it and the um dispersement of it is a

[53:59] county commission. It's way above my my

[54:01] pay grade.

[54:02] >> Okay. I I'll find out later.

[54:04] >> Yes.

[54:05] >> Thanks.

[54:07] All right. So, if nobody has any more

[54:09] questions about any of that, I'm going

[54:10] to move on to my reports. The very first

[54:12] report you've got is the building

[54:14] report. This report lists all of the

[54:17] building permits that were issued for

[54:18] the the previous month, for the month

[54:20] that we're reporting on. Um, you'll see

[54:22] that some of them have a valuation next

[54:24] to them. Some of our most of our

[54:27] building permits prior to our fee

[54:29] increase in 23 were based upon valuation

[54:31] of the project. So we took the valuation

[54:34] of the project and we um as took that

[54:38] value and and took it to a chart and

[54:39] that's how we got our permit fee. That

[54:41] chart is from directly from the code

[54:44] book. Um, in 2023, the county commission

[54:47] changed the way we issued building

[54:50] strictly just building permits, just a

[54:51] for brand new construction, new single

[54:53] family dwellings. And they um the permit

[54:57] fee is now generated at 70 cents per

[55:01] square foot under roof instead of the

[55:03] valuation because the valuation adjusted

[55:06] just changed so much and it was hard to

[55:07] keep up with. So, additions and remodels

[55:11] and all that good stuff is still done by

[55:12] valuation. We still do that by the

[55:14] contract price, by what what the

[55:16] homeowner is paying to get their

[55:18] addition done or their remodel done or

[55:20] something. That's what their permit is

[55:21] based upon. But new construction is at

[55:24] 70 cents a square foot under roof.

[55:26] Period. Glad. So the um the list of all

[55:31] of the separate permits that we issued,

[55:33] there's a number beside them and some of

[55:35] them have evaluation and some of them do

[55:36] not. At the very end of the report,

[55:39] you'll see that there's a grand total of

[55:40] fees collected. Um and that is for this past month is $2717,77.

[55:49] The job cost which would be valuation of

[55:51] the permits that we actually value that

[55:54] take the valuation of. So that is not a

[55:56] true that would not include any new

[55:58] construction that 23,141,000

[56:01] is strictly all of the other permits

[56:04] that we do without new construction and

[56:06] that's just the valuation of them.

[56:09] The grand total of num grand number

[56:12] grand total number of permits issued was

[56:14] 309 for September broken down above in

[56:18] the previous two pages. Um 46 of those

[56:21] were single family dwellings and that

[56:23] appears to be a focus every month.

[56:25] Everybody's always curious as to how

[56:27] many new single family dwellings there

[56:29] was. Um, as Doug mentioned earlier in

[56:32] his report, we have seen, the last time

[56:34] I checked, this was about three weeks

[56:36] ago, and uh, we were down to about 45%

[56:40] over the same time last year on single

[56:43] family dwelling permit issuance.

[56:48] Um, then below that, we have the total

[56:50] number of inspections that were building

[56:52] inspections that were completed, and

[56:54] that was 2284.

[56:56] Um, we have zoning inspections, which I

[56:58] will go over in just a second. And then

[57:00] miles driven is 10,837.

[57:04] And then below that, we do last month um

[57:08] total fees. Last month total number of

[57:10] permits and last month same or excuse

[57:12] me, same month last year total uh fees

[57:15] and same month last year total permits.

[57:17] And that's really just to give you an

[57:18] idea of kind of how things are are

[57:21] moving and flowing.

[57:25] Does anybody have any questions on that

[57:27] report?

[57:30] » How was how are the building permit fees

[57:33] for like things like swimming pools or

[57:34] things that aren't under roof? How are

[57:36] they calcul?

[57:36] >> So, they're based on valuation. They

[57:38] would bring us a copy of their contract

[57:40] um that whatever they're building,

[57:42] whether it's a remodel or the remodels

[57:44] are done by um cost of the contracts.

[57:47] Women pulls are cost of the contract.

[57:49] Additions are done based on square

[57:51] footage because it's new single family.

[57:53] It's new square footage. Um,

[57:57] and I'm glad I would be happy to break

[57:59] all this down for you. I mean, if if

[58:00] there you're curious about any of this

[58:03] stuff and want it explained further,

[58:04] please feel free to drop by my office

[58:06] anytime. Happy to run it all explain it

[58:09] all.

[58:10] >> M. Watts.

[58:11] >> And so this is just in the

[58:13] unincorporated areas of the county. It

[58:15] is

[58:15] >> because the city has their own permit.

[58:17] >> Correct. Okay.

[58:18] >> So the building permits are strictly

[58:20] unincorporated Rutherford County. The

[58:21] school facilities tax that we're going

[58:22] to get into in just a second is

[58:24] countywide. That is all four

[58:26] jurisdictions and unincorporated

[58:28] Rutherford County.

[58:29] >> Thank you.

[58:31] >> All right. So,

[58:32] >> Mr. P, one thing I might mention is her

[58:37] department, same thing with uh planning

[58:40] engineering.

[58:42] when they have fees, we look at those

[58:45] and what we're trying to do is make

[58:48] these offices uh self-sufficient, I

[58:52] guess, is the word. You know, the the

[58:54] money that they take in goes into the

[58:56] general fund, but it reflects on their

[58:58] budget, too. Some offices generate a lot

[59:02] of revenue, you know, some don't, but we

[59:05] upgrade. you were asking specifically

[59:07] about what why this cost whatever but

[59:12] occasionally we will update that. Uh we

[59:14] look at other counties, other

[59:17] municipalities, places, see what the

[59:19] fees are. Sometimes we get u unfunded

[59:23] mandates handed down to the state from

[59:26] the state to us. And uh what we try to

[59:29] do is for instance we had to start

[59:32] putting up silt fences here about 15

[59:34] years ago or maybe but we had to have

[59:36] people go out and inspect it and to pay

[59:39] for that we actually raise the price on

[59:43] getting that permit to help us pay for

[59:45] that.

[59:46] >> Right.

[59:47] >> So that's that's basically you know

[59:49] where these fees how they're generated

[59:52] and sometimes how they're updated.

[59:54] >> Right. So, I can only speak for building

[59:56] codes. In building codes, it's industry

[59:58] standard that the departments typically

[1:00:01] only charge fees enough so that their

[1:00:04] revenue doesn't ex excuse me, their

[1:00:06] budget doesn't exceed their revenue. It

[1:00:08] that's how it's that's how we um

[1:00:11] determine what our fees and stuff are.

[1:00:13] Um this last fee increase, we were able

[1:00:15] to leave all of the additions and um

[1:00:18] swimming pools and all that good stuff.

[1:00:20] We we did not increase those. We just

[1:00:22] increased um building permits and new

[1:00:26] addition commercial additions.

[1:00:30] Um but the commission wanted to leave

[1:00:32] anything that the homeowner cost the

[1:00:34] homeowner any money, they wanted to

[1:00:35] leave it alone. So if the homeowner was

[1:00:37] doing a remodel or a swimming pool or a

[1:00:39] storage building or something, those

[1:00:41] were left alone. We just increase the

[1:00:43] new construction permits.

[1:00:48] So we will move on to

[1:00:51] the school facilities tax report is uh

[1:00:54] done on a fiscal year. It's done from

[1:00:56] July 1 through June 30th um of every

[1:00:59] year. And like I said, we collect school

[1:01:01] facilities tax on the back end of the

[1:01:04] project. So the school facilities tax

[1:01:06] becomes due when the project is

[1:01:10] substantially complete but before the

[1:01:12] certificate of occupancy is issued. So,

[1:01:14] typically we encourage them to come in a

[1:01:16] couple of weeks before they're looking

[1:01:17] for a final CO so that they're not stuck

[1:01:20] at the very end trying to um they don't

[1:01:23] get held up at the end trying to pay

[1:01:25] their school facilities tax because um

[1:01:28] this is in the cities of Smyrna,

[1:01:30] Murphy'sboro, Leverne, and Eagleville

[1:01:33] too. So, um we have we work really well

[1:01:37] with um we haven't had any problems with

[1:01:39] inside the jurisdictions. We work really

[1:01:41] well with the cities of Murphy'sboro,

[1:01:42] Smyrna, and Leverne. Um they send us

[1:01:45] reports on a monthly basis of all the

[1:01:46] cos that they've issued. We cross

[1:01:48] reference them with all of our um SFTs

[1:01:51] to make sure that everything's been

[1:01:52] paid. And um

[1:01:56] that's it. So for the month of

[1:01:58] September, we collected uh 1,119,884

[1:02:04] in school facilities tax.

[1:02:08] Um, the row below that is development

[1:02:11] tax. As Doug mentioned in his report, we

[1:02:13] do have still have some random

[1:02:15] development tax lots that are floating

[1:02:17] out there that have never been built on

[1:02:20] because they were established under the

[1:02:21] development tax law. They are um we we

[1:02:26] just collect the other 750 when they

[1:02:28] come in to get their building permit.

[1:02:29] The school facilities tax does not apply

[1:02:31] to them because we don't double tax

[1:02:32] them. So you'll every now and again

[1:02:35] you'll see the odd development tax law

[1:02:37] be developed, but they're few and far

[1:02:39] between. They're floating around there,

[1:02:40] but yes.

[1:02:43] >> So quick question. We saw before that

[1:02:46] permits and everything is is is down

[1:02:48] compared to last year, but yet the

[1:02:50] school facility tax is so far the

[1:02:52] highest during the year. So do we have

[1:02:55] roughly what what's the lag from the

[1:02:57] time maybe a permit's issued to the time

[1:02:58] we collect the tax? like when are we

[1:03:00] going to see the boomerang offset of

[1:03:02] lower school facilities?

[1:03:04] >> That's a really good question. So, um I

[1:03:07] the average single family dwelling

[1:03:09] depending on the size takes about a

[1:03:11] builder about 6 to 8 months to build.

[1:03:14] Bigger ones obviously and if the

[1:03:16] homeowners building their own house it

[1:03:18] may take longer. Commercial projects are

[1:03:20] also included in this number and they

[1:03:22] take longer. So they take sometimes a

[1:03:24] couple years to build. Um so

[1:03:28] it probably six eight months we did see

[1:03:31] when we had the school facilities tax

[1:03:32] from 21 to 23 we were collecting it half

[1:03:35] of it up front and half of it on the

[1:03:36] back end. However, all of the builders

[1:03:39] chose to pay for it up front just to get

[1:03:40] it out of the way. So when the state

[1:03:43] legislature rewrote that law and decided

[1:03:45] that we couldn't collect it until the

[1:03:47] back end, we did see a lag. You'll be

[1:03:49] able to see in

[1:03:53] uh 24 2425

[1:03:56] if you'll look along the school

[1:03:59] facilities tax you'll see those numbers

[1:04:01] were really low and that's that was that

[1:04:03] period of time where we couldn't collect

[1:04:06] until the end. We'd already collected

[1:04:08] the ones that we'd issued on the front

[1:04:10] end and then the new ones that we issued

[1:04:11] we couldn't collect till the end. So

[1:04:12] there was a six eightmonth period where

[1:04:15] it was low.

[1:04:21] » All right. And if nobody has any more

[1:04:23] questions on on that.

[1:04:25] >> Yes.

[1:04:27] >> We don't do a lot of commercial work in

[1:04:29] the county, but when we do

[1:04:32] their numbers are just lumped in with

[1:04:34] this. They're all lumped in together.

[1:04:35] Right. Okay. And I am happy to and

[1:04:37] that's one of the things I'm happy to

[1:04:40] break this down if you would prefer to

[1:04:42] see this Murphy'sboro

[1:04:44] and broken down every month. I'm happy

[1:04:45] to do that. Um this is lumped together,

[1:04:50] but our system does have it broken down

[1:04:52] so we I can populate a report.

[1:04:56] I just don't want to get into too many

[1:04:58] numbers and too hard to follow, but I'm

[1:05:01] happy to do whatever you want. So just

[1:05:03] let me know. And then uh the zoning

[1:05:06] report, this is the uh zoning

[1:05:09] enforcement. This is zon zoning

[1:05:11] enforcement, code enforcement, property

[1:05:13] maintenance. Um this is and I we've

[1:05:16] tried to break it down to the different

[1:05:17] types of violations that we see. The

[1:05:20] toll weeds and grass, open storage,

[1:05:23] property maintenance, junkyard,

[1:05:24] substandard, noise, vacant and

[1:05:26] dilapidated structures, occupied RVs,

[1:05:29] unapproved businesses, BZA violations,

[1:05:32] illegal burning and dumping. Although

[1:05:34] the fire department pretty much takes

[1:05:36] care of those. We really need to remove

[1:05:37] that one. But um and then reinspe

[1:05:39] reinsspections citations that we've

[1:05:41] issued and some when they end up in

[1:05:43] court.

[1:05:49] So the very first one along the top is

[1:05:52] the initial investigation of that seven

[1:05:54] the 70 new cases that we um established

[1:05:56] in the month of September. The rest of

[1:05:58] them would all be uh inspections and

[1:06:01] reinspections of some sort.

[1:06:10] And if you don't have any questions,

[1:06:12] that concludes my report.

[1:06:14] >> Mr. Chair,

[1:06:15] >> I'd like to go back, please, uh, to your

[1:06:17] you made a statement. We do not want um,

[1:06:20] we don't want our budget to exceed our

[1:06:23] revenues.

[1:06:25] >> So, does that budget include the

[1:06:27] salaries of the people who work in your

[1:06:29] office?

[1:06:29] >> Yes, it does. Yes. So it so fees are

[1:06:33] structured in order to cover the costs

[1:06:37] of operating as well as the salaries and

[1:06:40] benefits of the people who work in your

[1:06:42] office.

[1:06:42] >> Historically industrywide, that's kind

[1:06:45] of how we um

[1:06:49] determine whether it's time to increase

[1:06:51] fees. If that number is too close or

[1:06:53] falling behind, then we then it's time

[1:06:56] to review fees.

[1:06:57] >> Yeah.

[1:06:59] What? Two years ago? Three years ago?

[1:07:00] >> Yes, it was in 23.

[1:07:02] >> Yeah,

[1:07:02] >> we were operating in the red. So that's

[1:07:04] when we

[1:07:05] >> Was it 23 or

[1:07:07] >> fees?

[1:07:08] >> 23 or 24

[1:07:11] for fees when we did fees? 23?

[1:07:16] » 23.

[1:07:18] So that affects the capacity of of um

[1:07:23] that that affects the county's ability

[1:07:25] to give salary raises to employees

[1:07:29] because it's linked to the fees that are

[1:07:33] generated by the work of the county.

[1:07:35] >> Again, that that's not my that's HR.

[1:07:38] That's kind of

[1:07:39] >> just thinking out. Yeah,

[1:07:40] >> just thinking

[1:07:42] >> I I work on my budget. I am given a

[1:07:46] salary. um insuranceances and stuff from

[1:07:48] the finance department

[1:07:50] >> and I

[1:07:51] >> um plug those into my budget along with

[1:07:54] the other needs that I have and that's

[1:07:56] how I get my total budget.

[1:07:58] >> I don't I don't

[1:08:00] >> assign my salary.

[1:08:01] >> That's a good that's a good Sonia

[1:08:02] question, but I don't I don't think I

[1:08:05] could be way wrong. I don't think 100%

[1:08:08] of her salaries are tied to the fees. I

[1:08:13] don't I don't think that

[1:08:14] >> 100% of my salaries are in my budget

[1:08:18] >> or in your budget, right? But I don't Is

[1:08:20] it true that a 100% of your budget is

[1:08:23] tied to the fees, though?

[1:08:26] >> I I'm not I'm not sure if the

[1:08:28] >> So, historic I'm just saying

[1:08:30] industrywide, I mean, the finance

[1:08:32] director and the HR director and

[1:08:33] probably the mayor's office would

[1:08:34] probably be better people to answer this

[1:08:36] for you. Industrywide, it is u the

[1:08:39] building codes department is typically

[1:08:42] do not

[1:08:43] they they're self-sustained. Their fees

[1:08:45] cover their bid their budget. Yes. Their

[1:08:47] revenue covers their budget.

[1:08:49] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:08:50] >> And so when when they get too close or

[1:08:52] when they get unbalanced, then we know

[1:08:54] it's time to review fees.

[1:08:56] >> And I think fees are reviewed about

[1:08:58] every six or seven years. It's not

[1:09:01] something we do every year.

[1:09:03] >> Do we have any more questions on Miss

[1:09:06] Bill's report as she has given it? If

[1:09:09] not, we will need a motion. Motion to

[1:09:11] approve the report. Mr. Chairman,

[1:09:14] >> we have a motion and a second. Everybody

[1:09:16] in favor say I.

[1:09:18] >> I.

[1:09:19] >> Nays. Motion pass. Thank you, Miss Bell.

[1:09:22] >> Thank you.

[1:09:25] » Next on our agenda will be solid waste

[1:09:29] and convenience center director Matt

[1:09:32] Davis. Welcome, Matt.

[1:09:34] >> Thank you.

[1:09:39] I'll say yes. My name is Matt Davis. Uh

[1:09:41] I've been with the county solid waste

[1:09:43] department for seven years this month.

[1:09:46] Uh I started as a rolloff driver and um

[1:09:49] now I'm solid waste director. Uh it's an

[1:09:52] honor to serve and our department is u a

[1:09:56] lot of great people.

[1:09:58] We're responsible for operating the 14

[1:10:00] convenience centers where residents

[1:10:02] outside the city of Merbsboro but inside

[1:10:04] the county bring their waste. Uh we

[1:10:07] inside that operate recycling programs

[1:10:10] and try to divert material away from the

[1:10:12] landfill where we can. Um we run a fleet

[1:10:15] of about 15 drivers more days than not

[1:10:20] to uh service all of the convenience

[1:10:22] centers and schools in the county.

[1:10:27] We're also responsible for operating the

[1:10:29] transfer station that opened last year.

[1:10:31] Uh we operate the scale house and um

[1:10:36] oversee you everything on site for

[1:10:39] safety and loading um operating the the

[1:10:42] transfer station. Uh we also um are

[1:10:46] responsible for maintaining and uh

[1:10:48] keeping up the two landfills on county

[1:10:51] property that are not used anymore.

[1:10:54] And um

[1:10:56] that's pretty much the the different

[1:10:58] areas that our department covers.

[1:11:01] Um,

[1:11:03] so with that, I I'll go into my report

[1:11:05] if that's okay.

[1:11:07] And I want to start tonight a little

[1:11:08] different. I usually try to mention

[1:11:10] somebody that's uh done something in our

[1:11:12] department. And I'm sad tonight

[1:11:16] um to make you aware that um our

[1:11:19] attendant, Donna Neely, passed away

[1:11:21] September 23rd after a a health battle

[1:11:24] over the summer. She had been with us

[1:11:26] almost seven years. Um, I'll quote her

[1:11:29] obituary when I say that she was known

[1:11:31] for her stubborn spirit, her generous

[1:11:33] heart, her hard work in nature. She

[1:11:35] loved her garden and fishing, watching

[1:11:38] hummingbirds, and raising her bassad

[1:11:39] hounds.

[1:11:41] My heart and mind, the hearts and minds

[1:11:43] of our whole department are with Donna's

[1:11:46] husband, Wendell, and their entire

[1:11:48] family.

[1:11:50] We miss her and we grieve with all of

[1:11:51] them.

[1:11:58] » [snorts]

[1:12:00] » Okay. Um,

[1:12:05] so I like to use my PowerPoint through

[1:12:06] the report. Um, basically this first

[1:12:09] part is what we collect at the old

[1:12:11] county landfill. Um, residents and

[1:12:14] businesses can bring us brush uh for

[1:12:16] which we charge $30 a ton and then we

[1:12:19] manage that after they dump it. Um, in

[1:12:22] August was 115.28 28 tons of brush for

[1:12:25] 3,476

[1:12:27] of revenue. September was 211.9 tons of

[1:12:31] brush for $7,268.

[1:12:36] On the same property, we managed tires

[1:12:38] that are turned in for recycling. In

[1:12:40] August was 1,290 tires, a revenue of

[1:12:44] $2,167.

[1:12:46] September was 1498 tires for a revenue

[1:12:50] of $3,519.

[1:12:55] on our collections. Uh we picked up

[1:12:58] 2379.75

[1:13:00] tons of waste from convenience centers

[1:13:02] in August. September was 2,279.59

[1:13:06] tons.

[1:13:08] At the schools in August, we got 456.24

[1:13:11] tons. September was 528.23

[1:13:14] tons.

[1:13:17] Recycling collected across the county in

[1:13:20] August was 440.16 tons gave us a

[1:13:24] recycling rate of 13.44%.

[1:13:28] September we collected 411.18 tons gave

[1:13:31] us a recycling rate of 12.77%.

[1:13:36] The total that we managed in August was

[1:13:38] 3,276.15

[1:13:40] tons and in September was 3,219 tons.

[1:13:48] In the transfer station, we track our

[1:13:51] customers who pay cash every visit or

[1:13:55] credit or check. And we also track our

[1:13:57] account customers. Uh and then we pull

[1:14:00] out WM's our biggest customer. We track

[1:14:03] how much tonnage that they're bringing.

[1:14:05] Uh in August, you can see that total was

[1:14:07] 9,519.4

[1:14:09] tons. September was 9,91.22

[1:14:13] tons.

[1:14:16] Last month ended the quarter also and so

[1:14:19] we report the origin of waste processed

[1:14:21] through the transfer station. Uh for the

[1:14:23] full quarter, Rutherford County brought

[1:14:25] 87%

[1:14:27] excuse me 87% of that waste came from

[1:14:30] Rutherford County, 12.1% from Wilson

[1:14:33] County, a half a percent from Davidson

[1:14:35] County, and 0.4% from all other counties

[1:14:39] combined.

[1:14:42] Uh we'd like to remind everyone in the

[1:14:44] county that hazardous waste collection

[1:14:46] is this coming Saturday from u 8:00 am

[1:14:49] to noon at the city solid waste facility

[1:14:52] on Florence Road. U there's more

[1:14:55] information on our website at rutherford

[1:14:57] county tnm.gov/solid waste but uh it's

[1:15:01] one of two times per year that you can

[1:15:03] dispose of hazardous waste from your

[1:15:05] home for free.

[1:15:09] Uh couple things that we're following up

[1:15:11] on just from uh previous committee

[1:15:12] meetings. Uh we started our mattress

[1:15:15] recycling August 11th and then um have a

[1:15:18] an update already. I heard today I got a

[1:15:21] final report or a a more current report

[1:15:24] as we're just over,900 mattresses

[1:15:26] collected.

[1:15:28] I'm really proud of the work that we did

[1:15:30] with starting this mattress recycling

[1:15:32] program. uh we took steps before it

[1:15:34] started to train our attendants across

[1:15:37] the department and then to do more

[1:15:39] training with the attendants that are

[1:15:41] actually receiving these on the four

[1:15:42] sites.

[1:15:44] And it's been surprisingly smooth for

[1:15:46] us. Um we haven't had any trouble with

[1:15:50] uh payments or more complaints than

[1:15:52] normal. Um we haven't had any issues at

[1:15:55] all with the trailers and ramps. Our

[1:15:57] vendor has done a great job of um

[1:16:00] monitoring inventory and swapping the

[1:16:01] trailers when we need to. And so I'm I'm

[1:16:04] really proud our department has done a

[1:16:05] good job of starting this mattress

[1:16:07] recycling program is it will save

[1:16:10] 700,000 cubic feet per year of a

[1:16:13] landfill space that is very scarce in

[1:16:15] Tennessee.

[1:16:16] Um, the other thing is something this

[1:16:19] committee has um talked about from time

[1:16:22] to time is security cameras in the uh

[1:16:26] all of our properties, especially the

[1:16:27] convenience centers. And I just want to

[1:16:29] update that we've been working hard with

[1:16:31] OIT to develop a plan.

[1:16:34] Of course, the plans are different for

[1:16:35] every convenience center. Those

[1:16:37] properties are all very different. Uh we

[1:16:40] have a potential vendor that we're

[1:16:42] working with and um we've met with them

[1:16:45] in person. We've gone out to most of the

[1:16:47] convenience centers with them, you know,

[1:16:49] discussing everything from the placement

[1:16:51] to the infrastructure that's available

[1:16:53] there to support the data connection.

[1:16:56] Uh, but I I want to um thank this

[1:16:58] committee for bringing this forward,

[1:17:01] especially Commissioner P. You brought

[1:17:03] it up a few times.

[1:17:05] this really will be an investment that

[1:17:07] makes our community center safer and um

[1:17:11] you know we we need that record of

[1:17:13] what's going on when something does

[1:17:14] happen in the center and so I I

[1:17:16] appreciate that. I expect next month I

[1:17:18] should have a full proposal with pricing

[1:17:20] and u a schedule for deployment of

[1:17:23] those.

[1:17:24] Um

[1:17:27] I have a couple more things for you but

[1:17:29] that concludes my normal monthly report.

[1:17:32] Are there any questions for his normal

[1:17:34] report?

[1:17:36] >> Mr. McGallen,

[1:17:38] >> commissioner uh director. So for

[1:17:41] recycling, when you put the recycling

[1:17:44] numbers up there, that is the recycling

[1:17:46] that runs through the convenience

[1:17:48] centers or is that the total recycling

[1:17:51] throughout the county?

[1:17:52] >> That's the total for the whole county

[1:17:54] for everything we pick up. It would

[1:17:56] include the schools and county offices

[1:17:58] with the convenience centers. But if

[1:18:00] some is there a way within the county if

[1:18:03] someone has a third party especially in

[1:18:06] the cities that pick up their recycling

[1:18:08] because you know I know that the m

[1:18:11] municipal solid waste is tracked by

[1:18:13] origin and destination by Tekk. Is there

[1:18:16] anything similar for recycling?

[1:18:18] >> I know the city of Mersboro tracks

[1:18:20] theirs. Uh we we report it to TK

[1:18:23] annually and we I received that

[1:18:24] information from them

[1:18:26] >> for their one convenience center.

[1:18:28] >> Yep.

[1:18:28] >> Okay. I just know like in my

[1:18:30] neighborhood some people pay to have a

[1:18:33] private third party come in and pick up

[1:18:34] their recycling and and I know we're

[1:18:37] supposed to hit a 25% diversion rate but

[1:18:40] that's really based on the entire

[1:18:42] county's MSW of roughly you know 420,000

[1:18:46] tons a year or so.

[1:18:47] >> Couple things there. Those companies

[1:18:49] should be reported to TAC but I don't

[1:18:51] have hands on that. Um

[1:18:56] and so we you know it should get to TAC

[1:18:59] that way and get into the annual

[1:19:00] progress report there. The other thing

[1:19:02] is that um of course we count our

[1:19:05] recycling rate. It is very important. We

[1:19:08] want it to be higher. Uh but that 25%

[1:19:12] rate from the state would include

[1:19:14] business and industrial also. That's

[1:19:16] what pulls us up above it every year.

[1:19:18] >> Okay. And then with also back to

[1:19:21] recycling, at the end of the school year, we had the

[1:19:26] young gentleman talk about how they're

[1:19:28] doing it. He his project was to have

[1:19:30] recycling at Central

[1:19:32] Magnet has and it was supposed to

[1:19:34] continue there and looking at rolling it

[1:19:35] out at other high schools. Has that

[1:19:38] happened that we know of?

[1:19:40] >> I want to touch on that in a moment. Um,

[1:19:43] we got a grant from Tekk last year that

[1:19:46] we're going to ask the for a budget

[1:19:48] amendment to restore that money. We can

[1:19:51] do that. This will roll out a much more

[1:19:54] robust recycling program to I believe

[1:19:58] that says to the middle schools in the

[1:19:59] county first, but it's coming.

[1:20:01] >> I don't want to ruin the surprise. And

[1:20:03] then with that hazardous waste

[1:20:05] collection, is that also available on

[1:20:07] social media for us to

[1:20:08] >> forward? So that's on

[1:20:10] >> um it's been on the county social media

[1:20:12] and the the solid waste social media for

[1:20:14] a while.

[1:20:15] >> Um and that that of course is sharable

[1:20:17] with anybody.

[1:20:18] >> Okay. Thank you,

[1:20:20] >> Mr. Chair.

[1:20:21] >> Mr. Clara,

[1:20:23] >> um do you promote the hazardous waste

[1:20:27] collection through the MTSU system of

[1:20:30] communication because that that reaches

[1:20:32] another large?

[1:20:33] >> We make sure that they're aware of it

[1:20:35] kind of on an administrative level. Mhm.

[1:20:37] >> Beyond that, I don't know how MTSU

[1:20:40] promotes it.

[1:20:41] >> Um, but they would be welcome.

[1:20:44] >> Individuals connected to MTSU would be

[1:20:46] welcome.

[1:20:48] >> Sure. And um um to the to the

[1:20:52] convenience centers. First, I want to

[1:20:54] say that I've recently

[1:20:57] gone to the Epsom location and the

[1:21:00] Bradyville Pike location and

[1:21:03] I just want to give kudos to the people

[1:21:06] working there. They were under it was

[1:21:09] hot and they were friendly and helpful

[1:21:13] and I told them thank you and I said I'm

[1:21:16] going to tell the solid waste director

[1:21:19] but I just want it to be known in this

[1:21:22] recording that the people in those two

[1:21:25] locations and I'm sure in the others are

[1:21:28] doing really unpleasant work with great

[1:21:31] attitudes and I appreciate that.

[1:21:34] It's been a hot summer and and all of

[1:21:36] our attendants have done a fantastic job

[1:21:38] of of serving the county.

[1:21:40] >> And to clarify, you said earlier that

[1:21:43] this is available for people residents

[1:21:45] of Rutherford County outside of the

[1:21:47] cities. Is that what you said?

[1:21:49] >> Um

[1:21:50] >> because I'd like to know

[1:21:51] >> that's what we collect.

[1:21:52] >> Uhu.

[1:21:53] >> The this household hazardous waste event

[1:21:55] is actually anybody in Tennessee can

[1:21:58] come to it because it's funded by Tekk.

[1:22:00] But for the convenience centers, anyone

[1:22:02] a Rutherford County resident?

[1:22:04] >> Absolutely.

[1:22:05] >> Okay, that's what I wanted to know

[1:22:06] because if so, I I just told you I broke

[1:22:09] the law. [laughter]

[1:22:11] >> No, I just wanted to clarify that it's

[1:22:13] anyone within the county.

[1:22:15] >> So, even if you live in the city of

[1:22:16] Mersboro, you have a bulk item or

[1:22:18] something, you still pay county taxes

[1:22:20] and you're welcome to to use our

[1:22:22] centers.

[1:22:23] >> Okay. All right. Thank you.

[1:22:25] >> You're not a scoff law yet,

[1:22:27] >> Miss Watts.

[1:22:28] >> Thank you. Um, Matt got a couple of

[1:22:30] questions about convenience centers.

[1:22:32] Will Haley Road ever reopen?

[1:22:37] » I would definitely have to follow up

[1:22:38] with you on that. Um,

[1:22:41] the the short answer may say the best

[1:22:44] answer is there's a conversation

[1:22:46] happening with us and the city of

[1:22:48] Mersboro right now

[1:22:50] that could replace Haley Road. and um

[1:22:54] >> because that was one of the places you

[1:22:55] could take electronics and now they're a

[1:22:58] lot further out.

[1:22:59] >> I think we're going to have something to

[1:23:01] present on that next month.

[1:23:02] >> Okay.

[1:23:03] >> And um

[1:23:04] >> do you have an update on the Leverne

[1:23:05] Convenience Center? What's going on with

[1:23:07] that?

[1:23:08] >> I'm aware that a couple of properties

[1:23:10] have been looked at, but uh there's no

[1:23:14] movement on those unless the mayor has

[1:23:17] anything.

[1:23:17] >> Okay.

[1:23:19] >> Thank you,

[1:23:22] >> Mr. P.

[1:23:24] >> Well, I want to back up to the transfer

[1:23:27] stations you had on your chart up there

[1:23:30] uh that we have cash uh people that pay

[1:23:34] cash

[1:23:36] >> and what what are the different payment

[1:23:38] methods that we have and then I want to

[1:23:41] know if any of them are in a rears.

[1:23:44] Um, first question first. Uh, cash cards

[1:23:49] or checks. People that don't have

[1:23:51] accounts that just pay for each load as

[1:23:52] they come and go. Um, honestly, very

[1:23:56] little of its cash. You know, I think we

[1:23:58] get a couple hundred dollars a day in

[1:24:00] cash. The rest is all electronic and a a

[1:24:03] rare check we get. on the accounts.

[1:24:08] I'm aware of one that's in a rears to a

[1:24:11] point where they can't uh use their

[1:24:15] account right now and um

[1:24:20] that normally gets resolved very quickly

[1:24:22] and so I don't know, you know, it's it's

[1:24:24] been a matter of days since that notice

[1:24:26] went out to them. So I would be very

[1:24:28] surprised if it's not cleared up very

[1:24:30] quickly. But um

[1:24:39] » Mr. Dabby, did you say the hazardous

[1:24:41] waste collection was monthly or

[1:24:43] >> No, that we do that twice a year through

[1:24:45] Tekk. Uh there's a date in April and

[1:24:47] then this coming Saturday is the other

[1:24:49] one this year.

[1:24:50] >> Is it like super busy like line

[1:24:52] it?

[1:24:53] >> Um it is busy but you get through it. Um

[1:24:56] they're very good at being efficient

[1:24:58] with the cars.

[1:24:59] >> U we just ask people when they come

[1:25:01] through what county they're coming from

[1:25:03] and how many households of items they're

[1:25:05] bringing from, they pull around to the

[1:25:08] other side of the lot and they're helped

[1:25:09] with their material and and

[1:25:11] I would say it's rare for anybody to

[1:25:13] have to be there more than 5 to 10

[1:25:15] minutes.

[1:25:15] >> Okay. Um, and would you say that the

[1:25:18] recycling rates are increasing,

[1:25:21] decreasing, or kind of constant?

[1:25:24] >> I think they're very slowly increasing.

[1:25:26] It's I'd like [clears throat] to see

[1:25:28] them increase faster. Okay, Matt, will

[1:25:31] the hazardous material be gathered at

[1:25:34] all convenience centers or just a

[1:25:36] particular one?

[1:25:38] >> So, this uh hazardous waste event

[1:25:40] Saturday is only at the Florence Road

[1:25:42] facility.

[1:25:44] >> Okay. That hadn't been mentioned.

[1:25:46] >> Um I know that address is on here. Yeah.

[1:25:49] 4765 Florence Road from 8 o'clock to

[1:25:52] noon Saturday. And um you know, we'll be

[1:25:56] there.

[1:25:57] >> Thank you.

[1:26:01] Um, also is there are there plans to

[1:26:04] expand um the current convenience

[1:26:07] centers to hold um like the ones that

[1:26:10] don't um offer um you to drop off your

[1:26:13] glass and electronics.

[1:26:17] We're always looking at services we can

[1:26:20] add at the different sites that you know

[1:26:23] will serve the residents and also be

[1:26:24] something that um we can manage well. Um

[1:26:30] I'm looking at adding another site for

[1:26:32] electronics right now. And it is

[1:26:34] something we're finding out that when we

[1:26:37] have a commodity

[1:26:39] if we only collect it at a couple of

[1:26:41] centers a lot of people in the county

[1:26:43] are not going to come out of their way

[1:26:44] to to bring it to us.

[1:26:46] And so that's something that we're

[1:26:48] working through now is how do we really

[1:26:49] expand our service on each site and

[1:26:53] we're going to find out that

[1:26:55] we can do more but there are some sites

[1:26:58] that are it's just not going to work the

[1:27:00] same on

[1:27:01] >> I was just wondering um because I know a

[1:27:05] lot of people they might you know go to one site like I went I went to

[1:27:09] drop off my plastic and my cardboard and

[1:27:11] paper and things and then um I had this

[1:27:13] big TV that stopped working and so um

[1:27:15] they're like, "Oh, we don't take

[1:27:16] electronics." So then I had to drive,

[1:27:18] you know, 25 minutes across town, but

[1:27:20] not everyone would do that. So I was

[1:27:22] just wondering because we were talking

[1:27:23] about wanting to increase recycling. Um

[1:27:27] and so I was just wondering that. Um and

[1:27:29] how how many of these um facilities have

[1:27:33] multiple like takes all of the all of

[1:27:37] the

[1:27:38] >> So the

[1:27:40] kind of our super sites I might call

[1:27:42] them is uh the convenience centers at

[1:27:44] Rock Bell and Lyanna and Smyrna. They

[1:27:47] were the ones that were most recently

[1:27:48] renovated and they just have space to do

[1:27:51] more. Um all three of those except

[1:27:54] mattresses for recycling u bulk metal

[1:27:57] and glass. They accept the bulk uh waste

[1:28:00] and um

[1:28:02] electronics.

[1:28:04] And that's something that um

[1:28:06] [clears throat]

[1:28:07] we're leaning a lot on those sites for

[1:28:09] because they have the space to do it

[1:28:11] that some of our other sites just don't.

[1:28:14] >> And the the mattress recycling that

[1:28:17] doesn't give us any revenue, right? No,

[1:28:20] it uh it doesn't cost us anything, but

[1:28:21] it does not bring in any money.

[1:28:23] >> It doesn't cost us anything. So,

[1:28:24] >> well, thank you,

[1:28:28] » Mr. McGallen.

[1:28:30] >> Make a motion to approve.

[1:28:33] >> All in favor say I. Motion pass. Matt,

[1:28:38] what else do you have? uh you'll find in

[1:28:40] your SharePoint uh budget amendment that

[1:28:42] we're asking for where we were awarded a

[1:28:44] TKC recycling grant for the school

[1:28:47] recycling education program last year

[1:28:50] and it just didn't get carried over into

[1:28:52] the new budget. U Michael said we didn't

[1:28:54] know exactly what would carry over so it

[1:28:57] would require this budget amendment to

[1:28:58] put it back in there. Um

[1:29:02] the county part of this is $90,427

[1:29:05] and the state matches that. So, it'll be

[1:29:08] a total fund for this project of

[1:29:10] $180,854.

[1:29:15] » Move to approve.

[1:29:19] » We have a motion in a second.

[1:29:21] >> So, Matt, is this the one call?

[1:29:24] >> No, wait a minute. Go ahead. Discussion.

[1:29:26] >> Is this the one you alluded to that has

[1:29:27] to do with schools?

[1:29:28] >> Yes.

[1:29:29] >> Okay.

[1:29:30] >> So, Matt, I mean, what would the funds

[1:29:32] be used for? So, the bulk of it is going

[1:29:34] to be for containers for the schools,

[1:29:36] whether it's smaller bins in the

[1:29:38] classrooms, the larger bins to collect

[1:29:40] them in, um, and then also signage to go

[1:29:44] with that to explain, you know,

[1:29:46] everything that goes in our recycling.

[1:29:48] >> So, one thing, if I recall, when we

[1:29:49] signed the contract a couple years ago

[1:29:51] with Waste Management,

[1:29:52] >> they had offered up free bins for

[1:29:55] curbside.

[1:29:57] So, I don't know if we want to see if

[1:30:00] the offer still stands, but I don't know

[1:30:01] what size those bins would be and if

[1:30:03] they would.

[1:30:03] >> They have helped us out a little bit on

[1:30:05] some of those. I'll definitely uh

[1:30:06] approach them first before I start

[1:30:08] placing orders.

[1:30:09] >> It was at least the offer a couple years

[1:30:11] ago, but hopefully it still stands. So,

[1:30:16] » Rachel Karo,

[1:30:22] » Commissioner Clark,

[1:30:24] >> yes.

[1:30:24] >> Mr. Doty,

[1:30:26] >> yes. Commissioner Kush,

[1:30:28] >> yes.

[1:30:28] >> Commissioner McGowan,

[1:30:29] >> yes.

[1:30:30] >> Commissioner P,

[1:30:32] >> yes.

[1:30:32] >> Commissioner Watts,

[1:30:33] >> yes.

[1:30:34] >> Chairman Piery,

[1:30:35] >> yes.

[1:30:36] >> Motion passes.

[1:30:38] >> Go ahead, Matt.

[1:30:39] >> All right. My last item tonight is I'm

[1:30:41] asking uh this is also in your

[1:30:43] SharePoint for your authorization to

[1:30:46] apply for a grant from Tde. Uh it is a

[1:30:49] 50/50 match and the minimum is $27,4122.

[1:30:55] The maximum grant award will be 49,999

[1:30:58] and80 cents. Uh it is a 50-50 match with

[1:31:01] the county and um we want to use these

[1:31:05] funds to start a foam recycling program

[1:31:08] where we would collect it in all of our

[1:31:09] centers and this would finance the

[1:31:13] purchase of a foam densifier where we

[1:31:16] would process that foam.

[1:31:19] One of the things that I like about this

[1:31:21] program and we've seen it work in

[1:31:23] another county is that this product that

[1:31:25] comes out of that foam densifier has a

[1:31:27] market. Uh there's a buyer in Lever for

[1:31:30] it and there's other buyers across the

[1:31:32] country where it's a little bit unusual

[1:31:35] when we're approached with some new

[1:31:37] recycling thing that it closes the loop

[1:31:39] and there's actually something to do

[1:31:41] with the product. And so um we want to

[1:31:44] collect it all. We're going to bring it

[1:31:45] to Lyanna and process it there and to

[1:31:48] they call it ingots of this material and

[1:31:51] as we collect enough we'll sell it to

[1:31:53] the supplier that'll pay us the best.

[1:31:57] >> Mr. Data,

[1:31:58] >> is this uh grant application request

[1:32:00] supposed to be blank on here?

[1:32:02] >> Yeah, ours is blank.

[1:32:03] >> Oh, no.

[1:32:05] >> Um, no, it's not.

[1:32:08] >> Can I just do you have a topic I can

[1:32:10] just see really quick? Thank you so

[1:32:11] much. So, so

[1:32:14] go through that one more time. It's

[1:32:16] foam. F O A N.

[1:32:18] >> And is it like like it's not styrofoam?

[1:32:21] >> It is. Styrofoam is a trade name.

[1:32:24] >> It's what you think of as styrofoam.

[1:32:26] >> Okay.

[1:32:26] >> When you get a new TV and it's got foam

[1:32:28] on the corners, it's that stuff.

[1:32:30] >> It can be um

[1:32:32] >> foam

[1:32:33] >> uh like clamshells you get your food in.

[1:32:35] >> Yes.

[1:32:36] >> Those have to be rinsed, but they're

[1:32:38] they can go through this process. But

[1:32:39] it's not foam like you would see in a

[1:32:42] mattress pad or

[1:32:43] >> correct. But we do accept that foam

[1:32:45] already.

[1:32:46] >> Right.

[1:32:47] >> This is this is like the white styrofo

[1:32:49] kind of foam.

[1:32:50] >> When you bend it, it should break. Yes.

[1:32:52] And that's what'll go through this

[1:32:53] process.

[1:32:54] >> Got it. Okay. And you are trying to

[1:32:56] collect that,

[1:32:58] >> right? So people would bring that to a

[1:33:00] convenience center, you collect it, you

[1:33:03] take it to somebody in Lever and they

[1:33:06] process it and sell it. We'll do the

[1:33:09] first step of processing ourselves.

[1:33:11] >> Okay.

[1:33:11] >> Uh that's what half of this money would

[1:33:13] cover is the machine that does that.

[1:33:15] >> Okay.

[1:33:16] >> Um and then we would sell that product

[1:33:18] that comes out of that machine to the

[1:33:20] buyer.

[1:33:24] » If no one else uh needs to see this,

[1:33:26] I'll move to approve

[1:33:28] if no one else has questions as well.

[1:33:29] Sorry.

[1:33:30] >> Second.

[1:33:31] >> Matt, I do have a question. What exactly

[1:33:33] does this machine do? Does it?

[1:33:36] >> So, it's a single machine. It probably

[1:33:39] takes up a footprint similar to this

[1:33:41] podium, a little bit bigger. You feed

[1:33:44] the foam in the top and it gets ground.

[1:33:46] And the lower part of the machine, it

[1:33:48] gets heated and compressed. And so, it's

[1:33:51] taken out 95 to 98% of the volume of the

[1:33:54] original styrofoam that you put in. Um

[1:33:58] the vendor that sells the machine has a

[1:34:00] picture where they filled up a 53 ft

[1:34:02] trailer full of styrofoam.

[1:34:05] They run it through their machine and

[1:34:06] it's three pallets.

[1:34:08] >> Like environmental impactor for the

[1:34:10] operator. Do they have to wear a mask?

[1:34:11] Does if it's

[1:34:13] >> so noxious fumes or again if burning in

[1:34:16] there?

[1:34:17] >> I didn't mean to speak over you. The

[1:34:19] vendor tells me that it's it's been

[1:34:21] tested that it's safe. It does have kind

[1:34:23] of a I was call like a hot plastic

[1:34:25] smell.

[1:34:27] U but it's it's not anything that's

[1:34:29] found to be dangerous to health. Um and

[1:34:31] the shed that I'm asking for to put it

[1:34:32] in will also have two garage doors just

[1:34:35] because it's a very hot machine. I

[1:34:37] didn't think it would be that

[1:34:39] ventilation.

[1:34:39] >> And would this require an additional

[1:34:41] employee or would we just use resources

[1:34:43] already there?

[1:34:44] >> We'll use the staff that we have already

[1:34:46] and then the collection containers. We

[1:34:48] used to use them for other things. We're

[1:34:51] going to paint them for this project and

[1:34:52] we our only cost on those will just be

[1:34:54] the paint.

[1:34:57] Mr. Chair,

[1:34:58] >> Miss Clark,

[1:35:00] >> you said you will sell it to the buyer

[1:35:03] and so how uh

[1:35:07] when we sell it,

[1:35:08] >> how much money will we get?

[1:35:10] >> So, the city of Nashville has this set

[1:35:13] up. They started in the spring.

[1:35:16] >> I think it was very late lately. They

[1:35:18] sold their first load and they got $300

[1:35:21] a ton for the material that they turned

[1:35:23] in. And um

[1:35:27] Yeah, I think they got a ton and a half

[1:35:28] of material. So, it's a little more than

[1:35:30] $4,500

[1:35:31] >> over what period of time.

[1:35:33] >> That was what they gathered from April

[1:35:35] until late last month.

[1:35:38] And I think we'll get more. We kind of

[1:35:40] touched on Mr. Dowy said earlier, we

[1:35:42] talked about gathering different things

[1:35:44] and different sites.

[1:35:46] We're going to do this on all 14 sites

[1:35:48] to start out. So I think it's very

[1:35:50] possible we're going to get more than

[1:35:52] Nashville's getting on their one site

[1:35:53] when we start operating.

[1:35:57] >> So the so the money will purchase if you say we're going to do it at more

[1:36:02] than one site initially or eventually

[1:36:05] >> uh initially starting out.

[1:36:06] >> So a machine per convenience center.

[1:36:09] >> We'll have one machine and then we'll

[1:36:11] manage trucking the boxes to that

[1:36:13] machine on one of our sites.

[1:36:15] >> I see. Yeah. Yeah.

[1:36:16] >> And then once the product out of that is

[1:36:18] ready,

[1:36:19] >> I don't know if we'll deliver it. It'll

[1:36:21] be picked up, but it'll be moved from

[1:36:22] there.

[1:36:23] >> Okay.

[1:36:23] >> Will the machine be located at the

[1:36:25] transfer station area?

[1:36:27] >> I want to put it at Lyanna.

[1:36:29] >> Lyanna.

[1:36:32] Big enough to have extra boxes

[1:36:34] dropped and all that.

[1:36:38] >> Miss Watts. Did you have a question?

[1:36:40] >> Well, I think you answered my question.

[1:36:41] So you'd be collecting foam at all of

[1:36:44] the convenience centers and then they

[1:36:45] truck it to Lyanna where they process it

[1:36:47] and then they would sell it to this

[1:36:49] company.

[1:36:50] >> Yes.

[1:36:50] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:36:54] » Are there any more questions about the

[1:36:56] request?

[1:36:59] >> I think we already have a motion and a

[1:37:01] second on the road.

[1:37:05] » Commissioner Watts.

[1:37:06] >> Yes.

[1:37:08] >> Commissioner P.

[1:37:09] Yes.

[1:37:11] >> Commissioner McGawan.

[1:37:12] >> Yes.

[1:37:14] >> Commissioner Kush.

[1:37:15] >> Yes.

[1:37:16] >> Commissioner Dodie.

[1:37:17] >> Yes.

[1:37:18] >> Commissioner Clark.

[1:37:19] >> Yes.

[1:37:20] >> Chairman Piery.

[1:37:21] >> Yes.

[1:37:22] >> Motion passes.

[1:37:24] >> Do you have anything else from Matt?

[1:37:25] >> That's it for me tonight.

[1:37:26] >> I I do just have two quick questions for

[1:37:29] me.

[1:37:29] >> Yeah. Go ahead.

[1:37:30] >> Where where do we stand with the signage

[1:37:32] at the facilities? because the first uh

[1:37:35] constituent complaint I got was from a

[1:37:37] gentleman in my my district who sorted

[1:37:40] his recycling, was very diligent in

[1:37:43] getting everything cleaned out. Then he

[1:37:44] went to a convenience center to realize

[1:37:46] at the very last minute he was in the

[1:37:48] wrong line and just had to throw away

[1:37:50] all of his recycling

[1:37:53] and he was told if signs are the issue,

[1:37:56] talk to your county commissioner.

[1:37:58] >> Wow.

[1:37:58] >> So he he sent me you know that was my

[1:38:00] first call. So, I just didn't know how

[1:38:03] we were. I know that was something from

[1:38:04] last year. So, again, I just didn't know

[1:38:06] where we stand with with all those

[1:38:07] signage.

[1:38:08] >> We're working right now to roll out

[1:38:10] signs center by center. And honestly, to

[1:38:12] minimize cost, we're building them

[1:38:14] ourselves. Um, I think we have the new

[1:38:16] ones at five centers that are signs for

[1:38:19] each commodity we collect on the site.

[1:38:22] Um, last year we used our sign budget to

[1:38:25] put up signs at the gates with our rules

[1:38:28] and hours and speed limits. And this

[1:38:30] year we're doing it this direction. You

[1:38:32] know, we're going to keep pushing on it.

[1:38:34] It'll be probably a few months before we

[1:38:36] get them all to all the centers.

[1:38:37] >> I I do think it would be good

[1:38:40] >> to have signs to know which line you're

[1:38:43] in because especially I like I go to

[1:38:44] Lean Road. I know which one.

[1:38:46] >> Absolutely.

[1:38:47] >> Take the middle one. If you go left,

[1:38:48] it's household garbage. To the right,

[1:38:49] it's recycling.

[1:38:50] >> But if sometimes that's the longest

[1:38:52] line. If somebody doesn't know, they're

[1:38:53] going to say, "Wow, this line's a lot

[1:38:54] shorter." And go and again, they're in the household garbage line. I

[1:38:59] have been asked

[1:39:02] somebody that may make a grant for

[1:39:03] something like that, which of course I

[1:39:05] would bring to this committee that could

[1:39:07] accelerate a timeline and and maybe

[1:39:09] provide more collal signs. Um, but if

[1:39:13] that happens, I'll bring it to you.

[1:39:15] And just a second thing, over the last

[1:39:18] week or so, especially my district, I've

[1:39:21] also gotten complaints about the smell

[1:39:22] from the landfill. Now, the landfill has

[1:39:25] their own reporting portal as does the

[1:39:28] city. Do we get any information from

[1:39:30] Middle Point on, hey, here's how many

[1:39:33] complaints we've had? Do we say, you

[1:39:36] know, what's our communication with

[1:39:38] Middle Point when the smell seems to be

[1:39:40] getting bad over a certain period of

[1:39:42] time?

[1:39:43] >> They don't report their data. I don't

[1:39:45] know if they do at all.

[1:39:47] If they did, it would be to Tde. Um, and

[1:39:51] I would definitely encourage people to

[1:39:53] use those portals, especially the one

[1:39:55] for City of Mersboro.

[1:39:57] I think a lot of people have reported it

[1:40:00] once or twice before and where there's

[1:40:02] less complaints now. People assume that

[1:40:04] it's not a problem and it it's something

[1:40:07] that I would report it every time a

[1:40:10] citizen smells it. I I know there's

[1:40:12] reporting fatigue because Middle Point

[1:40:14] says that they'll get back to you.

[1:40:16] They've never once over four years for

[1:40:18] me of reporting. So, I just I didn't

[1:40:20] know if if they were working with you.

[1:40:22] >> I um I have a contact over there I can

[1:40:24] talk to and see what they'lling to share

[1:40:27] with us. Um I I don't know what they're

[1:40:31] actually required to do.

[1:40:32] >> Thank you.

[1:40:37] » Anything else for Mr. Davis?

[1:40:40] Thank you for your report, Mr. Davis.

[1:40:42] >> Thank you.

[1:40:44] That brings us down to other business.

[1:40:46] Does anyone have any other business? Mr.

[1:40:49] McGawan,

[1:40:50] >> I was just curious. I just I didn't see

[1:40:52] where we approved the minutes.

[1:40:54] >> We didn't have any for this governing

[1:40:57] group.

[1:40:58] >> Okay.

[1:40:59] >> So, we

[1:40:59] >> I didn't know about the August meeting.

[1:41:02] >> I think that's already been covered.

[1:41:04] Maybe.

[1:41:06] >> Anything else?

[1:41:09] Yeah,

[1:41:11] we have an invitation

[1:41:16] Monday, October the 19th at 700 p.m. at

[1:41:20] Heritage Center to join the Recycle

[1:41:24] Rutherford group for their meeting. All

[1:41:28] commissioners on this committee are

[1:41:31] invited and encouraged to attend.

[1:41:35] Mr. Allen, do you have anything you'd

[1:41:37] like to add to this great committee?

[1:41:43] » I have one I have a couple of

[1:41:45] recommendations for the new com for the

[1:41:48] new commissioners that this is your

[1:41:50] first night and most likely you've

[1:41:52] probably already done this.

[1:41:56] We can either get you a copy or you can

[1:42:00] uh call Rachel or maybe Nick and get a

[1:42:04] copy of the Jackson law and become very

[1:42:08] familiar with that law, what it is, what

[1:42:10] it does for us. And I would encourage

[1:42:14] you to get a copy of our host agreement

[1:42:17] with Republic Services

[1:42:20] and read it. Uh won't take you long. You

[1:42:24] might want to learn to read it. read it

[1:42:26] both directions, but uh that would be a

[1:42:28] recommendation for somebody that has sat

[1:42:30] on this committee 12 years. If there's

[1:42:33] nothing else, I'll take a motion to

[1:42:36] adjourn.

[1:42:40] » So maybe thank you very much.

Public Works Committee - October 6, 2026

Transcript