[0:03] >> I'd like to call to order the parks and environmental committee meeting.

[0:07] mr. Wilson, could you please call the roll?

[0:10] >> councilman ford. >> present.

[0:12] >> chair warren. >> present.

[0:14] I think we have two meeting agenda items this morning.

[0:17] the first one is going to be an overview for the council members to, I suppose, watch at their leisure

[0:24] later today about what's going on in overton park and how things are working.

[0:29] matt, I think we probably had you sort of spearheading this.

[0:33] would you come up, grab a seat at the table, and as people come up to do whatever presentations y'all have today,

[0:41] just come on up and sit at the table too.

[0:44] tina, good to see you guys.

[0:45] just name and address and organization for the record.

[0:49] and I guess, mr. Walker, do you have anything you want to say starting off?

[0:54] go right ahead, sir.

[0:55] >> nick walker, parks director, city of memphis, 2599 avery avenue.

[0:59] yeah, no, this was -- first of all I want to thank dr. Warren for asking for this presentation to come forward.

[1:06] as both the chairman of the parks committee and

[1:10] as an advocate for all of our

[1:16] park x and it gives us an opportunity to highlight

[1:19] successes as it

[1:25] relates to manage properties and partnerships and it is a

[1:30] wonderful example and probably one of the more complex examples of this

[1:34] and not just in the region

[1:43] but nationwide examples where you have multiple nonprofit entities

[1:46] and city run facilities inside the property like overton

[1:51] park. Like you, am interested to hear this and because of

[1:56] our relationship it oversees the management agreement or in the

[2:01] case of the metal museum the ground lease for the property

[2:06] and, again, we do still operate the golf course that sits on the

[2:13] property. I to hear a lot of this. I am excited

[2:15] to hear updates from partners. With that I will turn

[2:19] it over to matt thompson.

[2:22] >> I want to thank you for calling everybody

[2:26] and talking to them and thank you for organizing this. But go

[2:30] ahead.

[2:30] >> good morning, everyone.

[2:34] I have a prepared statement that I would

[2:40] like to --I have a prepared statement because

[2:43] I want to encapsulate

[3:04] -- and the golf course. Each of these

[3:25] entities brings a unique experience, opportunities to our residents and

[3:28] visitors creating a cultural recreation hub in our collective efforts

[3:34] have been focused on fostering a spirit of collaboration

[3:37] and unity. We do recognize the strength of this lies in our ability to work

[3:40] together to support one another

[3:45] and create an enriching experience for all who visit. Others

[3:49] will elaborate on our joint successes.

[3:56] but the aim is to make sure that overton park remains a

[4:02] cherished and driving part of memphis and the amenities

[4:05] are more

[4:09] than just attractions but vital to the cultural and economic health of our

[4:11] city and provide education

[4:17] opportunities, promote physical and mental well-being and

[4:19] offer space for community engagement.

[4:20] as we look to the future, we look at enhancing this

[4:23] and continue to

[4:31] evolve the park to meet the needs of our community and

[4:33] I would like to extend my gratitude for all of the entities that make it such

[4:35] a special place and are shared commitment to excellence

[4:40] and passion for serving the community are what drive us

[4:42] forward so it is with pleasure that I introduce tina sullivan the

[4:46] executive director of the conservancy who will

[4:49] share more about our efforts and the exciting

[4:53] future ahead for overton park.

[4:56] >> [ inaudible - low volume ]

[4:58] >> you have

[5:02] to hit that input closer.

[5:08] >> thank you for this opportunity and thank you for the

[5:14] wonderful context. If you are walking across big river crossing

[5:20] and you get to that point where you have 1

[5:22] foot in arkansas and one in tennessee, that is not overton

[5:26] park.

[5:27] you could travel from the zoo to the playground to the shell and not really

[5:29] distinguish between these entities managed by

[5:34] different nonprofit organizations.

[5:35] the partners in overton

[5:39] park lane into that and we operate under a shared

[5:42] programmatic premise that we call the one

[5:45] park vision and we do know that when you move through

[5:50] the park, you're looking for your experience to

[5:53] be seamless. We have been collaborating on ways

[5:56] to make that park visitor experience feel

[5:59] seamless and positive in every direction. Under this one

[6:04] park vision, we have had a strong collaborative

[6:07] approach that takes into account how we operate collaboratively and support

[6:11] each other through operations, efficiency, and

[6:14] security and how we develop and implement joint programming offerings, which

[6:17] you will see as the

[6:23] recent summer camp with the art garden and how

[6:27] we could lift each other up through marketing efforts sharing social media

[6:29] platforms and highlighting and celebrating

[6:34] the respective events and functions, and then also how

[6:38] we might greet you as a governing body together and seek

[6:41] your help in furthering the

[6:46] mission of overton park and her partners within it. What we

[6:50] want to see is a unified vision for all of

[6:53] our partners are enriching the visitor experience for

[6:56] everybody who walks into one of our spaces. So now we

[7:02] will ask some of our partners here to share

[7:05] a little bit of detail and if I might introduce

[7:08] natalie wilson and she manages the shell at overton park

[7:14] and talk about some of the public safety

[7:18] and security.

[7:20] >> let the record

[7:23] show that.

[7:25] >> good morning. >> good morning.

[7:30] natalie wilson, 1928 poplar avenue.

[7:32] am thrilled to be here.

[7:35] just as they spoke about, we are honored to be a part

[7:38] of one

[7:44] park. This is safe and positive, cohesive. It is logistically sound.

[7:50] there are so many pieces to making sure of that. And one

[7:56] of those --key pieces is what we call the park

[8:09] patrol and we came together a year ago this month actually

[8:14] in a mou with the memphis police department on the shelby

[8:20] county's police apartment and the tennessee bureau of investigation

[8:23] and homeland security who came together in support to us to say we

[8:29] believe in the care of overton park and the visitors who

[8:32] come here and we will come together every month

[8:38] to understand --this but they also feel that it

[8:53] is engaging and how the law enforcement agencies are working and

[8:54] learning and meeting the families.

[8:56] it is been incredible.

[9:02] that is one piece to this one park vision and it's working

[9:05] which we see the reducing of experiences in the park that could

[9:07] be negative and we have more proactive safety and strategies in place that we share

[9:10] with our programming. It is wonderful.

[9:12] for me being the overton park shall we bring thousands

[9:17] and for concerts. I can tell you that I see the work that a

[9:24] family saying that I haven't been to a show in a

[9:30] while but I feel more comfortable to come and I park and come in and

[9:33] I see the safety precautions put in place in the appreciate it.

[9:34] >> can you describe a little bit about

[9:36] what protocols you are talking about and what has been done?

[9:39] >> absolutely. Instances such as the perimeter in the park in the streets

[9:42] and neighborhoods and the parking lot. We don't have a parking lot.

[9:45] most of them park street side. We do have

[9:48] patrols on the trails and in the park

[9:52] and making sure the parking lots are safe and

[9:58] walking on patrols, biking patrols and it is incredible.

[10:03] every month, they are -- I can't say enough

[10:07] about what the police are doing and the leadership of

[10:15] colonel jackson. They are taking pride in the experience and it

[10:17] is everybody's park but if we all don't come together and make

[10:19] sure we expect that experience it isn't

[10:25] guaranteed. So, yes, I can't stay enough but the strategies we continue

[10:30] having enough every month.

[10:31] >> that is with every group here

[10:34] met individually? I guess the other question is, whether extra security

[10:39] people hired for events and

[10:46] things like that? If so, how much is that costing?

[10:47] >> that is a good question. I could

[10:50] speak for the shelf and I will let my partners talk about

[10:52] other areas. For us we have a private entity that

[10:55] comes in alongside the park patrol who are on the perimeter and

[11:00] we have ramped up both security entities that are

[11:03] in uniform but also in plain close to make sure

[11:09] there is care around the

[11:13] perimeter of this and inside but also looking at roof lines and

[11:16] making sure all of the concerts from the backstage to front of house and

[11:18] everywhere that people are and children

[11:24] are running that people feel safe and we are proactive

[11:27] but the cost of that for the shell is roughly $5000 a concert

[11:30] for our security.

[11:33] >> interesting. >> what about the zoo and what have they

[11:36] been doing for

[11:37] security?

[11:38] >> we do a lot for security and we do

[11:45] appreciate your asking. If you do remember, unfortunate events with

[11:51] shooting that happened, we heard directly from our

[11:57] members that -- a lot of them live in the

[11:58] suburbs that they didn't want to come back

[12:02] into town. We did see a significant reduction in

[12:05] our attendance. So we have really worked on ramping

[12:09] up security and trying to create a safe space

[12:15] along with our park partners. As you know, parking is

[12:17] limited at the zoo. When the lot is full, they extend

[12:21] into the lot and if they don't feel safe, they won't

[12:24] come. The short answer is two years ago we were spending about

[12:29] $40,000 annually on security. And that is

[12:33] off duty npd officers and

[12:37] then at the close of this fiscal year we have

[12:42] had spent $270,000 on security. I

[12:47] will say, it is a tremendous increase and we hope it doesn't

[12:51] last forever. But we do survey guests weekly and have heard directly

[12:57] from them that they do feel safe at the zoo

[13:00] and at the park and they see the patrols come through which is the

[13:03] city and county as a

[13:09] result of us working with them.

[13:10] anyway, significant resources, but it is

[13:14] working.

[13:15] >> tina then zoe.

[13:21] >> we mainly limit our private security operation to

[13:23] special events in the park where we may have a critical mass of people

[13:27] attending the festival and we need to

[13:30] manage traffic and public safety generally. That is a few times

[13:39] per year. Under $10,000. We have invested also in

[13:40] park ranger staff. We believe that having that positive visible presence

[13:45] in the park on the weekends when the park's busiest is

[13:50] an impact and we also hear feedback from visitors

[13:54] that that staffing presents makes people

[13:58] feel safe and somebody is watching and taking care and maintaining the

[14:03] space which creates a more positive experience. And then between that

[14:05] and coordinating with the police and the sheriff's department, the two-way

[14:06] munication between them and

[14:10] our park partners has been helpful getting a heads up when something

[14:15] is happening and it allows us to prepare and communicate. And with that I will

[14:21] introduce zoe from the brooks museum.

[14:22] >> thank you,

[14:26] tina and thank you for inviting us and it is wonderful to be a part of

[14:29] this park partnership and talk about the work we do together. My name is

[14:32] zoe the executive director of the museum of

[14:37] art and just to talk about security for a second before we talk about

[14:41] other things, as a museum, security is a huge part of what

[14:45] we do any significant portion of our operating budget. We also proactively

[14:53] go out and walk around so we have eyes on things, but we also have been

[14:56] really happy with the work we have been doing as a park

[15:01] partnership with mpd and the sheriff's office. We do see them

[15:04] in the park and we could see the

[15:08] impact of their presence in terms of break-ins and activity. And then to

[15:10] answer your question, we also bring in

[15:16] extra security anytime we have a large-scale event. Etiquette

[15:20] to talk about a fun thing, which is we all love working together. We proactively

[15:25] look for opportunities to find connections

[15:26] between our programming and build connections between art and nature,

[15:31] animals, zoology, music and there is so much to

[15:37] do together. It is something we have really enjoyed. Part of the benefit

[15:40] of the regular meetings both to the

[15:47] security team and we work closely together on programming and actively

[15:49] look for ways that we connect anything the museum

[15:54] is doing to what other partners are doing and vice versa and that has

[15:58] been powerful as we have cross pollinated audiences

[16:02] and built stronger I think the more people come the more they feel comfortable

[16:04] in a setting and the more they understand

[16:08] the park is theirs and that is what we are trying to do together. And if

[16:11] you keep clicking through, these are images of recent projects we have

[16:15] done together and one that we were really proud of as

[16:19] we cohosted karaoke along with opc and the symphony and that

[16:22] was a really fun festive

[16:28] holiday evening. And if we click through again, and

[16:33] just a few other images of recent things and maybe you can

[16:37] see in the last slide to talk about the ultimate collaboration

[16:39] which is this summer we were pleased to

[16:42] work together on a summer camp and we partnered with

[16:46] the art garden and we each took turns providing

[16:51] an amazing in experience for a group of kids so this is a

[16:53] pilot program and we also funded that this year and

[16:58] really devoted a significant amount of materials and staff time

[17:02] to it. But a wonderful collaboration with

[17:05] the carpenter art garden.

[17:07] >> this was a weeklong

[17:08] camp?

[17:09] >> right. >> what they did is they went and they went to

[17:16] each program after they were bussed over

[17:25] one day a week so one day was the zoo and one day was at the

[17:27] brooks and one day I think and you can explain it better but that is the general idea?

[17:29] >> we each took

[17:37] turns taking this group and providing a

[17:38] different experience so they all get a slice of the amazing opportunities that

[17:42] are available in the park.

[17:43] >> with the record show that

[17:46] councilman green is present.

[17:49] >> any questions?

[17:52] >> I do want to chime in.

[17:54] the one thing, unfortunately, the gulf manager is currently at the course

[18:01] working but, patrick

[18:06] is just as much a part of this programming is the partner

[18:09] sure ships -- partnerships created through

[18:16] the nature --of the kids that

[18:34] come through the 25 summer camp programs and have them participate

[18:37] in things at the brooks, the zoo and to participate in programming

[18:42] taking place last summer. We had one of the family fun friday

[18:46] events at overton park and had the closing ceremonies

[18:49] at the shell. It is a wonderful opportunity

[18:52] for us to always

[18:56] remember, although this is not one of the 162 parks that

[19:01] they operate, but the resources are available to

[19:04] us every day.

[19:10] not only are they available, but I do get phone calls from all

[19:12] of these participants saying, how can we participate in the programming?

[19:14] or extend or provide opportunities that you normally wouldn't have? So

[19:16] we are appreciative of that.

[19:19] >> let the record show that

[19:25] chairwoman walker and white

[19:31] are present. Is that the last speaker?

[19:40] yes?'s -- we asked

[19:52] to come back and give us specifically for those organizations

[19:55] a vacancy with the problems are.

[20:01] >> as we are working together in a

[20:07] wonderful way as we have talked safety and

[20:11] security and serving tens of thousands of

[20:14] schoolchildren annually, we came up with three things for your consideration.

[20:16] and this is in terms of support for us

[20:19] collectively within the park. That is

[20:25] just support for summer camp 2025. We do love what we do for

[20:28] the children and how they make stops at all

[20:34] of the amenities in the park and we would

[20:40] love consideration for that, support for security technology. The

[20:41] memphis police department has requested we install flock cameras that feed

[20:45] directly into the npd system and the more we have around the city the better

[20:47] that they can

[20:51] serve us. They have suggested that we do that and

[20:56] they aren't free.

[21:02] we would love that support and finally for security

[21:05] in general. It is expensive and we all do pay for

[21:12] it individually. And we do want, as I said earlier, when people come to

[21:14] the zoo, they may be coming to the

[21:22] zoo and we are a big draw, but overflows are in

[21:24] the park and they go eat lunch there.

[21:26] they go to events afterwards.

[21:27] they want to know that they are safe.

[21:29] again, we have seen people safe --say they feel safe because

[21:32] of the increased security. We are getting

[21:35] this, but

[21:39] encouragement and in shelby county to continue to

[21:43] support us as a matter of security. Thank you.

[21:47] >> thank you all for coming so bright and early and really impressed

[21:52] that there are people who got here this morning.

[21:54] thank you, councilmembers. Any questions for

[21:58] these guys? I think we have one more item on

[22:02] our agenda. Thank you. We appreciate it.

[22:04] >> as they are wrapping up, I do

[22:08] want to just say, memphis parks overseas 13

[22:16] things and 10 leases and one quarter of those agreements are inside this

[22:19] park and soon to be two of those 10 leases are inside of

[22:23] that park. They do vary about the level of engagement

[22:30] across the board and we talked about this and the fruitfulness of those agreements.

[22:32] so as a point of personal privilege I would like to

[22:34] say that every single person sitting behind

[22:38] me here has reached out multiple times

[22:42] and more so than the contract demands and they have gone out of their way to

[22:44] make sure that the partnership is strong and I would

[22:47] like to again take

[22:51] a second to say thank you to each and every one of them for their partnership,

[22:53] friendship, and support.

[22:56] >> thank you.

[22:59] >> item number two is a question about the future

[23:05] of the mud island park. Mr. Walker, I will turn that

[23:10] over to you and this is requested by councilwoman

[23:14] swearengen-washington . Do you have any

[23:16] questions before you start?

[23:17] >> thank you, chair. I would like to

[23:20] share some pictures that I had taken on

[23:26] a park visit on july 8. It is on the screen at

[23:35] this time.

[23:44] and the amphitheater still has

[23:50] the seat numbers in there. I was really surprised at how beautiful the

[23:56] park is. Beautiful. And as I was walking through

[24:00] the park, I saw some people from out of

[24:05] town and they stopped me and said what is going

[24:08] on and what happened? And I said I don't

[24:11] know but we are going to find out and we are

[24:14] on top of it.

[24:17] it is absolutely beautiful and that is the

[24:20] pool area. I was surprised that the water was clean.

[24:29] and there is a

[24:35] thought that the park is abandoned. It really is a

[24:38] beautiful park. Am hoping we can utilize it

[24:41] more and be intentional, mr. Walker, with planning

[24:44] activities, whether it be yoga or many concerts

[24:52] or something, but some of the activities that we are having at other parks

[24:53] if we could start with that

[24:59] or planning some activities over there so

[25:05] people will migrate over there and enjoy the park.

[25:08] some of the areas it seems as if needed some

[25:17] power washing.

[25:28] it really was a beautiful experience , and I just wanted to share some

[25:32] of the pictures.

[25:38] and I also would like us is a counsel to go over there.

[25:43] it is something you really just have to see

[25:47] to believe. How beautiful it is. Okay. I yield the floor.

[25:53] >> mr.

[25:54] walker, go ahead.

[25:55] >> I will be incredibly brief.

[26:02] we had this conversation when councilwoman swearengen-washington

[26:05] reached out to have a conversation, and truthfully, historically,

[26:08] the connection between memphis parks

[26:14] and the riverfront development corporation has varied

[26:20] throughout administrations. The way that the

[26:21] management agreement as written is that essentially the city appoints

[26:23] a representative to interact

[26:29] , and under the previous administration, that was not the parks director.

[26:32] we have had conversations, and I believe in conversation

[26:35] with counsel, they have been pretty clear that the

[26:38] relationship between memphis parks and memphis river parks

[26:41] partnership needs to strengthen. We have begun that work

[26:47] with conversations we had about making sure that there is a more

[26:50] regular cadence of participation on all of those things that I think truly

[26:53] are a great idea. I'm glad we are having this phone right now.

[26:59] at the end of the day, similar to the presentation that you just

[27:02] saw from that conservancy , they are in this park every day.

[27:08] and so in fairness to them, I think that

[27:10] my goal was to get some feedback this morning from counsel and

[27:14] then put on the council agenda in two weeks

[27:19] a presentation from memphis river parks partnership to talk about

[27:23] the vision , what is being done, what is being

[27:26] done today, what will be done in the future, and what it will look like.

[27:32] I don't have a whole lot to add this morning.

[27:35] I appreciate the pictures and sort of the direction of where we would

[27:38] like this conversation to go.

[27:40] >> thank you,

[27:41] mr. Walker.

[27:43] I think the council, recently, we just placed

[27:47] mrp p under parks jurisdiction.

[27:50] can you explain how that and if it's us

[27:53] as a parks department and national grants and things along that line , what

[27:59] that does for us as a city? And then I

[28:01] will take questions.

[28:02] >> probably the quickest

[28:06] way to describe it is particularly outdoors constituents

[28:09] have talked to you about a study that is

[28:15] done annually. It is called the 10 minute walking plan.

[28:19] and there's actually two of them.

[28:24] the parks court is sort of the number assigned to every municipality

[28:27] in every jurisdiction that has a parks system.

[28:33] parks traditionally has not been great. Part of that is we are

[28:36] 300 square miles, and it is difficult to

[28:39] have density of parks.

[28:43] the important thing about it is that one of the things that

[28:47] is factored into it is what your municipality spends on

[28:50] the parks. And again, at the end of the day , the city is spending

[28:57] $3 million on parks, but it is counted as a grant underneath the

[29:00] mayor's office and not listed as a part of

[29:03] the parks budget.

[29:05] so by simply doing an accounting change to

[29:09] reflect that, what we have done has shown

[29:13] to funders and statewide entities and outside entities that the

[29:18] parks budget looks more like what the parks budget actually is.

[29:21] >> increasing our score does what forest?

[29:27] >> anybody that has applied for a grant, there's

[29:30] a narrative that goes along with that.

[29:36] a nonprofit, whatever, should give us some money.

[29:39] and one of those is to show the improvements that you

[29:42] are making in terms of things like those scores. And so

[29:48] by increasing our scores, and by increasing to accurately

[29:51] represent what we spend on the parks, we are telling

[29:56] other people that we value ourselves, and

[29:58] they should in turn value us as well.

[30:00] >> thank you.

[30:01] let the record show that councilman logan is here . We

[30:04] have two people in queue. The floor is yours.

[30:09] >> thank you, chair.

[30:11] good morning. Thank you councilwoman swearengen-washington for bringing

[30:15] this up . We visit over there with that beautiful restaurant, mahogany,

[30:18] that is over there. And the food is

[30:24] absolutely delicious.

[30:27] thank you for the pictures of your analyst. I walked over there

[30:30] about a month or so ago, and I concur with everything

[30:36] that councilwoman swearengen-washington has set as well.

[30:42] but I want to clear up a myth. I don't know if it's

[30:45] a myth, but I don't like to hear things and I don't have

[30:48] a clear understanding. It's something about $4

[30:50] million that is floating around that was supposed to have been

[30:54] given to m rrp or whatever to do something with.

[30:59] can you explain that, if that's true or if that

[31:02] isn't true? Was the city of memphis given any money? Was

[31:05] this part of a package? Can you just kind of clear that up

[31:08] so we can get a clear address handing , and

[31:14] as my colleague has said, if we are going to invest or start something,

[31:16] let's clear something up about these $4 million so I can get a

[31:21] clear understanding . I need to understand that.

[31:24] >> is a great question.

[31:30] I will give just a general answer, and I will

[31:33] rely on my friends from the finance office and the cro's office

[31:36] to get more detail, and that I will make sure that a further

[31:39] explanation is given in the explanation in two weeks.

[31:45] as a part of accelerate memphis, there were $4 million identified for various project

[31:50] at mud island. A lot of it had to do with lighting

[31:54] and repairs, because a big focus of accelerate maintenance was deferred maintenance.

[32:03] we can get for you a specific breakdown of what that is. The notes

[32:06] I received from them to be able to answer some of these questions

[32:09] --one of the last two improvement project that

[32:11] was a part of that is the removing of the memphis belle structure

[32:14] and improvements to the watershed walls , which are being paid for out of

[32:20] those funds. I think that where confusion lies is that the

[32:24] city council has set aside --I want to say it was $3 million

[32:27] --for improvements to be made to mud island.

[32:33] there was a pullback of some of that money in fy '23

[32:38] , and then the remainder of it was reallocated to

[32:45] memphis fire and memphis parks in fy '24 .

[32:53] and so there are two separate things.

[32:54] they were given $4 million as a part of accelerate memphis.

[32:57] I'm sure they will be happy to share with you what repairs were made to mud

[33:00] island as a part of that, and again, there was $3

[33:05] million originally allocated for memphis parks that was

[33:08] then reallocated to other projects through counsel action

[33:12] --prior counsel action.

[33:18] >> so were those repairs

[33:23] made? I need to know if there's repairs were made.

[33:28] thank you.

[33:31] I see him.

[33:36] >> I sensed it. >> I see him coming. Thank you.

[33:40] always ready. That's what I love about you.

[33:41] >> antonio adams, chief operating officer and --

[33:42] >> art davis,

[33:48] chief operating officer for memphis parks.

[33:49] >> is a part

[33:55] of the overall accelerated office package, $4 million

[33:57] was allocated to this writer parks.

[33:58] part of these projects,

[34:03] they were delineated out at all levels.

[34:07] they talk about the packages and the projects that

[34:10] were identified, and either under

[34:14] contract, has been completed, or in progress right now.

[34:21] >> so our city entered into a contract --

[34:34] direction on the projects.

[34:37] we have contracted to all

[34:43] but one of those projects.

[34:46] it is the watershed repair.

[34:48] and all others have been contracted.

[34:49] all of them have been completed, except

[34:52] for the belle structure and the repaving of

[34:55] the parking lot that we are in the process of doing now. I

[34:58] have a list of those. They include

[35:03] the north courtyard pavers, parking lot, restaurant, pole light, signage, golf,

[35:10] roof pavers, escalators, elevators. There

[35:13] was an amount for river terrace. And belle

[35:19] structure demo , wi-fi, and some work in

[35:24] the museum and transfer of assets.

[35:28] >> so all the work has been completed except for the belle structure?

[35:37] >> and the repayment of the parking lot once that structure

[35:40] is gone. Additional parking will be available across the mahogany

[35:46] and the video installation that is happening.

[35:49] >> okay.

[35:51] I would like it in full detail to see what

[35:55] it's look like. After this, I would like a tour of everything

[35:58] you said that has been done. My colleagues said

[36:01] that the bathrooms were locked.

[36:04] >> we would have to check on that.

[36:10] >> we would like to know why they are locked and would love to

[36:13] know what the inside of those restrooms looks like.

[36:14] >> absolutely. >> to yield the floor. Thank you.

[36:19] >> thank you. Councilwoman swearengen-washington.

[36:22] >> what is going on with the museum area?

[36:25] >> last week, there was a fire sprinkler

[36:30] head system --sprinkler head that was activated.

[36:34] so there was a lot of water that was lost during that period so there was

[36:40] prior damage. We had to go in, remove a lot of the

[36:43] sheet rock on the second floor that

[36:48] went down to the first floor, so the remediation of that

[36:52] is being worked on at this point.

[36:58] >> what is the plan in this area?

[36:59] >> right now, general services is going to come over along

[37:03] with contractors to mitigate the damage , and in the course, we will have

[37:07] contractors move in.

[37:13] we have a plan to bring appropriations to you this week.

[37:18] we were just a little too late to get in.

[37:22] we want to get on the next council's agenda

[37:27] , moving with restoration. Because they do have a down

[37:31] effect on the chillers as well.

[37:34] you be able to repair the lines, and have some repairs as well.

[37:40] it will be coming out of their cover line.

[37:46] >> is that a plan ?

[37:52] >> there is a lease, which is

[37:58] an interactive experience.

[38:00] they were to be open by the end of the year.

[38:04] it may be the first of january. It's an immersive experience

[38:10] that christopher wray is building , so we do have a lease on

[38:15] that space.

[38:16] >> thank you, councilwoman.

[38:18] councilwoman walker.

[38:20] >> thank you, mr. Chair. Okay.

[38:25] thank you, mr.

[38:28] chair. Good morning, everyone, and thank

[38:29] you so much, councilwoman swearengen-washington for this . I have

[38:34] some comments, and then I had a question .

[38:43] so I don't know how many of you all are maxwell fans, but I have

[38:46] been a big maxwell fan for years.

[38:48] and the first time I saw maxwell, and I think the

[38:52] first time I attended a concert at mud island was to see maxwell,

[38:58] and the opening act was those two young ladies who had

[39:01] little duet thing going.

[39:04] but I just wanted to --I wanted you all to know that. I wanted to share

[39:06] that.

[39:07] >> thank you, councilwoman.

[39:09] >> I have a lot of great memories at mud island

[39:16] over the years, and even up to recent times.

[39:18] when people say that individuals are being nostalgic

[39:22] back in the day, in recent years,

[39:27] I have attended lionel river, produced by dr. Phil boutin.

[39:30] cgi entertainment, curtis gibbons.

[39:34] tonya dyson , she is a local vocalist, producer, and

[39:41] executive entertainer of the memphis collaborative over and souls bill.

[39:46] when deja vu was at the river terrace, I celebrated my

[39:48] birth day there, and I believe it was on a wednesday day and they were

[39:51] already having jazz going on. And I do have pictures.

[39:56] the mahogany river terrace --and so

[40:02] I was part of a luncheon with the ladies several

[40:05] months back , and attorney mccullough has done

[40:08] an incredible job with the redesign. It is absolutely beautiful

[40:14] . And in taking the tours many times that I have been

[40:16] over there, I didn't know they had a rooftop. We

[40:23] had to experience that as well.

[40:26] I guess that said, with my comments and my question

[40:29] is about the monorail. Have you all specifically

[40:32] spoken to the monorail today? There

[40:37] was a survey in the paper several years ago

[40:41] about how people felt about the monorail,

[40:45] and people said they didn't like being up in the air over

[40:48] the water . But simultaneously, a lot of people do like the monorail,

[40:50] and that was part of why

[40:55] they liked it. The most recent thing I

[40:59] found was in 2022, a few of our outlets reported with

[41:02] the counselor given five -- $5.5 million specifically to the monorail.

[41:08] can someone comment on the status of the monorail?

[41:10] >> let me help you with

[41:14] that, councilwoman.

[41:16] the monorail is 1960s technology, and it is a

[41:19] lot like --I have a lot of antique cars.

[41:20] it is hard to find the parts. They don't

[41:23] run on a regular basis.

[41:38] because they look nice.

[41:43] and the issue is, we have looked at this and

[41:45] gone into detail about, what would it take to do that? It is way more

[41:48] expensive to do it and that to keep it going

[41:52] then we possibly could based on the technology.

[41:56] if we wanted to take that thing down and

[41:59] try to find a new technology that my work there, that might be something.

[42:02] but using that whole technology would not

[42:03] work. At least that is what we have been told

[42:07] with the research that has been done.

[42:08] but the record show that councilwoman easter-thomas

[42:11] is also here. Do you have another question?

[42:17] >> thank you , but I'm not done.

[42:20] I think you for that. So what happened to the

[42:25] $5 million, and do any of you want to comment on

[42:29] the monorail?

[42:34] >> I may be conflating the two, but I believe

[42:38] that was tied up with the money that was reallocated.

[42:41] I believe any funding that was set aside

[42:43] for buddies, more work to be done on the monorail was reallocated

[42:47] by council for other projects.

[42:50] >> I concur with that recollection as well.

[42:55] >> thank you for that. One moment, mr. Chair.

[42:58] somebody might have been sending me something.

[43:05] >> councilman jones is here.

[43:08] >> so

[43:14] --so in my notes here --

[43:20] so in my notes here, there were two different

[43:23] allocations, 4 million from innovate memphis . Accelerate memphis.

[43:29] and then that was separate from that.

[43:32] >> the subsequent --so subsequent to accelerate

[43:38] , the chair at the time did desire

[43:44] to upgrade and identify upgrades to the monorail. Subsequent councilmembers

[43:50] did reallocate those funds to other projects. So the

[43:56] funds no longer existed as you identify. So the original intent, you

[44:01] are correct . But the reallocations were made to

[44:05] the project.

[44:08] >> thank you for that. So the reallocation is being

[44:11] made to other project. So if a plan was

[44:13] requested --if a plan was requested, was there never a plan submitted,

[44:19] and that's why the funds were reallocated?

[44:26] >> a plan was requested, then the body decided

[44:29] to go a different direction. And then the funds

[44:31] were reallocated to different areas .

[44:34] so that is why no plan was submitted.

[44:38] >> to the body need permission to go in another direction? Are they

[44:41] just took it upon themselves --

[44:44] >> you all are

[44:49] the funding body. So until the funds are in our hands, we have no way

[44:53] to act. So without funds, we can act. And so the body

[45:01] decided to go in a different direction.

[45:02] >> I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but it seems like

[45:05] there would supposed to have been a plan for these

[45:08] funds, and the plan never happened. So the funds

[45:11] were reallocated .

[45:14] >> the council voted --

[45:26] beneficial and

[45:31] cost display too much, and so we did not do it. And we

[45:35] reallocated those funds.

[45:38] >> to yield the floor and I need to get

[45:41] back to you.

[45:42] thank you.

[45:43] >> the floors councilwoman logan.

[45:46] >> thank you, chair.

[45:50] bringing this forward. Today's discussion --

[45:56] what I would like to ask , I am really

[46:00] interested in seeing administrations comprehensive plan for

[46:05] the riverfront an entire riverfront, riverside .

[46:11] we have been focusing a lot on what is going on

[46:18] with memphis river parks partnership, and rightly so.

[46:25] but I can understand how the money got reallocated, because I'm not sure

[46:27] if we needed to give that responsibility

[46:30] to a nonprofit or another entity.

[46:38] that is something that we need to come up with, in

[46:42] my opinion, as an administration , council, however.

[46:48] what do we want the riverfront to look like? What do we wanted to do?

[46:51] what we wanted to be for the city of memphis

[46:54] and the citizens?

[46:58] what is that cost, and how long will it take? That type

[47:02] of thing. We will continue to piecemeal all the

[47:04] way down the riverfront, and people come in, they have come in

[47:09] with the zip line part --somebody came in and did a

[47:12] presentation on that. And right now, it looks like the river

[47:15] parks partnership has done a remarkable job with that area that

[47:21] they have, but I still don't see the vision of what is downtown

[47:27] , what it looks like.

[47:31] they have the wharf, and you know, they have a plan

[47:36] and a purpose, a destination for their riverside. We

[47:39] don't have that, and I haven't seen that plan.

[47:45] you know, we keep the money --we can talk about the

[47:48] monorail and all that, but we are throwing money into

[47:54] an area or a project that has not been defined, and it is not

[47:57] phased in. Were we going with it?

[47:59] and so I don't think it is wise of us , I don't think it is prudent. I don't

[48:06] think it is good management of the city's resources

[48:09] for us to continue in this vein for anything, everything, wherever we are going

[48:12] to invest dollars. So downtown , I want to make certain that we have

[48:18] a holistic plan before we just start

[48:21] accelerate dollars. I appreciate the effort

[48:27] , but because it was no holistic comprehensive plan

[48:29] for that entire way , it probably was just going to sit there until

[48:33] somebody figured it out, and then they come

[48:36] and pitch it, and it could have been

[48:41] --you know, it could have been a plan, but I don't think

[48:44] it is money well spent. If you could eke to if you all

[48:46] have started one, thought about it, if that's a direction that you feel we

[48:51] need to go in, how can we approach it? Can

[48:54] you all come back to our next meeting with some information

[48:57] with how we are going to move forward with

[49:00] our riverfront?

[49:01] >> councilman logan, before you got here, mr. Logan had said

[49:05] that next meeting we are going to have a presentation looking at that

[49:09] very thing.

[49:12] >> that is good. I don't mean to interrupt, chairman, but that's

[49:15] not what I'm looking for. I want administration to come and pitch some ideas,

[49:20] and we together have a dialogue about what it looks

[49:24] like, and then maybe include two were there will be some community

[49:27] involvement later on in that type of thing.

[49:33] so a long-term plan, like we did with memphis 3.0, that was for land-use

[49:36] of the city, the more so for the riverfront. That's a great

[49:38] resource. We have the most beautiful water --the most beautiful opportunity downtown.

[49:45] so if you can use that, build on that, and

[49:54] if it creates the money for us and revenue for people coming to visit

[49:57] our riverfront, especially if we can tap into

[50:00] our money. I mean, are water.

[50:01] >> I have been asked by administration

[50:06] to move us on, and we will continue this discussion

[50:09] at our next meeting. I know I got a number of people in the queue.

[50:12] please save those questions --

[50:13] >> I just ask next meeting for them to

[50:14] come back.

[50:15] >> we will work with river parks, because I'm

[50:19] pretty sure that they have studies, and as director walker mentioned,

[50:24] for --

[50:27] >> when we have the opportunity, we will

[50:30] lay out a plan for an income plan, incorporating

[50:33] what has been done in the past, and then

[50:35] moving it to the future. We will relay it out

[50:39] to you. A conference a plan by next week, maybe not. But charting

[50:44] a course for the future, definitely.

[50:47] >> okay. So if it's not, if you can let us

[50:50] know when you're able to come back, you know, whether it's three months

[50:51] or two months, we will --

[50:54] >> we will do.

[50:57] >> we are now adjourned.

Parks & Environment

Agenda

Transcript