The East Ridge City Council on Thursday night voted to accept a new bid for constructing Camp Jordan Parkway to the new Jordan Crossing development that is to be anchored by Bass Pro Shop.
The project was rebid after the initial bids of $2,597,003 by Talley Construction and $2,670,375 by Brown Brothers were considered too high.The first design for the road came from the developers of the shopping center.
Two bids were received the second time, and both were just under $2 million.
The bid from Talley Construction, under a revised road plan, was a little over $100,000 more than the one coming from Brown Brothers Construction. Councilman Jacky Cagle made a motion to accept the higher bid because of a controversy with Brown Brothers surrounding land the city planned to buy for building a new fire hall.
Officials said a verbal agreement had been made concerning the purchase of property that was owned by Brown Brothers. They said, before the sale was concluded, some conditions and prices were changed. East Ridge City Attorney Hal North advised the council that the city can accept a bid that is not the lowest if it comes from a source that has been deemed unreliable or uncooperative in the past. Despite the price difference, the vote was unanimous to accept the higher bid from Talley.
Improvements to Exit 1 of I-75 are due to be bid later.
The city will get help from both Hamilton County and the state of Tennessee to pay for the road improvements.
It was decided to pay for the city’s share of the road with $400,000 taken from the State Street Aid fund and the balance coming from cashing in a $550,000 CD.
The city has advertised for the vacant position of city treasurer, and the council is beginning to define the requirements they hope to find in candidates for the other vacant position of city manager. Mayor Brent Lambert made a suggestion that another, separate position be created to keep up with the complex issues of the Border Region Retail Development and the information that is needed by the state for this designation. The person to fill this job would need to have a background in finance or accounting and it would mean an expansion of the city’s financial department. The mayor said this would be a reimbursable expense from the state since it would be a cost attributed to the border region designation.
Filling the city treasurer position is needed immediately. However, it was suggested that because the person in that job would be working so closely with the city manager, that a permanent city manager should be hired first so that person would have some say-so in the hiring process for the treasurer. A problem is that application period for city manager closes Oct. 23 and there are already six-eight applicants. The process to hire a new city manager has not yet begun and is expected to take four to six months before hiring. The possibility of considering one of the applicants for city treasurer for the border region position was discussed.
A special meeting to consider changes to the city’s sign ordinance has tentatively been scheduled for Nov. 2 at 11 a.m. The need to define and clarify the laws governing signs in East Ridge is needed. At the council meeting, requests were heard for placing two banners over Ringgold Road, one advertising the 4th annual Pioneer Paluza Fall Festival on Oct. 24, and the other advertising a fundraiser for the East Ridge Masonic Lodge. Interim City Manager and Fire Chief Mike Williams assured the city attorney that the new way street banners are hung makes them secure by putting a tether on the cables. It has been approved by the city’s insurance company, said Chief Williams.
Approval was also given for the construction of an off-premise billboard at 6800 Ringgold Road. This will be an electronic LED sign that measures10 x 24 feet and that will be elevated 20 feet. The applicant for the permit plans to sell advertising on the sign, it will not be relating to his business. Despite Vice Mayor Marc Gravitt saying he would like a moratorium on billboards, he voted to allow this one. The vote was four in favor of granting permission to one against, with only Mayor Lambert in opposition. His concern was opening Pandora’s Box for allowing billboards in one of the only stretches along Ringgold Road that does not have them.
Another ordinance that was vague and lacked definition was the one concerning open air markets. The council voted to revise development standards of this type of facility. The current ordinance remains in force and businesses such as the flea market will not be grandfathered in.
The city was authorized to deal directly with the manufacturer to buy the remaining HVAC equipment that is needed to complete the camp Jordan project. This will modify the original bid that East Ridge accepted from Halloran Corp. and is due to problems the city has had with this contractor.
A resolution was passed authorizing the city to participate in the state’s recycling rebate matching grant program. The grant is for around $1,300 which the city has to match, however new recycling bins that have already been purchased can be considered as East Ridge’s match. Another resolution approved hiring Thompson Engineering to do a traffic count that will be used in the resurfacing project for the north side of McBrien Road. The cost for this will not exceed $900.
Thursday night authorization was given for opening an interest bearing checking account for the grant fund, and permission was given for Director of Parks and Recreation Stump Martin to accept a bid to buy tee shirts that will be used for the 2015-2016 indoor soccer season. East Ridge Elementary School was granted the request to use the Arena for fifth grade graduation on May 24, 2016. Police Chief J.R. Reed was given the authority to lease four Harley Davidson motorcycles with a two year lease and Save-a-Lot Grocery store was granted a variance in order to receive a beer license. The variance was needed because two houses sit inside the prescribed distance required from a business that sells beer. Both are elevated above the store and are located behind a tree line. No one came to the meeting in opposition.
The council also gave final approval and agreed to help financially, the Crestwood Garden Club to create “Jo’s Garden” at Camp Jordan. Trees and plants will be put in this fall. A fence will be bid out at a later date. The council put a $2,000 cap on the initial amount the city will contribute toward this project.