Red Bank Agrees To $225,000 Settlement Of Lawsuit Brought By Former Police Chief Larry Sneed; City Police Department Gets Accreditation

The city of Red Bank has agreed to a $225,000 settlement of the lawsuit brought by former police chief Larry Sneed.

 

City Attorney Arnold Stulce on Tuesday night presented the commissioners with the settlement agreement. The wrongful termination suit was filed four and a half years ago. Attorney Stulce said since that time the case has been handled by an outside law firm and has been to the Tennessee Supreme Court.The state high court ruled last December that the case could be taken to a jury.

 

The city attorney said that after considerable back and forth deliberations among the lawyers for both sides, the plaintiff had offered to settle for the $225,000 amount.

It was the recommendation of the city’s insurance company and outside counsel for the city to settle. This admits no liability, he said, “it’s a mechanism for buying our peace.”

 

Because of the agreement of the insurance company, the cost to the city will be $152,500. Attorney Stulce said if a jury had decided in favor of Mr. Sneed, the insurance company would not be obligated to pay anything, and the city may have be required to pay all of his attorney fees.

 

Since this lawsuit was filed, the city has had a complete turnover. The board of commissioners is completely new, and one witness, mayor at the time, Monty Millard has died. Another witness now lives in Alaska. Mayor John Roberts said that Red Bank had made considerable progress in the past five years and it needed to settle this issue and continue moving forward.  A roll call vote was unanimous to approve the settlement.

 

Mr. Sneed was represented by attorneys Lee Davis and Jonathan Guthrie.

 

The Red Bank Police Department was honored at the commission meeting for earning accreditation from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The process to earn this status requires three years to complete. It utilizes 160 best practice standards and participation in an on-site assessment.

 

The Red Bank Police Department met criteria that measured professionalism as well as organizational and overall readiness in law enforcement policy and procedures. The standard of excellence contributes to supplying the city with top notch service every day, officials said.  Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher described the award as being much like a college degree when presenting the certificate to Red Bank Police Chief Tim Christol.

 

Red Bank is the smallest agency to qualify out of the 32 agencies statewide that have achieved the accreditation. Chief Christol thanked the commissioners for giving his department the support it needed for the accomplishment.

 

A gift of $26,130.50 was made to the city from the Red Bank Soddy Daisy Charitable Foundation. Patricia Baker, vice chairman of the foundation, and board members Virgil Adams and Becky Browder made the presentation. The money is intended to be used to buy a digital message sign. Ms. Baker said that project was chosen since it would benefit the community as a whole.

 

Approval was given to enter into a contract for the lease and service with MSA, Inc. for two photocopiers for city hall.

 

An agreement with Marion Environmental Inc. was authorized to remove asbestos from a city-owned building that is on the old city impound lot at 110 East Midvale. When it was built in the 1970s, said Mayor Roberts, asbestos was a common building material, but it now must be professionally removed and disposed of.

 

The purchase of computer hardware and licenses in the amount of $15,160.85 was also approved. This will be used to upgrade the court management system. City Manager Randall Smith said the money is already in the budget for this.  

 

Authorization was given to participate in a matching grant totaling $1,500 from the TML risk management pool safety partners loss control. This will be used to purchase 22 pairs of fire gloves and 40 protective hoods for the fire department.

 

An addition to the city code was made which will regulate the use of temporary portable outdoor storage units such as PODS. The units are intended to be for temporary use, but in some places they become permanent, said the city manager. This ordinance assures that will not happen in Red Bank.

 

Mr. Smith announced that the city is beginning paving projects and will be starting at the intersection of Dayton Boulevard and Newberry Street. That intersection will be closed around two weeks during the construction, he said. He asked that people who use it consider an alternate route.

 

City resident Jon Baker congratulated Tim Thornbury, head of the public works department, and the commissioners for the successes that they have been instrumental in achieving with code enforcement. He said that he was impressed with the number of cases that are generated daily and with the number of compliances that have taken place to conform to city ordinances.