The city of Red Bank is currently planning o turn the current city hall over to the police department and move city hall into a newly acquired building two doors down.
The city recently purchased the building close to city hall for expansion. When the business became available due to foreclosure, Mayor John Roberts jumped at the chance to get it for the city.
He found that it would be sold at an auction just the day before it was held.
At a quickly called special meeting that afternoon, City Manager Randall Smith was given the authority to bid on the property. The winning bid was $275,000. Additional fees and back taxes brought the total cost up to $301,800. Mayor Roberts attributed the successful purchase to great team work.
City Manager Randall Smith said that City Attorney Arnold Stulce did a great job in a short amount of time to pull it all together so the purchase could happen. He added that he relies on the attorney every day for his counsel and thanked him publicly for all that he does. The commissioners unanimously approved amending the budget to fund the purchase.
Also given approval Tuesday night was the purchase of two Dodge trucks for the public works and solid waste departments. They will replace two old ones with high mileage that require frequent maintenance.
The fire department will benefit from a resolution authorizing participation in the annual Tennessee Municipal League (TML) Risk Management Pool Safety Partners matching grant program. This grant is a 50/50 participation up to $5,000, with TML and the city each contributing $2,500. The money will be used to buy back-up and side cameras for the fire engines.
A resolution was passed to declare the month of September 2015 as “Suicide prevention awareness month.” City Manager Smith said that Suicide is a troubling statistic in Tennessee, with more than 900 lives lost in the state each year. He said there are estimated to be 8-25 attempted suicides for each death. This resolution urges all citizens to participate in discussions and to raise awareness of the problem. He asked people to get involved with what is going on in their neighborhoods and help those that may need it.
During the past week all of the commissioners participated in a fact finding mission to help them determine how to best make use of the land on Dayton Boulevard where the old Red Bank Middle School used to be located. They visited an area south of Atlanta to witness the way old industrial property has been successfully revitalized to become residential. The trip produced good ideas, said Vice Mayor Eddie Pierce.
The mayor announced that next Monday the municipal swimming pool will close for the year, and Commissioner Terry Pope reminded those present that the U.S. Marine Corp Band will perform at Red Bank High School on September 22. Tickets are free and can be printed off of the Marine Corp website.
The commissioners functioning as the Red Bank Beer Board, issued beer permits to two businesses. The convenience store The Pantry on Dayton Pike is changing ownership and will become a Circle K. the change requires a new license. One was granted and will become effective September 14 when the actual sale takes place.
Bi Lo will re-open Wednesday morning as Food City and that ownership change also required a new beer license. The grocery store, which will be under the same manager, has operated for some time with no negative incidents and was approved for a new permit. “We’re glad to have them in our city,” said Police Chief Tim Christol.