City Chief Operating Officer Maura Sullivan said the city is considering hiring a consultant to help with gaps with help for the local homeless.
However, Councilwoman Carol Berz had issues. She said they are already aware of the problem and that they have hired people specifically to deal with it. She also said the council is aware of the agencies they have available and what they do. She said the council could sit around the table and figure out where the gaps are. She said she thought that the money could be better spent.
Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod said the same people are on a lot of the different boards and there needs to be different people appointed in order to come up with other solutions.
Ms. Sullivan said she will bring a more detained presentation about this next week.
Also at the City Council on Tuesday:
• Leases the city has with non-profit organizations
There have been complaints about the appearance and condition of some buildings that the city rents out to non-profits for a small amount, about $1 per year.
Donna Williams said that the current leases have nothing in them requiring that the organization does the maintenance and that the city does it. She said some are changing when the leases are renewed and it is possible to require they do the up-keep. She thinks it would be a great idea across the board. It will require an amendment to the contracts.
• Archaic city codes
Darrin Ledford brought up the many archaic city codes that are still on the books about things that are no longer relevant. He said this is a way to reduce government.
Phil Noblett had researched some old code books and found some examples that he read. From 1949, codes to regulate music and jukeboxes and coin operated mechanical amusement devices—the city regulated them and required licenses. Mr. Noblett said these things are still around in places like bowling alleys, movie theaters and arcades, and pizza restaurants, but there is no record of any of them having a license and it has been a very long time since they were regulated. Another thing regulated was music played outside and noise and both are now regulated with zoning restrictions. Another archaic code is that hats are not to be worn during a performance.
Mr. Noblett said society changes and we need to adjust.
• Tuesday night Mr. Noblett’s appointment as the city attorney was confirmed
• A resolution to confirm the mayor’s appointment of Molly Cooper to the Finley Stadium Board
• Renaming city buildings for a person
Mr. Noblett said they probably need to develop a set of rules about naming buildings after people.
• Aquarium water feature maintenance
Tuesday night they passed a resolution authorizing the Public Works Department to enter an agreement with the Tennessee Aquarium, a non-profit agency, for an annual maintenance and operation [normal maintenance and service] for water features located at the Aquarium Plaza for an initial term of three years and renewal for successive three year periods. The annual cost is not to exceed $163,500.
• Final change order for an art installation
A resolution to approve a final change order for Raines Bros. Inc. for Gateway Sculptures at Blue Goose Hollow for an increased amount of $10,777 for the revised contract amount of $93,510. Funding will come from the capital projects fund.
• Blanket contract for electrical services
Electrical services city wide with Adman Electric, Triad Electrical Contractors and Tri-State Electrical Contractors [Estimate cost $1 million annually for all three.]
• Grant application from the Transportation Department
They have already applied for a TDOT “Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Grant” for an amount not to exceed $7.5 million. It is a 100 percent grant with no matching funds required. If received it would provide 80 cameras for an intelligent transportation system / traffic flow improvement project. They would be installed at intersections across the core of the city—from the river to Missionary Ridge and from the North Shore to I-24. It would also provide air quality sensors. The cameras would not capture history and would be purely for researching and capturing data.