Shane Morrow, the founder and director of “Jazzanooga,” an event at the Bessie Smith Hall, on Tuesday asked the City Council to join with him in a creative partnership to help involve the underserved people in the community to be exposed to and participate in the arts. He said they need to be able to express themselves creatively and thinks that it will keep people out of trouble if young people have something to latch onto. He said he was not asking for dollars but for a commitment from the city.
An example was to give tickets at the rec centers for ballets and music events.
There was a discussion about short term vacation rentals. Councilman Chip Henderson said that he would like to discuss the possibility of changing the format. He said in deciding on planning and zoning issues, RPA Executive Director John Bridger gives an overview but there is no introduction when someone is applying for a permit to operate a short term rental. So he suggested that each one be introduced before the discussions and votes. An example would be to let the council know the number of letters in opposition that had been received. Another suggestion was putting these type of businesses on a GIS map as a visual illustration. Chairman Ken Smith said that the council will not see where they are and if they are many clustered in an area unless there is opposition. He said all areas of town have to be treated the same way, so it would be better to have a policy that could be applied equally.
He also suggested thinking about limiting the number of non-owner occupied short term rentals. He said that Chattanooga’s policy does not address if they are owner/occupied. City Attorney Phil Noblett said he believes that Nashville’s policy does put limits on those.
City Finance Director Daisy Madison introduced Tim Maddux as the new city treasurer. She said he has 24 years of experience in the financial arena. He was hired from within, coming from the City-Wide Services/Public Works department. His new job is effective on Dec. 4.
Councilman Henderson asked for information about two programs related to youth and family development. He was told that the programs are both related to Howard. One is to help youth finish High School instead of getting a GED. The second will help create a “seamless pipeline" between a student graduating and getting technical training, maybe by exposure to the workplace. He was told that there will be a better explanation at the meeting where it will be discussed.
There was an update by Councilman Anthony Byrd about putting the name of the late John P. Franklin on the City Council Building. He said he is working on the costs to put the name on the building. It will not be carved into the stone. He also wants to put a picture or bust of Mr. Franklin, who was a longtime city official.
At the regular meeting, the council approved a resolution to declare restrictive covenants for seven city-owned parcels. The reason for declaring restrictive covenants for these properties are that they are all in the Mountain Creek watershed assessment and improvement plan. All are in the floodplain or the floodway, and all are considered to be undevelopable. It could become a greenway in the future, officials said.
Also approved was a resolution to enter a lease agreement with the Chattanooga Radio Control Club at 4246 Woodland Dr. to lease six acres and a defined fly zone for flying model airplanes, club meetings and other related activities for a term of three years, with the option to renew for an additional one year. The annual rent will be $200 per year. It is in District 4.
The city will apply for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant for brownfield assessment and clean up grants from the Southeast Tennessee Development District for three years beginning on Dec. 1, 2018.
A current loan through Brightbridge, Inc. is expiring and will be assigned to the Southeast Tennessee Development District. The purpose of the loan is to create and retain jobs for low income individuals. The rate with Brightbridge was six percent, but the new one will depend on the market at the time it is taken out.
There was a presentation from the Human Resources Department on updates about Safety/Health/ Wellness of city employees. The city expects to lose 20 percent of employees over the next five years. Officials believe that improvements in all these categories will give the city a competitive advantage in hiring people. Officials said it is important because occupational safety affects the city’s retention, productivity, and recruitment. There is also a loss to the city due to decreased work morale.
In the past the city looked at the number of accidents, but now the city is looking at the incident rate, to be able to compare to other cities or businesses. The rate was 7.3 in 2018. In the first quarter of 2019, it was 6.909, which shows accidents are trending down. The most accidents occur in the Fire Department (96) last year, Police Department (105) and Public Works (112) because of the nature of those jobs. Some decreases are because of policy changes such as limiting weight that can be lifted to 51 pounds. The most injuries are sprains and tripping and falling, which was attributed to an aging workforce. Some are repeat injuries, especially incidents such as poison ivy and insect bites.
The city is offering training classes and through education will help to identify causes and how to prevent accidents. There are no stats yet on the results from the classes. That will be available at the end of 2019.
In 2018 the city paid $2.9 million in worker’s comp claims. There are about 400 pending claims for heart and lung injuries and about 80 other claims.
For example, for the fire department last year, screening was done, and the Wellness Center focused on building exercises that could be done with the existing equipment to reduce injuries and advice about nutrition and supplements. Also there was a focus on mental health. There was a health fair in August, and a mobile lung screening. There was also discussions about allowing employees to go to the Wellness Center and/or exercise during lunch breaks on their personal time, or in the future, allowing 30-minute workouts while on the clock. The city plans on starting a diabetes class. There is a discount on insurance for non-smokers.
Chairman Smith said a number of companies are buying gym memberships for employees and that might be more cost effective than running a city-owned facility.
The Avondale Youth and Family Development Center is currently under construction and the council approved increases in the contract with Hefferlin and Kronenberg Architects in the amount of $164,798 (total amount of $505,298). The cost increased due to redesign for electrical service and relocation of a parking lot, plus the cost to replat the space in order to be rezoned.
The new cost is $4,952,539. The project is by J&J Contractors.
The time planned for construction was nine months but has been changed to 12 months. It is expected to be finished at the beginning of March. The goal is to have it open for summer activities when school is out.