Despite opposition from nearby homeowners and reservations from each of the commissioners, zoning was changed on a tract of land located at 12220 Dayton Pike. The property was rezoned from R-2A Rural Residential and A-1 Agricultural District to R-3 Apartment/Townhouse.
A large development of apartments and townhouses are planned there for low income households under a plan that is intended to encourage the private sector to invest in affordable rental housing by giving tax credits to the investors.
Alan Armstrong who is in the process of building a new house near where the rental units will be, had been given the impression when buying his lot, that other single-family homes would be built on that property.
He spoke to the commissioners asking that the land not be rezoned to multi-family use.
Jake Ramsey, the developer, told the board of commissioners that “we get better every time we build.” He said the pictures that the council had been given were not the most recent or best developments. When built, the development would be managed by Greer Management.
Commissioner Max Lowe said he worried about how the development might negatively impact the sale of houses in nearby Stone Gate and Goose Creek subdivisions which are selling for around $300,000. He asked the owner of the property, William Hitchcock, to show the commissioners where the buildings would sit on the property and how visible they will be from the surrounding houses. Each of the commissioners said they were concerned with what the apartments would look like and were concerned about the number of apartment units being built in the city. The vote on first reading, however, was unanimous to approve the zoning change.
Two residents who live on Walden Street asked the town to repair their street where running water has undermined a drain tile in the road. What started as a small pothole has become a deep crater as the surrounding dirt washes from under the drain which has created an indention in the asphalt, the commissioners were told. Mayor Gene Shipley, Commissioner Rick Nunley and Public Works Director Steve Grant will examine the problem area to determine the best solution.
New pistols were in the police department’s budget this year. When bids were received, Chief Jeff Gann told the commissioners that 12 rifles could also be bought for an additional $2,000. With approval from the commissioners, 35 service weapons will be purchased which will give a new pistol to every officer. And each officer will also have a rifle once the additional 12 are added to those already in the department.
The police department will also be getting new mobile and portable radios. This bid of $25,520 for the mobile radios also came in under the budgeted amount of $37,000, so three more portable radios can be bought for the department. Only one channel will be working on the old radios that are being replaced, but those radios can be sent to the SROs in Soddy Daisy schools for communication with the police department.
City Manager Janice Cagle received approval to renew the service contract with Everbright, an emergency alert system used by Soddy Daisy, for the amount of $8,500. There are 1,800 citizens who have opted in and 4,000 names and numbers that were loaded from the whit pages.
On Thursday night, the city manager made a public service announcement for residents of the town: “We would like to inform the public that the City of Soddy Daisy is not affiliated with the North West Utility District and have no authority over them. Therefore, we cannot control any rate increases they may issue. They are a completely separate entity with their own board of commissioners. In addition, the city of Soddy Daisy does not own or operate any utilities.”