Concerns that the Collegedale commissioners had about accepting the gift of a city park from the McKee Corporation were dispelled with a letter that the donor gave to the city in the past week. In a unanimous vote Monday night, the commissioners authorized the acceptance of the contractual terms related to the Little Debbie Park at The Commons.
The original worry was that maintenance of the park would cost so much that property taxes might have to be raised.
The new agreement is that the donor will pay for construction, Collegedale Tomorrow will maintain the park and maintenance of the “branded equipment” will be solely the responsibility of the donor. It will be a passive park used by families for walks and picnics, not for activities such as ball games. It will be closed at night and will not have lights. There will be a 33-foot berm to soften the sounds for residents of Greenbriar Cove.
Residents of the nearby Greenbriar Cove neighborhood came to the meeting, repeating their requests to delay approving the park. Among other issues such as increased traffic and noise, their main oppositions to the park are back-in parking along Swinyar Drive and that the location of the playground is too close to the street and would not be safe.
Interim City Manager Wayon Hines, who is also an engineer, said that back-in parking with the trunk facing the curb, is considered to be safer than perpendicular parking with the front of cars facing the curb. Swinyar Drive will be a three-lane road and parking will not take up any space on the road, but will be on each side in public rights-of-way. The city will consider building a round-about at Swinyar and Leyland so cars would be able to U-turn and leave the same way they entered.
The commission was caught off-guard when plans for the park that was about to be built were announced at a commission meeting several months ago. They had not been kept informed or included and had not had an opportunity to provide input. David Bartow, who is head of the Collegedale Tomorrow Foundation, spoke at the meeting saying he had been on the six-member committee that put together the park. He said at the beginning he had wanted to have public meetings with the community to guide the plan, however the city manager at the time, Ted Rogers, told him that would not be a good idea. “So, I went along with it. I should have disobeyed and talked to the commissioners instead of keeping the whole thing under the rug,” he said, in apologizing to the residents of Greenbrier Cove and the commissioners.
“I won’t accept your apology,” said Vice Mayor Tim Johnson. "It is the former city manager’s fault, not yours." The vice mayor made the motion to add language to the deed saying the park is accepted with an agreement that in 20 years the park will be evaluated to determine if it has been a benefit to the public. If it is determined that it has not benefited the residents, the land will revert back to the owner. Being able to reevaluate the deed will prevent the city from being responsible perpetually if it is not a valuable asset, he said.
Hona Rogers from MTAS (Municipal Technical Advisory Service) is guiding the commissioners through the process of the search for a new city manager. Monday night, the commissioners ranked four applicants for further consideration and two alternates, based on their cover letters and resumes. The next step will be assessments during the first week of May followed by group interviews with the commissioners that will be open to the public. The commissioners may decide to also have short receptions with people from the community who could give recommendations, but would not vote.
In new business, a resolution passed which authorized a uniform policy for the sale and disposal of surplus property. If the item is estimated to sell for $7,500 or above, the sale would require prior authorization form the commission. Otherwise, any sale will be the joint decision of the city manager and department head.
A contract with Library Systems and Services, LLC was approved for a cost of $500,000 to administer the operations of the city’s library.
Another contract was approved with the Chattanooga Market for this year’s July 4th Freedom Celebration. The amount is not to exceed $25,000. This does not include the cost of fireworks that have previously been budgeted.
Collegedale has been notified that it will be receiving American Rescue Funds in the future, coming from both the state and the federal government. Mayor Katie Lamb said around $250,000 is expected. Spending will have restrictions that are now unknown.