Finances were involved in most of the discussions and decisions at the Red Bank Commission meeting Tuesday night. Finance Director John Alexander was congratulated for being the one responsible for the city receiving an award from the Tennessee Municipal League. The recognition is for budgeting excellence and operating the government with a sound financial plan. Out of 346 municipalities in the state, only 114 earned this recognition from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.
Mr.
Alexander is preparing to make investments for the city by putting money into CDs. He said that $250,000 will be moved from excess funds in the general fund into a new short-term CD for 3-6 months that will earn a little more interest. And he will stagger others, none for more than a year out. This will allow for one CD to mature every month, he said. The bank with the best returns is RockPoint, he said. Before he made the investments, to be transparent, he disclosed to the commissioners that he is a minor stock holder in the bank, owning 2,500 shares, which he said is .02 percent of the bank’s assets. This was discussed with the city’s auditor and the city manager, and City Manager Martin Granum said he had no problem with the association because “John has massive integrity.”
He was also given approval for taking out a three-year loan at the rate of 4.15 percent to purchase vehicles needed by the city. The loan will be for $190,000 which is three quarters of the amount needed for four police vehicles and a pickup truck that will be used by the fire department.
The city will also be spending $18,000 for temporary office manager services for the public works department. This will pay for a contract with Total Resource, Inc. to fill the position during the maternity leave of an employee. Commissioner Ruth Jeno, commented that this is not budgeted and in the past, work during temporary vacancies was absorbed by the remaining staff. The city has also recently purchased cloud based iWorq Software for that department which manages much of what the public works department deals with, including managing facilities, maintenance, issuing permits and licenses and keeping track of them. Before the vote, Commissioner Jeno said she was against taking $18,000 from reserves to pay for the temporary position, and that she believes there are enough people already on staff that could fill in. Commissioner Ed Lecompte agreed saying it was not necessary. The vote was three for and two against using reserves.
In his city manager report, Mr. Granum said Red Bank has been increasing engagement with the public on social media sites and is seeing more residents participating on the various platforms. He said that the advisory service from MTAS (Municipal Technical Advisory Service) is that digital engagement is critical for municipalities. It gives the public access 24 hours a day.
He reported that the city has responded to citizens’ requests and now has three dedicated pickle ball courts, three tennis courts that are also striped and can be used for pickleball, and another tennis court is being converted into three more pickle ball courts.
Mr. Granum has been city manager in Red Bank now for a year, and the council will soon be doing an evaluation of his performance. He is also preparing to give a yearly evaluation to the six employees that report directly to him.
The city manager also prepared a list for the commissioners of over a dozen ideals and goals that the Red Bank Beautification Committee has created for the betterment of the city.
In their individual reports, Mayor Hollie Berry presented a state of the city address that showed the accomplishments and progress made by Red Bank during the past year. Vice Mayor Stefanie Dalton said on Saturday, Red Bank will hold its Octoberfest celebration at Red Bank City Park from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. There will be food, beer, live music and art vendors.
Commissioner Jeno, who is on the Beautification Committee, said some of the projects that they recommend will take time to implement, but that one in particular could be done quickly. That is to clean up vacant lots and buildings. This could be done just by reaching out to the owners, she said.
Commissioner Jeno also asked for an update to the signalization project taking place on Dayton Boulevard. She said it is taking forever and appears to be done in an unprofessional manner. The answer to when it will be finished is not known, said the city manager, but he will find out. He said the work is being executed by another agency on behalf of Red Bank, and the city is not in charge of it. The longer it takes, he said, the lower the price because materials left over from other work the contractor is doing can be used. The city has plans to add another position, a project manager, that could ensure doing work the right way. This is the first of five intersections that will be improved.
Commissioner Pete Phillips reported on this year’s Christmas parade. He is requesting sponsors and volunteers for the event so the city will not have to be responsible for its cost.