The city council of East Ridge approved rezoning two properties in single-family residential zones to R-3, that will allow for high density housing. Undeveloped land in the 6000 block of Grayston Avenue will become an apartment complex. The 4.4 acres will eventually hold 95 apartments of one- and two-bedroom units. It is estimated that will add 180 additional vehicles to the neighborhood. Plans are for building 2.3 parking spaces per unit. Individual buildings in the project may be built over time, depending on when and if the sewer moratorium is removed. Developer Ethan Collier said they can only build what WWTA will allow them to.
The property is currently in a flood zone so to build on it will require 12 feet of fill dirt and under that, an underground detention pond to contain stormwater. The project had unanimously been approved by the East Ridge Planning Commission.
A public hearing and first vote also approved rezoning 664, 678 and 691 Layfield Road from single-family residential district to 9-3 Residential Apartment district. The developer plans on building individually owned townhouses, not apartments, on this land that totals just under one acre. The space will hold the buildings by removing the individual lot lines. Kenny Custer, representing ASA Engineering, said there will be room for either detached or attached single-family townhouses. He said that by having a common parking lot versus individual garages, the developer is hoping to keep the price points around the mid-$200,000 range.
Two provisions were passed at the meeting which updates the city to be in compliance with the state of Tennessee codes. The width of streets in subdivisions were amended with additional right of way, in order to prohibit the city from taking private land for public use. And subdivision procedures will be changed by using electronic plats.
The council also approved a development agreement with Darsh Hospitality, LLC relating to improvements in its Baymont by Wyndham Motel that is near the Exit One retail center. This project, using the city’s border region status, had previously been approved by the East Ridge Industrial Development Board. The incentive agreement that was unanimously approved by the council members will give 65 percent of the $3.5 million expected revenue to Darsh Hospitality and 35 percent, or $1.1 million for the city.
Interim City Manager Scott Miller gave an update on the multi-modal project that the city has been working on for the past several years. He said that work has been delayed by the recent rain. Plans are to finish improvements on the south side of Ringgold Road before Christmas prior to crossing the street to work on the north side. Two change orders were presented to the council for cost increases of this project. Jeff Sikes, an engineer with ASA, told the council that since the work started, engineers had been searching for sewer records but have found very few. Once they started digging, he said, they found serious problems with the drainage network. In particular, problems from Moore Road to McBrien Road where, for example, 18-inch drainage pipes led into undersized, 12-inch pipes. A junction box without a lid was uncovered and some of the pipes were stopped up. Upgrades are needed to correct those issues and redirect where the water empties. These improvements will add $357,000 to the original cost and will require a budget amendment to cover the added expense. The city will ask TDOT to reimburse 90 percent of this cost.
Paving that the city had planned for this year has been delayed by the heavy rain. There must be a period of 4-5 days of dry weather and temperatures of 50 degrees or higher to pave, said Mr. Miller. The city budgeted $1 million for resurfacing the worst of the city’s streets this year. Mr. Miller said he would like to set a goal of this level of resurfacing roads on an annual basis.
Leaf pick-up has also been affected by the rain. Public works employees have been diverted from collecting leaves to clearing storm drains. And delivery of the new leaf vacuum that was ordered has been delayed.
Throughout the entire month of December, the East Ridge Animal Services is adopting animals free of charge. People who are interested are urged to take advantage of this policy and contact the shelter.
Mayor Brian Williams said the East Ridge Christmas parade this year was the largest in the city’s history. The first-place winner was Belvoir Christin Academy, second place was Girl Scout troop 40744 and Cub Scout Pack 3007 came in third.
On Thursday night, two new police officers were sworn in, Jonathan Mueller and Dylon McCloud.
The 2022 audit report was presented to the council by CPA Garrett Williams with HHM. As part of their audit process, they did not propose significant adjustments to the city’s financial records. There were no uncorrected misstatements. Further, they did not become aware of any fraudulent or illegal acts.
The auditors did report one finding though. The city’s fire department was not properly recording payroll and the city did not have proper controls in place to ensure both the employees and management were verifying and approving the time that was being recorded. The errors were identified by current personnel and appropriate measures were immediately put in place to remedy the errors and to prevent any further occurrences in the future. The city is evaluating the potential impact to the employees and the next steps will be determined once the evaluation is complete.
The second city council meeting of the month, scheduled for Dec. 22, has been cancelled.