A new development of up to 10 apartment units will be built at 221 Sweetland Dr. in Red Bank after the board of commissioners approved a zoning change from R-1, single family residential, to R-3 that will allow multi-family dwellings. The apartments will be two stories, two-bedroom units in two or three buildings.
Mayor Hollie Berry welcomed the additional housing for the city and noted that it is walkable to the site of the former Save-A-Lot grocery store that is being planned as a mixed-use development.
The Red Bank Community Center will be getting upgrades to its audio-visual equipment that can be used for interactive displays and conferencing during meetings that are often held there. Police Chief Dan Seymour said there will be a large smart TV screen in the center of the room and two smaller ones on each side, all with streaming capabilities. There will also be a couple of new security cameras and wireless microphones. American Rescue Plan funds will be used to buy the equipment, in the amount of $24,875.
Chief Seymour was also authorized to enter into an agreement with Infosec to provide security training for the entire workforce of the city. The service will train every employee that has access to a computer and uses email, training them for how to mitigate employe related security risks such as phishing, identity theft and prevention of malware. The three-year, renewable contract is $5,050. The city will pay $1,683 annually that will come from ARP funds. Commissioner Hayes Wilkinson said that is a small amount of money to spend to that could save the city a lot of money.
The city of Red Bank undertakes the clean-up of Stringer’s Branch that runs through the city, twice a year, in spring and fall. The commissioners approved applying for the American Water Environmental Grant for 2024. The city has received this grant each year and it has been applied toward recouping the expenses for debris removal, such as paying overtime to employees and for contracted labor. This year the application will be for up to $3,500 and would require no match from the city.
Many grant applications relating to transportation and infrastructure, including the Red Bank Bicycle Boulevard, come from TDOT. When the project is approved and the grant is received, the projects which the money is used for requires professional services that meet the requirements set by TDOT and the Federal Highway Administration. The commissioners approved adopting the consultant selection policy that has been approved by TDOT for choosing those professional services.
City Manager Martin Granum said that the city has benefited in many ways from being a part of the Small Cities Coalition of Hamilton County. This group of six small municipalities was first formed in 2015 and the agreements need to be refreshed and cleaned up after nine years, he said, even though there are no changes. The group is represented by Bridgett Raper who meets with the six city managers each month and shares information about issues that have the potential to affect the small cities. She communicates with media outlets and other organizations on behalf of the group, and is the cities' legislative liaison for overlapping legislative issues, said Mr. Granum. Red Bank’s cost to continue being part of the coalition is $20,000-$25,000 each year, which was unanimously approved.
The 2024 budget that ends June 30, 2024 was amended in order to appropriate unbudgeted expenditures and grant funding for the general fund in the amount of $553,936 and the State Street Aid Fund in the amount of $280,000.