The city of Red Bank recently adopted a master plan for the city as a whole and on Tuesday night a master plan for the parks and recreation department was approved. The plan, originated by Kimley–Horn Consultants over several years, was modified by city staff led by Parks and Recreation Manager Jefrey Grabe along with input from the city’s Parks and Recreation advisory board of residents. With the commissioners’ approval it is expected that grants for parks will be more available since the city has a master plan. Mr. Grabe said the next step will be to prioritize projects.
The city received an award for excellence in strategic planning at the recent Tennessee Municipal League conference.
Another big decision has been made. The city has been searching for a chief financial officer since John Alexander retired. During the search, the position was filled on an interim basis by Kristina Pickel from the Robert Half Agency. There were 23 applicants for the job but only seven were qualified, said Recorder Tracey Perry. Of those only two people showed up for an interview and Ms. Pickel was one of them. The commission approved paying $20,000 to Robert Half Company as a conversion fee from a contract position to a city employee.
City employees and the Red Bank Cemetery Advisory Board, another committee of citizens, have been working to clean up and improve the Red Bank Cemetery. Before disturbing it and making any big changes, the city decided to find out what is there that cannot be readily seen. The board of commissioners approved hiring environmental archologists to potentially locate unmarked graves and other anomalies with ground penetrating radar. The cost that was approved is $4,771, which includes a detailed report of what is discovered.
Purchases to replace old equipment were approved for the police, fire and public works departments. Six 2024 Ford Interceptor Utility all wheel drive vehicles, at a cost of $270,000, will be bought for the police department. And 2,000 feet of five-inch supply hose will be purchased for $19,975 for the fire department. Fire Chief Brent Syler was also authorized to apply for a $1,000 firefighting grant from Tennessee American Water Company. This grant is for 100 percent of the amount with no match required from the city.
The public works department has been getting by with hand-me-down radios from the fire and police. And although not budgeted, $68,781 was approved for the purchase of 10 new Motorola in-cab radios and nine new hand-held radios for the public works department upon request from Public Works Director Greg Tate. One of the automated garbage trucks will also be repaired for an amount not to exceed $16,000.
Two times in the last 20 years, 430 feet of Ashmore Avenue, commonly known as the Ashmore Slope, has been worked on to stabilize that area of the road. The last time, the city spent $62, 892 as an emergency repair, but it only lasted for eight years. Director Tate said that part of the road is a natural drainage area and a geotechnical expert is needed to identify the corrections that are needed for a permanent fix. A contract with Volkert, Inc. has been approved to provide project management services that will cost $264,715 and will include a survey of necessary services for the repair. The contract will also include a geotechnical evaluation of stabilization alternatives. Although this will not fix the problem, it will tell the city what needs to be done. During the time it will take Volkert to do the survey, Director Tate told the commissioners that he will look of grants that might offset some of the cost.
Property at 200 West Euclid was rezoned from R-1 Single Family Residential to R-TZ Residential Townhouse Zero lot line. The property will be divided and two single family houses will be built there. The houses are being built to sell not rent. No neighbors spoke for or against the rezoning.