GREENEVILLE CITY COUNCIL — July 7, 2026 AI-GENERATED, SPEAKER-LABELED TRANSCRIPT — UNOFFICIAL. Auto-transcribed (Whisper) and speaker-diarized (pyannote) from the town's public Facebook video, then speaker names mapped from roll call and context. Speaker labels are best-effort and may be imperfect; a few voices could not be identified ([Unclear]/[Unknown]). This is a best-effort aid, NOT an official record. The Town of Greeneville's official minutes are the authoritative source. Source video: https://www.facebook.com/TownofGreeneville/videos/871765442257804/ Generated by GreeneTN (greenetn.com) — not affiliated with the Town of Greeneville. ====================================================================== [Invocation / Eddie Key (incoming Asst. Chief)] safe, Lord, and continue to do so. Lord, give this board and our elected officials knowledge to do the duties that they need to fulfill through the town. We thank you for all your glory, your honor, and your praise. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen. If you'll place the flag. I pledge allegiance [Pledge of Allegiance] to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thanks, everyone, for coming today. As far as Mayor's comments go, it says there's a retirement recognition, but that's not going to happen this time. It's going to be done in our next meeting in July. I want to thank Christina and Kathy and all of the town for the Juneteenth celebration and also the Fourth of July celebration this weekend. Had a good turnout. The parade was good. The fireworks were outstanding. And I had somebody ask us, who takes care of the fireworks? Where do they come in from? I said they come in from the fire hall because it is our assistant chief that does all the fireworks. work. So let's give Eric a hand. I don't know if some of you maybe saw that there was a partnership that was signed between the Park Service in Greene County to do some work out at Horse Creek. And I went out and watched that signing. It's the first time it's ever been done in the United States and so very proud of that activity that's going on. And I've never really been out there. Dang, it's pretty. And it's also 10 minutes away. Yes, I was working and playing golf. I didn't go out there on the creeks. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Don't tell that. [Mayor Cal Doty] Well, I can because I was not a real good person. But anyway, it is very beautiful, and it's amazing that you can get just off the road and be in the wilderness. So I'm excited about that opportunity out there. We also had a group yesterday that asked elected officials to come, And they talked a little bit about faith in our country and in Tennessee and the HJR, some number that was passed in the state Congress last year to recognize those kinds of activities. So it was a good get together. And then I would like to remind you that on Thursday, it is Lyrics on the Lawn, and it will be done the next three weeks. And I hope you'll be able to get down there. Maybe it'll be a little bit cooler than it was last week. I couldn't go out in that. Yes. And what else was there when we were talking coming up? [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Do you see the Declaration of Independence? Oh, that's tomorrow night at 530 in front of the courthouse. [Mayor Cal Doty] The Declaration of Independence is at 530 at the courthouse. And there will be people, a number of different people reading from that. So if you get a chance, come down. And I'd also, I'd like to ask Erin to come up and talk a little bit about some of the activities she's had going on at the library. I was down there Tuesday, the last couple of Tuesdays, and it is so cool. [Erin (Library Director)] Yeah, Mayor Doty asked me to come up and just talk a little bit about the activities we've had going on at the library recently. We just finished our summer reading program last Tuesday, which is something we do every year in June, every Tuesday in June. This year we had record attendance. We had over 320 children register for the program. And then each week we had over 100 and about 150 on average come and attend. we had activities the theme this year was dinosaurs which is a national program we get materials through the regional library for free and access to the manual and then we're free to do whatever we want we had some really fun activities we had scavenger hunts we had a fossil dig we had paleontologists come from the gray fossil site and then a archaeologist from Cherokee National Forest. They came, we partnered with Rural Resources. Sarah did some seed bombs with them [Mayor Cal Doty] to plant. What else did we do? I forgot. You had some special visitors, didn't you, the last day? [Erin (Library Director)] Oh, and we had some of the actors and actresses, or actresses mainly, from 1776. They came in costume, and they actually had the kids talk about the Declaration of Independence and actually get to sign it. So the kids got to sign the Declaration of Independence, which was very cool. They loved that. So that was really busy. That was very successful. Our book sale this year, which you graciously allowed us to be at the George Clem facility this year, we made over $32,000 to supplement our budget, which helps us make ends meet at the end of the year. So that was really really successful. I do want to give a shout out to, I think we had over 45 individual volunteers for the book sale who give hundreds and hundreds of hours. And that would, the book sale would not be possible without those volunteers. Mainly Diane Strymer, Darlene Moore, Betsy Reed. Gosh, I'm going to forget somebody. Mary Alice Williams, and then Ron Smith and Jim McGinn. And that's the core group. They organize everything. They make it happen. So we still do a lot of work at the library as far as receiving donations. I spend a lot of time organizing things. But without them, it wouldn't be possible. And I also wanted to mention that the summer reading program is, I have to raise money for that. So we got a grant from the Mary G.K. Fox Foundation, Trinity Methodist Church, the Buell and Mildred Brooks Estate. They provide funding for children's programming in Greene County. And then the Greeneville Women's Club and the Andrew Johnson Women's Club. The last thing is that we had a open house last week at the T. Elmer Cox Library to invite people to see the exhibit that Christopher Ghost put on, which is really interesting. It's actually about the founding of Greene County and the role that some of the Revolutionary War soldiers who fought on Kings Mountain played in developing Greene County and settling our area. So if you haven't been there, please come to the T. Elmer Cox Library when it's open. Look at the exhibit. it. It's fabulous. How long will it be there about? For the foreseeable future. Okay. At least for a few more months. And I also just want to thank everybody that works at the library. I have a really great staff at the moment. I couldn't do what, we couldn't do what we do without them. We all work together very well. So thank you to Hillary, Chris, gosh, Jonathan, Jessica, Grayson, Susan, Susie, Katie, June, and Cindy. Yeah. So I'm just really blessed. I love my job. I always tell you that I love my job. I have a great staff, and I'm really proud to serve the community of Greeneville and Greene County. So thank you. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you for all you do. And then just very quickly, there were 70 sailors that came in? A little over 100 that were actually here with families. Okay. And they came down and worked at the Robie Center and did some other activities around the area and got to do a lot of different things and see a lot of the town and getting a chance to talk to those guys. There were at least four of them that said, well, we're ready to come move here. So, and that's on top of the four to six that have already come here. So, it's a good bond, and they have all, we're all very, very appreciative of how Greeneville has adopted them, because most of the communities that have a sub named after them do not participate like we do. So, thanks to all that group. Anything else? Anything else? Okay. Public comments. Tracy Solomon would like to come up and say some words. [Tracy Solomon (citizen)] Mayor, council, Tracy Solomon, just read a statement here. I grew up in Greeneville. I took my first flight from the airport when I was 13 years old, Civil Air Patrol. That airport inspired me. Today it breaks my heart. because what should be one of Greeneville's greatest economic development assets has become one of its greatest disappointments. It's no longer just an airport issue. It's a jobs and investment issue, taxpayer issue, and tonight a leadership issue. Several months ago, I met with Airport Authority Paul McAfee because I wanted to help. I wanted to discuss aviation. I wanted to discuss the future of our airport. Instead, the conversation quickly turned to Scott Neiswanger. longer. Chairman McAfee referred to Scott as a narcissist and said he did not want to [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] build another building. Mr. Solomon, we can't understand. Can you slow down just a little [Tracy Solomon (citizen)] bit? I got a lot to read, but I'm sorry. I can. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I'll restart here. uh it's uh in my conversation with mcafee he replied referred to scott as a narcissist and said he did not want another building in greenville with scott's name on it i said something very simple in response i don't care whose name is on the building i care that the building gets built um you know my opinion of the airport authority should not decide who gets credit it should be creating opportunity in greenville for everyone instead greenville has reported and lost a major reportedly lost a major private aviation investment and the jobs that came with it public record shows that the airport adjacent property owned by andrea daniels wt daniel's wife was sold to the developer now suing the city over over a project that threatened the future of the airport. Today, WT Daniels sits on that airport authority that is supposed to protect that same airport. At a minimum, that creates questions that deserve independent review. I also applied through the town's official process for a Board of Position. I received no phone call, no email, no interview. I'm not asking why I wasn't appointed. I'm asking whether the process was transparent, transparent, merit-based, and fair. The applications were presented publicly, is my understanding. What not has been explained is the scoring, the weighting, and all that, the metrics that were used in those criteria. If the process is merit-based, the scoring will prove it. I've also become deeply concerned by the pattern I am seeing, an authority seeking greater financial independence, less oversight, less accountability. growing expenditures on outside service and lost private investment as you guys have witnessed questions surrounding appointments hiring governments and conflicts whether those appointments stem from poor judgment inadequate oversight or something else the pattern is moving this airport in the wrong direction council this is your airport authority you appointed it you oversee it tonight i respectfully ask that you require production of the airport authorities governing documents require written conflict disclosures require production of the board selection and airport manager hiring records and appoint an independent reviewer to examine governance of that authority and i'll leave with you one final question if the airport authority cannot attract contract investment, cannot earn public trust, and cannot become financially sustainable, then what? Because the airport authority doesn't ultimately pay the price. The taxpayers of Greeneville do. That's it. Thank you, Mr. Solomon. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay, we'll next go to unfinished business, and the one item is to consideration to approve the minutes of the regularly scheduled meeting held on June 16, 2026. We got these last week, so do I hear a motion to approve? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Motion to approve. [Mayor Cal Doty] Is there a second? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] Is there any further discussion or changes? If not, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. A consent agenda item is consideration to approve a resolution for the town of Greeneville to apply, accept, administer, and amend fiscal year 27 statewide school resource officer program grant for the Greeneville Police Department. Mr. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] I've asked Josh to come on up because he's next on the list too. But we've been working with the police department for several years now on this grant. It's a great opportunity for the town. And we have seven schools that we apply for in the amount of $75,000 per officer. And so that totals up to $525,000 that we're able to hopefully receive that funding again this year. So that grant just became available last Wednesday. And so we're asking for your approval to apply. There's no match with this grant. So it's a great opportunity for the police department and for our schools. [Mayor Cal Doty] We have a motion to approve. Do I hear a second? Second. Is there any further discussion? This is tough, isn't it? Hearing nothing or none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like, sign. Motion carries. Item 8.1 is announcement of the appointment of Mr. Josh Pierce as Chief of Police. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] So this announcement was made last Monday, well, maybe two Mondays ago on June 22nd. And then after that, he took official office on the next day or the next week on June 30th. And then last Thursday at the Greene County Courthouse, Judge Bailey officially sworn him into office. So we welcome him and his new role as the chief of police for the town of Greene. [Mayor Cal Doty] Josh will do a great job. He's done a great job up to this point. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] He's served in many roles for over the years that he's been working for the police department. [Mayor Cal Doty] And then do you maybe have something you'd like to say? [Chief Josh Pierce (Police)] I do. Eddie Key, if you can come this way. Throughout the chief's process, the interview process, and then further interview process with myself, we have selected Eddie Key as the assistant chief of the Greeneville Police Department to be effective July the 12th. It will be Sunday. He will officially take his role as assistant chief. Wearing in ceremony will be with Judge Bailey on July the 17th. It'll be a Friday at 1.30. So officially, Eddie Key will be taking over as assistant chief. [Mayor Cal Doty] Come on. Come on. [Invocation / Eddie Key (incoming Asst. Chief)] I guess all I'll say is I was blessed in 2005 when Mac Jones hired me as an auxiliary officer. I was more blessed in 2011 when Terry Cannon hired me as a full-time officer. I've enjoyed my time, and I have no desire to go anywhere else. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you. Congratulations. [Unknown] Congratulations. [Mayor Cal Doty] All right, item 8.2 is consideration to approve a bid proposal for construction of phase one sidewalk improvements on Bernard Avenue. Mr. Broyles. [Mr. Broyles (city staff)] Good afternoon, everyone. This is the community development block grant that we had received back in 2023 for improvements on Bernard Avenue. you. And if you remember, we had broken this up into a couple different phases. This is phase one, which is the area immediately around Eastview School. So we had solicited bids. We received five bids for this. And we have, myself and Scott went through these and we took a look at things. And this is one that's kind of unique. It's the part of this community development block grant. There are specific protocols for procurement, and you must award this to the lowest bidder unless they're not qualified, and you're not allowed to negotiate with any of the bidders. But the lowest bidder was Complete Construction Management. They're based out of Morristown. I was not familiar with them, nor was Scott, so I did a little background check on them and checked around and found out they had done some projects for the city of Morristown. So I reached out to the city of Morristown city manager, talked to him about them. They had a great review of them. He also informed me that they had done a project for Jefferson City. So I reached out to the Jefferson City city administrator as well, and they're doing a sidewalk project similar to what we're doing now in Jefferson City. So those were all positive reviews. But further, I wanted to see it firsthand. So I made a trip to Morristown and went to an active job site they're working on right now to see the quality of their work. And I think they're very qualified, and it would be my recommendation for them to be awarded this contract. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay. Okay, we have a recommendation. Do I hear a motion to approve? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Motion to approve. Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. [Unknown] Aye. [Mayor Cal Doty] Those against, like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 8.3 is consideration to approve a resolution to increase garbage rates for the Municipal Solid Waste Fund. Mr. Keith. [Unknown] Yes. [Unclear [S10]] Good afternoon. [Scott Keith (Public Works)] I'm coming before you this afternoon to describe and propose a rate increase for our commercial municipal solid waste. This will affect our front load dumpster service and our roll-off trash service. The cost across the board for everything solid waste is going up, and we've experienced some increase in cost for our transportation. Once we get it to the landfill, it's then transferred down to Morristown to that landfill, and obviously the costs of everything have been increasing, and thus our rates started to get a little behind. So the old rate was $47 a ton, and it's going to $65, And again, that reflects an increase in our transportation costs. So generally speaking, just for the one day, the calculation I used was just a per ton increase. Turns out most of the containers are about half, three quarters to a ton. So just a simple calculation adds about $20 to each of the rates for the one days. And then that's just multiplied across for the multiple day pickups. So that's basically it. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay, so that's your recommendation? [Scott Keith (Public Works)] Recommendation is to increase the rates as reflected, yes. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay, so we have a recommendation. Do I hear a motion to approve? [Scott Keith (Public Works)] Moved. [Mayor Cal Doty] Is there a second? [Council member [S12]] The increase in the fee, is that going to be passed on to the customer, I'm assuming? Yes. [Unclear [S10]] So is there no second? [Mayor Cal Doty] Second. [Unknown] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] One of the things I'd like to add is that we have sat back for a number of years and not really covered all the cost, I think. It's close. One of the things that we've talked about doing is trying to raise the fees that are paid for services. Scott's been, the Public Works Department has been trying to address those. So I applaud you for that and thank you. So we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 8.5 is consideration to approve a resolution to increase tipping fees for Class 1 commercial residential waste at the Greeneville-Green County landfill. Come back. You can't get away yet. [Unclear [S10]] This is the tipping fee from the 65. [Scott Keith (Public Works)] It's essentially the same. It's the same increase just applied to. It really is the same thing. [Unknown] Okay. [Mayor Cal Doty] Do we need to? [Scott Keith (Public Works)] That's what drives the increase to 65 on the front load waste. It's when the front loaders go in and go up to the transfer station. That's what this is. [Mayor Cal Doty] Can you take about two minutes and explain how our process works up there, down there, over there? We've got two different waste. [Unknown] Yeah. [Scott Keith (Public Works)] So there's the, and Tony, you might think this as well, Well, but there's two sides to what goes on out there. There's the demolition side that we run. That's all the construction debris. And then there's the municipal solid waste portion, the transfer station that the county maintains and operates. So when our front load dumpster service trucks go in there, our automated trucks go in there to pick up the residential solid waste, they're weighed. that goes up to the transfer station and it's dumped there and the county loads it up and hauls it down to morristown when the demo comes in it goes up to the hill up to our portion and we handle it from there so essentially that's where the separation is and so right now the county is taking all of our our municipal solid waste and hauling that down to morristown And then we're handling all of the demo. Is there any? We do the brush as well. We have the brush pad, so it's a separate operation as well. [Mayor Cal Doty] And one thing that we're looking at right now is the dump, the landfill. landfill is filling up, and we're having to try to get more space. And the cost to get that permitted and built is going to be $3 million, $4 million, $5 million, somewhere. [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] We'll spit it out and see what different colors for that. First, we've got to get permitted to do that first through TDEC. [Mayor Cal Doty] Yes, but that's a process that we're going through right now, and part of the reason some of these changes are being made, especially on the Class 4, is because preparing for the expenses we're going to have to make this change, if it happens. So, anyway. Okay, now, I'm sorry. [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] I have basically go up because our transportation rates are going up on us. [Scott Keith (Public Works)] So process for of standing up a temporary because when the demo landfill gets full, we're going to have to transport the demo is going to keep coming in. We're going to have to transport that to Morristown. So we're in the process now of standing up a temporary smaller scale transfer station inside the old building on our half, our side of it. We've got a permit in the works now for that, and it should be issued any day now. Just it's a transfer permit, allows us to take the demo in there, dump it on the floor, load it back up, and haul it to Morristown. We can't process it in any way. We can't keep it there for any length of time. It has to come in and go right back out. So we're in the process of going through there and getting that ready now. And Tony's going to talk about some equipment that'll be required for that operation. And then as we move forward, the new cell will be constructed. And Sultan is currently projecting that in early 2029. So we're going to be hauling demo for a little while. and we've got a process that we're planning for in order to do that so [Unclear [S14]] about the equipment this I think [Mayor Cal Doty] all right so we voted to approve the garbage rates for the municipal solid waste so next we're going is a consideration to prove a resolution to increase tipping fees for class 1 commercial residential waste at the the Greeneville-Green County landfill, and that's where it's going. Okay, so we have a recommendation. [Scott Keith (Public Works)] I do recommend implementing those rates to offset the transportation costs. [Mayor Cal Doty] I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. item 8.5 is consideration to approve the purchase of equipment to transport class 3 demolition waste not to exceed seven hundred thousand dollars [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] all right first we're like he said we're looking at different types of equipment to where we're going to bring it in and dump it out on the floor equipment to load that with roll-off containers containers the grapple truck will be our main piece that loads the roll-off trailers and that'll make it way more efficient and plus we're looking at equipment that public works will be able to use when we're done with the tire so we're trying to utilize this stuff but just get things that we can use in the future so it's not it doesn't feel like a total waste of money so we can use the roll-off containers we can use the grapple truck for brush later on or public works can i'll put it that way but for but for the time being that's what we'll use we'll get a that grapple truck it's all these will be a little bit cheaper but this this was high end quotes to start with and as i've been talking to the uh uh sales people we're working their prices down so it's not going to reach the 700,000 threshold. We'll work on that for sure. We'll see what kind of used equipment we can get. This is just a figure with some quotes to get us [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Where is it in the budget? It will come from The landfill fund has the way it's set up but it has the cash to pay for this. Okay. [Mayor Cal Doty] And one of the reasons we're getting started on it now is because we've got a guesstimate on when it's going to run out, but that's really kind of all that it is. It depends on how much stuff comes in. [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] And so we'll have a volume study done this month. I think he said he could probably come next week, didn't he? And that'll give us a better idea. but as it stands now, we're probably looking about a little over a year. And we can get most of this equipment within five weeks. And then the grapple truck, it may take a few months, but we'll have it before we fill up. So we'll have to order that one. [Mayor Cal Doty] And I think we'll be able to kind of almost have practice runs to figure out how best to do it. [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] Yeah. I mean, that's really the only solution we have at the time, the only thing that'll really work versus hauling everything off. We just have to try different things. We've went up on the rates to try to cover all these costs, and we're just getting prepared is about all I can say. I think we will be. I'm sure what we have to be yes I mean it leaves town that's just all there is to it whenever we fill up and then we'll get back on track when we get open and get established with the new landfill and we'll be back in business so I don't think we'll suffer too much loss for [Council member [S12]] a year or two. Tony is there a plan in place to you know mitigate this from happening in the future i know our landfill we don't just take greenville and green county solid waste we also allow outsiders to come in and fill up our our landfill so is there a plan in place to address that so that we're not in this predicament well we're sort of sooner rather than later yeah [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] with the rate increase to match you know surrounding counties they won't be bringing that in here they'd rather go you know they wouldn't spend the extra expense to bring it from Washington County to us or Hamblin County if the rates are close to the same but they've been bringing it here because it's cheaper so that's one way we've addressed it and yeah we we could look at that in the future about not accepting out of waste and plus we We bought the compactor because we've needed one for years, and it'll save a landfill by 30%. So, I mean, they're very expensive, but they're worth their weight in gold as far as saving space. So we've bought that. It was a used one, but I feel like it saved us now. So it's just steps like that we'll use to get there and make it last longer. [Mayor Cal Doty] And we also had a kind of a double trippy whammy between COVID and people doing renovations and cleaning their yards out, houses out, and then a lean. And so the life of the landfill went from 10 years to three years and a year or two years or some. It's just big changes. [Tony (Landfill/Solid Waste)] From 15,000 tons for a normal up to 26,000 during the floods and COVID and all, it jumped up, it climbed towards the 20,000 tons. And then when the floods came, it jumped up to 26, even though we limited what we tell you, you still got this other stuff that didn't come from the actual river, just storm damage. So we're seeing that it's going to average out about 22,000 a ton after things have settled down. Or 22,000 tons, not 8,000, I'm sorry. I believe that's going to be the new normal for a while with the population growth and stuff. That make sense? [Mayor Cal Doty] Yes. So we have a recommendation to buy some equipment to prepare for this change. And do I hear a motion? Is there a second? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against like sign. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] I forgot to vote. Aye. [Mayor Cal Doty] Aye. Okay. Motion carries. Thanks, guys. Thank you. You just don't like spending money. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] No. [Mayor Cal Doty] Out of 8.6 is consideration to approve the Blue Cross Blue Shield Administrative Services Agreement. [Lora Young (Finance Director)] Yes, the consideration to approve the Administrative Services Agreement and allow Kathy to sign off on that for us. We were looking at the agreement, Kathy and I were, And it looks like our increase on administrative costs is like for 26 is like $1.25. And then for 2027, $1.29. But other than that, in our summary that we have here, most of it is just language. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Christina, 151. [Lora Young (Finance Director)] Excuse me. Yeah, this is where the fees are listed. Oh, but the COBRA is calculated for, obviously, we have 2026, but 2728 have already given us the rates that we'll have. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] And most of the changes in this agreement, this is an annual agreement we bring before you. and most of the whole changes every year is just clarification of some language and then they remove some language and update some language the only thing majorly different is just that increase from 125 per um per subscriber per month versus the new rate of 129 which is pretty standard um three to four percent increase i mean it's it's pretty standard each year of of that [Lora Young (Finance Director)] Yeah. And with them giving our rates to with the year in advance, so then we know. So that's why I think sometimes we get our agreement sometime around April, late April, and then we're going to bring it in May. And then a lot of other things were going on. So that put us to here. [Mayor Cal Doty] But I do. Why do we not get it before January? [Lora Young (Finance Director)] we have never gotten the administrative services agreement we do receive our evidence of coverage [Mayor Cal Doty] for employees on the first if you're not getting it on until halfway through the year how do we budget for that well they're giving it to us in advance each year [Lora Young (Finance Director)] this one starts on january i know it says that but from the time she signs it she'll be dating it after you all approve it. So it's still going to be from July to July. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] I went back and looked at previous years before this meeting, and it always seems to be that we normally get it in the springtime, April, May, but we've never received it in an October timeframe. For some reason, it's always been in springtime when we receive it. but it historically has came back before you all every year in the months of April, May, June. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay, so we've got a recommendation to approve a annual agreement. Yes. Do I hear a motion to approve? Second. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] King Hammett. [Mayor Cal Doty] King Hammett. All right. We'll let you have it next time. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Dang, this might be one of the best meetings I've ever had. Item 8.7 is consideration to accept a donation in the amount of $30,160 from the Green County Tennis Association to fully fund the resurfacing of three courts on Hal Hennard. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] So, Mr. Bailiff here, but I'm going to go ahead and kind of lead up to this. So, a few months ago, you all approved, well, we finished up the agreement between the Division of Property on Hal Hennard Road. And with that signed agreement, that is one of the parts to that was that the county school or the Green County was going to graciously donate $75,000 toward the tennis court repairs. And then so did the Greeneville City Schools in the amount of $75,000. City Council approved a bit more than that because the town is going to exclusively own that property now. Now, I think your amount that was two, it was 96 or 98 because the grand total to reconstruct the three courts was 248, 657. I think that was the amount. And so that agreement has now been signed by baseline and they have got that contract and it's in the works to start that reconstruction of those three courts in mid to late July. and then in the meantime right after all of that happened David Weems who's not here today came to me and said that the Tennis Association which they had mentioned this early on to us months ago when we were talking about the reconstruction of the other three courts that they would do what they could to help raise some funds as best as they could for the other three courts and in that time frame in the last few months they have had several different fundraising events and have been able to to secure the full funding to resurface the other three courts once the reconstruction of the three courts happen in July. So the reconstruction of the three courts that you all approved is happening, like I said, in late July. And that process is supposed to take three to four weeks. And then once they're complete with that project, if approved today to accept their donation, and then the next item is to approve that contract with baseline, then they will follow up and work on the resurfacing of those three courts, which that is anticipated to only take about a week. So, and I brought him up here today to see if he wanted to speak on how they raised $30,160 to fully fund the resurfacing of those three courts. [Greene County Tennis Assoc. rep] I was going to say you took all the thunder out of my nose here. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Well, I don't know the fundraising efforts. [Greene County Tennis Assoc. rep] Last time we were here, we had our hand out. This time we're giving it to you. Thank you. You challenged us to raise the funds to take care of those other three courts, which we did. Biggest thing we did was we went up to corporates. As I said, we wouldn't be ashamed to have our hands out, so that's what we did. And of the funds that we raised, 69% come from corporate, and then 31% come from individuals and grants that we obtained. One of the biggest events we had was, they called us the three B's, bingo, balls, and bands. And people in Greene County love bingo. They showed up for it and showed out, contributed a lot. But we're glad to say that we have raised the funds. The board approved on June the 23rd to make this contribution back to the city. So at your request, we have the funds available to give to you. Thank you, Nikki Pierce, for showing up. My support. Again, thank you all. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you. Thank you. Who wants to make this motion? So moved. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] Did it hurt your feelings? Okay. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. [Council member [S12]] Aye. [Mayor Cal Doty] Those against, like, sign. Motion carries. Thank you so much. Yes. Item 8.8 is consideration Consideration to approve the proposal from baseline to resurface three courts on Howell Henry Road in the amount of $30,160. It's amazing how that works. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] This was just the proposal for me to sign the contract so that they can start the work after they finish the other three courts. [Mayor Cal Doty] Motion to approve. Second. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. He's item 8.9 is consideration of approving the recommendation to appoint Mr. Chuck Whitfield to the Greeneville Energy Authority for a five-year term. Duane, you want to come up for just a minute? [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] And I can kind of, I'll start what I know and then you can fill in where I mess up here. So the Greeneville Energy Authority met in earlier this, in the month of June and at their meeting. And from what I gather, they took some resumes from some individuals, and each of the board members called or interviewed those three on their own. And then they submitted their recommendation originally to the attorney. and then later it was said that they really just needed to vocalize that in a meeting with a recommendation and then go from there with who they who they approved to move forward in the process so if if i left anything out on that process you can yeah they all individually got [Duane (Greeneville Energy Authority)] to sit with uh each one of the candidates they had there so took some time to talk to them had had a little list of questions they could draw from to ask. And like you said, they just made their nominations in the open meeting, and they were unanimous with Chuck Whitfield in the end, their recommendation. [Council member [S12]] Is it public record who the other applicants were? [Duane (Greeneville Energy Authority)] Yes, it would be public record, yes. I guess it would be, yes. [Council member [S12]] So my only concern, this is not knocking your process. Your process is your process, and you explained it, and that's fine. My concern was just, and I expressed this to Kathy earlier today, it's a consideration to approve a recommendation to appoint somebody. So we're making a decision to say, yes, we want this person, but we have no idea who the other applicants were. Similar to airport authority, we get their full applications. We're able to review those. So I find it difficult to approve a recommendation because I haven't seen the other applicants. [Duane (Greeneville Energy Authority)] I'll be honest with you, in our- Our applications, rather. I mean, it doesn't require the energy authority or that board of directors to submit the resumes to be approved or disapproved. It requires them to submit a name to the city council. And the City Council has the ability then to either approve it, not approve it, or take no action, and it becomes approved in 60 days as an affirmative response. So, I mean, there isn't really a requirement in the Articles of Incorporation to provide any other information other than just the name. I mean, that's all that's required. If you'd like to privately see those, that's fine, but it really doesn't have a place in and a consideration for this council to actually debate between who those candidates were. I mean, that's not in the articles incorporation of how that was set up. [Council member [S12]] Well, I guess from my standpoint, it doesn't really make sense that you would need our approval if the recommendation stands and we can't evaluate the other applicants as well. Again, I'm not knocking that process. That's your process. But I find it difficult to be able to vote in favor of approving somebody when I've not seen other applicants. And the reason why I'm bringing this up is I actually had one of the applicants approach me and say, hey, I've put my name in for this. And I just told them, I said, well, I'll review your application like I would any other application for a board. But in going through the agenda packet, it wasn't there. So that was why I had the question. And I've asked Kathy about that. So I don't know if in the future we could just see all of the applicants on there They're still taking your recommendation into consideration, but it just seems kind of difficult for me to say yes, I approve without actually knowing where that person stands in comparison to the other applicants or even who the other applicants were. This seems not transparent from my point of view. And that's not a critique review or anything. Your process is your process, but I just find it difficult to approve. [Duane (Greeneville Energy Authority)] approve our board is charged within our articles of corporation of recommending a name it doesn't define a process for our board and how they arrive at that name it only says that they produce a name within their board and that comes to this town just for approval or disapproval like i said it's not it's not that this group actually evaluates those decisions i guess you might say it's they only evaluate the recommendation that's made i don't know how it the town of greenville is not appointing or giving the name of that person to the Greeneville Energy Authority board. The board is presenting that name to the city council for approval and that is that's really as far as it goes. I mean like I said there's not a if someone gave you a resume for the Greeneville Energy Authority board the proper thing would probably be to give that to one of our board members for consideration. I mean that's not a consideration of the city council. That's that's not the way that the incorporation of the energy authority was set up. But it is a consideration for us to [Council member [S12]] approve the recommendation right now and again i'm not i'm not criticizing you and i don't know the bylaws or how you all operate but right here we have a consideration to make an approval and i just i i just don't feel like we have enough information to use that to exercise that discretion that's my opinion but you've got two other council members who um and a mayor that can cast their opinion but that and again that's not meant to be a personal attack or critique that is genuine. I just find it difficult to approve a name whenever I've not seen anything else in comparison to approve. That's where I'm coming from. [Mayor Cal Doty] We have a recommendation. Do I hear a motion to approve? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like, sign? No. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. Item 810 is consideration of appointing two applicants for the town vacancies on Industrial Development Board of Greene County for a six-year term. And I'm going to let Kathy talk a little bit, and then we'll ask the people that have signed up to come up and say a few words. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] There are a total of nine applicants for these two spots on the IDB. And one of the requirements of serving on the IDB is that you either live in the city or that you own property to allow you to vote in a municipal election. section. So with that, out of the nine applicants, there are eight that either live in the city and and or own property, obviously in the city. And then there's a few that live in the county but still own property in the city, which means that they're a duly qualified voter. And so we've had two of those individuals that have served on the board for previous terms, and they are also applicants in this process, but then obviously we took in some new ones this go-around too. So this board is kind of unique too. There are seven city appointees on this board and seven county appointees on this board, plus the city and the county mayor. So this one for the city appointee slots come directly to city council to make that decision, that recommendation of who who they want those two individuals to be. Okay. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Did you, the qualifications to be on here, you have to either live in the city or own property? [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Where you are a duly qualified elector, so you can vote in a municipal election on this one. And out of the nine, eight meet those requirements. Okay. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] What I'd like to do is something we did similar last time. I'd like to divide this question. so that we can address a reappointment and then an appointment. Okay. And if you agree to do that, then I'd like to nominate that Brian Click be reappointed. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay. Can we do this? [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] So there's two on there that have currently served in this position for quite some time, and that has been Chuck Whitfield and Brian Clipp. And so their positions, their term of office is up. They know that. I reached out to them to let them know that. And so out of those, Brian does qualify for that position. He lives in the county. Brian's here so he can speak to this. But he has property in the city. And then Chuck Whitfield is listed also on this as one of the applicants. he had previously lived in the city i i didn't know this at the time but when he filled out the application he now lives in the county and it he's got it listed that he doesn't own property in the county so he would be the the one that that wouldn't qualify based on the the guidelines okay [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] and i might say as you do i serve on this industrial board and And Mr. Click, I can speak personally to his service on that board and Mr. Whitfield, but he doesn't meet those qualifications now. But Mr. Click, he's always there and participating. And I just feel like if folks want to continue to serve and are qualified active members, then on that basis, I would like to make a motion that he be reappointed. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. Now, can... [Unknown] Okay. [Mayor Cal Doty] So, can you go back to... Who was the first one? I think it was Courtney. Courtney, you want to come up and tell yourself? Thank you for... [Courtney (IDB applicant)] You're welcome. Applying. Well, I appreciate the opportunity. I've lived in Greene County since 1990. My wife and I and three children and now have three grandchildren. I am a business owner in both the county and city for 30 years. I'm currently retired. The businesses were sold in 2021. 2021 and they offered me an opportunity to stay for a year and now I have this opportunity to appear before you. My personal experience is I grew up on a farm outside of Roanoke, Virginia, 150 acres, 150 head of black Angus cattle. I know in the description of the requirements, It also lists agricultural as well as business. I was the CEO and managing member of seven companies in five states. I have an extensive amount of experience working with TDEC in all aspects of the environmental, air permitting, water permitting, stormwater permitting, as well as solid waste management and disposal. I have a strong background in leadership, problem solving, and working with a number of employees of various levels and responsibilities throughout my career. I have the ability to travel if travel is part of the requirement. I have a lot of experience growing businesses, developing buildings, work with contractors on construction sites. And I believe my skill set fits perfectly with the job description. I'm an excellent communicator, have tremendous computer skills, and would appreciate the opportunity to serve Greene County. I was a proud member of board of directors for Tuscaloosa College. I've been on the board at Boys and Girls Club. I've been on the board at the YMCA. My wife and I are proud to support the Humane Society as well as the Greene County Sheriff's Department and Police Department, specifically canine units. I would be happy to answer any questions or provide more thorough information. I know with eight candidates, you'd like to keep it moving, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have with specific areas of expertise or concern. [Mayor Cal Doty] Does anyone have any questions? [Unknown] Thank you. [Mayor Cal Doty] You did a great job. Thank you so much. Who's next? Mr. Jeff Idell, come on down and thank you for applying. Thank you. [Jeff Idell (IDB applicant)] Thank you for this opportunity. I've lived here all my life, been in business 39 years as Idell Construction and built several commercial and residential projects here. Been on various boards, different things here locally. Served with Young Life, Isaiah House, just the Hope Center, just different things involved in the community, involved in the church at First Baptist, and just extensive development on projects here locally and just love the opportunity to serve. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Jeff. [Unclear [S10]] We don't need to talk to him. Dallas L. Blair III. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you for your application. [Dallas L. Blair III (IDB applicant)] Thank you for allowing me to come and speak. I appreciate being able to be here today. When I considered applying for this, I looked at the history of what I've done, and I'm a sole practitioner here, attorney here in Greeneville, Tennessee. I've lived here since 1972, but for seven years when I went to the University of Tennessee and to Cumberland Law School in Birmingham, Alabama. My wife and I moved back here, raised three children, proud graduates of Greeneville High School, and we have been proud citizens of Greeneville and Greene County since that time. As a practicing attorney, the bulk of what I do is advising, creating, and advising businesses in operational plans and real estate development, working with contractors, working with taxing authorities to give them advice on how to lay to capital outlays and to look for opportunities to develop and grow their businesses. That's what I've been doing primarily since I I reopened my practice in 2010. Prior to that, I was a trust and investment banker with a major regional bank, started at Green County Bank. And so I've been on the other side of the fence working with financial institutions. I understand the impact and how to allocate resources with respect to financing and banking and advising businesses. And the reason that I've applied for this job is because I believe I can leverage the experience that I've had with creating and helping business owners create jobs and looking at development and looking at it from a pragmatic standpoint and also from a legal standpoint to analyze and break down complex issues, which is what I do every day when I advise businesses and how to expand. I'm very active here. Of course, as a practicing attorney, you have to be selective of what you can do, but I'm very involved with various nonprofit organizations, providing them with low-cost or complementary legal services such as Habitat for Humanity. I'm also just rotated off as the president of the Congregation of Reformation Lutheran Church, where I've served for eight years in that role, and I'm involved with other nonprofits here in the county and in the city. So I would look forward to the opportunity that I believe that I can bring to leverage my legal skills and my analytical skills to help the county grow and to help businesses to expand and to bring development opportunities for Greeneville. So that is why I've applied. [Mayor Cal Doty] Thank you, Dallas. [Dallas L. Blair III (IDB applicant)] Any others? [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay. Don Myers called me. me he is at the beach and if you don't know Don he worked at premium waters for a number of years as a plant manager and has been involved in a number of different opera option or things around the community so we'll move on to the next one I don't think we'll do that. Alex took his name out. Chuck's not a part of it. Maggie Mr. Maggie Mr. Lee. [Unclear [S10]] Okay. [Unknown] Okay. [Mayor Cal Doty] And then Joe Fillers. Thank you for your interest. [Joe Fillers (IDB applicant)] So I'm a native of Greene County. Grew up in the Cedar Creek community. Real estate license in 2003. Main focus of that has been commercial and industrial kind of stuff. I've been involved in many site selection processes, convenience stores, farm equipment, retail, demographics and things for some major grocery stores here locally, several medical and dental offices, restaurants, accounting firms, barbershops, then leases for investment companies, medical and dental offices again. Again, at several multifamily transactions, I have successfully completed the educational requirements to be a certified commercial investment member. What I can bring to the board is knowledge, experience, and dedication. I'd like to work with the rest of the board to create a higher standard of living and better quality of life for folks here in town. [Mayor Cal Doty] thank you sir all right i'm glad y'all are going to have to make this decision and not me [Councilman Tim] can i can i just say first thank you to everybody for for applying for this i don't know when i've seen a better qualified group of people seeking to to help this community in my life uh and i say that as honestly as i can this this is terrible because yeah i was thinking the exact same thing [Mayor Cal Doty] councilman let's give these guys a hand for doing this [Councilman Tim] everybody everybody that has come up here has a different specialty that would be useful and they all cross over i jenny you're on that board you got any thoughts [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] believe it or not i'm speechless [Mayor Cal Doty] um does anyone want to make a motion can we put them all on well we could start all over with the new board i guess Yes. And I want to mirror Tim's comments. This is the best, this is the strongest group I think I've seen come in and sign up for this. Do you all want to do it each one, one every seven months or something? We can take everybody's help. [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Well, also to make note, we're accepting applications now for the planning commission too. So keep that in mind and Parks and Rec and the Roby Advisory Board as well. So those were just released yesterday and they go, we take applications for those three till the 20th. Yeah. [Mayor Cal Doty] It won't get any easier, Will. [Council member [S12]] and Mayor don't you serve on the IDB as well? I do. Do you have any thoughts? You put Ms. Kidwell on the spot so I'm going to put you on the spot [Mayor Cal Doty] Do we have an attorney on our board? I'm serious [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] I can tell you who's on that board hold on just one second [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Yeah he's Jerry Laughlin staff said [Mayor Cal Doty] but he's a staff member [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] member. He's not on the board board. He's not a city appointee. Let's see. So for the city, do you want me to list who serves on the city? Yep. So obviously the town mayor, Mr. Doty, and then Chuck Whitfield has previously served on the board. Brian Click has previously served on the board. Those are the two whose terms are up currently. And then Brandon Hull is on that board. Dougie DeBusk, Ms. Kidwell, and then John Loven and Kent Bewley. Those are the city appointees. [Unclear [S10]] Yes. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Can we draw a name out of that? A lot of mayors. [Mayor Cal Doty] It's a lot of bears. I'll just step out and y'all can take it over. No. Huh? Killing me. We can't make a bad decision. We don't really have... We got John Loven that does kind of heavy-duty construction, but we really don't in Fortner who hasn't always been there. [Council member [S12]] I'm just going to go ahead and make a recommendation. Have mercy on my soul. Yeah, you laugh until the Facebook comments come around. I'm just kidding. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Just don't look. Just don't read them. [Council member [S12]] I'd like to make a motion for Mr. Jeff Idell to serve on the IDB. [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] I will second that motion. [Mayor Cal Doty] We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those against, like, sign. Motion carries. Thank you, everyone. [Councilman Tim] one. Let me say this one more time. That is as razor thin as it gets and I'm sorry. [Unknown] Please [Councilman Tim] apply for something else. Y'all have more talents that need to be used and unfortunately we had one spot to do it. So my apologies. But thank you. [Mayor Cal Doty] All right. And then we need to have a motion to... We took the vote on Brian, didn't we? [Cathy Osborne (Interim City Manager)] Yeah. Oh, we did? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] I missed that. We should have both. [Mayor Cal Doty] Okay. Item 811 is consideration to approve the appointment of Mr. Jason Horn as the school representative to the Greeneville Grip Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Got a motion? [Ginny Kidwell (Ward 1)] Second. [Mayor Cal Doty] Got a second. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Those against, like sign. Motion carries. Do I hear a motion to adjourn? So moved. Is there a second? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. [Unclear [S10]] We're adjourned.