The Collinwood City Commission met in regular session on Monday, October 19th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the conference/courtroom of Collinwood City Hall.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Glenn Brown. All commissioners were in attendance, including Vice Mayor Danny Sandusky, Commissioner Jeremiah Stults, Commissioner Debie Pigg, and Commissioner Butch Kephart. City Manager Gary Victory and City Recorder Cindy Kephart were in attendance as well.
The invocation was offered by Commissioner Stults, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
First was approval of the agenda. A motion was made by Commissioner Pigg and seconded by Vice Mayor Sandusky to approve the agenda as presented, and the motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was the approval of the minutes from the regular meeting held on September 14th, 2020. Commissioner Stults made a motion and Commissioner Kephart seconded to approve the minutes, and they were unanimously approved.
Department reports were distributed to the commissioners for their review, and the commission had no questions or discussion regarding the reports.
Next on the agenda was a discussion of the proposal for the city to take over water lines from the county. The cities of Clifton and Waynesboro have agreed to take their lines over from the county, and the county is making the same offer to the City of Collinwood of $105,000 paid out over a six-month period to help offset repairs and depreciation. City Manager Victory said that he doesn’t necessarily feel that the city will be better off by taking over the lines, but the State Comptroller said that they feel that the city could manage the lines better and should therefore take them over. Vice Mayor Sandusky made a motion to table the issue until the next meeting, and have County Executive Mangubat and/or members of the County Water Board come for a discussion of the proposal prior to the meeting. Commissioner Kephart seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
City Manager Victory next gave a report on the CDBG Water Grant, stating that the contract was signed last week. The grant funds received will be $261,000, with the city’s match amount being $39,000. The funds will be used to replace more of the old water meters with new automated readers, and to install some zone meters to better determine how much water the city is actually losing.
City street speed bumps were next on the agenda. Commissioner Kephart said that he had been approached by a city resident who requested a speed bump be installed on their street, and City Manager Victory said that lots of residents have requested them throughout the city. Maintenance Supervisor Ricky Bratton confirmed that new speed bumps like the ones currently in place on 1st Avenue cost around $1,500-$1,600.
Next was the Tennessee CARES Act. City Manager Victory confirmed that the city has been allocated $14,160, but it has not yet been received.
City Manager Victory next presented an estimate from Cook’s Pest Control for pest control at city buildings. He said that he was in the process of getting estimates from other companies as well for comparison.
Mayor Brown then presented the Wayne County Welcome Center report for the month of September. The Welcome Center was open 13 days during the month of September, and had a total of 316 visitors from Tennessee and 22 other states. Volunteer of the Month was Jasper Brewer.
Under open items on the agenda, Vice Mayor Sandusky and Commissioner Stults both mentioned that the stray dog problem is continuing to worsen in the city.
City Manager Victory said that he had received a request for the city to install a “Blessing Box” somewhere in town that would contain donated food and other essential items that people in need could get for free. Commissioner Stults suggested that Victory check with Lawrenceburg and other cities that already have these to see how they are operated.
City Manager Victory then reminded everyone that the City Cleanup Week is the first week of November. With no further business to come before the commission, Vice Mayor Sandusky made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Pigg seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned.
