(upbeat music) - You're watching highlights of the Chattanooga City Council meeting.

A production of WTCI PBS.

(gavel bangs) - Calling our Tuesday, April 25th City Council meeting to order.

We have no special presentations today.

Can I get approval on the minutes?

Okay.

Minutes will stand without objection.

Madam Clerk, could you read ordinances under final reading?

- An ordinance closing and abandoning a sewer easement located at 7531 Pinewood Drive beginning at MH number S149B002 fence Northwest 317 feet to MH number S149B003 fence Northeast 294 feet, and ending at MH number S149B004.

Tax map number 149C-A-009 as detailed on the attached map subject to certain conditions.

- Right, Councilman Ledford?

- [Ledford] Move to approve on final reading.

- [Speaker] Seconded.

- Okay, it's been moved and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- All opposed?

Okay.

Motion passes.

Madam Clerk, could you read item on the first reading, item A.

An ordinance closing and abandoning a sewer easement located at the 1800 block of Ridgewood Drive, beginning at MH number S156F093, then Southwest 120 feet to MH number S156F016, tax map number 156F-M-003 as detailed on the attached map subject to certain conditions.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Madam Chair if you'll permit me to move for approval on first reading since our District 9 representative is not with us this afternoon.

- All right, thank you.

All right.

It's been motioned and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- All opposed?

Okay.

Motion passes.

Madam Clerk, under resolutions, if you can read item A under economic development?

- A resolution to amend resolution number 30548, relocating $1,448,742 and 0 cents from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, for the acquisition, renovation and operation of a hotel/motel to serve as a non congregate emergency shelter to be reallocated for any community development block grant COVID eligible activities.

- Right, Councilwoman Berz?

- [Berz] Move approval.

- [Speaker] Second.

- Okay, it's been motioned and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions?

Okay.

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- All opposed?

Motion passes.

Madam Clerk Item B under parks and outdoors.

- Resolution authorizing the administrator for the Department of Parks and Outdoors to approve change order number one, final, with AstroTurf Construction Corporation for the Jim Frost Stadium.

Conversion of natural grass field to synthetic turf to the donation and funding agreement to increase by $78,762 and 0 cents due to sub-grade remediation, addition of Frost Stadium logo, double base anchors, and other construction changes for a revised payment amount of $161,262 and 0 cents.

Okay, Councilwoman Noel?

- [Noel] Move to approve.

- [Speaker] Second.

- Okay, it's been motioned and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [Speaker] Aye.

- All opposed.

Motion passes.

Item C on the public works.

- A resolution authorizing the administrator for the Department of Public Works to renew year three of a four year term for the on-call blanket contracts for the Geo Environmental Consulting and Construction Materials Testing Services, contract number E-21-002-301, with the following seven consultant firms: Geo Services, LLC, Geo Sintech Consultants, K S Ware and Associates, LLC.

S&M E Incorporated, Stanec Consulting Services Incorporated, Terracon Consultants Incorporated, and Thompson Engineering Incorporated, based upon the three service categories of geotechnical, construction materials testing, and environmental services for each qualified consultant for an annual amount of 1.5 million to be used by all departments.

(indistinct comments) - Okay, so we've moved and properly second.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- All opposed.

Motion passes.

Item D under public works.

- A resolution to amend resolution number 31478, for the on-call blanket contracts for on-call design and plan production services, contract number S-20-004-100, so as to change the contracting name of Chazen to the contracting name of La Bella Associates effective as of December 31st, 2021.

(indistinct) Okay, it's been motioned and properly second.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

All opposed?

Motion passes.

Next we have purchases by Julia.

- Good evening counsel.

We have two purchases recommended for approval this evening.

The first is from the Chattanooga Division of Transportation and Traffic Operations Division.

This is a new blanket contract for traffic sign posts.

This will be a four year agreement not to exceed $80,000 per year.

Four bids were requested and two were returned.

The award will go to Volcan Inc. as the best bid for the city of Chattanooga.

The second is from the wastewater department.

This is a new blanket contract for remote monitoring services for the cryogenic oxygen generation system.

This will be a four year agreement not to exceed $325,000 per year.

Four bids were requested and two were returned.

The award will go to Solution Works Inc. as the best bid for the city of Chattanooga.

(indistinct) - Okay, it's been motioned and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- All opposed?

Okay.

Motion passes.

- We do have one RFP that we are requesting approval to issue the RFP.

Again, this is just to issue not to approve an award at this time.

This is from Human Resources.

This RFP is for onsite pharmacy services at the Well Advantage Center.

Each provider of this category of services provides a unique model of operations.

The city needs to be able to actively make sure that the model provided meets the city's needs.

(indistinct comments) - [Chair] Thanks, it's been motioned and properly seconded.

Any comments or questions about the RFP?

All in favor?

- [All] Aye.

- [Chair] All opposed?

Okay.

Motion passes.

- Lastly, we have one sole source purchase to report.

This is from Community Health.

This is a sole source purchase for radio advertisements from Brewer Media Group for a community outreach partnership.

The total cost is $49,941.

This is the only vendor whose radio stations reach the community safety and gun violence prevention division's target market.

- [Chair] All right, Julia, and do we have a renewal?

- Yes.

Renewals just are reported within the packet and not read into the record.

- [Chair] All right, thank you.

- Yes.

- All right.

Committee reports.

Councilman Henderson.

- [Henderson] We will be having a public safety committee meeting May the 16th, where we will receive the park quarterly report.

That's all.

- [Chair] Thank you.

Councilman Smith?

- [Smith] No report chair.

- [Chair] Thank you.

Councilman Ledford?

- [Ledford] Thank you Madam Chair.

Planning zoning will meet on May 2nd.

- [Chair] Thank you.

Councilman Hester?

- [Hester] No report.

- [Chair] Okay.

Councilwoman Noel?

- [Noel] No report Madam Chair.

- [Chair] Councilman Berz?

- [Berz] No report.

- [Chair] And Madam Vice Chair Hill?

- [Hill] The Affordable Housing Committee met today, and we had a presentation on the allocation for this year's CDBG and Home Funds.

- [Chair] All right, thank you.

And now we'll have time for recognitions of persons wishing to address the council.

City Attorney, would you please read the rules?

- Sure.

At the end of every city council business meeting, the chair will recognize members of the public who wish to address the council.

Come up front at this point and speak at the microphone that is provided for that purpose.

You can't have more than three minutes to speak, and you can only address the council upon matters within their legislative and quasi-judicial authority, and not address the council on matters which are outside their authority or regulated by other governmental bodies or agencies.

Can't use vulgar or obscene language, nor use of floor to personally attack or personally denigrate others.

And address your comments to the council as a whole and not make comments directed towards individual council members.

And lastly, do not engage in disorderly conduct or disrupting a public meeting.

It is prohibited by Tennessee law.

If someone commits that offense, if a person substantially obstructs or interferes with the meeting by physical action, or verbal utterance, with the intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting or gathering.

Having stated those rules, go ahead sir.

- Yes.

My name is Mike Smith.

I live in District 3.

I'm the executive director of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.

I represent the state of Tennessee for the National Alliance to End Homelessness on their leadership council.

I'm come tonight because June 27th through 29th we are convening statewide leadership here in Chattanooga for our conference.

It's our annual education conference, called Leading The Way Home Tennessee.

We believe that this community has the ability to show the rest of the country how to end homelessness.

And so I wanted to come here to invite all of you to register to come to the conference, learn from national experts, but we're also gonna be spotlighting best practices here in our community.

One of those best practices is La Paz of Chattanooga.

You know, many people think of the homeless coalition as system leaders for homelessness.

La Paz is doing that for the Latino community as well.

And I would be remiss without advocating on their behalf.

We partnered with La Paz during the heat of the pandemic when- Shoot.

Sorry.

You can bill me.

We partnered with La Paz in the heat of Covid when Covid was ravaging the Latino community.

We needed to find a way to reach this subpopulation.

And no other provider in our community was able to do so as effectively as La Paz.

I'll give my time back.

Thank you- - [Chair] Mike.

Mike, when is the event?

- It is June 27th through 29th at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

- [Chair] Okay.

Thank you.

- Vice Chair Hill, I can tell you she's registered.

- [Chair] Oh, okay.

Well thank you.

(indistinct comments) (laughing) - Hello, Joshua College here.

I'm an advocate for unsheltered citizens and community.

I wanna thank Mike personally for what he's doing.

I got his email, and I'm gonna make every effort I can to attend that event.

And again, I'll second that.

You know, we're both basically trying to do the same thing.

All of us basically trying to help folks.

And so this is what he's doing as a leader is what's right.

You know, getting people together from all across the country, not just this community.

'Cause we got a lot of people that care here.

You know, innovations about including others, and creating a sense of change that includes ideas that possibly we haven't thought about, or removing some of those barriers.

And so what he's doing and what y'all are doing, and showing up last week, I think, at the public event where the mayor spoke, that's really showing I think the emphasis from a political aspect, priority of what it means to be a Chattanoogan, and to care for other people.

I didn't grow up in Chattanooga.

I moved here I think 12 years ago after serving in the military, attended UTC.

And you know, basically when the terrorist attacks happened in July 16th, 2015, you know, I saw tragedy, but I saw triumph.

I saw people come together in this community and I saw the love that we have as Americans for one another.

And I really want to focus on not waiting 'til it's a tragedy to have that triumph and what Mike's doing and everybody else in the community, coming together help right here, the mayor and y'all.

That's what it takes really to work together.

You know, I've done a lot of high tech stuff and low tech stuff.

You know, I live off grid myself in a little tiny house, you know, I've been doing that for quite a while.

I can sit here and brag about other things I've accomplished.

But basically when you work hard and you don't quit, that's what it's all about.

When y'all sent me that letter and said you're gonna arrest me for building these tiny homes I went and ran 26 miles.

'Cause I didn't know what else to do.

And at the end of it I thought I'd feel better, but I didn't actually, because I didn't achieve the end that I needed, which was a home.

And so by working with Mike and all these folks, you know, I've been at this for quite a while.

I had a company in Chattanooga I started, and that's how I became familiar with homeless folks.

They would drive past my business with a shopping cart.

And it started out by waving and asking if I could help out.

And they worked to get themselves off the street.

And I looked for six years for those people.

And I found them working down at the community kitchen.

So when you invest in folks, you get a payback.

So when Brett comes here, he's off working right now he's doing what he's supposed to.

He's just one person.

I'm just one person.

We're all just individuals.

And when you help an individual, you don't know what that person can do.

We all fall short.

We can be the strongest Olympian in the world, but if you get a cold or a flu or something, how are you gonna run a marathon?

You know?

If somebody in your family dies, and or you lose a child or a parent, you know, that's a really hard thing to do.

So going into work is a hard thing to do sometimes.

So when people slip up or they get in a car wreck, I was in a car wreck at no fault of my own, it took me eight months to recover from that.

And fortunately, I had some family and support, you know, and I know Chattanooga's got my back, and I've got Chattanooga's back, and I know Mike's got everybody's back here.

So thank y'all.

Please back him, attend his event, and thank y'all for this opportunity to speak.

Thank God.

(timer beeping) - Thank you, counsel.

Thank you Madame Chair.

My name is Don Benedict.

I'm with district, I live in District 7.

I've lived there for 16 years.

I'm here about the barking dog ordinance that I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with.

This is involving the GoDog on 20th Street.

They had been cited, and we had a court date last week.

We did everything that we were asked to do before the court date, which was to document and record the sound noises.

And we even did sound decibels from outside homes, inside homes, everything that we could.

When we got to court, the city attorney asked us to come back to a conference room.

We got into the conference room, and he basically told us we were wasting our time, that they had an attorney, and regardless if we won, they were going to appeal.

If they appealed, it was gonna be another two to three months before it went back again.

If we won, they were gonna appeal again.

He basically said, you're not gonna get anything done in this courtroom for a period of six months.

And we've already waited five months.

This is a period of almost a year, 11 months, that this business has been allowed to violate the ordinance that is there for the peace and enjoyment of everyone's community.

And it is impossible to enjoy your home when you hear barking dogs, loudly outside your window, your porch, every single day.

Every one of you get to go home to your home as a retreat, to relax, and rest.

And we go to our homes, and it's a torture chamber that we cannot escape from because it's right outside our front door.

Our homes have become our prisons, and we can't seem to do anything about it.

And while we are very grateful for the dog ordinance, the barking ordinance, and you just passed another one for residents, it is nothing.

It's meaningless.

And we were told that we didn't even get to speak in the courtroom.

The attorney spoke, the owner of the business spoke, but we didn't even get to say anything.

And now that they have another 60 days to try to do something about it, which means we have another 60 days to listen to the awful barking that's been going on, and they've been there for five months.

To think that they have any intention of doing anything when they haven't done anything for the entire period of time that they've been there, is really just, it's a joke, because they clearly don't have any intention.

Even with the citation that they've got, and waiting for court date, dogs barking every single day.

They don't care.

Thank you.

- All right, let me, will you come back, Mr. Benedict?

Okay.

Councilwoman Berz?

- Thank you Madam Chair.

So are is your, you said we, you have a group?

A neighborhood association?

- We do not have a neighborhood association.

- You have a group.

- [Don] Yes.

- Has anyone spoken to you about a private action?

A cease and desist?

Going to court yourselves?

- [Don] No.

- Well, you might talk among your colleagues in the area.

It may be that sometimes, unfortunately, city court isn't the place to go for what you want.

And very often it's private actions that are effective.

So you may consult with someone about that.

- [Don] Thank you.

(indistinct comment) - Which city attorney was with you there as well?

I need to know on David Schmidt?

One of the issues in city court, is that there is just simply a $50 fine for each offense in that regard.

And what Councilwoman Berz is referring to, is there may be potentially a nuisance action that can be filed to avoid that if it's a continuing offense, and that has got a lot more teeth to it than just a $50 fine.

So if you'll contact Mr. Schmidt in our office, at least we can try to, at least get you the sections that would allow that to occur.

You'd probably need to have a private attorney to proceed with that, but we'll try to help you in that regard.

- [Don] Thank you very much.

- Yes, sir.

- Right.

Thank you Mr. Benedict.

- Good evening, councilpersons.

Joe Hunter, 9001 Cut court.

But I'm here today actually to celebrate, and let you know what God has done through my hands, my head, my feet, and your funds.

Over the last five years, I have been over Teen Empowerment, which was a youth enrichment program, the gang intervention program, and prevention program, inside the community centers at Eastdale, at Carver Center, at East Chattanooga Center, and also at Westside.

Last time I was here, I offered to stay a couple of more years, but my skills were no longer wanted.

So I'll go ahead and move on.

So I'm retiring as of Friday.

Thank you for allowing me to do, use my God gifts to help your children.

We've helped save many lives.

At this point, no one's talking to your young men and young ladies who are in the streets with pistols, marijuana, and drink.

So I would suggest that someone look into that, because if you leave them alone, eventually they're gonna continue to do what they do.

So, I was glad to be involved and engaged, but at this point I'm moving on to write books, and build homes, and a camp in Tuskegee, Alabama.

That's where I'm headed.

So, but I just wanted to thank you all as a city, as council, Andy Berg brought me here.

We were very successful in our work.

And I just wanted to come and give God praise and thanks on the public record that we were successful in doing that.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

- [Chair] Thank you so much for your time and service with the city.

We appreciate you Uncle John.

- All right, thank you.

- Thank you.

(applause) All right.

I don't see anyone else.

Counsel, what's your pleasure?

- [Speaker] Adjourn.

- All right.

Meeting adjourned.

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