Greenfield Board Approves Clear Well Inspection Bid, Beer License and Comp Time Amendment

BY DAVID FISHER
david@magicvalleypublishing.com

During the regular monthly meeting of the Greenfield Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday, March 14, the board gave the green light for a project that involves installing piping to bypass the city’s clear well, so it can be drained. This will allow the clear well to be inspected to determine if it needs to be rehabbed.
Additionally, the board approved a beer permit for the new owner of a local business.
They also passed an amendment to the city’s Comp Time Policy, which will give municipal employees more time to use their comp time before it expires.

Clear Well Inspection Project

Public Works Director Robert Rodriguez asked the board to approve the low bid of $11,235 submitted by WaterServ Company of Newbern, TN, for installing piping at the city’s 100,000 gallon reservoir water treatment plant. The pipe will bypass the clear well so it can be drained and inspected.
Rodriguez explained the city is required to inspect the clear well every five years, and during the last inspection, there were some issues found in the well. “They want to drain it and get in there and look at it, to see if it needs to be rehabbed,” Rodriguez said.
He mentioned the clear well was rehabbed around 1989, and state inspectors think it may need to be rehabbed again. “We’ll have to bypass it and use the city’s 25,000 gallon tank,” Rodriguez said. “We have to install the pipe in order to bypass it, which will allow the inspectors to get a good look at it to determine if there are more issues than the two or three spots they could see using a camera.”
A motion by Alderman James Roy Pope to approve the bid and allow the engineers to do whatever is necessary in order to correct the problems at the clear well, passed 7-0, with one board member absent.

Street Repairs

In answer to Pope’s inquiry concerning the status of work along Hwy 54, Rodriguez stated the street pavement problems along the shoulder of the road have been repaired, except for one location, but it will soon also be corrected.
Pope asked Rodriguez about a culvert at the intersection of Church and West Main streets. The public works director said, “It looks like the culvert is about six inches in diameter.” He noted this diameter of pipe is far too small to carry a large amount of water during a heavy downpour.
Rodriguez stated the pipe appears to dump water into a 4 ft. x 4 ft. boxed culvert, although he is uncertain how it is connected.
“Is that something we need to fix before we pave over that again?” Pope asked.
“We may have to hire some of that work out,” Rodriguez said.
Because there have been several accidents at that location, and due to it being a route to school, Pope requested Rodriguez to put it on his list of projects.

Beer Permit

Minutes before last Tuesday night’s Greenfield City Board meeting, members of the Greenfield Beer Board met to consider a request to grant a beer permit to Tri-Star Energy, Inc. out of Nashville, which purchased the Little General Convenience Store in Greenfield.
An attorney employed by Tri-Star Energy, Inc. stated the firm he represents has purchased many, if not all, of the stores owned by Cox Oil (Little General).
The attorney said Tri-Star Energy is a participant in the Responsible Vendor Program, which generally has more stringent requirements than what local governments require of store employees, to ensure that beer is not sold to minors. The Responsible Vendor program is a voluntary program that requires participating vendors to comply with employee training requirements, universal customer identification, and mandatory signage.
Even though the store already had a beer license, the city’s beer ordinance stipulates, when a business changes ownership, the new owner is required to apply for a beer license, in order to sell beer.
City Attorney Beau Pemberton informed the board that he has reviewed the application and everything appears to comport with the city’s beer ordinance. Therefore, Pemberton recommended the beer license be approved.
When it came to a vote, the beer license was approved 7-0. The beer permit was also unanimously approved during the Greenfield City Board meeting that followed.

Comp Time Amendment

Attorney Beau Pemberton stated he has looked into the issue of comp time, as requested by the city, and has developed a resolution amending the city’s comp time policy. The resolution specifies how accumulated comp time may be used.
There have been some comp time issues regarding city employees using their comp time within the 90 days that it was accumulated.
City Recorder Jerrica Spikes recommended the city amend the policy to 180 days, to allow for more flexibility, particularly taking into consideration the city’s small staff.
Pemberton stated the comp time resolution deals with non-exempt employees and non-exempt public safety employees. This will allow employees up to six months to use their comp time. All other portions of the existing comp time policy will remain in effect.
The resolution passed 6-0 with one alderman abstaining and another being absent.

Fire Prevention Fund

Fire Chief Bob Dudley stated he has spoken to Recorder Spikes and the auditors about restricting Fire Prevention Festival donations to its own checking account to help make it easier to keep track of donations and expenses.
Dudley explained that Spikes would be in charge of the Fire Prevention Festival Fund.
“She’ll make the deposits and withdrawals,” Dudley said. “I solicit for the funds. The funds go to Jerrica, who puts it in the account and pays the bills out of it. Currently, there’s a total $4,647 in that line item and It takes about $15,000 per year to put this event on.”
The board approved the request 6-0 with one alderman abstaining and another member being absent.

Police Department Grants

Police Chief Danny Smith stated his department applied for a Violent Crime Intervention Grant in January. “I got a tentative agreement and they’re going further on it. So, everything looks good on that.
“We received the Tennessee Highway Safety Office Grant totaling $5,000,” Smith said.
“We’re two officers short, but we’ve been interviewing this past week-and-a-half, and we think we have a couple (of candidates) that we can consider to fill the vacant officer positions. We’ve starting to do background checks on those now. So, hopefully, we’ll have someone to fill those empty slots in the next week or two.”

Financial Report

In the financial report, Mayor McAdams stated local sales tax revenues for the month of February was $39,545.32, compared to January’s total of $34,936.34, which amounts to an increase of $4,608.98. She noted, during February, state sales taxes totaled $23,394.13, while January’s collections were $19,889.43, for an increase of $3,504.70. The increase in local and state sales tax revenue combined amounted to $8,113.68.
“That’s awesome! We’re moving ahead,” McAdams said.

Citizens Input

Local citizen Ray Sellers asked why the announcement regarding the Senior Center potluck luncheon could not be displayed on the city’s sign located on the Hwy 45 four-lane.
Mayor McAdams explained she was not made aware of the request until two days prior to the event and she had already changed the sign for that week. She changes it once a week, so she needs more advance time.

Announcements

Mayor Cindy McAdams stated those aldermen who wish to attend the Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Tuesday, April 18, need to let her know for planning purposes.
McAdams announced the Community-Wide Easter Egg Hunt is set for Friday, April 7 from 10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The rain date will be Saturday, April 8, with the same start and ending times.
She also mentioned that the Yard of the Month competition will begin in May and continue until October.
The next board meeting will be held Tuesday, April 11 at 5:30 pm.