2026-09-29 - City Council

01:53working hard

01:55[snorts]

02:00>> city council. Um, and if you'll please

02:03stand and join me in the pledge of

02:04allegiance.

02:06I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

02:09United States of America and to the

02:12republic for which it stands. One nation

02:15under God, indivisible, with liberty and

02:18justice for all. [clears throat]

02:22>> Thank you and welcome everyone. Thank

02:24you for your patience with us as we um

02:26got started a little late this

02:28afternoon. Um we like to at the

02:30beginning of our meetings give kind of a

02:33rundown of how our meetings operate so

02:34you'll know what to expect. Um the first

02:37half of our meeting um is what we call

02:39our agenda session. And so council will

02:42go through and [snorts] consider the

02:43items that are before us for a vote

02:45tonight. Um and also the items that are

02:48before us um for a vote next week.

02:50[snorts] And then even farther out,

02:52items that will come before us in 3

02:54weeks or or later. Um we will council

02:57will consider and discuss those items as

02:59needed so that so that we are well

03:02prepared for all the votes that we'll be

03:04taking. Uh we also have during our

03:06agenda session um a special presentation

03:10this evening from Carta and so we'll get

03:12to that in just a minute and we also

03:14have a department report um from DTS

03:18about the smart grant project that they

03:21have ongoing. Um we'll also look at our

03:24purchasing items. Um, and again, council

03:26will have the opportunity to ask any

03:28questions or raise any concerns about

03:30the items that are before us uh for

03:33approval regarding purchases this

03:35evening. Um, once we have done that,

03:37we'll take a recess um as we always do.

03:40And during that recess, we often have an

03:42attorney client meeting with our city

03:44attorney. Um, and I'm told that we do

03:46need a brief attorney client meeting

03:49this afternoon. And so, we'll do that

03:50during our recess. um so that when we

03:53get to the end of our agenda session,

03:55I'll announce the time that we'll be

03:57coming back for the second portion of

03:58our meeting, which is the voting portion

04:01um where we'll vote on all the items on

04:04tonight's agenda. And once we get to the

04:07end of that, there will be a time at the

04:10very end for public comment for members

04:12of the public who are here uh who would

04:14like to address council um on any topic.

04:17We're happy to hear from you at the

04:18podium down front when the time comes

04:20for that. Um, and so that is a rundown

04:24of how our meeting operates. U, so with

04:28that being said, council, could I get a

04:31motion on the minutes from our last

04:33meeting?

04:34>> Second.

04:35>> All right. Do have a motion properly

04:36seconded on the minutes from our

04:38September 22nd meeting, and they will

04:40stand as published.

04:42Um, [clears throat] and at this point,

04:45I'd like to invite up Charles Frasier

04:47from Carta, um, to give us an update

04:49about their parking enforcement

04:51initiatives.

04:57>> All right. Good afternoon, uh, Chair

04:58Davis, Vice Chair Elliott, and city

05:01council members. My name is Charles

05:02Frasier. I am the CEO of the Chattanooga

05:04Area Regional Transportation Authority,

05:06fondly known as Carta. and I'm here to

05:08give you an update today on the consumer

05:10protection and parking compliance

05:12ordinance. And uh to get things started

05:16uh let me just uh reaclimate everybody

05:19to the overarching goal and the

05:21timeline. So you've seen this timeline

05:23before. Overarching goal of this whole

05:25project is to support economic activity

05:28downtown. And so what we want to do is

05:30make easier parking at fair and

05:32predictable rates for everybody. We want

05:34an allowance for enforcement of parking

05:36violations. and then a consumer

05:38protection framework to protect people

05:41that are coming downtown. And so this is

05:43the timeline. This should look familiar

05:45to you. In April of this year, city

05:47council approved the ordinance. In May,

05:50Carter's board of directors approved the

05:53associated licensing requirements for

05:55private owners and the community

05:57supporter program. I'm going to give you

05:58an update on both of those items today.

06:01We are in the amnesty period, the 120day

06:04amnesty period, which is when people had

06:06the opportunity to pay off their

06:08outstanding citations. That ends uh

06:10tomorrow. And then uh today, uh we're

06:13going to be talking about enforcement,

06:15which starts officially on October 1st.

06:17And then, uh thank you, Councilwoman

06:19Burrs, for suggesting that I come back

06:20in April of next year to give the

06:23council an update on how how did

06:24everything go in our first few months of

06:27the project. So, let me start with kind

06:30of the the I think the most important

06:32part of what we're trying to accomplish,

06:34which is where we will be collectively

06:37by the time we get to December of this

06:39year. And so, by the time we get to

06:40December of this year, we will have more

06:42free parking and more rate protected

06:45parking areas for people to come

06:48downtown. So, by the by December, we

06:51will have 18 facilities in the

06:54Chattanooga parking network. That's a

06:56combination of lots and garages. Of

06:58those, six are privatelyowned operators

07:01that'll be joining the Chattanooga

07:03parking network. There'll be three new

07:05garages added with the first hour free

07:07parking, which is excellent for

07:09everyone. And that brings a total of

07:124,774

07:15off streetet parking spaces that'll now

07:17be a part of the Chattanooga parking

07:19network. And I want to draw your

07:20attention to kind of two statistics here

07:22which I'll bring back to you as we're

07:24moving through the project. But when

07:26Carter first introduced the first hour

07:28of free parking, we had 1,143

07:31spaces available by the time we add the

07:34new garages to this and they are

07:35offering their first hour free. Uh we'll

07:37have 2,723

07:39spaces of first hour free parking. So

07:41that's 138% increase. I'm happy about

07:44that. I think that's a step in the right

07:46direction. Similarly, um, rate protected

07:49spaces. So, those are the the lots that

07:51are in the Chattanooga parking uh,

07:53network and garages. We started off with

07:562,28485.

07:58With the addition of all of the new

08:00parking garages, the six new private

08:02lots, we'll have over 4,000. So, 4,774.

08:06It's an increase of 108% of new parking

08:09in the Chattanooga parking network. So,

08:11those are statistics that I'll bring

08:13back to you over time, and that's the

08:14the way that I'll be measuring success.

08:17Uh, flip through here. Okay. Uh, next, I

08:20want to just give you a report out on

08:22the licensing requirements and the

08:25signage. And so, I do want to give, uh,

08:26Councilwoman Hill a thank you. You had

08:29given me some some good feedback

08:30originally when we were putting together

08:32the licensing agreement, and you thought

08:34you asked me to please think about an

08:36annual licensing fee. So, I'll give you

08:38an update on that. and then also um want

08:40to give you the details of the licensing

08:42requirements for any private operators

08:45that want to take advantage of

08:46enforcement. First things first, they

08:48must provide the hourly rate that is not

08:50to exceed 150% of the on street rate. On

08:54street rate is $2. They can't charge

08:56more than $3 per hour. So that's a major

08:58win for all of these lots. Similarly,

09:01and I think that for me this is the most

09:03important one, the minimum parking in

09:05increment must be one hour. So there's

09:08many private owner operators. They offer

09:105 hours, 6 hours as the minimum, 10

09:12hours are the minimum. So to in to

09:15participate in the enforcement

09:17[clears throat] activity, you must have

09:18all of these licensing requirements. The

09:20annual licensing fee, Councilwoman Hill,

09:23we started at $1,000 per lot. So we're

09:25covering the cost of the signage. We'll

09:28monitor that for this first six-month

09:30period and decide if we need to make any

09:32changes. Uh, and then finally, um, this

09:34is the standard signage that will be at

09:38all 18 of the Chattanooga parking

09:41network locations. So, it's very clean

09:43company's names, lot name, the 24-hour

09:45number, but all this gives the rate

09:48protected pricing, which is what we're

09:50very interested in, that minimum parking

09:52increment. Okay. U, moving on. I want to

09:55make sure that people know that

09:56enforcement begins officially on October

09:591st. like to thank council uh councilman

10:01Clark for when we were going through the

10:03conversation you asked me to please look

10:05at what they're doing in Atlanta and we

10:07don't want to put ourselves in a

10:09situation where we have predatory

10:11immobilization and booting going on. So

10:13we did that and we are taking a very

10:14measured approach as we start to go into

10:17enforcement. So several things I want

10:19you to know. Number one, when

10:22enforcement starts on October 1st, it is

10:24only on street. And so the message I

10:27want to send here to the council to the

10:29news is that there should be no booting

10:31activities going on in any of the lots

10:33and any of the garages. We're only

10:34starting on street. And I'll give you a

10:37little more detail there. Um what's been

10:39going on since September 1st and and I

10:42want to actually just give another shout

10:43out to Councilman Henderson. Uh you

10:46wisely told me uh the actual first

10:49notice of a t of a violation is the

10:50ticket itself. Um, so what I want you to

10:53know is for all of the people that are

10:55considered scoff laws, more than three

10:57outstanding violation, more than uh

11:00delinquent, we've been putting advanced

11:02notices since September 1st on the cars

11:05now, letting them know, listen, we are

11:07going to be booting starting in October.

11:09So those advanced notices have been

11:11going out every day in September. They

11:13will continue to going out. Um what

11:15you're going to start to see um on

11:17Thursday is staff vehicles and Carta

11:20vehicles out in the street um being

11:23booted. And so we decided not to boot

11:25Councilwoman Hill. We're not booting the

11:26mayor. I got that message loud and

11:28clear. But we are booting uh Carter

11:31>> I know you do and I just thought it

11:33would be a good media thing. But but but

11:35we are what we are doing is we're

11:37booting staff vehicles, Carter vehicles

11:39because what we want to have happen is

11:41people to just have eyesight on the

11:43vehicles are being booted. And so right

11:45outside council chambers here today, we

11:47do have a vehicle that is booted. We

11:50spent some time out there and people are

11:51they're stopping. They're looking and

11:53like what what is going on? The

11:55intention is draw people's attention to

11:57that this is happening. We don't want to

11:59cause uh any surprises. Uh the initial

12:02enforcement, I want to be clear on this,

12:04again, a measured approach. Uh Carta

12:06will not be booting more than two

12:09vehicles a day for the first two weeks

12:11of enforcement. We want to make sure

12:12that we're just getting the word out

12:14there. Very good communication.

12:16Similarly, we will not be booting anyone

12:18with less than a $500

12:21outstanding balance. So, we're not

12:22looking for people that have three

12:25tickets. We're looking for people that

12:26are chronic. So, we've seen a lot of

12:28people that have 100 tickets, 300

12:29tickets, 400 tickets outstanding. So,

12:32those are the real priorities for us.

12:34Something um from the safety side of

12:36things, this is not new, but I want you

12:38to be aware. All of the CPA staff that

12:41currently give out citations and that

12:43will be doing the booting will be

12:45working in pairs number one, but they'll

12:48also be all outfitted with body cameras.

12:50We've had that in place for a couple of

12:51years, so it's not new. I just want you

12:53to know that we are particularly

12:55interested in the safety of our

12:56employees. And then finally, um, uh,

12:59Councilwoman Hill, also a question you'd

13:00ask me was what happens if a car gets

13:02booted on the street and then they don't

13:05claim it, it's abandoned. that just will

13:07follow the established towing rules, the

13:10ordinance that the city has. So 48 hours

13:12is that threshold to establish a payment

13:14before uh towing uh proceeds. And then

13:18importantly, I do want you to know that

13:20we have intentionally not given licenses

13:23to the private owner operators until

13:26November 1st. Carter will take the lead

13:28on starting this engagement process. We

13:31want to put our our best practices

13:33forward talking about the limits and the

13:35the the thresholds for booting and then

13:37we want our licensed operators to follow

13:40suit. So we will issue those licenses

13:42later this month so they can join the

13:44network uh beginning on November 1st.

13:47Amnesty results. Uh this is lackluster.

13:50I I'm I want the city council to know

13:52that I took all of your recommendations

13:55for community support programs very

13:57seriously. As you recall, we implemented

14:00discount programs, um, food for fines,

14:04payment plans, hardship cases. That's

14:06been advertised all over, uh, news, uh,

14:10our website, Reddit. Um, and the the

14:12response has been very poor. So, we've

14:15only had 53 people take advantage of the

14:1835% discount, 26 people took advantage

14:21of the 25% discount, and then 11 payment

14:23plans were set up, and two hardship

14:25cases. And so, um, we did put this out

14:28for a full 120 days. I feel like we've,

14:30uh, met the requirements of city

14:32council. And then finally, do want to

14:34let you know that we are introducing a

14:36resource. Um, my tech team will shoot me

14:40if I don't make sure that I say that

14:41this is a beta website that will be

14:44converted to an app at some point, but

14:47the app uh, sorry, the the website will

14:50go live tomorrow. It'll be on the

14:52Chattanooga parking org and it is a map

14:54resource with five specific benefits.

14:58The first thing it does in the upper

14:59right hand corner, you'll be able to

15:01click on the map and it will highlight

15:03for you all of the first hour free

15:05locations. And so you can instantly

15:07know, hey, this is where I want to go

15:09and get my first hour free. Secondly, it

15:11will uh the second button is showing all

15:14of the locations where validations are

15:16accepted. For example, um if you go to

15:18the feed across the street at the Omega

15:20lot, you can get 3 hours of free

15:22parking. You just need to get it

15:23validated. So, we have over three dozen

15:26of those locations already identified

15:28and we'll continue to seek uh feedback

15:30from the community about where other

15:32validations are available, but this will

15:34be a resource that becomes available for

15:36the public. And then finally, uh the

15:38show on the map button that will show

15:40all 18 of the consumer rate protected

15:44locations. so you can instantly see

15:46where I'm going. But that's not how I

15:48usually get around town. So up in the

15:50upper leftand corner will be a search

15:53feature. So you can put your restaurant

15:54in there. I'm going to go over to

15:56whatever fill in the blank. And then it

15:58will show you how to get there on that

16:01website. You'll be able to look around

16:02and see what parking is available. And

16:04then the final feature here um is this

16:08ability to see by color. Green, good,

16:12yellow. Okay. Red, not recommended,

16:17what the rates are where you're parking.

16:19And so we've categorized all of the

16:22Chattanooga parking network as either

16:24green or yellow because of the rate

16:25structure. And then places where you've

16:28got to have a 4-hour minimum, 5 hour

16:29minimum, $50 minimum pay. We've just

16:32coded those as red just so the consumers

16:34know what they're getting into. And so

16:37with that, I will drop a period and ask

16:42for any questions that I might be able

16:43to answer for you.

16:45>> Okay, Councilman Harvey, you're

16:47recognized.

16:48>> Yeah, Charles, this is spectacular, man.

16:50I mean, this is great. Great job. Um to

16:53to know that there are 2400 more spaces

16:57where the most you will pay is $3

17:01is unheard of. I mean, you can't go to

17:02any city in the country, I think, and

17:04and pay more than $3 to park. And to

17:07know that we've got 2400 more of those

17:10spots is awesome. It's exactly what this

17:12city has been needing for many years.

17:15Um, for a while, it was like we were

17:17kind of monopolized with some of these

17:19private uh outfits who are controlling

17:22parking and and quite frankly, without

17:24mentioning their names, uh, were taking

17:25advantage of Chattanooga. So, uh, man,

17:28to to know that we've got three out, the

17:30most you will pay in in these lots, uh,

17:34is $3 an hour. So, to my friends and

17:36family on Signal Mountain and the

17:39surrounding municipalities, um, y'all

17:41come downtown cuz look, we've got we've

17:43got parking, $3 an hour is unheard of,

17:46and most of [clears throat] those are

17:48first hour free. So, I just This is

17:51awesome. This is exactly what I was

17:53hoping uh you guys would be working on.

17:55And it's just I'm just this is awesome.

17:57Thank you.

17:58>> Thank you for your feedback. And if I

17:59may, I just want to let uh council know

18:01that the private owner operators that

18:03we've been engaging with, Breitbase,

18:05Republic in particular, have been very

18:08willing to partner on this. And so I do

18:10think that the opportunity to grow the

18:13inventory of price protection, first

18:17hour free, I think it's there. I think

18:19it might take some negotiation on the

18:21licensing requirements, but I'm

18:23gathering that information and then I

18:24will bring that back to you with some

18:26recommendations, but the goal is to make

18:28things more accessible for people.

18:30>> Spectacular.

18:31>> It's great.

18:32>> Okay. Does that all count?

18:34>> Yeah. Okay.

18:36Councilwoman Hill,

18:37>> thank you. Thank you, Charles. Um, one

18:40question. the lackluster return that we

18:43got that you all were colle collected

18:46$16,000 and change through amnesty and

18:48payment assistance. Remind us how much

18:51is out there in outstanding tickets.

18:53>> There's over $4 million um 64,000

18:56outstanding citations that are on the

19:00books. And so that's why I said it was

19:02lackluster. Um, I was very hopeful that

19:05with the care and concern that the city

19:07council gave me as direction um that

19:10putting the community support programs

19:12would be um uh

19:15>> more accepted, but it it wasn't. So, I

19:17think we need to move forward. Um, if

19:19we're ever going to get to a space a

19:21place where we're having good economic

19:22activity downtown, we've got to get the

19:24enforcement piece handled with parking.

19:26>> Okay. The uh other question I had when I

19:29think about this chhattanoogaparking.org

19:31or is educating our tourists. And so,

19:36um, I would encourage you to think

19:38about, if you haven't already, some type

19:40of easy brochure or card that could be

19:43handed out to every tourist at the that

19:46it comes to the visitor center to say

19:48this is the best way to get parking. Um,

19:50I'm not sure what those lots are at the

19:52aquarium. I know we've got some pretty

19:53predatory lots near there. Um, so they

19:56may already have been burned, but if I

19:59think the more positive peer pressure we

20:02can provide, the more likely we will

20:05have for [clears throat]

20:06other lots to come on. I mean, I think

20:08this red lot that you have on your

20:10slide, y'all, you might notice it's a

20:13$96 daily rate.

20:15>> That's crazy

20:16>> in that in in this little guy.

20:20>> $96. Unless that's an AI slide, and if

20:22it is, it's not, I would be ticked, but

20:25$24 4h hour minimum $96 daily rate.

20:29That's crazy. And there should be some

20:31positive peer pressure. Encourage them

20:33to think a little differently about

20:34that.

20:34>> Thank you for that. I met with Mayor

20:36Kelly yesterday and his direction was

20:38very clear to me to make sure that on

20:39the um advertising the comm's piece of

20:42this that not only to tourists that are

20:44coming to town, but also for everybody

20:46here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County

20:48>> that we double down on making sure that

20:50we communicate this good news. And also

20:54it is a little bit of that external

20:55pressure about what we actually need

20:57downtown. And and don't forget this is

21:00the the root of the problem. If you're

21:02in a hurry and you don't know that your

21:05minimum is 4 hours and you pull in there

21:06and park and you run into the

21:08restaurant, you're you're you're there

21:09for 4 hours. You're paying that minimum.

21:11So I think the more that we can just

21:12educate consumers about the marketplace

21:16of parking, I think it will do uh good

21:18for the for the downtown activity.

21:20>> Thank you very much.

21:21>> Thank you.

21:22Okay. To all counciloman.

21:23>> Yes, sir.

21:24>> Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

21:26>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, thank you,

21:28Charles, for this presentation. I know

21:29it's hard to see over this fabulous

21:31purse, but um but I appreciate your uh

21:35time and all of this and really working

21:36to get this done. My question was, have

21:39some of the oper have some of the um

21:41parking lots already started uh using

21:45using the have they already put some of

21:47the rates in place? And I asked because

21:49I went downtown like a week ago and I

21:51paid like $8 for parking in a lot that I

21:53usually would have paid a lot more

21:56because I do pay for convenience. So

21:58like what is the So have some of them

22:00already started putting that in place or

22:02do you know?

22:02>> I I don't know that the I don't have an

22:04answer for you there, but here's what I

22:06think is going on. So we've been having

22:07a lot of conversation about this.

22:09There's a lot of conversations on

22:10Reddit. I try not to look for my name

22:12because it's rough. [laughter]

22:14Um but what I do see is there is some

22:16pressure um right now. And so I do

22:18wonder if there's just some natural

22:21adjustment of the prices uh to make it

22:23more competitive, but the private owner

22:26operators that we are going to license

22:28have not put those prices into effect

22:30yet. Um so yeah, we we we won't they

22:34don't they're not required to do so

22:35until we give them the license and that

22:36won't happen till November.

22:37>> Right. Okay. So then some of them Well,

22:40seems like it's working cuz I paid like

22:43$8 for like four hour three or four

22:45hours. I was surprised and a prime

22:47downtown lot and I was like, "Oh, okay."

22:50So, maybe that is the it's it's working

22:52already or something. And it was a

22:54Friday. It was a Friday night at that.

22:56So,

22:56>> it might be some of the peer pressure

22:57that uh Councilwoman Hill was

22:59reflecting, but we'll monitor that. So,

23:01we're we're trying to keep an active

23:03inventory of all the pricing, especially

23:05with our new map resource. We want to be

23:07able to have that green, yellow, red

23:10accurate and reflective of what's going

23:12on in real time.

23:13>> Okay, that works. Thank you so much, Mr.

23:14Chair. I appreciate it. Okay,

23:17>> Councilman Harvey,

23:18>> I apologize. Forgot to ask this in my

23:20excitement about $3 parking.

23:22[clears throat] Um, going back to the

23:24website and I might have missed this, so

23:26I apologize, but is there an app that

23:28>> would correspond with that?

23:30>> We are going to be developing an app.

23:32So, we're in the early stages of that.

23:34Um, but the plan is to eventually

23:37migrate this to an app that is going to

23:39be branded the Chattanooga parking

23:41network. So, early stages. Uh, I'll be

23:43coming back to city council in strategic

23:45planning in October and I can give you

23:47some better detail on the timing of when

23:49that good rolls out.

23:50>> Great. Awesome. Mhm. Thank you.

23:52>> Okay,

23:53>> council. Any other questions or comments

23:55for Charles?

23:58>> Well, thank you very much.

23:59>> Thank you.

24:00>> All right,

24:02council. Let's turn then to this week's

24:04agenda items.

24:07We'll start with our ordinances.

24:11If you have any questions on any

24:12ordinances, please hit your lights.

24:17[clears throat]

24:22All right. I don't see any

24:25lights here to discuss ordinances. So,

24:27we will turn then to resolutions. We do

24:30have um as we discussed last week, quite

24:32a few

24:34resolutions in the nature of board

24:36appointments. Um, and I do intend,

24:39unless there are objections, to take as

24:41many of these as possible as a package

24:43um to make things a little more

24:46efficient. Um, however, I do know there

24:48are some um questions about the regional

24:52planning commission items. Um, and so

24:54we'll take those individually.

24:57Um, let's see. Vice Chair Elliot, you're

25:00recognized.

25:00>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I have a

25:03particular question regarding our

25:07um appointment to the regional planning

25:10agency.

25:11Um I've had some concerns from some of

25:14my district quite more than I expected

25:17from my district involving appointment

25:19of Ethan Collier to the planning

25:21commission and Ethan and I have spoken.

25:23I appreciate you taking the time to hear

25:25me out. Um and if it's all right with

25:28you, Mr. Chairman, I would like to

25:30answer some of asking

25:31[snorts and clears throat] some of these

25:31questions for um s of transparency.

25:35>> I'm sure if he's here and willing to

25:37come to the podium,

25:46[snorts]

25:47thank you for I'm sorry,

25:53I'm so rude. I promise it ain't it's not

25:55that I'm tired of being here. This has

25:57been long day already. Um,

25:58[clears throat] Ethan, I appreciate you

26:00coming. You know, I uh you do a lot of

26:03work in and around my district,

26:05particularly with your Miltown

26:06development, and I have two

26:08neighborhoods in particularly that has

26:10expressed some concerns. Um, and I'm

26:13going I'm going to throw these out to

26:14you, and if you can just take them uh

26:17however you want. Uh, and I'm going to

26:18go first. my my Missionary Ridge

26:21community, they um had the opportunity

26:24to work with you some years ago prior to

26:27me taking office and this is something

26:29that I heard

26:31quite a bit when I was campaigning.

26:35Um there were some issues around a

26:37particular development that you were

26:39looking to get reszoned that um did not

26:42go the the direction of the will of the

26:45community and it put a real bad taste in

26:47their mouth. So, I would like for you to

26:49talk a little bit about that. The next

26:52one, I get this a lot from majority of

26:54my Redale community. Um, there there

26:57have been some concerns uh about the

26:59methods in which you go about land

27:02acquisition.

27:03>> Yeah.

27:03>> Um there are some who have expressed

27:05some concerns about um suing neighbors

27:09and in hopes to eventually acquire their

27:12land. [clears throat] And then finally,

27:13the concerns I've I've had are those who

27:16believe there are too many developers on

27:18the planning commission. Um, so if you

27:21could just take some time to help us

27:23work through some of those, I really

27:25appreciate it.

27:26>> That's a lot.

27:28>> Yes, I know.

27:28>> I'll take them in order, I think, and

27:30then um I could I could be a bit

27:34long-winded, so just start yawning.

27:36>> It's okay. We're all politicians up here

27:38[laughter]

27:39too long. Um but uh let me first address

27:43the question that you had in regards to

27:4573 Shaford Road. Um that was a property

27:48that we had bought um with some

27:51partners. It was a vacant property at

27:54the time. I I want to say it had 24

27:58apartments in it and uh they had been um

28:03neglected for quite some time. For those

28:05of you who know, you go up Shaolford

28:07Road up the ridge there and it was on

28:09the left and it's uh got a manered roof

28:11and it was in terrible, terrible

28:12condition. And so we renovated that

28:15property, brought it back online and

28:17started leasing those units. And uh as

28:19we went through the process, realized

28:20that the property was not in its proper

28:24zone. It wasn't it wasn't zoned for its

28:27its use. It was a multif family project

28:30and it wasn't even zoned for multif

28:32family or a portion of it wasn't. And

28:34then also at the same time we had uh a

28:37hillside behind the homes that during a

28:40massive uh freeze thaw cycle that we had

28:43uh over Christmas a couple years ago

28:46caused a landslide. And so as we started

28:48working through those solutions um we

28:51were looking at adding some units to

28:53that property and uh appealed to

28:56planning commission and city council for

28:58approval for that. We did get that

29:01approval. We did not build the project.

29:04So, you know, the concerns of the

29:06neighbors are heard loud and clear. Uh

29:10there were a number of conditions that

29:11were placed on it, and I do mean a

29:13number of conditions that were placed on

29:16it. All of which originated with the the

29:19neighborhood and all of which passed

29:21city council. And uh even even after all

29:25of that, we didn't build the project.

29:27So, uh I hear their concerns. Um I

29:30recognize them. We didn't like the

29:33offense that you're describing, we we

29:35didn't actually build and it's not been

29:38built. So, not only did we not build it,

29:41nobody else has built it. Um, and then

29:44even if it were someday built, the

29:46neighborhood weighed in very heavily on

29:48all those conditions. Um,

29:49[clears throat]

29:50resoning cases are really hard. I I know

29:52that they're hard on neighborhoods uh

29:54especially with higher density projects

29:56that are in areas that were historically

29:59uh lower density. And so, you know,

30:01hearing complaints from community

30:04members as it relates to uh the changes

30:07that are taking place are really

30:09relevant and they they very much matter.

30:11And that's why at planning commission uh

30:14those things are being debated back and

30:15forth. um ultimately most of the time

30:18ending up with a number of conditions

30:20that have originated out of those

30:22conversations that hopefully you know

30:24mitigate the concern of the community

30:26and at the same time allow for um

30:29undeveloped land to be developed. The

30:32second one was as it relates to our

30:36acquisition of property. Yes,

30:38>> the rumor there is an absolute lie and

30:41I'm so glad that you asked and um it's

30:44it's an absolute lie. The lie that is

30:49being told is that Collier Construction

30:52sued our neighbors to try to acquire

30:56property in Miltown and that is not at

30:58all what happened. What did happen is we

31:01bought the former Standard Cuser Cusa

31:04Thatcher Company and all the all the

31:07land that

31:09uh it occupied. And when we went into

31:12that neighborhood, um, Councilwoman

31:14Kunrod and I drove the neighborhood and

31:17there were 25

31:21boarded up, blighted, vacant homes in

31:26your city, in your district,

31:29in my city, in my district. And they

31:32have been that way for over a decade.

31:35and Councilwoman Kunrod would call the

31:38city and the city attorney and Phil

31:40Knobblet and say, "I want these houses

31:42demoed. The the code says that if it's

31:46vacant, unoccupied, power's off, and

31:48it's a blighted property, the roofs are

31:50fallen in that the city shall demo the

31:54property." It says shall. You can talk

31:57to your city attorney about it. So, the

32:01city does nothing about these 25 houses.

32:04And at the time, we've got a different

32:05mayor in office. And that mayor, I won't

32:08I won't call everybody out by name. They

32:11call me and they say, "Let's get

32:13something straight. The city does not

32:15have the political power to actually

32:18enforce its own laws. These 25 boarded

32:21up and blighted houses will not be

32:22demoed, and we will not force the owners

32:25to demo them, and we will not demo

32:27them." But Ethan,

32:31there is this thing called the NPA,

32:33which is the Neighborhood Protection

32:34Act. And if you are willing, you can sue

32:38those developers, those LLC's, and you

32:42can sue them for the demo of their

32:44houses.

32:46So, I spent over $170,000

32:50suing these different LLC's. These homes

32:54weren't occupied. Nobody lived in them.

32:57They had been boarded up and blighted.

32:59They had been violation of city code for

33:01over a decade. And the city wouldn't do

33:03anything about it. Here I am trying to

33:06revitalize an area and I've got a city

33:09that won't even enforce its own codes.

33:12And then somebody from the mayor's

33:13office,

33:15his chief of staff calls me and says,

33:16"Hey, we're not going to do it. You do

33:19it." So I do it. Not one of them went to

33:23court. Everybody settled out of court.

33:26You know what they did? They demoed all

33:28those houses today. You drive through

33:29Miltown, not one boarded up, lighted

33:32unoccupied house. They demoed them all.

33:35I didn't buy any of those properties.

33:37Not one. But at the same time, there was

33:41this really, really popular narrative

33:44about how white, greedy, rich people

33:47come into minority neighborhoods and

33:50rape and pillage. And it's super

33:53popular. It is super trendy. It's trendy

33:56with staff down in the LDO office. It's

34:00trendy on council from time to time.

34:02It's trendy in our nonprofits. It's

34:03trendy in the Times Free Press. It's not

34:06true. But when it said on Facebook,

34:11I'm not on Facebook. I don't have the

34:12opportunity to defend myself. So, I'm

34:14glad you asked, but that is an absolute

34:17lie. And today it still circulates that

34:21[snorts] this weak, rich, white, greedy

34:24developer went in and sued people to buy

34:26their property. Didn't happen that way.

34:29Uh, and the third thing, what was that?

34:31I'm sorry. I was so fired up about the

34:33fact that um I I've been accused of that

34:36for five or six years and every time I

34:40face it, I say the exact same thing.

34:42It's just not true. But what was the

34:44last one?

34:44>> The final one. There's been concern from

34:47community members that there are too

34:48many developers on the plan.

34:49>> Oh yeah. Okay. There are some developers

34:52on planning commission for sure. Um I

34:55don't know what too many is. That's a

34:57hard number to put your finger on. Um,

35:02you know,

35:05I served on planning commission for 12

35:08years and I I was I was and still am to

35:12this day a firm believer that planning

35:15commission should be like a peer review.

35:18There are rules. There's been an

35:20assignment given to the development

35:22community. How you're going to develop,

35:25what's going to get built, are you going

35:27to follow the rules? planning

35:29commission's role is a is supposed to be

35:33a part of that is supposed to be a peer

35:36review. So what happens is developers

35:40submit to the regional planning agency

35:43and the staff these are educated people

35:47you know these are people with degrees

35:48in planning they look at it and they say

35:51yes this either meets the standards or

35:54it doesn't meet the standards it meets

35:56the plan or it doesn't meet the plan the

35:58next step is for it to go to planning

35:59commission where there should be

36:00developers on planning commission you

36:02know I I was glancing through your

36:04agenda and you know you're appointing

36:06people to an electrical board. I hope

36:07that's electricians. Uh you're

36:10appointing people to a a board of

36:12construction appeals. I hope that's a

36:13builder. I don't know how other people

36:16would be able to weigh in on whether or

36:20not it's being done right. But my son,

36:22he's he's at UTC and the very best thing

36:25he can do before he turns in his

36:28assignment is give it to one of his

36:30classmates and say, "What do you think

36:32our professor is going to think of this?

36:36Did I follow the rules correctly?"

36:39Because what supposed to be happening,

36:41if y'all don't mess it up, and the

36:43county commission doesn't mess it up,

36:45what's supposed to be happening is

36:47developers are supposed to be going

36:48before their peers. Their peers are some

36:51of the most critical folks in the room.

36:54You don't think I'm going to be more

36:56critical of a LAR development than you

36:59would be? I will be. I have been. And

37:04that's the role of a developer on

37:06planning commission. We need as a city,

37:10we need to have some folks on planning

37:11commission that know the rules, that

37:14work inside of them every day because I

37:17know y'all are super busy and you might

37:20as well be volunteers, but if you

37:22watched our planning commission

37:23meetings, you will find that there are I

37:27think um 13 people on planning

37:30commission. Three of them do all the

37:33talking. The rest of the 10, they don't

37:36make motions. They don't say anything.

37:38They don't state their opinions. Nobody

37:41knows why they vote the way they vote.

37:43The reason why is because they don't

37:46always feel comfortable. They they don't

37:48know what's really going on. They don't

37:50know the rules. And so, you have to have

37:53some folks on planning commission that

37:55actually know the rules and hold the

37:57development community accountable to

37:59following the rules. And uh I don't

38:01think anybody's going to be more

38:02critical than a peer. I mean, in in many

38:07ways, they're my competition. So, um I I

38:10sure hope that you reappoint me to

38:13planning commission. I I really have

38:14enjoyed the job. I think that there are

38:16a number of

38:18um comments and concerns around that and

38:20I I'm glad that you've given me the

38:22opportunity to answer for them. I've

38:24probably taken way longer than you and

38:26you started yawning like 2 minutes into

38:28my

38:30>> allergies. [clears throat]

38:30Oh, okay.

38:31>> Please look.

38:32>> I'll be happy to answer any other

38:33questions. And and I don't mean to I

38:35don't mean to sound defensive, but that

38:37one thing in particular, I am very

38:39defensive because it's absolutely false.

38:41>> Yeah. And Ethan, let me say this. I

38:43appreciate you for coming up. And uh

38:46Ethan and I had this conversation uh

38:48prior to this meeting and both agreed

38:50that it's probably best for the public

38:52to hear this narrative. Uh this is one

38:55of those situations where sunshine is

38:56the best disinfectant. Um, and so I

39:00appreciate you for coming up. And this

39:02is not a a space where I attended for

39:04you to come up and get any like uh ring

39:08your neck about something. You're you're

39:09trying to do a job that's volunteer

39:11based. And I don't think anybody should

39:13be chastised for stepping up and

39:16serving. I think we all understand it is

39:18hard finding people to serve on these

39:20committees. And so I do appreciate you

39:22for taking the time to explain that. And

39:24I'll also say this, um, from, uh, the

39:29city perspective, uh, everything, uh,

39:32comes back to city council anyway

39:34ultimately. So that's something also

39:35people need to know.

39:36>> Yeah, y'all are the professor.

39:38>> The planning commission makes

39:39recommendation and so ultimately I own

39:42all resonings that happen in my

39:45district. Uh, and I just want to speak

39:46for myself. So Ethan, I do appreciate

39:48you. Thank you.

39:48>> I'm happy to answer any other

39:50>> We we do have a couple. Bear with us.

39:52So, Councilwoman Hill, you're

39:53recognized.

39:54>> Thank you, Ethan. I appreciate you being

39:56being willing to talk with council

39:58today. I'll be honest, when I saw that,

40:00um, you were up for a an appointment. I

40:04was pretty surprised because I was

40:06shocked that you would be willing to do

40:09it again. [laughter] Um, I personally

40:11was really, um, disappointed in the way

40:14that um, [snorts] the changes happened

40:18and and spoke to that when it when it

40:20did. Um, and I want to thank you for

40:22your long service on the planning

40:25commission. When I served on planning

40:27commission, um, I definitely got the

40:31full taste of just how complex those

40:33cases are, the amount of homework that

40:35you have to do to be prepared. And to

40:38Ethan's point about needing to know the

40:41rules, it's not Robert's rules of order

40:42that you need to know. You need to

40:44really understand the setbacks and the

40:47requirements related to storm water and

40:49um how different different landscape

40:52requirements function. There there's a

40:55great deal to know and I personally

40:57learned a great deal on planning

41:00commission from the experts on the

41:02panel. You know, within our um request

41:06for approvals today, we've got an

41:07engineer, we have an architect, we have

41:10a developer, we have a community member.

41:12Um, and I think all of those matter on

41:14the planning commission. Um, so Ethan,

41:17my question for you is

41:20why

41:22do you want to serve again? Why are you

41:23willing to take the slings and arrows

41:27that come at you um to sit in four plus

41:30hour meetings and do six plus hours of

41:34prep for our community to serve on

41:37planning commission?

41:39>> Thank you. I love our city and I loved

41:42serving on planning commission. It did

41:44give me an opportunity to be able to

41:47speak into the things I saw happening.

41:52And um

42:02I look at a lot of things that our city

42:05is doing and my biggest concern is that

42:09um we're not holding in check the this

42:12this

42:15need um to

42:19grow with uh the fact that we

42:25and you have constituents that aren't

42:29voting yet. They're in our

42:32[clears throat] elementary schools and

42:34they're renters and

42:37they but they're Chattanooans and they

42:39need to be represented and you know it

42:43isn't it isn't the case that I have the

42:47ability to influence planning

42:49commission. I don't. At the end of the

42:51day, it's your decision what we do. Our

42:53[clears throat] zoning regulations are

42:56ultimately your decision. Every zoning

42:57change is your decision. But at planning

43:00commission, I was given an opportunity

43:02for those 12 years to be able to say,

43:06"Hey, I'm looking around the room and

43:08all I see is homeowners."

43:10>> And there's nothing wrong with being a

43:12homeowner. I'm a homeowner. I have a

43:14driveway. I can park three cars in my

43:17driveway. I own two cars. I have a wife.

43:19I have two kids. They've already

43:20graduated from private school. I got

43:22mine. Everybody else in this room has

43:24theirs. But 51%

43:28of your constituents don't own a house

43:31yet. And and they're not here at

43:33planning commission. And I think they

43:35deserve to be heard. What is the

43:38planning agency doing to invite renters

43:41into the discussion? Because we can't

43:43have all planning being done by all the

43:46people who already have what they have.

43:49I mean, yes, they should be heard. And I

43:51wasn't in any way, shape, or form trying

43:54to uh make

43:57those people feel like they weren't

43:58being heard. I was saying, "Hey, we need

44:00to hear more."

44:03I I went on record so many times saying

44:05things and from time to time when I

44:06would say things, I would think, "Okay,

44:08I'm definitely going to get fired,

44:10right? My mayors are going to ask for my

44:12resignation."

44:13But somebody

44:16somebody needs to be asking the hard

44:18questions. And at planning commission

44:19right now,

44:21[snorts] you don't have that.

44:24>> And I want to serve in that capacity.

44:26And that means that I'm going to say

44:27some things that people don't like.

44:29Okay, that's fine. I'm not elected to

44:32office. I don't have to go raise money

44:35from all these people. I don't answer to

44:37any of them. I only answer to you and

44:39our mayors. And if I say something that

44:41you disagree with, okay, let's have a

44:45conversation. And so, you know, Jenny,

44:47you asked why, and the reason why is

44:50because the reality is as chairman, I

44:53had the ability to speak into things

44:56that I saw and and uh I I don't want to

44:59lose that.

45:00>> Okay. [clears throat] Thank you. I

45:01appreciate your willingness to serve our

45:02community.

45:03>> Thank you.

45:03>> All right. And Councilwoman Burrs,

45:05you're recognized.

45:06>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I I won't take

45:09up a lot of time in repeating some of

45:11the things that both Ethan said and

45:13Councilwoman Hill. I um Ethan, it was a

45:17pleasure to sit next to you as the

45:18chair. I I hate not sitting next to you.

45:21You're not known for your warm fuzzies

45:23at all, but but I appreciate the fact

45:26that I I've learned I learned a lot from

45:28you for the short period of time that I

45:29did sit next to you. And I think it's

45:30important that we appoint people that

45:33have um a fresh outlook as as we'll be

45:38appointing or hopefully we'll be

45:40approving Janice Gooden and those that

45:42have that institutional and technical

45:44knowledge to your point and to

45:46Councilwoman Hill's point that um for

45:48those of the US you can't learn it all

45:51in one year and I've served in one year

45:52and I'd like to continue to serve if

45:54that's the will of the the chair or the

45:56council but um there's a lot to learn

45:59and so it's good to have those folks

46:01that you can turn to to say you know how

46:03did just like we do on the council just

46:05like I turn to the people that have been

46:07here longer than I have um you know how

46:10do you normally handle this situation so

46:13council members I hope that you take

46:15into consideration some of the things

46:17that were said today I don't think we

46:18should be making a decision based on

46:20somebody's profession um it should be

46:24more on their ability and their

46:25willingness to serve because at the end

46:27of the day none of Planning Commission

46:29members

46:31vote for something to get approved. They

46:33just vote for a recommend recommendation

46:35for it to be taken to the next level and

46:38that's where we make those decisions.

46:39So, I appreciate what you brought to the

46:43commission. I hope you're able to after

46:45today my vote will be for you to

46:47continue in that position and thank you

46:49for all your passion about just our city

46:51in general. Thank you.

46:52>> Thank you.

46:52>> Thank you, Mr. Chair.

46:53>> Okay.

46:54>> And Councilman Harvey.

46:56>> Ethan, thank you for being here. Thank

46:58you for your your service to our

47:00community the last 12 years. Um it's a

47:03volunteer uh position. There's a lot of

47:06stones that are thrown at you. Um so,

47:09you know, I appreciate your service

47:11being willing to go through that. Um I

47:14think I've heard u more about this board

47:17position um than I have any other board

47:20position since I got in office. Um, so I

47:22do feel like I need to ask the questions

47:25that I'm getting from constituents. Um,

47:29so I'll give you an opportunity to to to

47:31answer those. What do you say to those

47:34who and Councilman Elliot hit on this a

47:36minute ago, say one, there's too many

47:39developers on planning commission and it

47:42appears as it's a conflict of interest

47:44that it looks like you would be more um

47:47in favor of prodevelopment, so to speak,

47:50than

47:52maybe a a less, you know, a more guarded

47:55uh way of looking at that. What What

47:57would be your response to that?

47:58>> Yeah, I've heard the whole conflict of

48:00interest thing for a long time and

48:02obviously as it relates to cases that

48:05call your construction has taken through

48:07planning commission and city council.

48:09think any one of you can attest to the

48:12fact that I've I've followed the letter

48:16of the law as it relates to ensuring

48:19that uh I never ever spoke to a planning

48:21commission member about one of my cases

48:23ever.

48:24>> Uh I also personally had a long track

48:27record of withdrawing cases even after

48:30they had staff recommendation and uh

48:34planning commission recommendation. if

48:37you as city council people felt like

48:38they were not appropriate. So I have a

48:41long history as an applicant of getting

48:44staff recommendation to approve,

48:46planning commission recommended to

48:47approve, but you as a planning

48:48commission member had communicated to me

48:52I can't support that and I would

48:55withdraw those cases. Um so personally

49:00uh I follow the rules. you know, when I

49:02would walk out, I would leave my cell

49:04phone on the dis so that I could never

49:07be accused of walking out of the room

49:09and texting planning commission members.

49:11Um, so absolutely,

49:14uh, I understand that conflict could be

49:17there, but I I never participated in

49:19anything like that. [snorts] Um, and

49:21then as it relates to just developers in

49:23general, uh, I don't think developers

49:25look at it that way. I think developers

49:27view developers as competition. And so,

49:30you know, whenever somebody would say,

49:32"Okay, well, there's a conflict of

49:34interest because Ethan is supporting

49:37[snorts] a national home builder being

49:39in my backyard." That makes no sense. It

49:43carries no logic. If you have developers

49:46on planning commission

49:49and they own lots in the city of

49:51Chattanooga, the very best thing for

49:54them would be if LAR and Dr. Horton and

49:58Empire cannot get a foothold. [snorts]

50:01You know, if if if developers were

50:04acting out of their own personal

50:06self-interests,

50:08it would be to deny cases or to put

50:12heavier regulations on that competition.

50:15So, I I don't I don't know what business

50:17you're in, but if tomorrow you could all

50:20of a sudden put a foot on all your

50:22competition, that would be tempting. And

50:25so as a planning commission member, I

50:27don't think your development community

50:28is struggling with a conflict as it

50:31relates to whether or not to approve

50:33projects for their own benefit. And it

50:36and it certainly wouldn't benefit them

50:37to approve. I've got one that's being

50:40built down the street from Miltown right

50:42now by Lenar. It was approved at

50:44planning commission.

50:47I hate that it's getting built. I I do.

50:50I just hate that it's getting built. It

50:51is going to create I mean they're going

50:53to gut their prices. They're going to do

50:55whatever they have to to sell them. I

50:57mean I'm not knocking Lenar. Uh I hate

50:59that I even said that on record. I

51:00shouldn't have called him out. But I'm

51:02just saying as a planning commission

51:04member, the last thing I want as a

51:06developer and a planning commission

51:07member is more development. It's

51:09literally creating competition for my

51:11own business. So

51:12>> yeah, two more things if I may. Mr.

51:14Chairman, um walk me through uh the

51:16decision to no longer serve as chairman

51:19of the planning commission.

51:22Well, that wasn't really my decision.

51:24Um, that decision I think

51:29was our mayor's decision. Um, it's a

51:32it's a dualappointed position, whereas

51:35this is just what what what Mayor Kelly

51:38has asked of you is to reappoint me to

51:39planning commission. Prior to that, it

51:42was an appointment by both our mayors.

51:45And um, did you see how close the

51:48election was in the county race?

51:50>> [laughter]

51:51>> Um, there was one particular district

51:54that Weston said he would not have won

51:56without their help. Did you read that in

51:58the paper?

51:59>> Okay, I did.

52:00>> Yeah.

52:01>> Um, that district did not want me to be

52:03planning commission chair. And um, so I

52:06I would just imagine it was a timing

52:08thing. Um, you know, it's just political

52:11fallout. Um, but

52:15I didn't I didn't I didn't resign. I

52:18wanted to serve in the role. I enjoyed

52:20serving in the role. Um, I thought it

52:22was a ton of fun and um, and I had

52:25gotten a lot of feedback over the years

52:26that I was fair in how I treated people.

52:30You know, I only voted three times, all

52:31three times against developers. Uh, I

52:34was as hard uh, Karen Renick could tell

52:36you I was as hard on staff as I was an

52:39applicant as I was an opposition. And

52:42so, uh, I I would sit up there and I

52:45would have my own engineer be behind

52:48the, uh,

52:50stand here talking to me and I was just

52:53as hard on her as I was the opposition

52:55if they weren't kind of following

52:57procedure.

52:58>> Sure. Yeah. Thank you for that. Lastly,

53:01um, you know, I've gotten this question

53:03a lot. Um, what do you say in response

53:06to, you know, 12 years is a long time.

53:08maybe it's time to step aside, let

53:10another home builder serve or let you

53:12know someone else uh whether it's a

53:15planning background or not. Um have a

53:18shot at at the planning commission. What

53:21What is your response to that?

53:22>> Well, first of all, we're doing that all

53:24the time. Planning commission is

53:25revolving. There are a couple people on

53:27planning commission that have been there

53:29a long time. If I were to [snorts] be

53:31reappointed, um I would be one of those

53:33people. Um, so I do think we see a lot

53:36of new faces on planning commission and

53:40um, but I also think there's a ton of

53:42value uh, to you guys and the staff

53:46um, and your constituents to having

53:49somebody there that's been there a long

53:51time. And let me tell you why that

53:52matters. Because today on planning

53:56commission,

53:58depending on what Mayor Wamp does,

54:02you may not have a single person on

54:04planning commission that was around when

54:06y'all voted in formbbased code.

54:09>> Not one. You need somebody on planning

54:12commission that was around when

54:14formbbased code came into existence

54:17because they can add some color or some

54:20context for for what that looked like

54:23and how that impacted property owners

54:25and what the plans were as as it relates

54:28to that. As a planning commission member

54:30that's been there a long time, it's not

54:31at all uncommon to see cases that go

54:34back 10 years. And so you saw it

54:37>> as a planning commissioner, you saw it

54:3910 years ago. you saw it again six years

54:41later and then you're seeing it again

54:43today. And so staff of course is is

54:46preparing staff reports that educate

54:49everybody on the history of zoning

54:52cases, but there's a lot of value to

54:55having a couple people on planning

54:57commission. I don't think you want the

54:59entire disas to have been there for 12

55:02years, but you've got a lot of rotation

55:04on planning commission. I do think it

55:05brings a lot of value to have had

55:07somebody that has seen every single case

55:09for the last 12 years um

55:13to to bring hopefully their perspective

55:17on how how things are changing.

55:20>> Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all.

55:22>> Okay. Councilman Henderson.

55:25>> Thank you, Ethan. Uh all I've got to say

55:27is you must really have a passion for

55:30this uh in order to come and face this

55:33kind of questioning. thank you

55:35>> to [clears throat] serve on a volunteer

55:36board.

55:38>> Uh, and I admire you for that. Uh, by

55:40the way, and and and I tell people all

55:42the time of all the developers since

55:44I've served on council, you're the only

55:47one that I know of that has come to me

55:50and said, "What do you think about this

55:52project?" And if I've told you I

55:54couldn't support it, you've not gone

55:56forward with it.

55:57>> Yeah.

55:58>> And and I can appreciate that. Um, I

56:01think you do bring uh

56:04that that wisdom um

56:08that in insight and um and one thing

56:12that I do appreciate about you and and

56:15you may be the only uh planning

56:17commissioner that

56:19that I've I guess had any kind of

56:21lengthy conversations or had sit down

56:23and have a meeting with, but you're

56:25you're willing to come u you're willing

56:28to come and meet and try to be part of

56:30the solution. And that's what we're

56:32always looking for is people that's

56:34trying to be part of the solution.

56:36Anybody can see the problems. Uh but

56:39it's those people that have vision that

56:41can be part of the solution. And and I

56:44think that uh you do see the problems,

56:47but you also try to come up with the

56:48solutions as well. But uh I appreciate

56:51you coming down here this afternoon

56:54facing a line of questioning questioning

56:57to to serve on a volunteer board that

57:00sometimes meets for hours. I mean that's

57:03uh uh you know some some people might

57:07say you you may not be right in the

57:09head. I don't know but

57:12>> doing that but but I certainly

57:13>> sounds very familiar [laughter]

57:16>> but uh but I do thank you.

57:18>> Thank you.

57:19Okay,

57:20>> I think that's all we have. Thank you

57:22very much.

57:22>> Thank you.

57:24>> Um, council, do we have any other

57:26questions about any other resolutions on

57:29tonight's agenda?

57:32>> We will turn then to next week's

57:34proposed agenda. And please hit your

57:36lights if you have any questions or

57:38comments. Uh, we'll look first at

57:40ordinances.

57:42[snorts]

57:50And seeing no lights on the board here,

57:52we'll look then at resolutions.

58:02All right. Oh, councilwoman. No, you're

58:04recognized.

58:05>> You're under resolution. I'm under um

58:08Are you at public works?

58:11>> I certainly can be. Yes, sir.

58:12>> Can we be there?

58:13>> Sure. Okay. Uh item

58:17X.

58:21So it is my intent to table this this

58:24evening. Um I need to actually knock

58:28some doors and I need to

58:32have some conversations and the process

58:34was

58:36put out there and the it was put out

58:38there with the cart before the horse.

58:41So, we need to go back and revisit that.

58:44Uh, is there anyone here from

58:46Chattanooga Times?

58:50They're not.

58:52>> Okay. Because they printed an article

58:54that was Who's here?

58:58>> John.

58:59>> Who is John? Raise your hand.

59:01>> Oh, okay. You all printed printed an

59:03article last week that was incorrect.

59:06And if whoever was in this meeting last

59:09week, I don't know how they got that out

59:11of that. So you can go back and listen

59:14to the recording and get that article

59:17correct. Okay,

59:20that would be great. So it is my intent

59:23to table.

59:23>> Okay, we'll look for that motion from

59:25you, Councilwoman.

59:26>> Thank you.

59:27>> All right.

59:30Well, council, let's look then at the

59:32purchasing items that are before us this

59:35evening.

59:36and up your lights if you have any

59:39questions about those.

59:42And I'll just note there is one

59:44emergency purchase. Uh we don't often

59:47see those and so

59:50any questions or comments.

59:57Seeing none, we'll turn then to future

59:59considerations. Oh, I'm sorry. Vice

1:00:02Chair Elliot, you're recognized. I think

1:00:04this is um

1:00:06I think they're planning on speaking on

1:00:08this one now or later.

1:00:11This book

1:00:14would do you have a question?

1:00:15>> Are they speaking on this one now or

1:00:17later?

1:00:17>> Um Jay is here. Um so yeah, I think Jay,

1:00:21we might have a a question from

1:00:22>> Yeah, I thought we were y'all planning

1:00:24on speaking on this earlier. This is

1:00:25just a quick one and this is similar

1:00:28thing kind of just shining light on it.

1:00:30Jay, with this brush contract, this

1:00:32would allow us to get [clears throat]

1:00:34caught up on brush pickup. Correct.

1:00:36>> Yes. So, this this [snorts] effort got

1:00:39us within three days of our ability to

1:00:42be caught up and right now we're in that

1:00:45window of 3 days behind.

1:00:46>> Okay, perfect. I just want to make sure

1:00:48that was clear cuz I know it's been a

1:00:49large concern for a lot of people, but

1:00:51you guys are doing whatever you can to

1:00:53make sure you get caught up. So,

1:00:54>> yes, sir. Absolutely.

1:00:55>> I appreciate it. Thank you, Jay.

1:00:56>> Anything else? Council, do we have any

1:00:58other questions for Jay about the

1:01:00emergency purchase in particular about

1:01:02brush pickup? [snorts]

1:01:05>> Okay,

1:01:06>> awesome. Thanks.

1:01:07>> Clear. Thank you, sir.

1:01:08>> Thank you.

1:01:11>> Okay, back on to future considerations

1:01:14then. Council, if you have any questions

1:01:16about any of the items on our future

1:01:18considerations list, please hit your

1:01:19like. And Councilwoman Burrs, you're

1:01:22recognized.

1:01:23>> Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a a

1:01:26public works one as well. Sorry. Or it

1:01:28may be I don't I'm not sure who'd answer

1:01:30this question who will answer this

1:01:31question. But the item um under public

1:01:35works item number two

1:01:38[clears throat]

1:01:39regarding the Raccoon Mountain project.

1:01:42Is there a you know the longer we go to

1:01:46approve this and to get started I

1:01:48imagine pricing is going to change. Is

1:01:49there a cap on that spending?

1:01:54I have not seen a cap on that spending,

1:01:57but I will have to look into the

1:01:59contract that we have.

1:02:00>> Yeah, I'd like to know, get more

1:02:02information or add make a recommendation

1:02:06to add some language that it's not to

1:02:08exceed a certain amount. I'd like to

1:02:10look at that to see.

1:02:11>> I'll review it here real quick and I'll

1:02:12get an answer.

1:02:13>> Thank you.

1:02:14>> Absolutely.

1:02:15>> Okay. [snorts] Is that all,

1:02:16Councilwoman?

1:02:17>> Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council,

1:02:21are there any other questions about any

1:02:22future considerations items?

1:02:27[cough and clears throat]

1:02:31Okay. [snorts]

1:02:33Seeing no lights, I'd like to invite um

1:02:35our DTS folks up to talk with us about

1:02:39the smart grant project.

1:02:45Good afternoon, council. Gerald Ne. I'm

1:02:47the chief information officer for the

1:02:49city and uh this afternoon we're going

1:02:52to give you an update on our US DOT

1:02:54smart grant uh which we received in

1:02:57March of 2024

1:02:59and we really got operational starting

1:03:01in January of 25. We are closing it out

1:03:05>> [snorts]

1:03:06>> um technically tomorrow. That will be

1:03:08the end of the grant period. And I've

1:03:10got several people here with me who are

1:03:12going to give you the update. So I'm

1:03:13just going to kick this off a little

1:03:15bit. Um, I first want to uh go to the

1:03:18next slide here and just call out some

1:03:20of our partners. So, first of all, I

1:03:21want to call out my team that's here.

1:03:22So, the intelligent cities team, would

1:03:24you guys stand up a second? Let yourself

1:03:25be seen. And Ryan Huddleston is my

1:03:27director of intelligent cities. So, this

1:03:29is a team that's been making the grant

1:03:31happen along with Now, I'd like my UTC

1:03:33partners to stand up. Austin, and Yasir,

1:03:36right, Jeff, you're part of the team,

1:03:38too. So UTC is one of our primary uh

1:03:41partners on these grants and it's been

1:03:43this team and I've got Sarah Ael here.

1:03:46She's going to speak. Stand up. Sarah,

1:03:47come on. Yes. So Sarah is with ITSA.

1:03:50They've been a big partner for us. ITSA

1:03:52is a national body that influences uh

1:03:56transportation technology standards uh

1:03:59and policy at the federal level. Uh so

1:04:02Sarah and her team are very uh

1:04:04influential and she's been a part of our

1:04:06program uh from the beginning. I also

1:04:09just want to thank these other partners

1:04:10here and their names I will not call out

1:04:12but you can read them. They've all been

1:04:14essential to helping us get this grant

1:04:15done. We've been doing some new things

1:04:17here in the grant, new technology, new

1:04:20information, new ways of operating our

1:04:22transportation network to make it safer

1:04:24and more efficient and uh more

1:04:27productive for our first responders. So,

1:04:29Chief Nolles and Chief May are going to

1:04:31have a few words with you about what

1:04:32we've been able to do with our fire

1:04:34apparatus to make it easier for them to

1:04:36get through intersections. And Daniel

1:04:39Duour, who's with Carta. Daniel, stand

1:04:41up. Let let him see you. So, Daniel's

1:04:44the uh chief innovation officer at

1:04:46Carta. They've been a big partner with

1:04:47us as well. We've been working with them

1:04:49on getting their buses through

1:04:50intersections, [clears throat] keeping

1:04:52the green lights a little greener longer

1:04:53for them if they need to catch up or if

1:04:55they have to pick somebody up at a

1:04:56corner. uh and sort of keeping on

1:04:58schedule. So, that's the team that's

1:05:00going to talk to you. Sarah's going to

1:05:02kick it off and talk a little bit about

1:05:03the grant and she's going to give you a

1:05:05national perspective. Ryan's going to

1:05:07talk to you about what we've done over

1:05:09the last several weeks and then Chief

1:05:11May and Chief Nullles will tell you what

1:05:12this grant has done from their

1:05:14perspective and then you'll hear from

1:05:15Daniel and what uh what the grant has

1:05:17done from their perspective. When we're

1:05:20all done with that, if you have any

1:05:21questions for us, we'll be happy to take

1:05:22your questions. All right, with that,

1:05:24I'm going to turn it over to Sarah.

1:05:25>> Thank you.

1:05:27Thank you.

1:05:29Thank you so much, Gerald and

1:05:31Chattanooga City Council. Um, as Gerald

1:05:34mentioned, I'm Sarah Ael, the vice

1:05:36president of innovative mobility at the

1:05:38Intelligent Transportation Society of

1:05:40America. We're a national trade

1:05:42organization based in Washington DC. Um,

1:05:45I lead our technical work. Um,

1:05:47Chattanooga, the city as well as the

1:05:49University of Tennessee Chattanooga are

1:05:51members of ours. And so we've been

1:05:53supporting on this grant through

1:05:55national best practices connecting the

1:05:57city to resources um through the smart

1:06:00grant program. I will just say on this

1:06:03slide, it does take a lot of partners to

1:06:05pull off these technical systems,

1:06:07especially as we're piloting them to get

1:06:10them working. So it really does take an

1:06:13army. Um but we've gotten to a great

1:06:15point here in Chattanooga with this

1:06:17initial pilot um focused on the end

1:06:20users which are bus drivers and firet

1:06:23truck um drivers and firefighters um in

1:06:26this initial stage. Um, so the city of

1:06:30Chattanooga received this smart grant um

1:06:34amongst other federal funding that you

1:06:37all have received from the United States

1:06:39Department of Transportation to advance

1:06:41transportation technology to make people

1:06:44safer um on roads in Chattanooga and

1:06:48make it more easy to move about. Um, I

1:06:51want to stress that this smart grant

1:06:53stage one at a federal level is intended

1:06:56to be a pilot before deploying this

1:07:00technology, making sure you get it

1:07:01right, you fine-tune this um the systems

1:07:04before you scale it all across the city.

1:07:08Um, so identifying and reflecting on

1:07:11lessons learned to adjust the technology

1:07:14to make sure that it has the best use

1:07:16for the end users is critical. Um, I

1:07:19want to recognize that Chattanooga is

1:07:22being noticed at a federal level for

1:07:25this smart grant as well as many other

1:07:27grants which um, intelligent cities will

1:07:30cover in a little bit. Um, so we want to

1:07:33congratulate you all on wrapping up this

1:07:35initial pilot. We will be sharing

1:07:37lessons learned um, with US Department

1:07:40of Transportation. This smart grant

1:07:43program um, has congressional reporting

1:07:46requirements. So the implementation

1:07:48reports get published at a federal

1:07:50level. Um so just want to congratulate

1:07:53you on the success and can't wait to

1:07:55share what has come out of this grant

1:07:57nationally. So with that I will turn it

1:08:00over to Ryan Huddleston the director of

1:08:03intelligent cities to walk you through

1:08:04the project. Thank you.

1:08:09>> Thanks Sarah. Um, I'm Ryan Huleston,

1:08:11director of intelligent cities. And, um,

1:08:14to Sarah's point there, um, we are

1:08:16seeing on the national stage here at

1:08:19Chattanooga for these initiatives. And I

1:08:22do just want to say, um, it's it takes a

1:08:24whole lot of effort, time, uh, to that

1:08:27we put into these initiatives to

1:08:29continue the momentum on them. Um, and

1:08:32so we hold ourselves to a very high

1:08:34standard in how we go about these tasks.

1:08:37Um so the project through this project

1:08:40we've deployed uh vehicle to everything

1:08:43or V2X technology along two corridors uh

1:08:47Central Avenue and Third Street. Um so

1:08:50on an initial set of fire department

1:08:53fire trucks and Carter buses um as Sarah

1:08:57mentioned uh to pilot this technology

1:09:00identify more adjustments that can be

1:09:02made and then we are looking to scale

1:09:04this technology in the best possible

1:09:06way. Um so our next step is to take

1:09:09these lessons learned. Um so to go to US

1:09:12DOT, do more data collection, get our

1:09:15focus group feedback and really see what

1:09:18we need, what sort of technology we need

1:09:20for a widespread deployment here. And uh

1:09:23what our end users need out of this

1:09:25technology and you're going to hear more

1:09:26from uh CFD and Cardo later on in this

1:09:29presentation. Um and so we have deployed

1:09:33in total. And before your eyes roll back

1:09:35in the back of your head, I will explain

1:09:36what V2X and vehicle to everything means

1:09:39later on in this presentation, so don't

1:09:41worry. Um, so we've deployed 13 total

1:09:45roadside units. We have deployed uh 13

1:09:48total LAR units at 13 intersections

1:09:51worth of LAR units. Um, we have deployed

1:09:5428 onboard units installed into firet

1:09:57trucks, Carter buses, and also city test

1:09:59city testing vehicles. And as Gerald

1:10:02mentioned, our grant ends this week, but

1:10:04we do still have time to report on

1:10:07outcomes and lessons learned to do uh

1:10:10out into early next year. So, that's

1:10:13what we're going to be working on. And I

1:10:14did just want to note that none of these

1:10:17devices record any sort of personally

1:10:20identifiable information on um

1:10:23pedestrians, people, faces, license

1:10:25plate. None of that. And is is being

1:10:28recorded through this. And I'll actually

1:10:30show you uh what a lidar uh point cloud

1:10:33feed looks like later on in this

1:10:34presentation here.

1:10:37Okay. So this is where we have deployed

1:10:40this technology right uh so far for on

1:10:42beh for our smart grant. Uh so we have

1:10:45East Third Street here and then we also

1:10:47have Central Avenue. And um the reason

1:10:50really why we chose this location is

1:10:53this is one of the main health corridors

1:10:55in the city. And we thought having this

1:10:58infrastructure in place along these

1:11:00corridors would have a large impact uh

1:11:03for some of our use cases like emergency

1:11:05vehicle preemption which I will get to

1:11:08here in a little bit.

1:11:10And then so for our exp our expanded

1:11:13locations here, um we are expanding this

1:11:17technology out. Uh we've got other

1:11:19funding. So we're going for greater

1:11:21safety and efficiency outcomes here with

1:11:24this funding. Um and I will discuss what

1:11:27that funding is here in a little bit.

1:11:29But so we are uh deploying this

1:11:32technology at 80 more over 80 more

1:11:34intersections on behalf of our ATCMPD or

1:11:37attain grant. and that comes with

1:11:39funding from the f federal highway

1:11:41administration. Um we were also

1:11:44[clears throat] lucky enough to receive

1:11:45congressional appropriation funding. So

1:11:47we have more than 20 more intersections

1:11:49we're going to be deploying similar

1:11:51technology out for. And then as I

1:11:53mentioned our smart grant corridor and

1:11:56what kind of kick things off thanks to

1:11:58our partners at UTC uh they have their

1:12:00own smart corridor test bed which kind

1:12:03of kicked off um the the use cases and

1:12:06the need for this technology in the

1:12:07city. And I and I know that's confusing

1:12:09having our own smart quarter in their

1:12:11smart test bed quarter, but it is what

1:12:13it is.

1:12:15Um, okay. So, what the heck is vehicle

1:12:19to everything or V2X? Um, so this is a

1:12:23transportation communication technology.

1:12:26It allows vehicles, devices,

1:12:29transportation systems to really

1:12:31exchange key roadway information telling

1:12:35giving you information about other road

1:12:36users and what the infrastructure is

1:12:38saying. So this this technology can tell

1:12:42us can help increase awareness, shares

1:12:45information about drivers uh or

1:12:48hazardous conditions in the roadway. And

1:12:51right here in this picture, it's it's

1:12:53interesting. This is a connected vehicle

1:12:55where we have an onboard unit installed

1:12:58uh into this tablet here. And this is

1:13:00actually showing uh real time in real

1:13:02time conditions out at an intersection.

1:13:05So you can see um where vehicles are,

1:13:07where pedestrians are. You can get

1:13:09information on the signal timing plan,

1:13:12where you are in these corridors in real

1:13:14time if you have this kind of technology

1:13:16uh installed in your vehicle.

1:13:20Okay. So what are some of these use

1:13:22cases and what are we getting out of

1:13:24this at the city of Chattanooga? So um

1:13:28this technology can be used by our first

1:13:31responders and bus drivers to

1:13:32automatically change traffic signal

1:13:35timing to help them get to an emergency

1:13:37quicker and it can also help with

1:13:39on-time performance for buses. So, one

1:13:42of our major use cases here, transit

1:13:43signal priority priority can give Carta

1:13:46buses signal priority to reduce time at

1:13:48red lights and and improve on-time

1:13:51performance. And this is something that

1:13:52Carter told us is very important for

1:13:54them. Uh, another one of our major use

1:13:57cases here, emergency vehicle

1:13:58preeemption. This can give first

1:14:00responders with lights and their with

1:14:03lights and sirens signaled on signal

1:14:05priority to help get to emergencies

1:14:07faster. and they've talked to us about

1:14:09how important those seconds are for

1:14:11them. So, it's for these end users, you

1:14:14know, in our case, uh, Carta and Fire

1:14:17Department, whoever else, we are testing

1:14:19the signals for these emergency vehicles

1:14:22as they approach the intersection to get

1:14:24focus group feedback to determine, do we

1:14:26want to do green on approach? Do we do

1:14:28we find that we're getting more safety

1:14:30out of turning all the intersections red

1:14:32so the emergency vehicle can move

1:14:34through the corridor? And those kind of

1:14:36discussions and debates are not just

1:14:38happening here in Chattanooga. It's a

1:14:39it's a national discussion right now in

1:14:42these in these communities.

1:14:46Okay. So, what are some other benefits

1:14:49we're getting out of this today? So,

1:14:52LAR, which designs uh stands for um

1:14:56light detection and ranging, don't quote

1:14:58me on that. Um, so the LAR systems we've

1:15:01deployed under this grant allow us to

1:15:04see uh so we better than the current

1:15:07technology we have out at these

1:15:10intersections. We're able to see uh

1:15:13things like objects in heavy rain. If

1:15:16there's shadows at night, we get way

1:15:19better insight into the objects actually

1:15:21out on the intersection with this

1:15:23lighter. And within the intelligent

1:15:25cities division, we have deployed our

1:15:27new traffic management center, which is

1:15:29going to be able to make use of all this

1:15:31data. So the LAR is able to tell us

1:15:34exactly where objects are out on the

1:15:36roadway. It can also give us the objects

1:15:38heading and its velocity. So we can do

1:15:41really interesting things like say,

1:15:43"Hey, there would have been a near miss

1:15:45between a vehicle and a vehicle or a

1:15:46vehicle and a pedestrian within three

1:15:48seconds or two seconds or one second or

1:15:51hey look at where these pedestrians are

1:15:53actually crossing the roadway. It's not

1:15:55in the if it's not in the crosswalk. We

1:15:57can see a heat map of all of that." And

1:15:59we are already providing this data to

1:16:01our partners at public works to try to

1:16:04enact you know lowcost safety

1:16:06initiatives um where we're seeing a lot

1:16:08of this data accumulate at certain

1:16:10intersections.

1:16:11So what else can we do with this LAR? Uh

1:16:14you know we can use it for we can use

1:16:16for V2X communication. So to increase

1:16:20increase awareness about um by sharing

1:16:22information with road users uh about

1:16:25surrounding users or hazardous

1:16:27conditions. And these systems are really

1:16:30designed to identify road safety issues

1:16:32and change signals in real time while

1:16:35also still providing privacy to national

1:16:38standards such as the NIST standards

1:16:40which we abide by. And this is an actual

1:16:42uh LAR point cloud feed right here

1:16:44you're seeing in this picture.

1:16:48Okay. Okay. So, where are we going with

1:16:49all of this? What is our what are our

1:16:51future fan uh rollout plans and what is

1:16:54our current funding environment? So, we

1:16:56can expand this technology to more

1:16:58roadways, more corridors. We can put it

1:17:00in more vehicles. Um but it's really

1:17:03critical that we reflect on the end of

1:17:05this project to decide which technology

1:17:08is going to make the most sense to scale

1:17:10up. And we've already received funding

1:17:12in several key project areas, as I

1:17:15mentioned previously, to fine-tune this

1:17:17technology and really scale it at the

1:17:19level that will have the most impact for

1:17:21the city. So, as I mentioned, we've

1:17:23received funding under our advanced

1:17:25transportation technology and innovation

1:17:27program. We've received congressional

1:17:29appropriation funding. Carta just got 25

1:17:32million from the FTA to put autonomous

1:17:35shuttles out in downtown. And we are

1:17:38hoping to use some of that funding to

1:17:40deploy this technology so that the

1:17:42infrastructure can communicate with

1:17:43these autonomous shuttles giving them

1:17:46safety information at the data layer

1:17:48that can be ingested by these autonomous

1:17:50vehicles to make decisions. So we have

1:17:53also received with our partners at UTC

1:17:56um funding from the safe streets and

1:17:58roads for all program. This is another

1:18:00federal highway administration program

1:18:03at the demonstration level. With your

1:18:05recent council approval, we sent out a

1:18:07proposal, $170 million proposal for more

1:18:10safe streets and roads for all funding.

1:18:12I I thank you sincerely for for your

1:18:14approval on that.

1:18:19Okay. So, I'd like to introduce some of

1:18:21our partners. Now, you know, we

1:18:22partnered with, as I mentioned, CFD and

1:18:25Carta to implement the tech and do

1:18:27workforce training so the end users know

1:18:29exactly how this tech works, uh how they

1:18:32need these systems of function. So, I'd

1:18:34like to now invite Chief Nolles for

1:18:36remarks from CFD on the benefits of

1:18:39emergency vehicle preeemption for our

1:18:41emergency response.

1:18:43>> Thank you, sir.

1:18:44>> Y good afternoon, council fire chief

1:18:46Terry Nolles. And so, first of all, I

1:18:49want to thank UTC and Gerald and his

1:18:52staff for just asking our department to

1:18:54be part of this this technology, to be

1:18:56part of this project. um because I

1:19:00believe that it fits directly into our

1:19:01mission statement and our department's

1:19:03mission statement is protecting our

1:19:05community today while preparing for

1:19:07tomorrow. And I believe this technology

1:19:09is helping us prepare for tomorrow. And

1:19:12what I mean by prepare for tomorrow,

1:19:14what what uh I think that means is being

1:19:17a uh proactive department and always

1:19:20looking for ways to be able to make our

1:19:23job safer and more efficient and also

1:19:27helping us make uh the public safer

1:19:30because we all know responding to

1:19:32emergency vehicles is very dangerous and

1:19:34we take that uh very seriously. And so

1:19:37being part of this um this um discussion

1:19:41about what can make it safer, how can we

1:19:44get there quicker because we all know

1:19:45that seconds count when it when it comes

1:19:48to life and death situations. So when

1:19:50we're running lights and sirens like

1:19:52everybody here's heard us and we are

1:19:53loud and we are bright, but we are very

1:19:56big trucks. Our trucks weigh anywhere

1:19:59from 40,000 to 70,000 pounds. And when

1:20:02we're coming through an intersection,

1:20:03our drivers are trained to clear that

1:20:06intersection to really look and clear

1:20:08all the lanes of traffic. So with this

1:20:10technology downtown,

1:20:12it will turn all the lights red is what

1:20:16we're asking it to do. Is what we think

1:20:18is the safest way because with all the

1:20:20lights red, nobody on the other side is

1:20:23looking at that green light looking at a

1:20:2540,000lb truck coming at them saying,

1:20:27"Oh, I can beat that truck across this

1:20:29intersection." So, with all the lights

1:20:31red, we believe that it will be better.

1:20:34It will be safer, and we'll be able to

1:20:36still clear that intersection just like

1:20:37we always do, but it hopefully will give

1:20:40us more seconds, add more seconds um or

1:20:43take away more seconds to our respon for

1:20:46our response to the emergency scene so

1:20:48we can get there and start helping our

1:20:50citizens a lot faster. And it's also

1:20:52going to make it safer for our

1:20:53firefighters going through those

1:20:55intersections, having them cleared with

1:20:58that red light. um that way we're not

1:21:00having accidents within those

1:21:02intersections with our public. So, it's

1:21:04going to make all around it's going to

1:21:05make everything safer and we look

1:21:07forward to continuing with this project.

1:21:09The uh fire apparatus that are going to

1:21:11be involved are our three fire apparatus

1:21:13at downtown at station one and then the

1:21:15two fire apparatus in Highland Park um

1:21:18our engine and ladder out there. So th

1:21:20all this all these systems will be put

1:21:23in there because those are the ones that

1:21:24are responding in the downtown area

1:21:26where these systems are placed um most.

1:21:28And so we look forward to continue

1:21:30working with Gerald UTC and everybody

1:21:32getting this data, looking at this data

1:21:34and making our job and the public safer

1:21:37with it. Thank you.

1:21:39>> Okay. And we do have a couple of Oh, we

1:21:43>> Oh, we got a little bit more. Sorry.

1:21:44>> I got you. You're good.

1:21:46>> Thank you, Chief Nullles. Um so as I

1:21:49mentioned you know we have another

1:21:51strong partnership with Carta going to

1:21:53be working with them directly on this

1:21:54build grant and how are we going to work

1:21:57get V2X and the autonomous shuttles to

1:22:00work together that's going to be a big

1:22:02focus for us going forward how we're

1:22:04going to integrate both of these

1:22:05technologies so I'd like to invite uh

1:22:07Daniel Defor the chief innovation

1:22:09officer from Carta talk about and

1:22:11reflect on their role in the smart

1:22:13grant.

1:22:15Thank you.

1:22:18>> [snorts]

1:22:20>> Hi, can you hear me? All right.

1:22:23>> Okay.

1:22:25I'm Daniel Dufour, the chief innovation

1:22:28officer of Carta, your regional

1:22:31transportation authority.

1:22:34Thank you for the opportunity to share

1:22:37our perspective on the smart grant.

1:22:44Let's start with our values.

1:22:48Safety is our number one priority.

1:22:52We value pedestrian safety. We value the

1:22:55safety of our drivers, all the drivers

1:22:58on the road. We value the safety of

1:23:00cyclists and certainly our wheelchair

1:23:03users.

1:23:07We value workforce development

1:23:10in connecting people to opportunity to

1:23:13learn cutting edge technologies that

1:23:16will drive future job growth.

1:23:21We value efficiency.

1:23:23We value every taxpayer dollar, every

1:23:26cent from the city, state, federal

1:23:30government and all our funders. Our

1:23:33community deserves an efficient and

1:23:35reliable transportation system.

1:23:40Here's how V2X delivers for our

1:23:43community.

1:23:45Let's start with safety. [snorts]

1:23:48V2X will provide a way for our drivers

1:23:51to in essence see around corners and

1:23:55know what is up ahead beyond their line

1:23:59of sight.

1:24:03Let's talk about workforce development.

1:24:06V2X is a key technology of the future

1:24:09and is essential to the success of our

1:24:12upcoming autonomous vehicle deployment.

1:24:16Carta is upskilling our workforce in V2X

1:24:19and will be building as part of the

1:24:22build grant a mobility and innovation

1:24:24command center with a live learning lab

1:24:27and classroom providing hands-on

1:24:30learning of autonomous vehicle

1:24:32technology including V2X.

1:24:37Here's how V2X delivers on efficiency.

1:24:41V2X improves on-time performance through

1:24:45transit signal priority, delivering a

1:24:47more efficient and reliable system.

1:24:50[clears throat]

1:24:53So, here's what Carta did.

1:24:56Carta installed V2X OBU devices

1:25:00on 12 Carta buses.

1:25:03Within 2 weeks,

1:25:07Carter reduced the install time per

1:25:09device

1:25:11starting at 4 hours. We reduced it to 30

1:25:14minutes.

1:25:17Carta developed an OBU install guide.

1:25:20And to be honest, it wasn't me. It was

1:25:21my team that developed it, which will

1:25:24support future workforce development

1:25:27initiatives.

1:25:32Carta has the largest fleet of V2X

1:25:34enabled public sector vehicles in our

1:25:38area.

1:25:41Lastly, and this is D right there. This

1:25:44is the most important point.

1:25:47Carta embedded innovation inside of our

1:25:50IT operations.

1:25:52Here's what that means. Carta has a very

1:25:55lean and efficient IT organization. We

1:25:58have a total of you want to guess two IT

1:26:01technicians for a fleet of over 90

1:26:04buses, shuttles and vans.

1:26:07Every IT tech is expected to know how to

1:26:10install smart city technologies.

1:26:13Every IT tech is a smart city tech.

1:26:16Every IT tech is a V2X tech. There's no

1:26:20slackers. There's no time for slacking.

1:26:23By cross-raining and embedding

1:26:25innovation instead inside of IT

1:26:28operations, Carta has an organizational

1:26:31structure to scale deployment of V2X

1:26:34across our entire fleet. So, let's make

1:26:36this happen.

1:26:40[clears throat]

1:26:42Here's a fun slide. Uh, so we don't like

1:26:44have a sign on the bus to let you know

1:26:47that it's going to be like one of the

1:26:49faster buses with V2X.

1:26:51Um, but we did

1:26:54install it on the dolly bus. So, if you

1:26:58want to catch a ride on a bus with V2X,

1:27:01just look for the dolly bus. It's the

1:27:03the green and blue one you see there.

1:27:05Um, and you'll get a quicker ride.

1:27:10>> Um, thank you for your time and happy to

1:27:13answer any questions.

1:27:15>> Thank you. And we do have Oh, yeah. Give

1:27:18him a hand first.

1:27:20>> Okay. I would just say on behalf of

1:27:22Gerald, myself, intelligent cities

1:27:24division, our partners, I want to thank

1:27:26you so much for council's ongo previous

1:27:28and ongoing support of all of our

1:27:30initiatives and the intelligent city

1:27:32space. And we'll now like to open the

1:27:35floor to council questions or any

1:27:36feedback you may have.

1:27:37>> Yeah, we do have a couple um probably

1:27:40for different members of the team here.

1:27:42So, we'll start with Vice Chair Elliott.

1:27:45>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you

1:27:46all so much for taking the time to

1:27:48update [snorts] us on this. I have a

1:27:49couple questions.

1:27:51The first being, what is the buffer time

1:27:54between um a signal changing an

1:27:57emergency vehicle coming through? Like

1:27:59how much runway are we talking about?

1:28:02>> So um first of all, the technology it

1:28:05operates in something called direct v2x

1:28:08the currently deployed technology. It's

1:28:10actually sending a cellular signal from

1:28:12the device to the intersection directly.

1:28:16Uh so the latency is very low for how

1:28:18that signal is sent. Now the buffer time

1:28:20on when the signal changes depends on a

1:28:22few things. If you have a pedestrian uh

1:28:25in that you know in the crosswalk and

1:28:27they have the rightway so it will you

1:28:29know that pedestrian still has the

1:28:31priority to cross there. So assuming

1:28:34there's not anything else holding it up

1:28:36the signal can change you know go

1:28:38through go to a yellow and then move to

1:28:42a red light.

1:28:43>> Okay.

1:28:43>> If we're going all red preeemption.

1:28:45>> Okay. And uh have we had to change, this

1:28:47may be a question for Chief Nullles,

1:28:49have we had to train any of our um uh

1:28:53engineer drivers, our engine drivers on

1:28:56how to navigate this software or has it

1:28:58really been a difference?

1:28:59>> No, it hasn't been. Our uh fleet

1:29:01division is putting the systems in our

1:29:03trucks and then they're just working on

1:29:06the red lights. They're still even

1:29:08though we're turn if they turn them all

1:29:10red, we're still going to clear the

1:29:12intersections. That's that's our due

1:29:14regard in making sure that we're safe.

1:29:16We're still clear in all the

1:29:17intersections. Uh but it just it uh

1:29:21gives us that sense that okay,

1:29:24everything's already turned red. Nobody

1:29:26should be moving in this intersection,

1:29:28but we're still going to proceed with

1:29:29caution and make sure we clear it. But

1:29:31no, nothing added on to the drivers.

1:29:33>> Okay, perfect.

1:29:34>> So also add that they specifically asked

1:29:36for no devices, no silence. So this is

1:29:39turned on and off from the lights and

1:29:41sirens. There's no uh [clears throat]

1:29:42extra tablet in there that's showing a

1:29:45bunch of um wackiness or anything like

1:29:47that.

1:29:48>> Perfect. And um this next question, I

1:29:51saw that snippet of um I think it was

1:29:55our road map maybe central which begs

1:29:57the question, what type of data are you

1:29:59guys tracking with this information and

1:30:03these cameras or whatever you call them?

1:30:05Um yeah, so the only uh device we're

1:30:08using for on the detection side is the

1:30:10LAR, which again has no uh personally

1:30:14identifiable information. I think I

1:30:16showed a LAR feed earlier. Um this is a

1:30:19LAR point cloud feed. And the way LA

1:30:22lightar works essentially shoots out a

1:30:24laser and then the laser returns. So

1:30:26what you're seeing here is a feed of

1:30:28that. So you can't identify a

1:30:30pedestrian's face. Um you can't identify

1:30:32a license plate with this data. Um it's

1:30:35purely designed on is this a pedestrian,

1:30:38is this a car, is this a bus.

1:30:40>> Perfect. And are we storing any of this

1:30:43data that we keep over time and if so

1:30:46who all has access to it? So we are

1:30:49storing um we are storing data points as

1:30:52it relates to um you know incidents out

1:30:55that we're seeing um you know maybe

1:30:57between a pedestrian or a vehicle um

1:31:01just data points um and we follow NIST

1:31:04standards um we follow city retention

1:31:07standards um my team has access to it um

1:31:11>> what's NIST

1:31:13is a national guideline around

1:31:15technology standards

1:31:16>> okay

1:31:17>> you

1:31:18This does not contain you can you can go

1:31:20you can do run a search on on LAR LAR

1:31:23feeds and it will give you that

1:31:25information here.

1:31:26>> Good deal. And and uh excuse my

1:31:29ignorance on this but does uh and I

1:31:31could be wrong but does any of this

1:31:34involve any signal recalibration in the

1:31:36signal timing recalibration?

1:31:38>> Um no we're not changing um we are not

1:31:41changing the signal phasing itself like

1:31:44the signal plan itself. Uh, so if

1:31:46something goes into preeemption, it will

1:31:48take a few cycles to go back into its

1:31:50regular Okay. Uh, timing plan.

1:31:52>> Perfect. Well, I do appreciate you guys

1:31:54taking the time to unveil it. I know

1:31:56this is something that folks been

1:31:57working on for years. And um,

1:32:01I haven't been able to articulate it

1:32:02myself, so it's great to see it. I I

1:32:04just been telling, oh, they had some

1:32:06real cool stuff going on at UTC with the

1:32:08city. I didn't know really what it was.

1:32:10And you got to excuse me. So, somebody

1:32:12said, hey, they've been doing signal

1:32:14time recalibration. I thought that's

1:32:15what it was. And so it's great to see

1:32:18what it was even more uh a little bit

1:32:20better. So thank you guys so much and I

1:32:22do appreciate it.

1:32:22>> Thank you.

1:32:23>> Yeah. Thanks again to the whole team.

1:32:25Thank you. Any other questions, council?

1:32:28All right. I don't see any. Um and that

1:32:31takes us through our agenda session.

1:32:34Council, we do need a attorney client

1:32:35meeting. Um so we'll be in recess until

1:32:386 o'clock.

1:32:39>> Thank you very much.

2:19:44>> [laughter]

2:19:51>> We will be back in session. Madame

2:19:54clerk, if you would please read item 7

2:19:57A. An ordinance to amend Chattanooga

2:19:59City Code Part 2, chapter 24, article

2:20:0314, section 24502, schedule 2, speed on

2:20:07three streets to change the speed limit

2:20:09from 50 mph to 45 miles per hour on

2:20:12Bonnie Oaks Drive from Boris Drive to

2:20:14400 ft west of Silverdale Road per the

2:20:18request of the Tennessee Department of

2:20:19Transportation for safety and

2:20:21consistency along the corridor.

2:20:24>> Move to approve.

2:20:26Thank you.

2:20:27>> We have a motion properly seconded on

2:20:29this ordinance on final reading. Uh

2:20:31council, are there any questions or

2:20:33comments before we vote? [snorts]

2:20:36>> All in favor?

2:20:37>> I. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes

2:20:40on final reading. Item 7B, please.

2:20:44>> An ordinance closing and abandoning the

2:20:45unopen right away in the 900 block of Do

2:20:48Avenue is detailed on the attached maps.

2:20:53>> Move to approve. Second. We have a

2:20:56motion properly seconded on this

2:20:57ordinance on final reading. Council, are

2:20:59there any questions or comments before

2:21:01we vote?

2:21:03All in favor?

2:21:05>> I. Any opposed? And the ordinance passes

2:21:08on final reading.

2:21:11Um item 8A, please. Madam clerk,

2:21:13>> an ordinance amending Chattanooga City

2:21:15Code Part 2, Chapter 10, Article 4,

2:21:17Commercial Property Assess Clean Energy

2:21:20and Resiliency Cacer Program.

2:21:24Hi. Have a

2:21:25>> motion probably seconded on this

2:21:27ordinance on first reading. Any

2:21:29questions or comments? Councel.

2:21:32>> All in favor?

2:21:34>> I. Any opposed? And ordinance passes on

2:21:37first reading? Item 8B, please.

2:21:41>> An ordinance amending city code part two

2:21:44chapter 2 article 3 division 4 general

2:21:46pension plan.

2:21:50>> We have a motion properly seconded on

2:21:52this ordinance. on first reading. Are

2:21:53there any questions or comments,

2:21:55council, before we vote?

2:21:58All in favor?

2:22:00>> I. Any opposed? [clears throat] And the

2:22:03ordinance passes on first reading.

2:22:06Item 9A, please. A resolution

2:22:09authorizing the family justice center in

2:22:11partic in partnership with the family

2:22:13visitation center in Chattanooga to

2:22:15apply for and awarded accept a 4-year

2:22:18grant from the office of violence

2:22:20against women ov to implement the family

2:22:23justice center supervised visitation

2:22:26project which will serve families in

2:22:27Hamilton and surrounding counties in

2:22:29Tennessee and Georgia for an amount not

2:22:32to exceed $800,000.

2:22:34>> Move to approve. A motion properly

2:22:37seconded on this resolution. Are there

2:22:39any questions or comments before we

2:22:41vote?

2:22:43>> All in favor?

2:22:44>> I. Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:22:47adopted. Item 9B, please. A resolution

2:22:51authorizing the administrative for the

2:22:52Department of Economic Development to

2:22:54execute a third amendment to the

2:22:56agreement with Chattanooga Area Regional

2:22:58Council of Government's Southeast

2:23:00Tennessee Development District for the

2:23:02management of the city's EPA brownfield

2:23:05cleanup grant adding the option to renew

2:23:08for one additional one-year term

2:23:10beginning September 1, 2026 and ending

2:23:12on August 31, 2027.

2:23:17Council, we have a motion properly

2:23:19seconded on this resolution. Are there

2:23:21any questions or comments before we

2:23:23vote?

2:23:24>> All in favor?

2:23:26>> I. Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:23:29adopted. Item 9 C, please. A resolution

2:23:32to accept the current year financial

2:23:34report from the downtown Chattanooga

2:23:36Alliance DCA for activity related to the

2:23:39Chattanooga Business Improvement

2:23:41District CBID and approve the proposed

2:23:43budget for FY2027 activities including

2:23:47authorizing the treasurer to collect

2:23:49special assessment fees for tax year

2:23:512026.

2:23:55>> Council, we have a motion properly

2:23:56seconded on this resolution. Um, are

2:24:00there any questions or comments before

2:24:02we vote?

2:24:04All in favor?

2:24:06>> I.

2:24:06>> Any opposed?

2:24:08And the resolution is adopted. Madame

2:24:11clerk, if you would please read items 9,

2:24:14D, and E as a package.

2:24:17Item D, a resolution authorizing the

2:24:20executive director of the Chattanooga P

2:24:22public library to apply for and if

2:24:24awarded accept the FY27 Library State

2:24:27Metro Grant for the purpose of providing

2:24:29access to and circulation of library

2:24:32materials in the amount of $430,500.

2:24:37Item E, a resolution authorizing the

2:24:39executive director of the Chattanooga

2:24:40Public Library to apply for and if

2:24:43awarded, accept the FY27 Library State

2:24:46Technology Grant for the purpose of the

2:24:48public library purchasing or replacing

2:24:50technology for use by staff or the

2:24:52public with a 50% local match grant up

2:24:56to the amount of $20,000.

2:25:01>> A motion properly seconded on these

2:25:03resolutions. Council, are there any

2:25:05questions or comments before we vote?

2:25:08>> All in favor?

2:25:10>> I. Any opposed? And the resolutions are

2:25:13adopted. Item 9F, please. A resolution

2:25:19authorizing the city of Chattanooga to

2:25:20allocate $25,000 from the American

2:25:23Rescue Plan at Corona virus state and

2:25:25local fiscal recovery funds to the

2:25:28International Bluegrass Music

2:25:29Association, IBMA, to support the

2:25:32Bluegrass Festival held in Chattanooga

2:25:34for the year of 2026.

2:25:38>> Do have a motion properly seconded on

2:25:40this item. Council, are there any

2:25:42questions or comments before we vote?

2:25:45[snorts]

2:25:46All in favor? I

2:25:48>> I any opposed?

2:25:49>> Abstain.

2:25:51>> And the resolution is adopted with the

2:25:53one abstension by Councilman Harvey.

2:25:56>> Item 9G, please.

2:25:59>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:26:01reappoint of Michael Webb to the

2:26:03construction board of adjustment and

2:26:05appeals for a term beginning on November

2:26:069, 2026 and ending on November 8th,

2:26:092030.

2:26:12Second.

2:26:13>> Have a motion properly seconded on this

2:26:15resolution. Council, are there any

2:26:17questions or comments before we vote?

2:26:20All in favor?

2:26:22>> I.

2:26:22>> Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:26:25adopted. And then, madame clerk, if you

2:26:28would please read items 9H through K as

2:26:31a package.

2:26:34>> H through K.

2:26:35>> Yes, please.

2:26:38Item H, a resolution confirming M

2:26:40Kelly's appointment of Justin Bagot to

2:26:42the board of electrical examiners for a

2:26:44term beginning on September 30, 2026 and

2:26:47ended on September 29, 2029. Item I, a,

2:26:50a resolution confirming Mayor Candley's

2:26:52reappoint of Marvin Brewster

2:26:55to the board of electrical examiners for

2:26:59a term beginning on October 19, 2026 and

2:27:01ending on October 18, 2030. Item J, a

2:27:04resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:27:06reappoint of Kenny Smith to the board of

2:27:08electrical examiners for a term

2:27:10beginning on May 25, 2026 and ending on

2:27:13May 24, 2030. Item K, a resolution

2:27:17confirming Mayor Kelly's reappoint of

2:27:19Charles Young to the board of electrical

2:27:21examiners for a term beginning on

2:27:23September 1, 2026 and ending on August

2:27:2631, 2030.

2:27:30You have a motion properly seconded on

2:27:32these resolutions. Councelor, are there

2:27:35any questions or comments before we

2:27:36vote?

2:27:38All [clears throat] in favor?

2:27:40>> I. Any opposed?

2:27:42>> And the resolutions are adopted. And if

2:27:45you would please read items 9, L, and M

2:27:48as a package. Item L, a resolution

2:27:52confirming Mali's reappoint of Beverly

2:27:54Beverly Bell to the formbbased code

2:27:56committee for a term beginning on April

2:27:582, 2026 and ending on April 1, 2029.

2:28:02Item M, a resolution confirming Mcklly's

2:28:04reappoint of Lee Helena to the

2:28:07formbbased code committee for a term

2:28:09beginning on August 9, 2026 and ending

2:28:11on August 8, 2029.

2:28:15Second have a motion properly seconded

2:28:17on these two resolutions. Council, are

2:28:20there any questions or comments before

2:28:22we vote?

2:28:24All in favor?

2:28:25>> I. Any opposed? And the resolutions are

2:28:28adopted. Um, and then if you could

2:28:30please read items nine, N, and O as a

2:28:34package.

2:28:35>> Item N, a resolution confirming Mayor

2:28:38Kelly's reappoint of Paul Norman Jud to

2:28:40the board of gas examiners for a term

2:28:42beginning on October 20, 2026 and ending

2:28:44on October 19, 2028. Item O, a

2:28:48resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:28:50reappoint of Mark Stoman to the Board of

2:28:53Gas Examiners for a term beginning on

2:28:56September 30, 2025 and ending on

2:28:58September 29, 2027. [clears throat]

2:29:03>> We have a motion properly seconded on

2:29:05these resolutions. Are there any

2:29:07questions or comments before we vote?

2:29:10All in favor?

2:29:12>> I. Any opposed? And the resolutions are

2:29:15adopted. Um, item 9P, please.

2:29:18>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:29:20reappoint of Nathan Bird to the Historic

2:29:22Zoning Commission for a term beginning

2:29:24on September 30, 2026 and ending on

2:29:27September 29, 2031.

2:29:29>> Move to approve. Have

2:29:31>> a motion properly seconded on this

2:29:33resolution. Are there any questions or

2:29:35comments, council, before we vote?

2:29:37[clears throat]

2:29:38All in favor?

2:29:39>> I. Any opposed? The resolution is

2:29:42adopted. Item 9 Q, please.

2:29:45>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:29:47reappoint of Scott McKenzie to the board

2:29:50of me mechanical examiners for a term

2:29:52beginning on December 14, 2025 and

2:29:55ending on December 13, 2029.

2:30:00>> Have a motion properly seconded on this

2:30:02resolution. Any questions or comments

2:30:04before we vote?

2:30:06All in favor?

2:30:08>> I. Any opposed? The resolution is

2:30:10adopted. Item 9R, please.

2:30:14>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:30:16appointments of Christy Rashid and Robin

2:30:18Sterns to the Office of Family

2:30:19Empowerment Board for a term beginning

2:30:22on September 30, 2026 and ending on

2:30:24September 29, 2028.

2:30:28[clears throat]

2:30:28>> Motion properly seconded on this

2:30:30resolution. Council, are there any

2:30:32questions or comments before we vote?

2:30:35All in favor?

2:30:37>> I. Any opposed? Resolution is adopted.

2:30:40Item 9, S, please.

2:30:42>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:30:44reappoint of Michael Webb to the board

2:30:46of plumbing examiners for a term

2:30:48beginning on October 20, 2026 and ending

2:30:51on October 19, 2028.

2:30:56>> We have a motion properly seconded um on

2:30:58this resolution. Council, are there any

2:31:00questions or comments before we vote?

2:31:03All in favor?

2:31:05>> Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:31:08adopted. And if you would please read

2:31:10items 9, T, and U as a package. [snorts]

2:31:14>> Item T, a resolution confirming M.

2:31:17Kelly's appointments of Janice Gooden

2:31:19and Ethan Collier to the Regional

2:31:21Planning Commission for a term beginning

2:31:22on September 30, 2026 and ending on

2:31:25September 29, 2030. Item U, a resolution

2:31:30confirming Mayor Kelly's reappoints of

2:31:32Matt Lau and Nathan Bird to the regional

2:31:35planning commission for a term beginning

2:31:36on September 1, 2026 and ended on August

2:31:3931, 2030.

2:31:41>> Approve. Second.

2:31:42>> We have a motion properly seconded on

2:31:44these resolutions. Council, are there

2:31:46any questions or comments before we

2:31:48vote?

2:31:50All in favor?

2:31:52>> I. Any oppose? And the resolutions are

2:31:55adopted. Um, item 9B, please.

2:31:59>> A resolution confirming Mayor Kelly's

2:32:01reappoint of Brett Smallley to the

2:32:03Sports Authority of the County of

2:32:05Hamilton and the city of Chattanooga,

2:32:07Tennessee for a term beginning on August

2:32:0831, 2026 and ending on August 30, 2032.

2:32:14>> I have a motion properly seconded on

2:32:16this resolution. Are there any questions

2:32:18or comments before we vote?

2:32:21>> All in favor?

2:32:23>> Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:32:26adopted.

2:32:28Item 9 W, please. A resolution

2:32:32authorizing the administrator for the

2:32:34Department of Public Works to

2:32:35[clears throat] approve con change order

2:32:36number one to contract number R250006201

2:32:41Riverside Drive soil slope with Kane

2:32:45Industries LLC for slope and handrail

2:32:47adjustment required by soil conditions

2:32:50encounter during construction to

2:32:51increase by $92,514

2:32:55for a revised contract amount of

2:32:56$247,575.14.

2:33:0014 and authorizing a contingency in the

2:33:03amount of $15,577

2:33:06for revised total amount not to exceed

2:33:09$263,152.14.

2:33:14We

2:33:14>> have a motion properly seconded on this

2:33:16resolution. Council, are there any

2:33:18questions or comments before we vote?

2:33:21[snorts]

2:33:22All in favor?

2:33:23>> I. Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:33:26adopted. Item 9X, please.

2:33:30>> A resolution to rename Canon Avenue in

2:33:32its entirety from the 2300 block and

2:33:34Rosville Boulevard to the 2800 block at

2:33:37Dole Street to Leman Pierce Avenue as

2:33:40shown on the attached map.

2:33:42>> Councilwoman Null, you're recognized.

2:33:44>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, I want to make

2:33:46a motion to table until we can sort out

2:33:50the proper process for the renaming of

2:33:53the street. Um, so I make a motion to

2:33:56table. Second.

2:33:57>> Do I have a motion properly seconded to

2:33:59table this item? Council, are there any

2:34:02other questions or comments before we

2:34:04vote?

2:34:06>> All in favor?

2:34:08>> Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:34:11tabled.

2:34:13Item 9 Y, please. a resolution

2:34:16authorizing the chief of police to enter

2:34:18into an agreement with the US Nuclear

2:34:20Regulatory Commission, NRC, for use of

2:34:23the Chattanooga Police Department

2:34:24facility to provide training courses for

2:34:26the NRC personnel and contractors for a

2:34:30one-year period and four 12-month

2:34:33optional periods for the life of the

2:34:355-year contract for an amount payable

2:34:38for year one of $47,000 and the next

2:34:41four years of $47,000

2:34:44to the city of Chattanooga.

2:34:45for contract period beginning on

2:34:47September 1, 2026 and ending ending on

2:34:50August 31, 2031 for a total estimated

2:34:54amount not to exceed $235,000.

2:35:00Second, we

2:35:00>> have a motion properly seconded on this

2:35:02resolution. Council, are there any

2:35:04questions or comments before we vote?

2:35:07All in favor?

2:35:09>> I. Any opposed? And the resolution is

2:35:12adopted. Before we move on to purchases,

2:35:15we've had a lot of board appointments.

2:35:16Are there any appointees in the audience

2:35:19this evening?

2:35:20>> I see Mrs. Good. [applause]

2:35:24Congratulations.

2:35:26And to any of the dozens of others who

2:35:28may be watching online, congratulations

2:35:30and thank you for your service to the

2:35:32city. All right, Weston, take it away.

2:35:35Very good. We have four purchases

2:35:36recommended for approval this evening.

2:35:38The first is with public public works.

2:35:40They're requesting an increase of

2:35:42$80,300

2:35:44to agreement PA1000834

2:35:47with Tennessee Guard Rail to complete

2:35:49necessary bridge repairs. The new annual

2:35:52spend will be $160,000

2:35:54$160,300.

2:35:57Item number two is with Wastewater. This

2:35:59is a new agreement for special line and

2:36:01tank cleaning services at Wastewater.

2:36:03This will be a 4-year agreement with an

2:36:05annual amount limit of $1 million. The

2:36:07award will go to PCI as the best bid.

2:36:11Item number three is also with

2:36:12wastewater. They're requesting a

2:36:13six-month extension to agreement

2:36:15PA1000307

2:36:18with ADS Environmental Services from its

2:36:21current expiration date of September 28,

2:36:232026 to extend through March 28, 2027.

2:36:27An additional $450,000 is requested for

2:36:29the extension. And then item number four

2:36:32is with community development. This is

2:36:34for a new agreement for radio

2:36:35advertising. This will be a one-year

2:36:37agreement not to exceed $65,720.

2:36:41[clears throat] The single source will

2:36:43award will go to Brewer Media Group in

2:36:45the amount of $65,720.

2:36:51>> You have a motion properly seconded um

2:36:54to approve these purchases. Council um

2:36:57Councilwoman Burrs, you're recognized.

2:37:00>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Weston, I just

2:37:02wanted to say thank you to your office.

2:37:03I had a couple questions about a couple

2:37:05of the items on purchase and uh sent a

2:37:08message email to your office or I think

2:37:11I I to I sent it to somebody in your

2:37:13office and they got right back to me

2:37:14with more information. So, I really

2:37:16appreciate it. Helped me learn [snorts]

2:37:18a little bit more about the purchases

2:37:20before we got to today's meeting. So, I

2:37:22appreciate it.

2:37:23>> Yes.

2:37:23>> Thank you, Mr. Chair.

2:37:25>> You're welcome.

2:37:26Council, can I get a motion on the

2:37:28purchases?

2:37:30>> I think we got a motion.

2:37:31>> I'll do it. Okay,

2:37:33>> forgive me. We [snorts] have a motion

2:37:35properly seconded. Um, are there any

2:37:37questions, other questions or comments

2:37:39before we vote?

2:37:40>> All in favor?

2:37:42>> I. Any opposed? And the purchases are

2:37:45approved. And we have one emergency

2:37:48purchase to report this evening. It's

2:37:49with public works. Uh, it's an emergency

2:37:52purchase request for brush pickup

2:37:54services in the amount of $44,450.

2:37:57Big Woody's deployed their trucks to

2:37:59pick up brush for the city residents and

2:38:01dispose of it. Motion to approve.

2:38:04>> Actually don't need a motion on that

2:38:06one. It's an announcement.

2:38:07>> This is a motion. [clears throat]

2:38:09>> Okay. Thank you, Weston.

2:38:11>> Sorry, I thought I was

2:38:13>> Okay. We'll go around the dis now for

2:38:15committee reports. We'll start with

2:38:16councilwoman null.

2:38:18>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. No report, but I

2:38:20do want to do a correction. It was not

2:38:22an

2:38:25article about changing [clears throat]

2:38:27of the name of Canon Avenue. It was the

2:38:29challenge.

2:38:35So, I did go back and pull it off.

2:38:38>> That was a correction there. Thank you.

2:38:40>> Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman Dotley.

2:38:42You're recognized.

2:38:43>> Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Uh we uh I

2:38:46do not have a report, but I did want to

2:38:47announce I'm sure people have saw seen

2:38:49it in the news. The Walnut Street Bridge

2:38:51is reopening and it is shared by myself

2:38:53and Councilwoman Hill cuz we the best.

2:38:56And the city is preparing for a major

2:38:58community celebration this Saturday from

2:39:0012 to 3. So meet us on the bridge with

2:39:03your walking shoes and bikes and all the

2:39:04things. It's going to be a time. All

2:39:06right. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

2:39:07>> Councilwoman Councilwoman Burs.

2:39:10>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. We'll have a

2:39:12planning and zoning planning zoning and

2:39:14housing committee meeting next week. Um,

2:39:16which will be reviewing the cases,

2:39:19planning cases that'll be coming up on

2:39:21our agenda on the 13th. Um, and then

2:39:24we're going to be changing our planning

2:39:25and zoning meeting schedule a little bit

2:39:27with our new committee structure. We

2:39:30will have um with the new committee a

2:39:33planning, zoning, and housing committee

2:39:34meeting on October 13th at 12:30 in the

2:39:38JB Collins room. And then the last thing

2:39:41that I wanted to say is I I attended the

2:39:44purchasing department's expo. Um, thank

2:39:46you all for inviting me to the expo. It

2:39:49I wanted to stay all day because the

2:39:51energy in the room was just fantastic.

2:39:52It was held at the Tiner Community

2:39:54Center and I asked the one of the

2:39:57employees that was organizing it just to

2:39:59send me some feedback because when I was

2:40:02there in the morning it it was just

2:40:03fascinating to see all of the people

2:40:05walking around and and to see every

2:40:07single department in one room at the

2:40:08same time which I really enjoyed. But I

2:40:10just wanted to share with you all some

2:40:12of the feedback that I received.

2:40:14appreciated the small wellorganized

2:40:16format, the snack the snack table, I

2:40:18don't know where it came [laughter]

2:40:18from, and the opportunity to network

2:40:21with new people and familiar faces.

2:40:23Valued the personal, approachable nature

2:40:25of the event. Um, and then the last one

2:40:29that I thought all great comments, but

2:40:32the expo was described as fantastic,

2:40:34wellorganized, welcoming, and easy to

2:40:36navigate with multiple attendees. and

2:40:39they praised the efforts of the city um

2:40:42to make working with and for the city

2:40:44accessible to local contractors. So,

2:40:47thank thank you to everybody um all the

2:40:49time and energy that went into it. I

2:40:51think they had 122 businesses that uh

2:40:54were there that day and that was that's

2:40:57a pretty good percentage. I think they

2:40:58had 160 that RSVPd. So, I look forward

2:41:01to more events like that. Great job.

2:41:05>> Okay.

2:41:05>> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

2:41:08and Councilman Henderson.

2:41:12>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. We did have a

2:41:13Marathon budget and finance committee

2:41:15meeting.

2:41:17>> I think it was just started this

2:41:19morning. I don't know. um [laughter]

2:41:22uh where we discussed budget amendments

2:41:24concerning police service center,

2:41:26holiday bonus for city employees, the

2:41:29WTCI endowment fund, purpose point

2:41:33learning academy, uh Bessie Smith

2:41:35Cultural Center, and the Eastell

2:41:38Collective. Uh we did reach some

2:41:40consensus on um the W TCI endowment

2:41:44fund, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, and

2:41:47Eastell Collective do need a little bit

2:41:49more work. uh ironing out some details

2:41:52on the police service center um and then

2:41:54the holiday bonus for city employees.

2:41:57And I think we need a little bit more

2:41:58information on the purpose point

2:42:00learning academy. Uh we [clears throat]

2:42:03will have another budget and finance

2:42:06committee meeting next Tuesday, October

2:42:09the 6th. We're going to have that during

2:42:11our regular uh agenda session at 3:30 uh

2:42:16with the chair's permission.

2:42:17[snorts and clears throat] Uh, I'd also

2:42:19like to announce uh the public hearing

2:42:22for our budget amendment would be on

2:42:24October the 20th with the first reading

2:42:28on October the 27th.

2:42:30That is all, Mr. Chair.

2:42:32>> Okay. Thank you, [clears throat]

2:42:34Councilwoman Hill.

2:42:37Um, I will add to what council has said

2:42:41about how excited everybody is about the

2:42:43bridge. And in addition to bringing your

2:42:45walking shoes, I'd like to go ahead and

2:42:47tell the wedding industry in Chattanooga

2:42:49to get ready because I predict within a

2:42:52year we will have a wedding boom. And I

2:42:54also think our maternity wards ought to

2:42:55get ready because I think nine months

2:42:58out I think people are psyched. And that

2:42:59is a bridge of love.

2:43:02>> Ronald's looking at me. You got to take

2:43:03your girl over there. You never know

2:43:04what'll happen.

2:43:06>> On me just yet.

2:43:08>> Pass on, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

2:43:10>> Okay,

2:43:11>> Councilman Harvey.

2:43:12>> Uh, no report, but I uh concur with

2:43:16Council Dolly and Council Hill as I

2:43:18asked my wife to marry me on the

2:43:20voluntary bridge.

2:43:21>> I propose there. So, yes, it is a bridge

2:43:23of love. Uh, everybody come out. It'll

2:43:26be a good time.

2:43:28>> That's all.

2:43:29>> Councilman Clark.

2:43:31Oh, I will be on the Is that the new

2:43:33name for the bridge?

2:43:34>> Bridge of love. [laughter]

2:43:36Well, I need to stay away from the

2:43:38bridge of love because it is not in my

2:43:41stars. Um, so this Saturday, well, I do

2:43:45have a committee report. Um, Chairman

2:43:47Davis from the uh Department of Public

2:43:50Works and Outdoors One, we did celebrate

2:43:53the opening of the Belleview Pavilion in

2:43:56Lake Hills this Saturday. It was a great

2:43:58success. Thank you again. uh to the

2:44:01department of of parks and outdoors and

2:44:03to Melicia and uh Tara Veand and Monica

2:44:07McKenzie who made that possible along

2:44:09with the neighborhood association Libby

2:44:12Burrus. In addition to the Walnut Street

2:44:15Bridge opening this Saturday, guess what

2:44:17else is happening? Rakita and Jenny

2:44:20>> Rainer Golf Course is turning 100. And

2:44:24if you are a golfer, you can meet us

2:44:26there at 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 pm

2:44:29uh to celebrate the 100year celebration

2:44:32of that historic golf course. And then

2:44:34we'll be leaving there to join you all

2:44:36on the Walnut Street Bridge for that

2:44:39celebration. So it'll be very busy

2:44:41Saturday for uh city council, but we

2:44:43look forward to meeting the public

2:44:44there.

2:44:46>> All right. Thank you, Vice Chair Elliot.

2:44:50Okay, that takes us to the portion of

2:44:52our meeting where we're happy to

2:44:53recognize members of the public who are

2:44:55here to address council on any topic.

2:44:57So, if you're here for that purpose, if

2:44:59you would please come to the podium down

2:45:01front and listen while our attorney

2:45:03reads the rules. And as always, we just

2:45:05ask that everybody listens to and abides

2:45:07by the rules.

2:45:09>> Yes, sir. And at the end of each council

2:45:11business meeting, the chair will

2:45:12recognize members of the public who wish

2:45:14to address the council. And here's your

2:45:15rules. Uh each speaker wishing to

2:45:18address the council can only be

2:45:19recognized at the microphone up front

2:45:21for that purpose. Can't have more than

2:45:23three minutes to speak and address the

2:45:25council only upon matters within their

2:45:28legislative and qua judicial authority

2:45:30and not on matters which are not under

2:45:32their authority and are regulated by

2:45:34other governmental bodies. uh do not

2:45:36engage in any vulgar or obscene language

2:45:38nor use to personally attack or

2:45:40personally denigrate others and address

2:45:42the council as a whole and not make

2:45:44comments directed towards individual

2:45:46council members. And lastly, do not

2:45:48engage in disorderly conduct or

2:45:50disrupting a public meeting which is

2:45:52prohibited by Tennessee law and someone

2:45:54commits that offense if a person

2:45:56substantially obstructs or interferes

2:45:58with the meeting by physical action or

2:46:00verbal utterance with the intent to

2:46:01prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting or

2:46:03gathering. Having stated those rules,

2:46:05ma'am, would you please give your name

2:46:07and your district?

2:46:09>> My name is Fran Pierce, District 8.

2:46:15My question is

2:46:17the issue of it being tabled about the

2:46:19street naming. This has been talked

2:46:21about for the last I think probably

2:46:24eight months when it first came up. The

2:46:27com commemorative signs have been posted

2:46:30and I think this was the final phase of

2:46:32waiting on this and now it's being

2:46:34tabled.

2:46:36I don't know if some of you know Leman

2:46:39Pierce or not, but that was my father.

2:46:43My father lived on Canon Avenue for all

2:46:4884 years of his life. Never moved.

2:46:52Served on this city council for 19

2:46:54years. He fought for the community. He

2:46:57did everything. Fighting the drug

2:46:59dealers, the prostitutes, everything.

2:47:01Putting up a school bus uh stop for the

2:47:04childrens to have somewhere to sit. And

2:47:07then for me to sit here today from 3:00

2:47:10to now to hear that this issue is being

2:47:13tabled. I had one p one lady out there

2:47:18that did voice her concern why the

2:47:20street was being changed. She thought I

2:47:23did it. I told her the letter that she

2:47:25got is the same letter that I got as a

2:47:28homeowner. I said I didn't do it, but

2:47:31yes. Am I happy? I am because my daddy

2:47:34has to be dead in his grave to finally

2:47:36receive his rewards for that community,

2:47:41a community back in the day that it was

2:47:44a school on the playground. And that's

2:47:46what my dad went to elementary school on

2:47:49our playground where trees have been

2:47:51planted now and new little equipment. I

2:47:54just don't understand why we got to keep

2:47:56waiting when my daddy fought so hard,

2:48:00especially with him being a civil right

2:48:02activist.

2:48:04That one lady wanted to ask me why y'all

2:48:06just don't change the name of the

2:48:08community. Again, I told her I ain't

2:48:10have nothing to do with it. And I do

2:48:12know her daughters have called the city

2:48:14council person. It's fine.

2:48:18But we all know what my daddy did for

2:48:20the community and what he stood for. And

2:48:23I just want to know the question why.

2:48:25Why we got to continue to wait?

2:48:34>> Is that all [snorts] you have, ma'am?

2:48:37>> Yes. I just need an answer to why we

2:48:40waiting. Okay, this period is not

2:48:44particularly for question and answer.

2:48:46Um, but if you wanted to stay

2:48:47afterwards, if there's any council

2:48:49members who would like to talk with you,

2:48:51they can do that. Okay.

2:48:55So,

2:48:59is there anyone else here who would like

2:49:01to address the council this evening?

2:49:09motion properly seconded to adjurnn. All

2:49:11in favor? I

2:49:12>> we are journed.

```*