The City Council covered a wide-range of issues, including LED lights at Camp Jordan, body cameras for police officers and continuing and possibly extending bus service to the city, Thursday night during its first monthly meeting of 2017.
The Council voted unanimously to install almost $200,000 worth of new LED lights in Camp Jordan Park. The 30 lights, said the EPB’s Brandon Culpepper, would have underground wire along Camp Jordan Parkway from Chickamauga Creek all the way through the park to Camp Jordan Road. The city would not have to pay “up front” for the new lights, Culpepper said, and EPB is prepared to start the project immediately.
The cost to the city would be 12.2 percent of the total cost annually, he said. That amount would come to about $2,000 per month. The LED lights are much more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, it was noted, and much brighter.
Stump Martin, the city’s Director of Parks and Recreation, said new LED lighting would also be installed in a second phase around Camp Jordan Arena and Dickert Pond. Several other new lights would be installed at the amphitheater and a parking lot to the east of the arena.
During the Agenda Session prior to the regular meeting, the council heard from Assistant Police Chief Stan Allen, who wants to pursue a federal grant to purchase new body cameras for officers. Chief Allen told the board that 32 body cameras purchased last year from a company called L3 were proving problematic and having to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs. Allen said he wants to pursue the $100,000 grant to buy 44 cameras. The city would be on the hook for half that amount.
The L3 body cameras came from the same manufacturer that supplies in-car cameras for the department, officials said.
The council expressed its desire to have a public forum on March 30 to discuss CARTA bus service to the city. City Manager Scott Miller told the panel that he and Mayor Brent Lambert met with CARTA officials early in December at CARTA officials’ request. A grant which finances limited bus service to the city will run its course in 18 months, Miller said. East Ridge’s share of the grant is $430,000. That amount is currently being paid for by the City of Chattanooga, it was noted. When the grant expires CARTA officials said they were unsure if Chattanooga would continue to shoulder the financial burden.
Mayor Lambert said that CARTA officials “seemed willing to tailor (bus service) to what the public desires.” Lambert said a public meeting would give an opportunity for citizens to voice their concerns and ideas about bus service, including possibly expanding routes across East Ridge.
In other actions, the council voted to spend $30,000 on a new utility vehicle for the fire department. It also passed a resolution approving a contract with a collections service to go after delinquent city court fines. Municipal Court Clerk Patricia Cassidy told the panel that the collection agency, GILA, LLC, is also used by Hamilton County and is headquartered in Nashville. There is no cost for the service.
The council passed a resolution supporting Hamilton County’s application for a $525,000 Community Development Block Grant for sewer improvements in East Ridge. The county is pursuing the grant on behalf of the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority. The money would be used to make improvements to the sewers, including “total line replacement, point repairs and rehabilitation of manholes,” the resolution states.
Mayor Lambert announced that East Ridge’s delegation to the General Assembly in Nashville _ Sen. Todd Gardenhire and Rep. Marc Gravitt _ would be holding a public forum at the Community Center on Tombras Avenue next Thursday, Jan. 19. The public meeting is a chance for citizens to interact with state leaders and express their concerns over issues. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
_ During the Communication from Council portion of the regular meeting, Councilman Jacky Cagle asked Mayor Lambert if the city had requested an opinion from the state’s Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee regarding potential conflicts of interest that the Interim City Attorney’s law firm, Grant Konvalinka & Harrison may have with the City of East Ridge.
Cagle stated that at the last council meeting when the board accepted City Attorney Hal North’s resignation, Alex McVeagh, the attorney from Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel sitting in for North, “strongly recommended” seeking such an opinion. Attorneys at Grant Konvalinka may also represent the interests of Exit 1, LLC, the development firm building Jordan Crossing.
Lambert said he had not requested an opinion, and Cagle said that he wanted to officially request that action be taken.
City Manager Miller said he didn’t know what the protocol was in Tennessee for making such a request. In other states in which he had worked, requesting a legal opinion required the majority of the council to do so. Lambert said he was unaware if the city had such a protocol but had no objection. Miller said he would follow through with the request.
The Board of Professional Responsibility supervises the ethical conduct of attorneys and investigates attorneys’ alleged violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, according to its Website.
