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Recap of the Coopertown Board Meeting Held March 25, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM. The agenda was full and all aldermen were
present. Other than the Board, the Mayor, a police office I did not know, Sergeant Cole and
the City Recorder there were seven citizens in attendance.
• Bank Balances:
General Government: $219,524.37
State Street Aid: $60,890.86
Landfill/Legal Fund: $2,824.74
Hands up to Coopertown: $81.20
Drug Fund: $6,374.77
• Public Forum: One presenter; Susan Slawson
• Waive the oral reading of the February 26, 2008, Board Meeting Minutes
• Reports from Committees
• Old Business
• New Business
1. GHSO Hispanic Driver Training Grant
3. Purchase of a Backhoe and Tractor for the City
4. City Dump Truck
5. Paving of Old 431, Rawls Rd. & Windland Dr. – State Bid
• The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM. The agenda was full and all aldermen were
present. Other than the Board, the Mayor, a police office I did not know, Sergeant Cole and
the City Recorder there were seven citizens in attendance.
• Bank Balances:
General Government: $219,524.37
State Street Aid: $60,890.86
Landfill/Legal Fund: $2,824.74
Hands up to Coopertown: $81.20
Drug Fund: $6,374.77
• Public Forum: One presenter; Susan Slawson
- Topic 1 Building Inspector
In a previous meeting Mayor Crosby stated that Mr. Rhodes was going to be sent to
‘Building Inspector’s school. Has this happened?
Mayor Crosby: “No. Not yet.”
Topic 2 Appointment of City Recorder
Has the Board voted and approved the hiring of Ms. Brown as the City Recorder?
Mayor Crosby: “No. Not yet.”
• Waive the oral reading of the February 26, 2008, Board Meeting Minutes
- A motion to waive the reading of the Minutes of the February Board meeting was made
by Alderman Gill and seconded by Alderman Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a
unanimous vote.
• Reports from Committees
- Alderman Anderson reported on a Personnel Meeting held Monday, March 17th. He
reported that the Personnel Committee recommended that Jessie Burchwell should be
selected as the Acting Police Chief until a new Chief could be hired. He also reported
that an advertisement should be placed in a local newspaper soliciting resumes for the
position.
Alderman Anderson read a letter from PVVFD Chief, Shane Ray. In the letter Chief
Ray said that they hand delivered an invoice for the first quarter of 2008 to City Hall
and they received a check immediately. In his letter he said that all future invoices will
be hand delivered to City Hall. He also said that he will go through Alderman
Anderson from now on if he has questions concerning the Coopertown fire contract.
• Old Business
- Bidding out work for the City
In last month’s Board meeting it was discussed that Mr. Rhodes had hired the Tree
Doctor to remove trees along Errel Dowlen Road. He was paid and worked at a daily
rate of $2,000. Mr. Rhodes road crew was aiding the Tree Doctor by cleaning up the
tree debris after the trees were cut down. This ‘working together’ supposedly was
handling the clearing of more trees for less cost than could have been done by having a
contractor bid doing all the work. The amount spent on this job working in this manner
was $12,000.
When this item was discussed last month Alderman Ruth brought to the attention of the
Mayor and other Board members that to Tennessee Code requires that city work must
be bid out and advertised in a local newspaper. The work had been paid on a daily
basis using the Mayor’s spending limit to avoid the bidding process.
During this meeting, Mayor Crosby wanted the Board to provide direction on bidding
out of similar tree clearing work. Mr. Rhodes addressed the meeting and stated that
he had called four tree companies to get quotes for clearing trees along Ott Wilson. He
reported that of the contractors called only one showed up. “I can’t force them to show
up.”
Alderman Ruth; “You must announce a sealed bid request in the paper and all the bids
must be opened at the advertised time and place, and in a public forum.”
Mayor Crosby said that he was told by MTAS that he only needed three bids.
“Gordon is going to waste another month going through this process.”
A motion was made by Mayor Crosby to advertise the work in the paper and take the
lowest bid and get on with the work. The motion was seconded by Alderman Gill. The
motion failed by a three to one vote, Alderman Gill voting yes.
Alderman Anderson; “We need to advertise the work in the paper, have the bids
opened at the next Board meeting and assign the contract to the best bid.”
• New Business
1. GHSO Hispanic Driver Training Grant
- Sarai Reed, the former City Communications person, before she left had applied for a
grant to open a training school for Hispanic drivers. The school would teach students
how to get a driver’s license and Tennessee driving rules. The Town received the grant
but loss its teacher. Sara suggested that “since we are already six months into the
grant time frame and we don’t have a teacher for the program, the grant should be
returned.”
A motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Larry Muhlstadt to not accept the
grant. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
- Mayor Crosby asked Alderman Anderson, Chairman of the Fire Committee, to read a
letter from the PVVFD. The letter stated that the fire contract is now current and that
from now on Chief Ray will bring all his concerns relative to the Coopertown fire
contract to Alderman Anderson.
- Chief Ray also made the following remarks:
• Coopertown’s fire truck blew an engine and is not going to be repaired (too
expensive)
• The new fire truck is on order and will be delivered in the first part of 2009.
• Did not hand deliver the last invoice but will in the future.
3. Purchase of a Backhoe and Tractor for the City
- Mayor Crosby proposed that the Town buy a tractor and a backhoe for the city to do
road work; mowing and replacing the drainage culverts. He read the state contract
prices from several suppliers. He asked for a motion to buy a tractor. A motion was
made by Larry Muhlstadt and seconded by Donnie Gill to buy the New Holland TL80A
for $31,490 and to finance it for 60 months. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
The Mayor asked for a motion to buy a backhoe. A motion was made by Donnie Gill
and seconded by Larry Muhlstadt to buy a New Holland LB90 with warranty for
$69,545 and to finance for 60 months.
Concerning why he wanted to have the Town buy their own road maintenance
equipment, Mayor Crosby said, “The Comptroller (the state auditor currently going
over the Town’s books) said your political enemies are trying to use that against you
(presumably having the town pay for the repair and fuels for the Mayor’s tractors) and
they recommended we quit doing that.”
- During the discussion Alderman Anderson asked, “What does the budget look like for
that (spending that much money? Is it covered in the budget?)?”
Mayor Crosby, “Capital Outlay - $147,000; Roads - $75,000. We have plenty of room
to move funds around.”
The motion failed; Aldermen Ruth and Muhlstadt voting NO and Alderman Anderson
abstaining.
4. City Dump Truck
- Sometime in 2005, Mayor Crosby gave the City a surplus dump truck. But, apparently,
the Board never voted to accept the gift. While the state auditors were auditing the
books for the town they discovered maintenance bills being paid by the City on a truck
not owned by the town. The Mayor was requesting that the Board vote to accept the
donated truck, thus correcting the books. “I have heard all I intend to hear about this
truck. Do you want it or not?”
A motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Larry Muhlstadt to accept the
truck. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
Mayor Crosby returned to the failed backhoe motion and stated, “My unit is tied up in
Brentwood. We have the pipes on McMahon Rd. that need to be put in. I’ll use my
equipment and I’ll buy the diesel. I’ll put the pipes in myself. Them people are asking
when the work is going to be done. I’m going to do it.”
A motion was made by Donnie Gill for the City to pay for the repair and fuel for the
Mayor’s equipment while it is being used on a Town project. The motion was seconded
by Larry Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a three to one vote; Alderman Ruth voting
no.
5. Paving of Old 431, Rawls Rd. & Windland Dr. – State Bid
- Mayor Crosby read off the costs for paving each of the roads. They were: .7 miles on
Old 431, $57,530; .8 mile on Rawls, $46,638; and .85 miles on Windland plus a three
foot wide shoulder for jogging, $69,823 plus $19,271 respectively.
Alderman Ruth asked, “How much do we have in the budget to cover this work?”
Crosby answered, “$132,700.
A motion was made to pave Rawls Rd and Windland Dr. without the shoulder and to
patch Old 431. The motion was made by Larry Muhlstadt and seconded by Donnie
Gill. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
- There are 50 children in the Back Pack Program at the Coopertown Middle School.
Every Friday afternoon back packs are filled with meals for the children to get them
through the weekend. The school is asking for a donation to help fund this program.
Mayor Crosby proposed using the money in the Landfill Legal fund and the Hands Up
to Coopertown for this purpose. Alderman Ruth warned that the use of the Landfill
Legal Fund money for any other purpose than fighting the dump may be illegal and that
the Town’s attorney should be contacted for a ruling before this was done. She
suggested that the $1,000 that remains in the budget in Donations be used for this until
the Town receives the ruling from the attorney.
A motion was made by Alderman Anderson to donate the $1,000 from the budget and
the $81.20 left in Hands Up to Coopertown. The motion was seconded by Donnie Gill.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
The Mayor urged citizens to call in potholes.
• The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM
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