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Recap of the Coopertown Board Meeting
Held February 26, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 PM. The agenda was full and all the aldermen were present at
the meeting. Other than the Board, the Mayor, the acting police chief and the City Recorder there were
ten citizens in attendance.
In the Feb. 18th Personnel Committee meeting Danny Crosby, while trying to convenience the members
that the new Chief should be paid $50,000 + per year, made the statement that E.J. Bernard, the Town’
s former Police Chief, made $57,000 a year. Ms. Slawson was able to obtain Chief Bernard’s W-2’s
for the years that he worked at City Hall. They indicate that Chief Bernard made $34,559.72 in 2005
and $27,734.70 in 2006.
Topic 2 Funding of Freeway Lighting
Ms. Slawson distributed a printout of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury – Division of Local
Finance, Guide for Issuance of Notes and Municipal Handbook 2006, Chapter 8, Capital Funds. She
stated that borrowing money for the installation of freeway lights must be compatible with these
documents and must be approved by the state’s Comptroller’s Office.
Topic 3 The Mayor’s statement during the Finance Committee Meeting that spending of
drug funds is not for public review.
Ms. Slawson passed out a copy of the Drug Fund Manual from the state Municipal Technical Advisory
Service (MTAS), which states, “General drug enforcement expenditures are not confidential etc.” Ms.
Slawson had asked for an accounting of expenditures for the Town’s drug dog. Mayor Crosby refused
to provide such an accounting stating that use of drug funds is confidential and for Police Department
review only.”
Mayor Crosby first thanked Ms. Slawson for her remarks, but then entered into a fight instigating
exchange with her by stating that he did not make the E.J. Bernard earnings statement. Ms. Slawson
had recorded the meeting where the statement was made. Alderman Ruth supported the accuracy of
the statement. During the exchange between Ms. Slawson and Mayor Crosby, Mayor Crosby called
Ms. Slawson out of order for defending herself and was preparing to have her ejected from the
meeting. Ms. Slawson trying to avoid going to jail allowed Mayor Crosby to have the last word in this
apparently sensitive issue.
Anderson and seconded by Alderman Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a vote of three to one,
Alderman Ruth abstaining. Alderman Ruth stated, “I would like to see the Minutes before we sit down
at the meeting so I can compare what is in the Minutes to my notes.”
Committee recommended that, “based on qualifications the Police Chief salary should be between $36
and $50,000.” The selected candidate must also pass a background check.
Alderman Anderson, Shannon Crutcher and Paula Rettaliata made one interview of a prospective new
Police Chief and decided he would be a “good hire”.
Alderman Muhlstadt reported that he had held a Budget Meeting where they read over the budget and
reported that “… there are several mischarges that will be corrected, but the budget looks good.”
Mayor Crosby said, “That’s easy with this software.”
Alderman Ruth questioned whether or not the Pleasant View Fire contract payment for the first quarter
of 2008 had been made. Mayor Crosby asked, “Have they sent us a bill?” Alderman Ruth said that
since no one had answered the e-mail she sent to City Hall and Alderman Anderson asking the question,
she called Chief Ray and asked him. He told her that “a bill had been sent by certified mail and that the
fire department had not yet received payment.” This caused Mayor Crosby to take a break to look for
Ms. Ruth’s e-mail. When he returned he and the City Recorder denied having received Ms. Ruth’s e-
mail and then instructed Alderman Anderson to “inform Mr. (Shane) Ray (Pleasant View Fire Chief)
that if he has any problem concerning Coopertown he is to talk to you. You are this Board’s interface
to the fire contract.” Mayor Crosby then chastised and belittled Alderman Ruth for sending e-mails
requesting information from City Hall. “Get into your Jaguar and come up here and ask for it. You don’
t understand what you get anyway. …. Etc., etc, etc.”
A motion was made by Donnie Gill to accept the revised Personnel Policy. Robert Dale Anderson
seconded the motion. The motion passed by a three to one vote, Alderman Ruth voting NO. Alderman
Ruth explained her concern with the new policy by stating, “extending the time when City paid benefits
from three months to six months will make it much harder to attract new employees and thus the Town
is likely to hire less qualified people.”
Alderman Muhlstadt said that there was money enough in the budget to grant the request. He also said
that the budget contained many mischarges that needed to be corrected. A motion was made by
Alderman Anderson and seconded by Alderman Gill to grant the donation request. During the
discussion Alderman Ruth said that with all the mischarges in the budget she had less faith than
Alderman Muhlstadt that the Town had the money to grant the donation request. The motion was
passed by a three to one vote, Alderman Ruth voting no.
2. Police Chief Salary
Alderman Anderson summarized the Personnel Committee’s compensation guidelines as follows:
For job advertising purposes a motion was made to set the starting salary at the $36 to $50,000 as
presented. The motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Robert Dale Anderson. The motion
passed by unanimous vote.
3. Bidding out work for the City
Since the City has been using the Road Crew and loaned equipment to maintain the roads as opposed
to bidding the road work out, the Mayor wanted the Board to authorize continuing this process. Much
time was spent discussing the cost of bidding out road maintenance versus buying the materials and
having the Road Crew supply the labor using loaned equipment. It was discussed that when the Roads
Supervisor, Mr. Rhodes, encountered a job that could not be handled by his people he was to go out
on bid (at least three bids) to select a contractor; tree cutting was specifically mentioned. It was brought
out that a recent contractor had been hired via a verbal contract to cut trees along Cooper Nicholson
Road. The value of the contract was $17,500. The contractor was hired and paid on a daily basis. He
was instructed to do only $2,000 worth of work, the Mayor’s spending limit, each day. Alderman Ruth
cautioned Mr. Rhodes and the Board that handling work this way is not right and they need to have a
formal, written contract for jobs this large.
A motion was made to continue buying materials and using the Road Crew to perform road
maintenance work. Jobs that are too large for the Road Crew are to be bid out by receiving quotes
from at least three contractors. A motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Robert Dale
Anderson. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
4. Red Light at York Rd & Joe Dowlen
Mayor Crosby announced that the state had determined that the intersection at York and Joe Dowlen
roads is dangerous and needs a stop light. The state will supply and install the light at their cost.
A motion was made to give the state the OK for this project. A motion was made by Alderman Gill
and seconded by Alderman Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
5. Policy for requested videos and paperwork
Frequently, City Hall receives requests for copies of a video from a police car camera. City Hall also
receives requests for various documents. Currently, there is no policy on fees for supplying copies of
police videos. The cost of document copies is $.25 per sheet. The Mayor requested setting a price for
copies of these two media types. He suggested $25 for a copy of a video and $.50 for a copy of a
document. A motion was made by Donnie Gill to accept these new fees. A second was made by Larry
Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
6. I-24 Lighting
It was announced in last month’s Board meeting that the lighting for the freeway cost $550,000. In this
meeting the Mayor requested that the Board asking a bank for a $300,000 loan. He proposed
borrowing $300,000 for a 10 year period or $30,000 per year plus interest. Alderman Muhlstadt and
Mayor Crosby want to pledge our $34,000 in sales tax to secure the loan. City Hall has sent a letter to
the other mayors providing them the opportunity to participate in the lighting project.
Mayor Crosby said that “the ‘cheaper plan’ that the other mayors originally wanted to go with was a
design drawing not an engineering drawing.” “The original design featured Low Mast lighting (45 feet)
and we wanted High Mast (100 feet) lighting.” The drawings we have meet all federal and state
requirements.”
Alderman Ruth read several paragraphs of state requirements for a town to borrow money. The
reading included a requirement for the town to pass a resolution that states they will impose a property
tax on the citizens if the anticipated tax revenue does not materialize. Mayor Crosby countered, he is
going to let an adviser from MTAS handle the details of applying for the loan.
A motion was made to proceed with the loan application. The motion was made by Alderman
Muhlstadt and seconded by Alderman Gill. The motion passed by a vote of three to one; Alderman
Ruth voting no.
Communication from the Mayor
Mayor Crosby explained the source of the $1,000 that was returned to the Landfill/Legal Fund. It
seems that the money was removed to provide a donation to a lady in need, but before it was delivered
the Department of Human Services made the funds available and, therefore, the $1,000 was not needed
and was returned to the Fund.
New Item added to the agenda – Building permit fee for an Industrial/Commercial building
Brian Rettaliata, Chairman of the Planning Commission, introduced the item. He indicated that the
Town currently has no building permit fee for this category of construction. He proposed adopting a fee
schedule that he presented to the Board. A motion to adopt the fee schedule presented was made by
Alderman Gill and seconded by Alderman Anderson. The motion passed by a vote of three yeas and
one abstention. Alderman Ruth abstained. She had not been provided a copy of the ordinance or fee
schedule prior to the meeting and had not had time to research it. According to Mr. Rettaliata there
may be an industrial business interested in locating out by the freeway.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 PM.
Held February 26, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 PM. The agenda was full and all the aldermen were present at
the meeting. Other than the Board, the Mayor, the acting police chief and the City Recorder there were
ten citizens in attendance.
- Bank Balances: General Government: $206,333.40
- State Street Aid: $44,244.60
Landfill/Legal Fund: $2,824.74
Hands up to Coopertown: $81.20
- Public Forum: One presenter; Susan Slawson
In the Feb. 18th Personnel Committee meeting Danny Crosby, while trying to convenience the members
that the new Chief should be paid $50,000 + per year, made the statement that E.J. Bernard, the Town’
s former Police Chief, made $57,000 a year. Ms. Slawson was able to obtain Chief Bernard’s W-2’s
for the years that he worked at City Hall. They indicate that Chief Bernard made $34,559.72 in 2005
and $27,734.70 in 2006.
Topic 2 Funding of Freeway Lighting
Ms. Slawson distributed a printout of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury – Division of Local
Finance, Guide for Issuance of Notes and Municipal Handbook 2006, Chapter 8, Capital Funds. She
stated that borrowing money for the installation of freeway lights must be compatible with these
documents and must be approved by the state’s Comptroller’s Office.
Topic 3 The Mayor’s statement during the Finance Committee Meeting that spending of
drug funds is not for public review.
Ms. Slawson passed out a copy of the Drug Fund Manual from the state Municipal Technical Advisory
Service (MTAS), which states, “General drug enforcement expenditures are not confidential etc.” Ms.
Slawson had asked for an accounting of expenditures for the Town’s drug dog. Mayor Crosby refused
to provide such an accounting stating that use of drug funds is confidential and for Police Department
review only.”
Mayor Crosby first thanked Ms. Slawson for her remarks, but then entered into a fight instigating
exchange with her by stating that he did not make the E.J. Bernard earnings statement. Ms. Slawson
had recorded the meeting where the statement was made. Alderman Ruth supported the accuracy of
the statement. During the exchange between Ms. Slawson and Mayor Crosby, Mayor Crosby called
Ms. Slawson out of order for defending herself and was preparing to have her ejected from the
meeting. Ms. Slawson trying to avoid going to jail allowed Mayor Crosby to have the last word in this
apparently sensitive issue.
- Waive the oral reading of the January Board meeting
Anderson and seconded by Alderman Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a vote of three to one,
Alderman Ruth abstaining. Alderman Ruth stated, “I would like to see the Minutes before we sit down
at the meeting so I can compare what is in the Minutes to my notes.”
- Reports from Committees
Committee recommended that, “based on qualifications the Police Chief salary should be between $36
and $50,000.” The selected candidate must also pass a background check.
Alderman Anderson, Shannon Crutcher and Paula Rettaliata made one interview of a prospective new
Police Chief and decided he would be a “good hire”.
Alderman Muhlstadt reported that he had held a Budget Meeting where they read over the budget and
reported that “… there are several mischarges that will be corrected, but the budget looks good.”
Mayor Crosby said, “That’s easy with this software.”
Alderman Ruth questioned whether or not the Pleasant View Fire contract payment for the first quarter
of 2008 had been made. Mayor Crosby asked, “Have they sent us a bill?” Alderman Ruth said that
since no one had answered the e-mail she sent to City Hall and Alderman Anderson asking the question,
she called Chief Ray and asked him. He told her that “a bill had been sent by certified mail and that the
fire department had not yet received payment.” This caused Mayor Crosby to take a break to look for
Ms. Ruth’s e-mail. When he returned he and the City Recorder denied having received Ms. Ruth’s e-
mail and then instructed Alderman Anderson to “inform Mr. (Shane) Ray (Pleasant View Fire Chief)
that if he has any problem concerning Coopertown he is to talk to you. You are this Board’s interface
to the fire contract.” Mayor Crosby then chastised and belittled Alderman Ruth for sending e-mails
requesting information from City Hall. “Get into your Jaguar and come up here and ask for it. You don’
t understand what you get anyway. …. Etc., etc, etc.”
- Old Business
A motion was made by Donnie Gill to accept the revised Personnel Policy. Robert Dale Anderson
seconded the motion. The motion passed by a three to one vote, Alderman Ruth voting NO. Alderman
Ruth explained her concern with the new policy by stating, “extending the time when City paid benefits
from three months to six months will make it much harder to attract new employees and thus the Town
is likely to hire less qualified people.”
- New Business
Alderman Muhlstadt said that there was money enough in the budget to grant the request. He also said
that the budget contained many mischarges that needed to be corrected. A motion was made by
Alderman Anderson and seconded by Alderman Gill to grant the donation request. During the
discussion Alderman Ruth said that with all the mischarges in the budget she had less faith than
Alderman Muhlstadt that the Town had the money to grant the donation request. The motion was
passed by a three to one vote, Alderman Ruth voting no.
2. Police Chief Salary
Alderman Anderson summarized the Personnel Committee’s compensation guidelines as follows:
- Salary: $36 to $50,000 based on qualifications
- Insurance: Waive probationary period
- Plan: Personnel Committee will select the top five or six candidates based on resumes and then
conduct interviews. Others (supposedly Mayor and Board members) will also interview the
candidates. The Personnel Committee will make the ultimate decision.
For job advertising purposes a motion was made to set the starting salary at the $36 to $50,000 as
presented. The motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Robert Dale Anderson. The motion
passed by unanimous vote.
3. Bidding out work for the City
Since the City has been using the Road Crew and loaned equipment to maintain the roads as opposed
to bidding the road work out, the Mayor wanted the Board to authorize continuing this process. Much
time was spent discussing the cost of bidding out road maintenance versus buying the materials and
having the Road Crew supply the labor using loaned equipment. It was discussed that when the Roads
Supervisor, Mr. Rhodes, encountered a job that could not be handled by his people he was to go out
on bid (at least three bids) to select a contractor; tree cutting was specifically mentioned. It was brought
out that a recent contractor had been hired via a verbal contract to cut trees along Cooper Nicholson
Road. The value of the contract was $17,500. The contractor was hired and paid on a daily basis. He
was instructed to do only $2,000 worth of work, the Mayor’s spending limit, each day. Alderman Ruth
cautioned Mr. Rhodes and the Board that handling work this way is not right and they need to have a
formal, written contract for jobs this large.
A motion was made to continue buying materials and using the Road Crew to perform road
maintenance work. Jobs that are too large for the Road Crew are to be bid out by receiving quotes
from at least three contractors. A motion was made by Donnie Gill and seconded by Robert Dale
Anderson. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
4. Red Light at York Rd & Joe Dowlen
Mayor Crosby announced that the state had determined that the intersection at York and Joe Dowlen
roads is dangerous and needs a stop light. The state will supply and install the light at their cost.
A motion was made to give the state the OK for this project. A motion was made by Alderman Gill
and seconded by Alderman Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
5. Policy for requested videos and paperwork
Frequently, City Hall receives requests for copies of a video from a police car camera. City Hall also
receives requests for various documents. Currently, there is no policy on fees for supplying copies of
police videos. The cost of document copies is $.25 per sheet. The Mayor requested setting a price for
copies of these two media types. He suggested $25 for a copy of a video and $.50 for a copy of a
document. A motion was made by Donnie Gill to accept these new fees. A second was made by Larry
Muhlstadt. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
6. I-24 Lighting
It was announced in last month’s Board meeting that the lighting for the freeway cost $550,000. In this
meeting the Mayor requested that the Board asking a bank for a $300,000 loan. He proposed
borrowing $300,000 for a 10 year period or $30,000 per year plus interest. Alderman Muhlstadt and
Mayor Crosby want to pledge our $34,000 in sales tax to secure the loan. City Hall has sent a letter to
the other mayors providing them the opportunity to participate in the lighting project.
Mayor Crosby said that “the ‘cheaper plan’ that the other mayors originally wanted to go with was a
design drawing not an engineering drawing.” “The original design featured Low Mast lighting (45 feet)
and we wanted High Mast (100 feet) lighting.” The drawings we have meet all federal and state
requirements.”
Alderman Ruth read several paragraphs of state requirements for a town to borrow money. The
reading included a requirement for the town to pass a resolution that states they will impose a property
tax on the citizens if the anticipated tax revenue does not materialize. Mayor Crosby countered, he is
going to let an adviser from MTAS handle the details of applying for the loan.
A motion was made to proceed with the loan application. The motion was made by Alderman
Muhlstadt and seconded by Alderman Gill. The motion passed by a vote of three to one; Alderman
Ruth voting no.
Communication from the Mayor
Mayor Crosby explained the source of the $1,000 that was returned to the Landfill/Legal Fund. It
seems that the money was removed to provide a donation to a lady in need, but before it was delivered
the Department of Human Services made the funds available and, therefore, the $1,000 was not needed
and was returned to the Fund.
New Item added to the agenda – Building permit fee for an Industrial/Commercial building
Brian Rettaliata, Chairman of the Planning Commission, introduced the item. He indicated that the
Town currently has no building permit fee for this category of construction. He proposed adopting a fee
schedule that he presented to the Board. A motion to adopt the fee schedule presented was made by
Alderman Gill and seconded by Alderman Anderson. The motion passed by a vote of three yeas and
one abstention. Alderman Ruth abstained. She had not been provided a copy of the ordinance or fee
schedule prior to the meeting and had not had time to research it. According to Mr. Rettaliata there
may be an industrial business interested in locating out by the freeway.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 PM.
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