Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall possibly over one inch..

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.

Earlier this month, Reese's Genes Boutique held its grand reopening at its new location after its original location at Woodland Plaza shopping center was destroyed by a fire in March. Read more here. 

A man faces multiple charges after police were waiting on him when he showed up allegedly thinking he was going to get to have sex with a 16-year-old girl he had reportedly groomed over Facebook.

Paisley Simmons is headed to reach her goals on and off the field at Cumberland University. 

The Wartrace Chamber of Commerce held their annual Strawberry Festival last Saturday, which saw over 80 vendors and several thousands in attendance.

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City officials have passed its spending plan for its allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act.

In the May meeting of the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Alderman, the board passed a resolution to adopt a spending plan for the ARPA funds for the fiscal years of 2022 through 2026 for the city of Tullahoma. The board held three study sessions and a public hearing in April to discuss where funding should go and gave City Administrator Jennifer Moody a list of priorities of where it would like to see the money used for.

Moody presented the background of the spending plan to the board. Per Moody, the city will receive more than $5.8 million for its share of the ARPA funds. According to the plan, more than $1 million of the total $5.8 million allocation is to be set aside for a wide array of storm water projects, including $592,640 that could potentially be matched by separate funding from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, which will also be coming to the city from the state. The uses listed for the matching TDEC funds include the purchase of a new street sweeper at $300,000; a comprehensive storm water plan, priced at $250,000; a drainage assessment of South Washington Street and the Town & Country Subdivision, priced around $50,000 for survey/engineering evaluation; a drainage assessment of North Washington/North Atlantic/North Jackson streets at L&H Distributing, also priced at $50,000 for a survey and engineering evaluation; drainage improvements and ADA-compliant sidewalks at Ovoca/Riley Creek roads, priced at $520,000; and culvert replacements and ADA-compliant sidewalks at Jefferson/Monroe streets, priced at $1,200,000.The city has an allocation of $2,370,558.84 available with the state matching funds that could be used under TDEC’s non-competitive grant program.

Other items on the spending plan include streetscape improvement plans for North Jackson at $1,200,000; $600,000 in reserves for storm water projects; sidewalk and greenway improvements for $535,000; a restroom/concession building, priced at $350,000; additional parking at Johnson Lane, priced at $500,000; lightning project at Waggoner Park Field at $537,500; phase two of “Light Up South Jackson” at South Jackson Civic Center, which includes south-side parking, lighting and a pavilion for Farmers Market Tullahoma, priced at $600,000; a new residential garbage truck for a new route at $350,000; and tourism and downtown special events, marketing and promotions at $90,000. With an 8% reserved contingency of $447,092, the Tullahoma Rescue Plan allocation total is $5,802,232.

When opened to discussion, Alderman Daniel Berry made three motions to make amendments to the plan. His first two motions were to strike both the street sweeper and the garbage truck from the plan. His last motion was to take the funding from said items, $650,000 in total, and put them in as contributions to TUA Wastewater.

Berry said when saw the ARPA allocation funds he didn’t see as money to be spent immediately, but rather how they can put it in a bigger investment for the city in the long-term. For the street sweeper, he said there will be additional expenses the city would need to pay afterwards, like adding more staff, fuel and maintenance costs and so on. Alderman Rupa Blackwell said while she was opened to finding money for improvements for TUA, she didn’t want to strike the street sweeper, as storm water has been the number-one issue the board has from citizens and the street sweeper will help out.

“I think the first place to cut from is not from our storm water projects, rather it can from somewhere else,” Blackwell said.

When asked about the efficacy of having a street sweeper, Moody said it will be a combination of water quality improvement and safety. The street sweeper would create cleaner streets and less silt and rock will end up in the creek while there won’t be as many rocks or litter on the streets for bicycles. She added the street sweeper would be beneficial for downtown clean up before and after events, which addresses something both citizens and businesses have been asking for.

Moody also said Berry was correct about the additional expenses that will come with purchasing a street sweeper as that has been something she has been thinking about along with discussing how the city will be able to use it versus the expectation of the citizens, as some are worried about how it will affect the tax rate.

 “We do have to look forward how these things will grow the operation budget for the city,” Moody said. “I think that [you all] are having the right discussion.”

Alderman Jenna Amacher said striking the street sweeper would be a good idea as there may be a better and cheaper way to go about it in the long run, like continue to outsource a sweeper and increase the amount of times they would need it. 

“Maybe we should can kind of go back to the drawing board in our regular budget and not in these funds, but I agree with both of you,” Amacher said.

Before the vote on the first amendment, Blackwell said when she talked to downtown businesses she was told a street sweeper was needed. Alderman Robin Dunn added the city has been a company to use a street sweeper since 2009 and that the city has more than paid for a street sweeper.

“I think if we do this and save our taxpayers’ money in the next 20 years then that’s our responsibility to do so,” Dunn said.

On the vote for keeping the street sweeper, the vote was 4-3, with aldermen Amacher, Berry and Sernobia McGee voting to cut and Knowis, Blackwell, Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Blanks and Dunn voting to keep.

The second amendment up for discussion was to strike the new residential garbage truck for a new route. Similar to the his first amendment, with the extra expenses that would come from adding another garbage truck and how that would added over ten years, he said the money can be taken and invested somewhere else. He added that the city would probably need several new trucks, which with the capital plan coming up it could be something they can look at.

In agreement with Berry, Amacher said she would consider looking into different alternatives, like outsourcing to a private company, and added she believed TDEC was emphasizing that the ARPA funds should be used on infrastructure projects instead of projects that will require constant replacement.

Blackwell said she was open to the proposed amendment but wanted to know if the garbage truck could it be absorbed into the capital plan they were putting together, and, if feasible, would they be able to add the additional route as it will be necessary when it comes to growing more homes, as this was a logistics issue.

“That’s why we put this on here is because we know we have more homes in the area and trying to get ahead of it,” she said. “If we are adding towards TUA we would be anticipating even more homes so can we get ahead of it?”

Moody first clarified that the reason she put the word “new” on the item was the anticipation of needing a new truck for a new route, and not a replacement, for the continuing population growth. She continued to say it would be something the city would need to buy no matter what and if they did put it in the capital plan, the purchase may be pushed off for two years because the city has to be responsible for spending the ARP money in the timeframe given to them and, from looking at the debt service strategically, the city doesn’t have a large amount of debt rolling off for two years and does not anticipate a new borrowing for two years. When asked if the city anticipates growth moving faster than that, Moody said it was hard to answer as there are plenty of plotted lots and interest in development, but trying to guess when they will go into construction is difficult. Yet, she said maybe it was possible to wait two years.

Dunn brought up that providing a garbage service is the board’s responsibility, and referred to Manchester’s current issues with privatized garbage pickups and the rate increases citizens have no control over as there is no waste management board to oversee these companies.

Amacher added while she was not okay with taking away services the city provides, if outsourcing is a possibility she doesn’t think it would be wise to spend money on a new garbage truck for a new route before they would even need it, as the developers are waiting on sewer.

Moody countered and said the city will need it, citing a new development from Anderson Farm that has its own garbage route. She added that it wouldn’t be feasible to outsource garbage service, as currently citizens don’t see a bill for garbage services as it is part of the property tax, and there are services that residents get along with the garbage pickup, like weekly recycling pickup, brush and bulky items, services that a waste management company will not provide.

Berry said they shouldn’t need to consider to outsource anything but they do have a responsibility to the tax payers and consider things that will keep the property tax low. He said while the city needs new trucks, the original intent of the APRA money was to invest in infrastructure projects. Amacher agreed that this wasn’t the appropriate place to spend the ARPA money and it should be used to increase funding for other projects.

The vote for keeping the new garbage truck for a new route was 5-2, with Berry and Amacher against. Since the first two motions failed Berry withdrew his third motion. Amacher made the motion to strike the item of sidewalk and greenway improvements since it was somewhat vague. The motion failed.

On the final vote, resolution for adopting a spending plan for ARPA funds passed with 6 – 1, with Amacher voting no.

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