Here's an update from the past 2 Metro council meetings (12/20/22 and 1/3/23).
-Recycle pickup changes to every other week starting Jan. 30, 2023. Go to Nashville.gov and click on “Look up your new schedule”. Scroll down and enter your address to find out when your new days are.
-Land has been rezoned through 3 readings to allow a free-standing ER in Bellevue at the corner of Hwy 70S and Harpeth Valley Road.
-A resolution passed which appropriates $5,100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”) funds for renovations to the McGruder Family Resource Center. The McGruder Center is a neighborhood resource center in the North Nashville Area run by Catholic Charities and other community partners. Funds will go towards renovation to make it ADA-compliant and to expand its capacity.
-A resolution passed appropriating $2,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee for repairs and infrastructure improvements to the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. Weaver Domestic Violence Center was built in 2000 on a five-acre lot donated by the Metropolitan Government.
-A resolution passed which appropriates $2,090,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”) funds to the Metropolitan Action Commission (“MAC”) for repairs and safety improvements to Metro-owned childcare centers. MAC provides affordable childcare for Head Start children throughout the city.
-Passed on 2nd reading is a bill to change from 3 to 7 the number of unrelated persons that can live in a house together. There are also square foot requirements for the size of bedrooms.
Related individuals have no limit to how many can live in one house. 3rd reading will be on Feb 1. Additionally, this ordinance amends the portion of the “Family” definition related to group homes for persons with disabilities to update terminology to modern standards and to align with state law more closely. This has been approved by the Planning Commission.
-Brookmeade encampment - This ordinance passed on 2nd and 3rd readings accepts an easement on property located at 7034 Charlotte Pike owned by Lowes Home Centers, LLC. The Metropolitan Government proposes to install and maintain an 8-foot chain link fence on this easement. This ordinance has been approved by the Planning Commission.
-An ordinance passed on 2nd and 3rd reading which is the annual renewal of the property tax relief program for low-income elderly residents. This is a state law that the general funds of the state shall be paid to certain low-income taxpayers 65 years of age or older necessary to pay or reimburse such taxpayers for all or part of their local property taxes. Persons who qualify this program have an income that does not exceed a state-mandated cap of $31,600 annually.
-Resolutions passed approving intergovernmental agreements between Cookeville, Dickson County, Spring Hill, Williamson County and Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, for the distribution of state grant funds to assist with investigations of internet crimes against children.
-A resolution passed approving an application for a Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (“SMART”) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (“NDOT”). The application is for an award of $2,000,000 with no local cash match. The SMART grant will be used for video and other sensor data to identify safety issues outside of traditional crash reports, implement targeted safety measures, and evaluate these measures in downtown Nashville’s environment as part of Metro’s Vision Zero Implementation Plan. This project will benefit North Nashville by focusing on the Clarksville Pike and Buchanan Street arterial connections to improve transportation safety with an emphasis on pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
-A resolution passed approving a grant application for Advanced Transportation Technologies and Innovation Mobility Deployment (“ATTIMD”) from the U.S. Department of Transportation. If awarded, the ATTIMD grant award would be $12,000,000 with a required local cash match of $3,400,000. This grant would be used to fund the development of a fully instrumented Advanced Transportation Management System with Transit Signal Priority technology along Gallatin Pike.
-An Ordinance passed on 1st and 2nd readings which adopts a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience (“C-PACER”) program. C-PACER programs assist owners of agricultural, commercial, industrial, and some multi-family residential properties to obtain low-cost and long-term financing for qualifying improvements to the property.
-A bill regarding Nashville’s tree canopy was deferred to a March 7 public hearing. It’s a very long involved bill meant to preserve tree canopy. I do not know if it refers to just public land or if it includes private land.
-A resolution passed approving a term sheet describing the terms and conditions of the agreements and transactions required to finance, construct, and operate a new, enclosed multi-purpose stadium on the East Bank, subject to the subsequent approval of final agreements, and authorizing the Metropolitan Government to pursue other matters related thereto.
-10 amendments proposed. 6 were adopted. Failed amendments included moving money to DCS and adding a $3 ticket tax.
-One amendment that passed was about how a shortfall is funded. Term sheet says metro will cover a shortfall. Amendment says that metro will get reimbursed for covering a shortfall.
All these amendments are a basis of negotiations. Term sheet is ultimately non-binding.
Original contract with current Titan’s stadium has Nashville to pay for stadium maintenance. Currently the stadium needs $800 million in maintenance. New stadium releases Nashville from having to pay maintenance on old stadium. But Nashville is to pay $800 million towards construction of new stadium. Passed with 27 yes, 8 no, 3 abstain.
-An ordinance passed on third reading increasing the hotel occupancy privilege tax in the amount of one percent and directing the proceeds be used for the construction of and future capital improvements to a new enclosed stadium, and debt service related thereto. An amendment was added to rebate the tax on hotel rooms occupied by homeless.
-An ordinance passed on 2nd and 3rd readings, as substituted, changes the composition of 11 Metropolitan boards and commissions. In general, it reduces the number of members appointed by the mayor, and has that number appointed and voted on by the metro council. The intent is to increase diversity on the boards and commissions.
-Bills submitted to state legislature, HB0048 by Lamberth, C. Sexton, Faison, and Garret, and
SB0087 by Watson, and Bowling caps at 20 the number of members that may be elected to the governing body of a metropolitan or municipal government. It has been assigned to Local Government, General. Lamberth has said it is meant to increase representation. However, the first sentence on the General Assembly’s own website describing the House of Representatives says, “The larger house, and arguably the more representative one, of Tennessee's bicameral legislature is called the House of Representatives."
Metro Council Meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Meetings start at 6:30 p.m. and are open to the public. Here’s where you can watch Metro Council Meetings:
