- Item carries.

Ordinance says on first reading, equity and community engagement.

Madam Clerk, Item A please.

- An ordinance amending Chattanooga city code, part II, chapter 2, by repealing ordinance number 11767 sections 2-711 through 2-716 and substituting a new Article 12 in lieu thereof creating the Department of Equity and Community Engagement.

- I have a motion to approve.

I have a second to that motion.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Item carries.

Under 'Resolutions', Madame Clerk, Economic development without objection from council will read as 'Items A through D'.

On Item D, will you please read alternate version 2 and without objection from council, we'll take those as a package, please.

- Item A: A resolution authorizing Mayor or his designee to enter into a third agreement to Exercise Option to Renew with the Hamilton County Tennessee Board of Education, in substantially the form attached, for the use of Tax Parcel number 168I-C-032 for the continued operation of the Cedar Hill Head Start/Early Head Start Program at 4701 Divine Avenue for an additional term of one year through December 31 2023, for the amount of $1.00 per term.

Item B: A resolution authorizing the Mayor or his designee to enter into a third agreement to exercise option to renew with the Hamilton County, Tennessee Board of Education, in substantially the form attached, for the use of a portion of Tax Parcel number 136L-M-002, 136L-M-005, and 136L-M-006, for the continue- continued operation of the Avondale Head Start/Early Head Start Program at 2302 Ocoee Street for an additional term of one year, through December 31, 2023, for the amount of $1.00 per term.

Item C: A resolution authorizing the Mayor or his designee to enter into a third agreement to exercise option to renew with the Hamilton County, Tennessee Board of Education in substantially the form attached, for the use of a portion of Tax Parcel number 066M-D-014, for the continue- continued operation of the Daisy Head Start/Early Head Start Program at 9517 West Ridge Trail Road in Soddy Daisy Tennessee, for an additional term of one year, through December 31, 2023 for the amount of $1.00 per term.

Item D: Alternate version II: A resolution amending and adopting Tax Increment Financing Policies and Procedures, a copy of which is substantially attached hereto and made a part hereof by reference.

- I have a motion to approve.

I do have a second to that motion.

All those in - Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

That is on Item D, just for the alternate version II, thank you.

Under 'Community Development', Madame Clerk, Item E, please.

- A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Community Development to accept an award of American Rescue Plan funds to finance a home repair program in partnership with internal city departments, established non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders, in accordance with the goals and objectives as stated in the grant application, and home repair program will be administered internally by the Neighborhood Services Division, in the amount of $500,000.

- I have a motion to approve, I do hear a second to that motion.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Item E carries.

Madame Clerk, under 'IT', Item F, please.

- A resolution authorizing the Department of Technology Services to accept the FY22 Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) grant award from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for and end-to-end decision support system for Integrated Smart Electric Grid and Transportation System Management project for an amount not to exceed 4 million five hundred seventy-seven thousand seven hundred twenty one dollars.

- I have a motion to approve.

I have a second to that motion.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Item F carries.

Parks and Outdoors, Madame Clerk.

Item G, please.

- A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Parks and Outdoors to enter into an agreement with Ragan Smith and Associates, Inc, RSA for professional services related to Contract number O-22-001, Chattanooga Skate park, for an amount not to exceed $232,500.

- I have a motion to approve.

I have a second to that motion.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Item G carries.

Madame Clerk, Planning H and I, we'll take as a package without objection from council, please.

- Item H: A resolution adopting Westside Evolves, a plan establishing a roadmap for equitable, sustainable, and holistic revitalization of the community and the families who live there.

Item I: A resolution authorizing the Mayor or his designee to enter into an Inter local Agreement with the Chattanooga Housing Authority for the design and construction of the renovated James A. Henry Building, necessary to the Westside Evolves Plan, for an amount not to exceed $1 Million.

- I have a motion to approve.

I have a second to that motion, several seconds.

Thank you.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor, say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Items H and I carry.

That concludes our Ordinances and Resolutions for this evening.

Mr. Goldberg, I believe we have five purchases and one RFP over in emergency purchases and no sole source to report.

- Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Yes, five purchases recommended for approval tonight.

The first is from the street maintenance division and public works, requesting to increase contract with TT Wilson Company for masonry materials to cover current and future projects before the renewal in June of '23.

The increase is $65,000 for a new annual amount, not to exceed $105,250.

Also from Street Maintenance, request to increase contract with CWS Chattanooga Hauling for front loader and refuse, pickup services to cover pickups added during the contract period.

The increase is $40,000 for a new annual amount, not to exceed $250,000.

Third, from the Fleet Management Division of Public Works request increase contract with Enterprise for long term vehicle leasing to convert department replacement vehicles to lease.

The increase in $110,000 for a new annual amount, not to exceed $300,000.

Next, from the Mayor's office.

A new blanket contract for an Essential Community Services Hotline.

Three proposals were received, and the award goes to United Way of Greater Chattanooga.

This is a one year contract with an amount not to exceed $118,000.

And lastly, from Public Works, the one-time purchase of a light structure system for Frost Stadium.

This procurement utilizes Source well contract 0716-19MSL.

The vendor is Musco Sports Lighting LLC and the amount is $266,299.

- Thank you, Mr. Goldberg.

I have a motion to approve all purchases for this evening, with several seconds, thank you.

Questions or comments on purchases?

We did receive these last week in an opportunity today to ask questions at our three-thirty agenda session.

I see none.

All in favor, say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

Purchases are approved.

- Thank you, and then we have one RFP format recommended for approval.

We're requesting approval to issue the RFP, not approval to warrant any contracts at this time.

The Chattanooga Police Department is seeking to deploy a Modern Records Management System to serve as the foundation for CPD Operations, insuring accurate and timely administration of relevant records for the department and the citizens of Chattanooga.

Approach and experience are more important than price in making a purchase determination.

Therefore, an RFP is required.

- Thank you, Mr. Goldberg.

Chair will entertain a motion for approval of an RFP this evening.

I do have a motion to approve and a second.

Questions, comments before we vote?

All those in favor of the RFP say Aye.

- (All) Aye.

- Opposed?

RFP is granted.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, sir.

Now moving into Committee Reports.

Councilman Henderson, start with your end.

- (clears throat) And I do have a report.

- Yes sir.

- That I'd like to share with you.

Uh, we did have an Ad Hoc Committee meeting today concerning our short-term vacation rental ordinance where we received proposed new codes.

Karen, I know we're putting this up on the RPA website, but could, is there a possibility that you could send that to the entire council so that they would review that?

Because we will bring this proposal to the entire council on November the 15th in our strategic planning session.

And I would encourage you all to be in attendance for that so that you can see the proposed changes and how they could possibly affect your district.

Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, Councilman Henderson.

Councilwoman Hill?

- Thank you, Councilman Smith.

We had a Planning and Zoning Committee meeting today along with many other meetings today and, um, talked over all the items that are going to start appearing on our agenda next week.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Councilman Smith?

- No remarks, Chairman.

- Thank you.

Councilman Hester?

- We did meet today and we're going to meet again in two weeks.

- Two weeks, thank you, sir.

Councilwoman Coonrod?

- No report.

- Councilwoman Noel?

- No report.

- Doctor Berz?

- No report.

- Thank you very much.

Councilman Henderson, I see your light again, sir?

- It may be worth mentioning to the audience here this afternoon that our meeting next week - you've got that on there?

- I've got next- - I think it's at four o'clock, is that correct, sir?

- Yes sir, our council meeting, a business meeting, the one you're in right now, will be next week at four pm.

That's election day.

And our agenda session will be at 2:30 in this room so please please make a note of that as I'm sure some of you will want to be here for next week.

We are now at the point where persons wishing to address council are welcome to do so.

- Thank you.

Marie Mott, District 8.

"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those that cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

- Alvin Toffler.

I'm here for two particular comments.

One towards the community and one towards leadership.

One, as a community, this idea of 'not in my backyard' is not one of Christ, is not one of kindness, and is not one that, I believe as a daughter of a pastor, is one of faith.

We must be comfortable with a stranger.

We must become comfortable with those of lower socioeconomic status and embrace those, especially those that are coming into our community that are trying to move forward with their lives and get a hand up, not a hand out.

The second, is when I tag Joe Datombacknooa last year in multiple posts on Instagram about permanent support of housing, the reason I did so is because I had already built a relationship not only with a developer but with four architects who wanted to come together in collaboration to actually work together with the city, if they were willing, to be able to do an affordable housing project with social services, which is the basic definition, which the Mayor should know if he's going to do a public (laughs) a public speaking engagement, he should know the basic definition of what Permanent Supportive Housing is.

And I want to just say it doesn't look good on his team that you are putting the leader of our city out there and he's not properly prepped.

But the community, I agree in a sense, that they should be able to have the basic questions answered for them.

And prior to, the thing that leadership in this room needs to unlearn.

You need to stop making decisions before you talk to the community.

That has to stop.

You need to go to the community and make sure that they understand what you're getting ready to do.

They understand what the cost assessment, or cost savings is going to be.

That you see who is in opposition to see how you can win them over, that you give them proper information of what to expect along the way.

That is leadership.

It is not making a decision behind closed doors.

Going to the community and basically the 'get down or lay down' approach, which is the Chattanooga way.

Please, if you unlearn anything in this administration, it needs to be just that.

Please, do things in collaboration with the community and what you will often find is that there are brilliant people, connected people in your community that have the relationships with people you can bring in to make this project and other projects that we need necessary like this in the future to be so successful.

And despite what you all think of me, I am a strategist by nature, that is my strength.

Strategy is better than a plan because it is "how do we get from A to B and win?"

And that's really what I want to see people do in my city.

I want to see us win.

Thank you.

- Thank you, Miss Mott.

- Hello, hi.

Angela Fivoloro, District 5.

I came to speak also on the proposed agenda for next week for the property at 7725 Lee Highway.

I attended the Mayor's session this last week and was really blown away at the disconnect of a lot of our public and what our unhoused process is and just how people live are.

There was a lot of conversation about "That's great to do this for the homeless population but not near my kids, not in my back yard."

This and that and so there's just a lot of confusion, I think, about whether this was a shelter, whether this was attracting people.

But I think first and foremost, folks would probably agree that we all deserve to live with dignity and walk about freely in our community regardless of whether we've been housed or unhoused.

I personally hope that in your meetings in your committees, I urge you to move forward with the rezoning efforts.

These seventy permanent housing places will do a lot of good for our community.

I would hope that the Silverdale community might come to arms and possibly use the strength of their congregation and their funds and possibly look toward expanding those efforts.

They can make a great big of difference in our community and I think they would make a great partner once they realize that this permanent housing is no larger threat than the gas station and the freeway right across in which there's school security, and everything else, is already prepared to handle any risk or danger that's already over there and I feel that their kids are probably quite secure.

I, of course, don't have children in there.

I have children in the intercity and its a little - I feel quite confident with my kids where we are too and that's regardless whether they're housed or unhoused folks.

I appreciate all the people that take care of our kids everyday at all of the schools, public or private, in our community.

And I hope that we move forward with the efforts and make sure that we have room at the end for the people that are going to be there.

Thank you.

- (Clapping) - Hello, my name is Evangeline Ruth Smith.

I go to CSLA and I am in fourth grade.

Imagine one day you lose something, I mean everything meaning no money, no food, no home, no one speaking up for you.

I want to tell you about my experience with the houseless people in Chattanooga.

If you think they are going to hurt children like me, you are mistaken.

They are the nicest people I have ever met in this world.

For those against the housing, I ask that you have a change of heart.

Thank you.

- (Clapping) - Hey, Mr. Chairman?

Am I still- I guess I'm still active.

- You have the floor, sir.

- I just want to tell- Tell me your name again.

I couldn't catch it.

- Evangeline Ruth Smith.

- Okay.

- District 4.

- You did a great job tonight and I appreciate you coming out and addressing this council.

Thank you.

- (clapping) - I'm not sure I can follow that, but I'm going to try.

- (laughter) - Evangeline's beautiful and her and her mom used to volunteer at a non-profit.

I am the director of Welcome Home.

We provide shelter for individuals that have a terminal illness or who need cancer treatment and have nowhere to go for care.

We started our Cancer Respite Program after we recognized after years of caring for people who were terminally ill, many were dying of cancer because they couldn't get treatment because they didn't have a roof over their head.

There's some treatment that you can't get, it's just too dangerous if you're living outdoors.

So we felt like we should meet that need.

We started our Cancer Respite Program last year and now we have our own little Cancer Respite home on a community that we're building in East Chattanooga in District 5.

And with that, the individuals that we're serving, we start working on finding permanent supportive housing for them right away, as soon as they start, they come in, they start getting treatment so they don't die of breast cancer at the age of 45 just because they're homeless.

And then we start looking for the permanent supportive housing for them.

That's been incredibly difficult.

Many- it's just been so hard so we have kind of a backlog at Welcome Home where we have eleven people or more on our waiting list but they can't get in because we're having trouble finding housing for the people that we're serving now.

One of the things that I try and encourage people to consider is not to think of an "us and them" world.

It's all of us, we're all together in this world, we're all brothers and sisters.

And all of us, even though we're very diverse, we still all have the same needs.

We all want to be happy, we want to be free of suffering, and I think at the end of life, or when we're really sick we want to know that someone cares and someone loves us.

So I just wanted to bring that to you.

That we see a great need over in East Chattanooga and hope that you'll vote to approve this.

- I have a light from Councilman Hester.

- I just want to say thank you, Miss Campbell, for Welcome Home and all that you do there.

Your love, your passion, your adoration, your dedication to the underserved.

Thank you for your good work.

Appreciate it.

- Thank you, Councilman.

- Good evening.

My name is Janna Herring.

I am the the science department head at Silverdale Baptist Academy.

At the community meeting last Wednesday evening, I mentioned the endangered species in Friar Branch, which runs through the property owned by the city and the county together behind the airport and on the highway.

I realize that maybe the city didn't know the land purchased had a stream on it.

I realize the city didn't know that an endangered species was in Friar Branch.

But now that you are aware, I think an environmental impact study is warranted.

Not just for the sake of the Chickamauga Crayfish, but for the other endangered species that are in our area.

The information for planning and consultation of the US Fishing Wildlife service indicates the following statuses for the area, including the airport and the Gray Bat and the Indiana Bat are both endangered.

The Northern Long Eared Bat is threatened.

The Tricolored Bat is proposed endangered.

There are three species of flowering plants that are listed as threatened.

Additionally, we're in the migratory area of the Monarch Butterfly, which entered endangered status in July of this year, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

And Monarchs are also threatened by habitat destruction.

There is also legitimate concern for a runoff and thus sediment into Friar Branch.

The topography maps indicate a twenty foot slope toward the branch across from Lee Highway and the airport is within sixty feet of Friar Branch at its nearest point.

We are in an active state of conservation of the endangered Chickamauga Crayfish downstream of your property.

Additionally, we did our due diligence to preserve and make better what we have by contacting an environmental consultant for our most recent campus expansion.

The outdoor ed team at Silverdale educate the students and the faculty about environmental stewardship and the importance of habitat conservation.

We have partnered with Stream Team waterways and UTC researchers for continuous sampling to insure that the stream is healthy for wildlife on our campus and downstream to the Chickamauga Creek and also the Tennessee River.

So we are doing our part, I'm asking that you do yours for the community and for the preservation of the environment surrounding all of our properties.

We've spent a lot of time and resources on obtaining sustainable habitats.

I would ask that you be considerate of those downstream.

You have one moment in time to do this the right way and because your property backs up to designated exceptional Tennessee waters, its worth it to take a pause, take the opportunity to be good stewards, because once an endangered species is gone, it's not coming back.

Everything that I have mentioned is already threatened due to the illegal encampment that's currently on your property.

Because of this activity, I have began the process of water quality monitoring more closely.

Please suspend the project on Lee Highway and do your due diligence first to seek the environmental impact study.

I've spoken with representatives of the TWRA and TDEC and what I am asking of you is not unreasonable.

It's environmentally responsible.

- (Clapping) - Evening, sir.

- Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you, Council Members.

My name is Dennis Tomlin.

I'm speaking tonight on behalf of Silverdale Baptist Academy.

I'm a father of a student out there.

But I'm also speaking on behalf of 60 single family residences that lies just across Friar Branch from your facility.

You talked earlier tonight about the disengaged may not be here tonight.

I want to call attention to those guys.

But earlier in the first session, I want to commend you.

I heard some wisdom in the room.

Over and over, I heard several of you, at least four council members said "I need more information, I need more information, I need time to process, and I need more information."

As a public servant myself, I serve in a different capacity than you guys do.

I help communities all across the state and actually other states as well, solve complex problems and I have learned over and over and over when I feel rushed, I make a bad decision.

I'll encourage you to hit the pause button and to think through this one.

It's a little more complex.

I'm speaking from experience there.

When I sol- when I, when I get into these communities, a stakeholder meeting is critical.

I do engage both sides of the conversation.

I heard you guys in the earlier meeting talk about all parties represented.

I need more than just the academy, just the church.

You're exactly right, that's exactly what I do when I go into a community and lead a stakeholder meeting.

I get everyone involved, including those 60 single family residence lying just across from Friar Branch that's probably not represented here tonight, that's why I bring them up.

Couple of things, I'm also a part-time Real Estate Developer, I have been for 25 years.

I mentioned the other night about highest and best use.

You guys sit right on the side of I-75.

It's the gateway to Chattanooga, the gateway to Tennessee.

It is a it is a mecca for opportunity on the side of a very busy interstate.

I'm not sure that we're looking at the highest and best use for the property and I bring that up an example of that, if you guys had been on the planning commission many years ago, I'm confident no one on this board would have voted to approve a chicken plant two blocks away from the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

Many years later, we're dealing with the repercussion.

You guys are dealing with the repercussion of this of this chicken plant.

And had those members had a chance to call that back and have more time and studying and bring more stakeholders together, I'm confident, we all would agree that we need chicken and we need food, but I think we'd have found a proper place for chicken.

We need housing.

I'm a Real Estate Developer, we need housing.

But slow down and lets do this thing right.

You mentioned the last meeting you got one chance to do it right and you do.

I'm going to go really quick.

I'm going to jump down to Exit 1.

When I was a kid, Exit 1 was an albatross for the Gateway to Chattanooga, it was an albatross for the Gateway to Tennessee.

Smart people came together, thought about Exit 1.

How do we convert it?

We landed Bass Pro Shop and all the things that's happened in the last 20 years.

It's a sales tax generator.

This exit can do the same with proper planning and I'm going to ask you next meeting, table the motion, table the planning, table it all, take your time, let's do it right.

You got one chance.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- (Clapping)