New Appointments & Policies
TRACY HARRIS-Staff Writer
Lewisburg City Council met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. Mayor Jim Bingham opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. with prayer led by Police Chief Scott Braden followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Barbara Woods, Chair of the Tree City Committee, read a Proclamation by Mayor Bingham claiming March 7, 2025, as Arbor Day in the City of Lewisburg. This is the tenth year Lewisburg has been recognized as a Tree City.
Citizens Input was next. Joe Bradford spoke about what he referred to as “violations of the first amendment right to free speech during the public comment period.” Bradford said, “After hearing a request last month to have a councilmember removed, I was reminded of a similar request made by Troy Harwell regarding the mayor in 2022. Unlike last month’s speaker who was allowed to finish all her comments, Mr. Harwell was removed from the meeting. Likewise, the Ostergaard family was removed from a meeting in December for speaking about issues related to codes enforcement and their fence. My concern is, the no personal attacks rule is being applied selectively to speech with which the mayor disagrees while speech he likes, is allowed to continue, without interruption.” Bradford cited case law regarding when it is appropriate to remove someone from a public meeting.
He continued, “Now that the path is clear for those who bankrupted the city to do so again, the ability of citizens to express their displeasure without being silenced is essential.”
Bradford was referring to the December 2024 meeting when Kyle Ostergaard was removed from the podium after five minutes by the police chief. Citizens Input allows for three minutes. Sarah Ostergaard spoke next and said she was going to finish “what he was saying since you didn’t give him the time.” She spoke for two minutes. In that two minutes, she accused city officials of not doing their job, personal harassment, and being irresponsible.
Mrs. ostergaard also called for Councilmember Vickie Michael’s removal from the Planning and Codes Committee due to her incompetence. Mayor Bingham banged the gavel and said, “No personal attacks.” Mrs. Ostergaard said, “Isn’t this my right? You guys work for me.” The two went back and forth for 30 seconds about whether or not it was a personal attack. After the two and a half minutes, she left the podium and joined her husband in the lobby.
Councilmembers voted in the following order in February- Tommy Burns, Vickie Michael, Linda Thomas, Shannon Crutcher. Ward 3 is vacant.
January minutes were approved. The bills and the financial statement were approved.
There was one item under Old Business, the second and final reading of Ordinance 25-01. This ordinance amends two sections of the Zoning Ordinance: Article VII Section 7.090 and Article V Section 5.040.
First, under New Business was the consideration to appoint Pete Brown to the Industrial Development Board for a 6-year term by recommendation of Michael. The motion passed 4- 0.
The council considered Millie Summers’ appointment to the Cemetery Advisory Committee for an unexpired time. The appointment passed by a vote of 4-0.
The council considered the appointment of Emily Gordon to the Board of Zoning Appeals. The council voted 4-0 in favor of the appointment.
The council voted unanimously in favor of disposing of an old computer that no longer works at the Recreation Center.
The council considered an option at the Work Session that would have required the city to pay $57,061. After discussion, it was determined that even if the city paid that amount of money, it would only show how much money employees had during the transition period. It would not “buy back their time” or grant access to said funds.
During the regular meeting, no councilmember brought the motion forward “to fund employer contribution in the amount of $57,061 for the TCRS for prior service for 26 employees who were completing One America mandatory enrollment waiting period at the time the pension plan was frozen.”
Instead, they moved forward with Resolution 25-01 which passed by a vote of 4-0. The resolution will allow all employees to participate/contribute to a TCRS 401K PlanLewisburg Municipal Code .
A Social Media Policy was brought up in January. City employees have had a policy in place but elected officials did not fall under that policy. Adding the Social Media Policy for Elected Officials to Title 1, Chapter 8 of the Lewisburg Municipal Code passed 3-1 with Thomas as the only no vote.
Crutcher brought forth an ordinance to amend Title 2, Chapter 5 Section 5-101 Miscellaneous Boards of the appointed by the Mayor. Burns asked Crutcher what exactly he wanted to see changed.
Crutcher brought up recent issues with Fred Howard’s appointment to the Rec Advisory Board. He said, “So, he [Mayor Bingham] is doing his homework on getting to know these people before even appointing them to get on a board…We just don’t got the control over telling him who he can or can’t put on a board.”
Burns asked, “But for the next mayor or even the mayor after that, do we not want checks and balances?”
Crutcher said, “I don’t think it was the mayor that was causing the problem. I think it was us that was really the problem, their opinions, them, putting their feelings first. That’s what it was really about. I don’t think you can sit here and say anything bad about Fred Howard.”
“It’s not about one person,’ Burns said.
Crutcher accused the council of using Howard’s appointment as a personal vendetta. Burns said he disagreed. Mayor Bingham asked if there was any further discussion. There being none, he called for a vote.
Michael and Crutcher voted yes; Burns and Thomas voted no. In case of a tie, the mayor breaks a tie. Mayor Bingham voted yes, so the motion passed.
City Manager Bam Haislip updated on D.R. Horton properties, Saddle Trace and King’s Landing. Both communities sold more properties over the last month. He followed up on Burns’ request to “update the website” and investigate how secure the current website is. Hailsip contacted four places. The city would spend $10,000-$50,000 to do an IT audit. Most likely, it would be close to $25,000 to see what needs to be done to the website.
Fire Chief Drew Hawkins reported 114 calls for service in January- 39 fire calls and 75 medical calls. There were 1,006 training hours logged and 60 inspections done.
Police Chief Scott Braden reported 1,178 calls for service that resulted in 25 new cases in January.
Kent Stewmon reported that the new beacons at Ellington Airport can be seen from 30 miles out.
Cary Whitesell provided an update from Parks & Recreation. Pickleball is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to noon as well as Monday and Wednesday from 5 – 8 p.m. A second opinion on the dehumidification system in the pool area said a new unit is needed. Revenues remain up $45,000- $50,000 from this time last year.
Arbor Day is March 7. Whitesell said they gave away close to 500 trees for free last year. The Rec Center is also a site for Tennessee Tree Day, hosted by the Tennessee Environmental Council, on March 15.
Whitesell attended a weeklong training for playground equipment inspection. She will know in about six weeks if she will be a certified inspector. “I’m excited. I learned a lot. We’ll be conducting some playground audits. There’s a fine line between safety and ADA-compliance…I’m hoping this will be utilized as part of our Master Plan update,” she said.
The meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m. There is a public hearing scheduled n March 11, 2025, at 5:50 p.m. at City Hall to discuss Ordinance 25-02 regarding the Social Media Policy and Ordinance 25-03 regarding the Municipal Board appointments by the Mayor.
