What's coming up: the Sept. 14 Board meeting
Posted September 10, 2026 by Daniel Berry
The short version
The big items are $1.45 million of street paving for the coming year, a new $71,495 playground at Jefferson Street Park, and a first-reading ordinance that reshuffles who reports to whom at City Hall. The Board will also talk funding for the Sports Council, South Jackson and the Chamber in the study session.
Here's a plain-English look at what the Board of Mayor and Aldermen takes up Monday, Sept. 14 at 5:30 p.m.
The big ones
Item 26-106 — Next year's paving list
Public Works is asking the Board to approve the FY27 list of streets for milling, paving and striping: 6.72 miles for $1,455,400, out of a $1,500,000 permanent street budget line. The work is under the city's existing contract with Volunteer Paving. The list is in the packet and includes stretches of Atlantic, Crestwood, Iris Dr., Lake Hills, Short Springs, Waggoner, Veterans and more — the staff memo notes the list can change if something unexpected comes up. If your street's on it, this is the item that matters most to you all year. What I want to understand: how streets got ranked, and what happens to the roughly $45,000 left over in that line.
Item 26-104 — New playground at Jefferson Street Park
$71,495 for a new playground package from Miracle Playgrounds of KY and TN — installation, wood mulch surfacing and mulch curbing included. It replaces a 2011 playground that staff calls small and weathered with no swings. The new one has 11 play events, a dome climber, a dish swing and two belt swings, built for ages 5–12. Money comes from leftover contingency funds from the 2017 Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund Construction Loan — not new taxes. Neighbors asked for this one, and staff and elected officials met with them.
Ordinance No. 1697 — Who reports to whom
This is first reading (the first of two required votes), so nothing is final Monday. It updates the city's table of organization (the org chart) and writes into code that the City Recorder and Chief of Police report directly to the Board. It also moves human resources out of the Recorder's office into a new "Employee Relations" function under the City Administrator. This is the kind of item that sounds dry but shapes accountability for years. What I'll be asking: what changes day-to-day for employees, and why now.
Item 26-107 — Snowplows and a salt spreader
$28,290.26 from Manning Equipment for two snowplows and one salt spreader, on Sourcewell cooperative contracts. Funding is 100% ARPA (one-time federal pandemic-relief money) from the portion committed to stormwater. Winter road clearing, paid with dollars we won't get again.
Item 26-110 — Contract planner
The Planning Department wants to hire Griggs & Maloney as a planning consultant after the Senior Planner position went unfilled for lack of qualified applicants. Two firms bid; Griggs & Maloney scored 81 to 56. Funds are already budgeted in Planning–Professional Services. Worth asking: is this a bridge to a hire, or the long-term plan?
Also on the agenda
Consent agenda (routine items approved in one vote): August minutes, a quit claim deed clearing an old alley title near 210 Broadrick (Item 26-100), $235,300 for four police SUVs from equipment reserves (Item 26-101), and a surplus equipment list (Item 26-102). Also: a three-year pool dehumidifier maintenance deal ($8,470.12 / $8,978.33 / $9,486.53), a brush-grinding contract extension, and sign-fee waivers for Kiwanis "Dig Day on 41-A" and South Jackson's Oktoberfest. The Beer Board has two non-profit special-event permits. The study session covers board rules and funding for the Sports Council, South Jackson and the Chamber.
How to weigh in
Monday, Sept. 14, 5:30 p.m. at the Tullahoma Municipal Building. Citizens can speak up to 3 minutes on anything in the Board's purview — and you can ask to pull an item off the consent agenda for discussion. Or just reach out to me beforehand.