Loudon cancels meeting when coun

Loudon cancels meeting when council balks

Parker Wright news-herald.net

A special called Loudon City Council meeting set for July 7 and involving the possible splitting of duties for Loudon City Manager and Loudon Utilities Board Manager Ty Ross was canceled before being held.

Loudon Mayor Jeff Harris said the Loudon Municipal Building can accommodate only 50 people with social distancing measures in place.

Harris and other city employees received calls from residents that they were planning to attend and speak.

“We just knew we were going to be over that number, and how are we going to accommodate everyone that wanted to speak and wanted to attend and hear the results, the outcome of that meeting?” Harris said.

He made arrangements to move the meeting to the Loudon High School auditorium, but that was not well-received by some council members.

“I just took it that this was a special called meeting for one thing, which required special arrangements, because it was evident that the public was going to show up,” Harris said. “We had been informed of that by several, several people who requested to address council on this matter. There’s just really no way that space would have accommodated us. … I think the public felt strongly about this and they wanted their voice heard. We were trying to accommodate them with that request.”

Councilman Tim Brewster said a week was not enough public notice for a venue change. He also didn’t think it would be a good idea to encourage “hundreds of people” to gather at a meeting when COVID-19 numbers are on the rise.

Councilman Johnny James said he denied the request because a large crowd would foster a tense atmosphere.

“Well, we didn’t want to put on a spectacle or a show,” James said. “It wasn’t for the public. It was basically for the mayor and the city council and the city manager. I just felt like it would turn into a shouting contest and you couldn’t see who was doing the shouting and you couldn’t keep quiet and there’s no call for that, no place for that. We’ve had it, and we don’t think we’ll ever have it again. I think we’ve reached an agreement, and I think it’s a milestone, and I think we’re moving forward. We didn’t need the meeting. We proved that.”

The meeting was initially called at the request of Brewster to discuss splitting the two positions held by Ross after a proposal to add city planner to those titles. Brewster said he “doesn’t feel comfortable” with one person filling all three roles.

Brewster suggested the positions be split into city manager/city planner and a separate LUB manager position. He proposed opening the city manager position internally to interested city employees for 30 days. If no one applies, the position would then be opened to outside individuals.

“(The city manager/utility manager) salary right now is $137,000 a year,” Brewster said. “The utility board pays $100,000 of that. The city only pays $37,000. We are paying the county $25,000 to do our planning service until July 1. They’re wanting to increase that to $85,000. So we wouldn’t have to procure any extra money. We could take the $25,000 we’re already paying the county and add it to the $37,000 we pay now for the city manager.

“… Before we voted on the budget, I asked for Ty Ross to sit down with me with department heads, so we could go through the budget line by line, because myself, when I was going through the budget, I found $40,000 that was being procured every year and not being spent,” he added. “That’s money we could move over to help pay for a planner. There’s over $100,000 now without having to add any extra money that we have to spend on a city manager/planner.”

The county originally requested a $60,000 increase by July 1, but the two governments have reached no agreement.

Brewster said the change isn’t directed at Ross, who could apply for the city manager/planner position.

“When Ms. Smith left (the county), they took a look at where her time was spent,” Councilwoman Tammi Bivens said. “The majority of her full-time position was spent on city of Loudon planning issues. That was a full-time position for her, not her entire full-time position, but what the county deemed 85% of it was. So I didn’t feel comfortable giving that to not even a full-time city manager to do.”

Some residents still attended a regular council workshop July 7 that was initially planned to follow the called meeting.

Loudon resident Kristin Reinke said she had questions for council about the canceled meeting and the nature of the cancellation. She questioned if the agenda was finalized.

Harris said Brewster, Bivens and James requested the meeting.

Kris Frye, Loudon city attorney, said only one council member had to withdraw support of the called meeting for it to be canceled. Brewster withdrew his support.

“I don’t see how anyone who’s never held those positions could possibly say it’s more than Mr. Ross could handle,” Loudon resident Roger Nash said. “That’s just my personal opinion. I’m just going to say it again, and I hope it hits home. We’re tired of the animosity of this board, this council, showing toward city manager Ross. It’s unproductive, totally unproductive. I’ll have more to say at the next meeting if this is an agenda item.”