Agenda Items & Discussion

• Purchasing questions - fleet vehicle maintenance: Council questioned why some city vehicles receive routine 10,000-mile maintenance (e.g., oil changes) at outside garages rather than the city garage. Staff explained this is typically driver-initiated rather than directed by Fleet, and said the administration is working to tighten that process.
• Department report - CPD license plate reader (Motorola/Flock) cameras: Police Chief Chambers and an officer presented on how automated license plate readers are used, including plate searches, hit alerts, and geofencing. Officers must enter a case report number and reason before using the technology. All CPD policies, including the LPR policy, are posted publicly on a dashboard. Images not tied to an active investigation are deleted after 90 days per state law. Council members, including Councilwoman Hill, asked detailed questions about data retention, transparency, and community engagement, and about how license plate "proximity" searches are used to determine whether a vehicle was near the location of a crime.
• Ordinances - First Reading (rezoning): An ordinance to rezone 1123 Mountain Creek Road (RN17.5 to RN3) was withdrawn at the applicant's request. An ordinance to rezone 1307 Hixon Pike (INST to CNT) was also considered, with no opposition present.
• Resolutions: Included a board/commission appointment resolution; a resolution authorizing a 2-year license agreement (with a 2-year renewal option) between the Department of Economic Development and 4J's Ducks LLC for river access at Ross's Landing ramp at a $300/month fee; and a resolution for a second amendment to a lease agreement with a nonprofit organization.
• Purchases: Council approved issuing (not awarding) an RFP for monthly cleaning services across all five Head Start buildings. Three sole-source purchases were reported: streaming services for the library from Canopy Inc. ($25,000), an enterprise content and process management platform for DTS from Naviant ($31,634.75), and a wastewater grinder pump from Carl Eric Johnson, Inc. ($27,733.82).
• Committee reports and public comments: Council went around for committee reports. During public comments, at least one speaker addressed development, road safety, and citizen participation in the Plan Chattanooga process.

Key Decisions & Votes

• Rezoning ordinance for 1123 Mountain Creek Road: withdrawn at the applicant's request on a motion by Councilman Henderson, seconded and approved by voice vote.
• Rezoning ordinance for 1307 Hixon Pike: considered on first reading with no opposition present.
• Appointment resolution: adopted by voice vote.
• Resolution granting a license agreement to 4J's Ducks LLC for Ross's Landing river access: adopted by voice vote.
• Resolution amending a lease agreement with a nonprofit (Friends of...): adopted by voice vote.
• RFP approval for Head Start buildings cleaning services: approved by voice vote (RFP issuance only, no contract awarded).
• Three sole-source purchases (library streaming services, DTS platform, wastewater grinder pump) were reported to council.