Bolivar Discusses Renaming Margin Street, Meadowbrook Sewer Issues, and Recognizes Deana Sain
The Bolivar City Council met for its regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 13, 2023. Some items that were covered:
The Council approved the minutes from the October 16, 2023, regularly scheduled Council meeting.
The Mayor’s Report included announcing that City offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, 2023, in observance of Thanksgiving. The Christmas parade will be on December 2, 2023, and will kick off the Christmas festival.
Mayor McTizic recognized Mrs. Deana Sain, who currently serves Hardeman County Schools as the STEM coordinator, and has been named as the Tennessee Science Teachers Association (TSTA) Teacher of the Year for grades fifth through eighth. {click here to read more about Mrs. Sain being named as the TSTA Teacher of the Year}
Public Comments: no citizens spoke
Standing Committee Reports were given on Electric, Utilities, Fire, Police, Parks and Recreation, Streets and Sanitation, Library, Compliance/Zoning, and Tourism/Community Development.
The police report included:
Calls for service – 611
Citations issued – 227
Accidents – 14 (four injury, 10 property damage)
Adult arrests – 11
Juvenile arrests – 5
The Bolivar Police Department received approximately $100,000 in a Violent Crimes Grant. The council approved using the funds for 19 camera/gps systems to be placed in all of the police cars and 20 tactical/bullet proof ballistic vests for officers to carry in their vehicles.
Old Business:
The Council reviewed and discussed a citizens request to rename Margin Street to Williams Street. Mayor McTizic stated the citizen was under the impression the street was originally named Williams Street and had been changed at some point, but he said the city has no record of Williams Street ever existing. Mayor McTizic spoke on the history of the street name and presented documents he had researched. The request stems from the desire to honor John Archie Williams as the first black police office in Bolivar. McTizic stated the crosswalk at Bolivar Elementary had been named after Williams in his honor. Also, a part of the discussion was the inconvenience to current residents on Margin Street if they had to update all of their information with a new mailing address. No council member made a motion to take action on this item.
Hardeman County Wall Builders relinquished their property lease with the City of Bolivar. The City will now take back possession of the property.
New Business:
Tony Kirk, with Bolivar Energy Authority, gave an update on bringing high speed internet to Hardeman County. He stated 933 miles of mainline fiber has been built throughout the county. Currently, 2,843 customers, of which 177 are commercial customers, are subscribed to the service. They are finishing up the project six months early and $5,000,000 under budget.
The council reviewed the Statement of Qualifications for a Connected Community Facility Grant for the Neighbor Hub project. The council chose to use TLM as their engineer for the project.
The Council approved a new heating and air unit quote for city hall offices from Superior Plumbing and Heating for $13,199 for a 10 ton gas unit.
Councilman Chris Williams stated he had received several calls about a sewer issue on Meadowbrook Drive. According to Williams, four houses on the street have a pump system, which the homeowner’s expected to be temporary. These four homeowners are now experiencing problems with the temporary pumps.
“These pumps have been maintained by the homeowners for several years and there’s sewage all out in the street – their yards, and the manholes and some of the basic stuff is there for the sewage systems,” said Councilman Williams, “It’s been before the utility board, I think several times, and nothing’s been done about it.”
Mayor McTizic said, “The utility board attorney has recommended not going on private property to fix those pumps.” He continued, “Those aren’t the only four properties that have pumps, so the utility board choose, based on their attorney’s recommendation, not to go on private property to replace those pumps because of the liability it would open up with all the other pumps around the city.”
“They called me upset,” said Councilman Williams, “I went over there, they said the can’s been kicked down the road. Yes, it’s on private property but they were given the impression that this would be addressed and fixed. Like I said, the manholes are there, some of the basic things are there for the sewage, it just hasn’t been put it.”
Mayor McTizic stated he had a lot more information of the situation that he could share with Councilman Williams.
Councilwoman Caroline Miller was absent from the meeting.
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