LaCroix added to expanded Stormwater Committee
In response to the May 8 sewer line break, the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted during its Thursday, June 25, meeting to amend the Town's Stormwater Advisory Committee charter by adding a Board member to the committee.
Previously composed of seven members, the committee now will have eight members. Following the charter amendment, the Board appointed Alderman Joe LaCroix to serve on the committee.
"At the last Board workshop on June 11, you discussed adding a Board member to the Stormwater Advisory Committee," Town engineer Darryl Smith said.
During that June 11 workshop, LaCroix said he wanted to amend the committee's charter to include a Board member.
"(Adding a Board member) can be done very simply," Smith said June 25. "It's very straightforward."
Before the appointment, Alderman Alex Cain voiced his support.
"I understand Alderman LaCroix has expressed his desire for this, and I think you'll be very good at it, Joe," Cain said.
"I agree with Alderman Cain," Vice Mayor Scott Meyer added. "I think Alderman LaCroix would be great."
"I do, too," Mayor Ron Williams said before the Board appointed LaCroix.
During public forum, Kimberlie Parks said she had applied to serve on Town committees, but her application was not included in the binder provided to Board members.
"This is about the third time in approximately eight months I have volunteered to serve for the Town and was never given the actual opportunity," she said. "At some point, this becomes a pattern ... it does not encourage meaningful citizen involvement."
In other business, the Board approved an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Capital Investment Program Fund budget to cover additional expenses for the Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, software implementation project. The original budget for the project was $160,000.
However, "during the implementation process, additional unforeseen expenses were incurred, including GovSense consultant travel and the purchase of supplemental user licenses that were not included in the original scope," Town Finance director and treasurer Tessa Cortes reported.
"To properly account for these costs, a budget amendment is required to transfer $8,000 from CIP reserves to CIP expenditures," she said.
The Board also approved:
n Guidelines for Town records maintenance and retention, authorizing the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, a unit of the University of Tennessee's Institute for Public Service, to compile and print a records retention manual for use by municipal officials.
n An emergency contract to replace a storm sewer pipe on Glen Abbey Boulevard.
The deteriorating pipe was first discovered in April after a depression formed in the southbound through lane, Assistant Town engineer Eric Schindler said.
"The pipe was in poor condition, but replacement was not initially deemed immediately necessary," he said, adding crews excavated the area, covered the pipe with geotextile fabric, backfilled the site and repaved the roadway.
However, another roadway failure occurred toward the end of May.
"Upon inspection, it was determined that repairs are no longer an option and emergency replacement of the pipe by replacing the existing corrugated metal pipe with reinforced concrete pipe is necessary," Schindler said.
He recommended awarding the $250,000 project to Whaley Construction Inc. Repairs are expected to take two to four weeks.
