Despite Red Bank Mayor Joe Glasscock’s reluctance to buy two new garbage trucks for $232,000 Tuesday, city officials moved forward on a new administrative building during the same commission meeting.
“We’ve outgrown City Hall,” said Vice Mayor Monty Millard. “The police department is in extremely cramped quarters in our annex, and we’ve got to do something to make the workflow better.”
A unanimous vote awarded TWH Architects an agreement to start work on another annex or a new building for administrative purposes. No amount of money was exchanged through the agreement, but the total project eventually will cost between $500,000 and $1.5 million, according to Red Bank City Manager Chris Dorsey.
The City Commission voted unanimously to purchase the new garbage trucks.
According to Mr. Dorsey, recent flooding washed city papers down Dayton Boulevard and termites have eaten police records. Red Bank police, he said, don’t have proper showers or changing stations.
“This has been in our budget for the last two years,” he said. “It started before the economic downturn hit. We aren’t able to offer very efficient services here because of the condition of the buildings.”
Also, following up on a longtime plan to build a new Red Bank Middle School, commission members voted to advance a “conversion land package” to trade with the Hamilton County Department of Education. The land in question is owned by the city of Red Bank for youth softball on Red Bank High School’s campus, and the Hamilton County Department of Education wants it to build a new Red Bank Middle School.
After a public hearing, the conversion package will be sent to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for state-level approval. The criteria requires the Hamilton County Department of Education to offer similar land with recreational value to the city of Red Bank.
Mr. Dorsey said one possibility for Red Bank is where the existing Red Bank Middle School sits on Dayton Boulevard, but the city hasn’t ruled out other options.