Trezevant Industrial Board Talks Continue, Will Host Public Meeting

TREZEVANT (February 10) — Tuesday night, the Trezevant Town Council resumed January's discussion regarding the restoration of the town's industrial development board (IDB). After much debate, the board agreed to advertise the IDB's open positions and hold a public meeting before making further decisions about the dormant board.

The conversation was introduced in January after a citizen, speaking on behalf of Phil Colwell, proposed purchasing city land next to Pat's Restaurant — a property officially owned by the IDB — to build a family-owned discount store.

The property is currently zoned R1 (Residential). Any proposal to purchase this property must first go through the Planning Commission for proposed rezoning. The newly-formed IDB's first action upon receiving the property from the city must be to seek rezoning from residential to B1 (Commercial).

Members of the audience voiced their concerns about Trezevant's tourism once the highway bypass is completed. They stressed Trezevant's need for new businesses to attract out-of-town shoppers.

City Attorney Charlie Trotter assured the audience that the board is not deciding if Colwell's business can come into Trezevant. Instead, they are deciding to introduce infrastructure and a trustworthy decision-making process that allows and advocates for new businesses to open in Trezevant.

The Trezevant IDB has been dormant in recent years, with all member terms expired. Trotter stressed the need to elect seven new members to bring the board into compliance and proceed with development.

Alderman Don Barger suggested presenting a slate of seven nominees to the council for approval, as required by state law. Barger has already recruited five candidates for the board.

Trotter said any action the board takes toward the IDB would be unlawful without first notifying the public. He advocated for the board to advertise the open IDB positions to the public. Previously, the Industrial Board inappropriately appointed its own members.

The board — and public attendees — debated how to advertise these IDB positions. Mayor Bobby Blaylock preferred solely advertising in the local newspaper, while many attendees insisted the town should also advertise on social media and by mail via water bill.

Alderman Pam Joyner made a motion to advertise a special-called public meeting to further discuss and recruit IDB members via newspaper, social media, water bill and handbills around town. Her fellow aldermen agreed, voting unanimously in favor of using all aforementioned modes of communication to advertise the meeting.

The advertisement will disclose information about the roles expected of an IDB member, as well as the public meeting date.

The public meeting will be Thursday, March 12, at 6 p.m. at the Trezevant Community Center.

In other news, the board approved the following corrections to the town's water ordinance: Changing the water usage rate from 0-1,000 gallons at a rate of $31, to 0-1,000 gallons at a rate of $31.25.

Changing the sewer usage rate from 0-1,000 gallons at a rate of $33, to 0-1,000 gallons at a rate of $33.75.

The board also approved reinvesting $20,000 into Trezevant's Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) after paying insurance costs. Of this amount, $15,000 was taken from the town's water tank reserve fund, and the remaining $5,000 was from the town's streets fund.

The board was supposed to discuss an example firework ordinance, but there was insufficient information ready at the time of the meeting. Mayor Blaylock said the board still has plenty of time to work out the ordinance, as fireworks won't be used again until June.

Also listed on the February agenda was further discussion of permit protocol, led by Alderman Dieringer. If passed, this would establish a formal building protocol to improve efficiency and ensure legal compliance with ordinances. Due to January's winter storm, Dieringer was unable to schedule a meeting with the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) representative before Tuesday night's meeting. The board will revisit this agenda item in March.

The Trezevant Town Council's next regular meeting is Tuesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Trezevant Community Center.