Two new faces were presented to the Nashville City Council, Monday, during its regular meeting for July.
Lynn Westbrook Dyer, a resident of Ward 6, was proposed to fill the vacancy on the council created by the death of Alderman Jimmy Dale two weeks ago. Mayor Larry Dunaway read the state laws about filling council vacancies, and said that Dyer agreed to serve.
The council approved unanimously. She will be sworn in at the city’s August meeting.
Andrew Hawthorne, an employee of the city park, has been named ‘recreation director.’ He was present at Monday’s meeting and was introduced by Parks Director Meghan Floyd.
Two items received no action but occupied most of the time at the meeting.
Mayor Dunaway took the council through a reading of the proposed personnel policy. At the suggestion of council members some adjustments were made to his proposal. The policy will be adopted as an ordinance at the August meeting.
The other time-consuming item was a lingering problem with several pieces of property in south Nashville owned by various members of the Benson family.
Mayor Dunaway said he was discouraged by the family’s lack of action on property cleanup, and acknowledged ”this becomes a racial thing.” He is reluctant to use the city’s money to clean up the properties. The city has been trying for months to have something done about the old abandoned school building, the abandoned Benson Nursing Home building, and several residential properties which the mayor said may have been taken over by ‘squatters.’
“I don’t know what to do other than condemning and tearing down.”
Council members and Code Enforcement Officer David Riggs discussed having some properties mowed, and placing a lien on the property.
Family property owners have not taken action despite promises to do so.
No action was taken.
The council approved a resolution requesting a lien for cleanup of property in the 1100 block of S. 4th Street — the former Fats, later Squirrels convenience store. He said that the owners in Illinois had been unresponsive to communications.
Police Chief Amy Marion updated the council on efforts to get grants to pay for computers, printers and software to be used in patrol vehicles. In response to a question she said that the city had body cameras but not vehicle cameras due to cost.
She said she was working with law enforcement from the county and from Dierks.
Present for the meeting were council members Herbert Turley, Charles Pinkston, William Turley, Kay Gathright, Vivian Wright, Phil Jones, Nick Davis, Donna Harwell, Joe Hoen and Freddie Horne; also department heads Riggs, Floyd, Marion, Finance Officer Kimberly Green, City Recorder Lauren Hoen, and Mayor Dunaway.
Also present was Vanessa Weeks, executive director of Developing Howard County.
