At its Nov. 5 work session, the Lakeland city board and mayor discussed the following topics that will be among the agenda items for their Nov. 12 business meeting:
- Final reading of an ordinance that will ease how much some developers must pay into the city’s tree bank (designed in 2013 to collect fees so that trees felled during development are replaced with new plantings.) The changes will allow for special circumstances when on-site planting of replacement trees is not possible due to the physical condition of a lot, when tree canopy requirements cannot be met due to site constraints, or for mitigation of violations.
- Final reading of the vendor ordinance, which is designed to protect Lakeland citizens from unwanted sales calls at their homes. It will use a permit process to ensure the approved vendors are legitimate. It also protects the rights of vendors to conduct sales calls unless citizens have registered with a “do not knock” list on file at city hall. Vendors who receive permits will get a copy of the list, and there is a $50 fine per violation.
- The city’s prioritized list of streets to be paved in Lakeland. A seven-page report ranks the streets by condition on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst. The list reflects the findings of a recent Municipal Technology Advisory Service (MTAS) study that evaluated and prioritized the repairs. The list also was reviewed and tweaked by city personnel to incorporate knowledge of local traffic patterns and residents’ needs. At a meeting this summer, city manager Jim Atkinson estimated it will take Lakeland 5-10 years to repave the most troublesome streets. The prioritized list of street repairs includes:
- No streets rated as 1 (reconstruction needed)
- Two streets rated as 2
- 12 streets rated at 3
- 13 streets rated at 4
- 76 streets rated at 5
- 87 streets rated at 6
- 44 streets rated at 7
- 32 streets rated at 8
- Three streets rated at 9
- 14 streets rated at 10 (in new condition)
- The stormwater report
- The concept sanitary sewer plan for the Lakeland Middle School project
- Interviews for various city board/commission positions
- The request of hotel operators along the I-40 interchange area to get a tax reduction to be more competitive with hotels in the Memphis area. Currently, Lakeland imposes the same tax as other area municipalities. The board agreed to discuss all options with hotel operators, including improvements in The hotels’ area and their facilities.
See details on these topics linked in the Oct. 5 agenda at tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/501.
