No. 631: On tonight's docket

Tonight’s meeting will kick off with a few appointments and reappointments: William H. Freeman is set to remain a board member of the Airport Authority amidst ongoing legal battles. Meanwhile, John P. Nefflen, a litigation attorney and former musician, is up for appointment to the Arts Commission, where he’ll hopefully do something about the missing grants. Another notable appointee on the list is a former council member and current associate director at BMI, Jeff Syracuse: if approved, he’ll be a part of the new Music, Film, and Entertainment Commission.

Another payout just shy of a quarter million dollars to cover a few more claims regarding the unconstitutional sidewalk bill, will be on the agenda tonight, as well as the usual affordable housing-related legislation alongside lengthy discussions regarding HIV/AIDS funding and Metro water/sewer use fees.

Other notable items include a bill concerning the Central East Bank Redevelopment Area’s sewage infrastructure, a resolution to integrate an Adaptive Signal System downtown to address traffic congestion, and a late-filed resolution waiving permit fees for those rebuilding damaged property in light of last week’s tornadoes.

Lastly, the Nashville Electric Service may make an appearance tonight; yesterday, representatives from the utility provider dropped into multiple committee meetings to address the Tennessee Lookout’s recent article about their no-bid contract with Memphis-based Path for the installation of 55,000 LED streetlights.

During yesterday’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee meeting, Vice President of T&D operations at NES, Vaughan Charles, defended their decision. Charles explained that had NES introduced a bidding process, it may have delayed the city’s transition to LEDs by up to two and a half years.

“NES had done our very best job at trying to figure out what we think this cost was going to be if NES were to perform this work ourselves,” said Charles. “So between having this vendor who had demonstrated their capabilities, and their ability to complete this project, their estimates were 10 percent less than what NES had had.”

Not only did representatives defend their no-bid decision with Path, they explained how converting sooner will result in safer streets because smart LED lamps are brighter and alert NES when they go out—something the current fixtures don’t do.

NDOT Director Diana Alarcon also clarified that the sooner LEDs replace the current high sodium lighting used, the sooner the energy prices to illuminate Music City will go down. “There's probably roughly 60 percent savings once you convert from an HPS light fixture,” added Joey Streisal, Sr. Associate Engineer with NES.

State targets I-24 from Nashville to Murfreesboro for “toll lane” (Lookout) As part of a 10-year, $15 billion transportation plan, the state will put money toward four “toll lane” projects, first targeting I-24 from Nashville to Murfreesboro.

Tennessee falls $88.4M short of tax collection estimates in November (Center Square) Tennessee is now $197 million short of the budgeted estimate for tax and fee collections through the first four months of the fiscal year. The state collected $1.43 billion in November, which was $88.4 million short of what was budgeted and $65.3 million short of the 2022 numbers.

These Middle Tennessee cities are ranked among the most affordable, fastest-growing in the U.S. for 2024 (Tennessean) Two Middle Tennessee cities − Clarksville and Murfreesboro − have been named two of the 25 most affordable, fast-growing cities to consider in 2024.

• Developer Moves Forward With Wedgewood-Houston Project In Nashville

  Now Next

• Arnold’s Country Kitchen Is Reopening — for Now

  Scene

• Pie Town Tacos to add East Nashville location

  Post

• 📅View our weekly film rundown here. Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
• 👨🏻‍🌾Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and our 2023 southern festival guide and 🎥 2023 movie guide.

Tonight Tue, Dec 19

🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ Honky Tonk Tuesday afterparty, down the street

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ American Legion Post 82, 5p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

• 📚 Plenty Downtown Bookshop furthers Cookeville’s quiet transformation into one of the state’s most impressive cultural hubs. (Read)
• 🎁 The Pamphleteer's 2023 Christmas Gift Guide (Read)
• 🏘 The double-edged sword of prosperity in Tennessee's small towns (Read)🎞 The Pamphleteer's Fall 2023 Streaming Guide (Read)
• And check out our podcast, YouTube, and article archive for more.