Latest news with #CamilleBurdine
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sanitation fee passes, begins July 1
The sanitation fee resolution, which caused many conversations and criticisms within Lebanon, was passed by the City Council in a 4-2 vote during Tuesday's meeting. The structure of the fee will be $20 for residential customers and $40 for business customers. The city's sanitation department does not pick up dumpsters used by businesses, only bins specifically used for the city service. Geri Ashley and Camille Burdine, Councilors for Ward 2 and 3 respectively, stuck to their votes against the fee for the second reading. Both raised concerns of how residents at or below the poverty line or seniors on fixed incomes may be impacted by the $20 per month fee. Questions regarding how the sanitation department is funded were asked as confusion rippled through the community. 'This was an unadvertised discussion in a work session. It was a 15-minute discussion,' Ashley said. 'I still don't have all my questions answered. I don't feel like I have the economic information.' 'I think that we should, as a City Council, have spent more time talking about it and seeing if we could come up with any other solutions,' Ashley added. 'If in fact we are paying for garbage in our city's taxes, and now we're incorporating a fee, then what happens next year when we get our taxes? Are our taxes going to be reduced at that point, because that is a double dip.' On Wednesday, Burdine reiterated her thoughts that the city should be more proactive in studying the impact on the citizens before a fee was implemented. She said the response to rising costs caused the city to be 'reactive instead of proactive.' Burdine said she is not opposed to a sanitation fee, but feels that more time should have been spent researching it. Also on Wednesday, Ashley called the fee a 'knee-jerk reaction' and likewise felt that not enough research was done. She also said instead of a flat fee, a property tax increase would take into account the property values and Wards 1, 2 and 3 would not have to deal with a monthly fee which might be a burden. Ashley said she wants to see if the sanitation fee will disappear from the property taxes. Ward 1 Councilor Joey Carmack said he supported the fee because it's a flat fee that all residents pay, which doesn't fluctuate. 'I do not feel it's fair for the sanitation fee to be a property tax,' Carmack said. 'A property tax would be unfair, because for example, person one has a $1 million house, and [may] only have one can of trash. They would pay more taxes than person two [who has] a $350,000 home.' 'We dump the trash from the city at Walter Hill (in Murfreesboro), which has been in the news about closing soon,' Carmack added. 'When that does happen, we will be paying even more to dump trash.' Middle Point Landfill has been working with Rutherford County to increase fees for 'out-of-county' tipping fees, as well as downsizing the number of counties allowed to dump there. During a meeting earlier this year, it was proposed to double the fees for non-Rutherford County clients from $1.20 per ton to $2.50 per ton to generate more revenue for that county. The town meeting hall had more residents in attendance than usual, which was commented on by the Councilors, who expressed gratitude for the increased attendance. Burdine, Chris Crowell, Councilor for Ward 4 and Phil Morehead, Councilor for Ward 6, particularly welcomed the attendance and interest in city business. During the public comment period, nearly a dozen people spoke to the City Council. One resident, Stephen Lawson, said he and others should have the option to opt out of the fee, and that he would rather pay a private company $30 to support that business than give the city $20. He also asked if there were other landfills which could be used. 'I thought there was a landfill in Wilson County. Is that one full?' Lawson asked. 'That's owned by the Wilson County government, and it's just open to construction materials,' Mayor Bell responded. 'It's not open to us.' Alex Buhler, former Ward 1 Councilor who stepped-down in 2012, also spoke. 'They should have that option to opt out,' Buhler said. 'If a thousand people opt out, that's a thousand houses you don't have to go to.' Bell responded by saying that wouldn't save as much money as people think because the sanitation trucks will still be driving by those houses anyway. Some of the Councilors said they don't know if private companies would have the same quality of work that the city does, as officials believe sanitation is a public health matter which the Council 'takes seriously.' Another resident wondered if the sanitation fee would lead to the start of 'nickel and diming' the residents of the city. Glenn Denton, County Commissioner for District 20, which covers the downtown Lebanon region of the county, criticized the growth of the city, which he thinks sparked the need for growing services and the fees to pay for them. 'Enough is enough. We have overbuilt in our city beyond what our infrastructure can handle,' Denton said. 'When do we stop building to where we cannot service and when we cannot pay for the infrastructure around it?' Nearly an hour and a half was spent discussing the sanitation fee and budget for the next year. With the passing of the resolution, the sanitation fee goes into effect July 1.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City Council passes vape store ordinances
Across two meetings, the Lebanon City Council passed two ordinances adding more regulations to specialty smoke and vape stores. At Tuesday's regular meeting, the council considered an ordinance requested by Ward 3 Councilor Camille Burdine to include vape shops in the city's Heavy Industrial zone and to limit the number of vape shops to one per 10,000 residents within the city limits. With current zoning, this means vape shops can not open in the downtown area or commercial districts. As of 2023, Lebanon's population was 48,112 people. Using that number, the new ordinance would limit the city to four vape shops. However, the language of the ordinance says 'The population is determined by the latest completed United States Decennial Census,' and the 2020 census listed Lebanon's population at 38,431 residents. This reduces the vape store limit to three. The Planning Commission gave the ordinance a positive recommendation at its Jan. 28 meeting. Officials say the ordinance does not impact already existing vape stores and only applies to future stores, effectively stopping new stores from opening based on the population ordinance. Shops must be 500 feet from a school, church or daycare. Shops also must be 1,320 feet from another specialty smoke and vape shop. However, the ordinance was written with two exhibits, and according to City Attorney Andy Wright, was meant to pass with either Exhibit A, which rezones vape shops to Heavy Industrial and prohibits operation in certain other zones, or with Exhibit B, which limits the number of stores by city population. 'Can we adopt both?' asked Ward 1 Councilor Joey Carmack. 'Divide the question,' replied Wright. Dividing the question means the ordinance is amended and split into two separate ordinances. The City of Goodlettsville passed a similar resolution recently, including the population restriction, against the recommendation of its city attorney. Wright conducted research and spoke to Goodlettsville's city attorney. who reportedly said if that city gets sued due to the population limitation, they'll 'cross that bridge when they get to it.' The rezoning option was added to make it more defensible, according to Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell. The Council voted to separate the ordinance into two and passed both on first reading. The Council also had a special meeting Thursday to 'clean up and get the vape store issue passed,' according to Carmack. After discussion, both ordinances passed second reading, as did another ordinance regarding neon or LED signs that are 'public facing.' The ordinance for the sign limitation reads 'Only one neon or LED sign per tenant, of a dimension of 14-inch by 7-inch, is only permitted for wall or windows signs. No other neon or LED lights that are public-facing, or facing the right-of-way, are permitted,' with some exceptions. The City Council says this is retroactive and can be enforced for already existing signage.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lebanon city ordinance aims to limit liquor stores
LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Lebanon City Council will soon decide whether or not to adopt an ordinance that would stop future liquor stores from opening. On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the council approved the first reading of the ordinance in a 4-2 vote. According to the agenda from Tuesday's meeting, Ordinance No. 25-7149 aims 'to amend Title 8 of the Lebanon Municipal Code relative to the number of liquor stores allowed in the City of Lebanon.' There are currently 14 liquor stores in Lebanon, and 22 licenses have been given to businesses. According to Ward 3 Councilor Camille Burdine, there is a liquor store every two square miles in the city. Wilson County sheriff calls out Metro for not having LPRs; 'Fusus' deferred during Metro Council meeting 'I'm sure they would be just as happy in their ward to have another Chick-fil-A or In-N-Out Burger or something like that to bring in those tax dollars versus a liquor store,' Burdine said. Burdine believes this is not a moral issue; she just wants Lebanon to have more types of businesses than liquor stores. She is also thinking about a vape store ordinance. Ward 1 Councilor Joey W. Carmack — who was one of two council members who voted against the ordinance Tuesday — sent News 2 a statement saying, in part, 'We're moving too quickly before we understand the impact this might have on sales tax revenues. My vote last night against the ordinance was to slow down and make sure we are making the right decision long term.' ⏩ Some local liquor store owners believe there is too much competition in the area. 'There are too many liquor stores in Lebanon, just at the rate that more stores are opening. I never really felt that way before,' Andrea Ross, the owner of Cheers Wine and Liquor, said. 'We know multiple liquor store owners in Lebanon that are great people, great business owners, but in order for us to continue to be able to provide good pricing and all the things that we offer, we have to be able to sustain the business.' To see the recording of Tuesday's Lebanon City Council meeting, click here. The second reading of the ordinance is set for the next council meeting. If approved, it will go into effect. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
