2025 7 31 Special Session Packet Website 1

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Advisory Committee Meeting July 21, 2025 
 
Attendees: 
Anne Marie Schaffer, Shawn McKeehan, Frances Witt-McMahan, James Fries,  
Jo Lundy, Reita Witt, Bill Wilson            Report by Patti Greek 
 
Guests: Former Mayor Margaret Mahery 
              Bridget Roberts, Executive Assistant to the City Manager 
 
We were given several topics to discuss. 
 
1. Sidewalks around the City.  Currently there are plans for more sidewalks on 
Dennis Street.  The mayor asked if we knew if any other sidewalks should be 
added— not residential, but on major roads. 
Several streets came up; however they were in neighborhoods. 
         Committee-- no additional streets were added to the list. 
 
2. Downtown parking.  This is not about the current parking.  Taking out the 
inside lane and adding 16 spaces will help with parking. 
Currently we have a police officer “metering parking by photos”. 
Thinking years ahead, should we have pre-paid parking? If so, how and where 
should we put the “box or panel”?   
We had an open discussion. All the landlords have enough parking for all the 
tenants; it is up to the tenants to move their cars off the street during busy 
times.  There are several areas that continue to be busy---by CVS, Apartments 
and a few retail shops on Washington Ave.    I did explain when Officer Queen 
begins his “metering”, he begins usually at Market Park, corner of North 
Jackson and Madison.  He goes around the square and down the arteries.  I 
believe it takes him about 2 hours to go around the square. Some customers 
may even receive a bit more time. 
It was decided to discuss this project when or if Officer Queen decides if there is an 
issue. 
3. Election of the Mayor/Changing the number of Council members. 
I asked former Mayor Margaret Mahery to attend this meeting.  She was 
Mayor 20+ years ago and continued working with the State of Tennessee 
Municipal League of Mayors in Nashville.  She knows what it takes to change 
the charter of a city.  So that we can all discuss and be on the “same page”, I 
made sure the committee had the article from the DPA.  And I had the 
following questions for our discussion
: