2021 11 16 Minutes

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ATHENS CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF MEETING
November 16, 2021

The Athens City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor
Perkinson presiding. The invocation was given by Council Member Pelley; and upon roll call, the following
members were present:

Curtis, Pelley, Witt-McMahan, Lockmiller, Perkinson
The following decisions were made and ordered made a part of the records of the Athens City Council.

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APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the October 19, 2021 regularly scheduled meeting were submitted and approved by
unanimous consent.

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COMMUNICATIONS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

ATHENS CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL UPDATE

Mike Simmons, Principal at Athens City Middle School, provided an update on the school. Currently they
have 500 students enrolled. Athens City Middle School (formerly Athens Junior High School) was
established in 1966 and they have had a part-time band instructor since that time until this year. They
now have a full-time band instructor. The Middle School now has the following full-time positions: PE,
Media Specialist, Music and Theatre, Art, Band, Enrichment, and Computer Coding. Mr. Simmons stated
the school is fully opened including extra-curricular events. He noted the improvements that have been
made at the school including painting of the lockers with new combination locks installed, carpet removed
and replaced with tile, parking lot and drive repaved, new boiler and cooling tower, new hot water system,
water filling stations, touchless faucets, and flush valves. Currently they are in the process of having the
entire HVAC system replaced. They are having the Christmas Showcase with band and chorus on
Thursday, December 16" at 6:00 pm and a Musical “Matilda Junior’ that will have an opening night on
Thursday, March 10". The school now has a student media team that is live streaming all public events.
The team of 8" graders is being trained by a local professional videographer.

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PRESENTATION OF VIVID AWARD

Council Members Witt-McMahan and Curtis presented the Very Important Volunteer Individual (VIVID)
Award for the month of November 2021 to Meredith Willson in recognition of her continued dedication
and commitment to Athens.

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PRESENTATION OF PROCLAMATION — NEYLAND PICKEL

Council Member Curtis stated that he had spoken with Neyland Pickel’s dad, Jason Pickel, earlier in the
day and they were unable to attend the meeting. Mr. Pickel asked that they hold the proclamation until
the December meeting. Council! Member Curtis asked everyone to keep Neyland and his family in their
prayers and asked everyone to share a moment of silence for the Pickel family.

-5-
TENNESSEE WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION

City Manager Sumner read a Resolution of Appreciation from the Tennessee Wesleyan University Board
of Trustees recognizing the City of Athens for its generous support. This resolution is in appreciation of

the City of Athens’ $5,000 sponsorship of the new Leadership Academy that has been started at Tennessee
Wesleyan University.