By MARK MCGEE
mmcgee@bedfordcountypost.com
The City of Shelbyville moved forward with its plans for retail development as Shelbyville City Council members unanimously approved a professional services contract with Retail Strategies, LLC at regular May meeting.
The cost of the contract is $50,000. The City has received a $50,000 grant from the State of Tennessee for the Placemakers Small Business Support. The City will only have to pay $5,000 of the contract.
According to the TN.gov website, “The Tennessee Placemakers Grant is a pool of monetary resources dedicated to assisting communities across the state, from rural to urban, to develop and train small businesses and entrepreneurs by allowing them to obtain funds for broad and diverse activities.”
The funding can be used for three categories of work: Assess and Plan, Build and Sustain, or Support and Train.
Retail Strategies, based in Birmingham, Alabama, has already developed an extensive study of the needs for retail in Shelbyville. Under the approved agreement Retail Strategies will provide a Holiday Trends and Preparations, retail strategies training in Digital marketing, customer segmentation, content development, social media and livestream selling, trends in business modernization including artificial intelligence (AI) and points of sale systems along with cybersecurity and theft mitigation training.
Other items
*The saga of the planned rezoning of 57.97 acres owned by James Baum and Elisabeth Gallum came to an end after several months of discussions and deferrals as Council members voted 5-1 on first reading against the change in the planned development area from R-1 (low density residential) to R-2 (low median density).
The area in question is located on the North side of Union Street and West of Jennings Lane.
All Council members were present for the regular May session with Bobby Turnbow, William Christie, Marilyn Ewing, Gary Haile and Stephanie Isaacs voting against the rezoning. Henry Feldhaus voted for the change.
Four people spoke against the change citing loss of property values, infrastructure issues, increased traffic and general quality of life concerns. Susan Sutton told Council members she had a petition signed by 300 residents of the area who were against the change. Also speaking were Leigh Kelly, William Crews and Ryan Richards.
Before the vote Scot St. John, the project engineer, and Jody Lambert spoke in favor of the project.
*Also on first reading Council members unanimously approved a request from Cooper Steel Fabricators, Inc., to rezone 3.38 acres located on the North side of Eagle Boulevard and West of Eaton Drive from R-2 (low medium density residential) to I-2 (general industrial district).
*The Municipal Code of the City of Shelbyville cites, “It shall be unlawful for any person without legitimate business or purpose to loaf, loiter, wander or idle in, upon or about in any way or place customarily open to public use”.
In a 5-1 vote the following amendment was approved, “It shall be unlawful for any persons to camp and store personal property on any local, state or federal public property without express written consent from the property owner.”
Council member Stephanie Isaacs cast the only dissenting vote.
*Council members authorized Mayor Randy Carroll to send a letter to the Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce inquiring about the reasons for the City’s denial for membership. Carroll told council members he expects the Chamber will communicate with the City through a letter as well.
*The purchase of a 2024 Chevy Equinox for the Shelbyville Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) was unanimously approved. The price, from Wilson County Motors, is $30,445 and will be paid from Capital Funds. An insurance settlement for $21,269.67 is offsetting a portion of the cost.
*The Mayor was unanimously authorized to sign affidavits of good moral character Bansari Chinton Patel and Navinbhai Chinton Patel of Union Street Wine and Spirits. Since the store, at 730 Union St., is new the owners were required to undergo a background check which was successful for both. The authorization for the Mayor to sign was unanimously approved.
*Claudia Mallard, chairman of the Shelbyville Power Board, was re-elected to her seat. Also re-elected was Ervin Miller. They will each serve terms of three years. Their selections were both unanimously approved by the Council.
*Seth Sharp, a rising junior at Shelbyville Central High School, was selected by Mayor Carroll to serve a two-year term as a student member of the Shelbyville Parks and Recreation Board.
