Last Night at Metro Council

Capital Spending Plan

The council approved the mayor’s $544.72 million capital spending plan (CSP) with one minor adjustment. The body tacked on Councilmember Zulfat Suara’s amendment requiring that the new jail’s design include space for on-site mental health evaluations. During the meeting, the council boxed out any additional amendments to the CSP by backing Councilmember Emily Benedict’s motion to end discussion before further amendments could be heard.

Shrinking Council

Nothing on the agenda addressed Monday’s state Supreme Court ruling that will cut the council in half. The council did, however, officially hire Tom Lee as its new special counsel and legislative services division director. Lee’s role as council attorney will be critical as the body works to comply with the new state law, which requires reducing and redrawing county council districts.

“We didn't know the news was coming on Monday, but I think that it's good to actually have a director that has very good knowledge of our charter,” Councilmember Zulfat Suara said of Lee.

Lee previously chaired the Metropolitan Convention Center Commission and lobbied the state legislature on Metro’s behalf. The council’s Charter Revision Committee will hold a special called meeting about the council reduction at 4 p.m. next Friday, November 13, in the council chamber.

Remembering Phil Ponder

The council paused to honor Phil Ponder who passed away in September at age 93. A Navy veteran, Ponder served two terms on the Metro Council (1995–2003), spent 12 years on the Metro Planning Commission, and worked a decade on former Congressman Jim Cooper’s staff.

Beyond his public service, many Nashvillians knew Ponder for his art. Starting in 1982, he redrew the city’s skyline every four years, chronicling the growth that has reshaped Nashville over the past four decades.

The Rest

The night’s longest floor debate came over a resolution from Councilmember Mike Cortese about airport noise, which ultimately passed. Cortese said some residents have gone from “roughly a dozen flights per day to over 150.” The council has no control over flight paths, which the FAA sets, and Cortese acknowledged that “we do not have any authority over the FAA.” The non-binding resolution asks the Airport Authority to keep passing residents’ concerns and noise data along to federal regulators.

The council also advanced a bill on second reading to extend the East Bank Redevelopment Plan by five years so the city has time to consider a transit-oriented redevelopment district. In addition, members approved two cost-sharing agreements with TDOT to rebuild Cowan Street, Marine Drive, and James Robertson Parkway, with a substitute from Councilmember Sean Parker endorsing NDOT’s study and preliminary design of a pedestrian and bike connection between the East Bank and the Ellington Parkway pedestrian bridge.

Rounding it out, the council approved a homelessness package that includes $2.7 million for Hospitality Hub to keep running the South Nashville motel used as transitional housing, $500,000 for supportive services and case management, and the city’s application for federal HUD homelessness funding on consent. Councilmember Jordan Huffman’s crackdown on door-to-door salespeople who ignore the city’s no-knock registry—a list residents can join to keep solicitors away—passed its second of three readings. As amended, it lets Metro Codes and police enforce the rules alongside the Metro Clerk’s office and sets a four-step penalty schedule for violators.