05/20/26 Metropolitan Council Budget Hearings: Nashville Department of Transportation

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Thank you, Madam Chair.

[00:00:02]Good afternoon, members of Metro Council.

[00:00:06]As of the acting director of the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure, >> [clears throat] >> I'm here at the front table with two members of my staff, with the NDOT assistant director Hal Balthrop to my right, your left, assistant director Kristen Cumbrow to my left, your right, uh to present NDOT's proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2027.

[00:00:32]NDOT [snorts] deputy director Derek Haggerty uh regrettably could not attend tonight.

[00:00:37]>> [snorts] >> Also with me today are NDOT assistant directors Charles Body, Aaron Cushman, Brad Freeze, Cody Osborne, Ricky Rucker, and Courtney Stone.

[00:00:56]Sitting in the audience is our council liaison Chris Mitchell.

[00:01:01]Before I begin the formal presentation, I want to highlight some key accomplishments from the past year and thank some folks who have been >> if I can interrupt you for one second. I don't think you said your name.

[00:01:14]Well, I apologize.

[00:01:15]>> [laughter] >> My name is Philip Jones, and I'm currently serve as the acting director of at the Department of Transportation.

[00:01:23]Sorry about that. Thank you, ma'am.

[00:01:26]Uh Before I begin the formal presentation, I want to highlight some key accomplishments from the past year and thank some folks who have been instrumental in helping us continue to provide a high-quality service to our residents during the turbulent past several months.

[00:01:45]I can't talk about the past 11 months without expressing sincere gratitude to everyone every single member of the NDOT team who helped us respond to January's winter storm.

[00:01:56]At the peak of our response, we opera- operatized over 80 N dot and N dot contract crews.

[00:02:05]There are a few people that I Well, excuse me.

[00:02:09]Open me off with the name thing.

[00:02:18]crews daily to clear fallen trees and debris from roadways. These crews were in addition to those continuing to treat icy roads, repair signs and signals, and perform other essential duties to keep the city running and support NES power restoration efforts.

[00:02:39]Crews work 12-hour shifts in brutal conditions away from their own families to keep Nashville in safe.

[00:02:46]And we're lucky to have such a dedicated group of individuals.

[00:02:52]We're also extremely lucky to have the leadership of a great mayor and great Office of Emergency Management. I've been fortunate to work with Chief Swan and his team for many years.

[00:03:04]And in a crisis, there are a few people I trust more.

[00:03:09]These unprecedented uh historic events often test cities and watching the city come together to serve and help one another was something to behold.

[00:03:21]I would I have I would, however, be just fine living through a lot fewer unprecedented events.

[00:03:29]I'm going to be honest with you. You know, 30 and 30-something years, I've spent time with the 2010 flood, the tornadoes, uh many tornado events, but this ice storm was and and you know, we had a ice storm in '93. I'm sure some of you have remember, but this ice storm was It was significant. It really was a was a different monster.

[00:03:51]The winter storm response and recovery has not been quick. It has not been easy.

[00:03:56]In the weeks following the winter storm, we also experienced a change in departmental leadership.

[00:04:01]I was asked by Mayor O'Connell to fill in as acting director, and it has been a great honor and privilege to do so.

[00:04:09]I've had the opportunity to meet and engage with many, if not all, Metro Council members, and I hope we've served you and your constituents well in the past few months.

[00:04:20]Change is hard on everyone.

[00:04:22]And I'm so proud of our Ndot team. In a trans- transitional moment, they have continued to offer high-quality service and continuity.

[00:04:32]Even as we search for new leadership, our vision for the department remains the same.

[00:04:38]To build and maintain high-quality infrastructure that safety and efficiency moves all people, no matter how they travel.

[00:04:46]I want to take a moment to not just thank the Ndot team, but to also thank partners we are working hand-in-hand with us.

[00:04:55]Sabrina and her entire Choose How You Move uh program team have provided support, guidance, and truly collaborative relationship that is helping us refine processes and deliver infrastructure more efficiently.

[00:05:13]Sabrina has been a great help to me as I navigate unfamiliar territory.

[00:05:18]To Steve Bland of WeGo, Lucy Kemp of Planning, Tracy Thurman of Waste Services, Scott Potter of Metro Water Services, and all the other amazing department heads, thank you for being a resources and examples of strong leadership.

[00:05:33]And of course, to Kristin Wilson, thank you for always providing a steady hand during challenging times.

[00:05:45]Now to the budget. This year's proposed budget essentially provides for a status quo level of service and operations for our department.

[00:05:54]I'll walk you through a handful of modifications during the presentation, but by large, if INDOT's budget is funded as is, we will be able to provide the same high-quality service our residents expect.

[00:06:09]We're excited for the year to come and grateful to the mayor for fully funding Metro's employee compensation compensation plan. Let's get to the presentation.

[00:06:30]INDOT on the move.

[00:06:33]We have a vision.

[00:06:36]We exist to create safe, sustainable, and balanced transportation system that supports choice and offers opportunities for vibrant neighborhoods for present and future generations. Mission, Nashville Department of Transportation Multimodal Infrastructure builds and manages a safe, reliable network which elevates the quality of life and prosperity in Davidson County.

[00:06:59]Values, neighborhood oriented, performance driven, integrity and respectful excellence, innovative and collaborative, employee focused.

[00:07:11]This is just a quick glance, an overview of our structure, and I want to kind of give out, you know, put some names to to some of these positions, but over the infrastructure and development and delivery, Hal, which is to my right, get underneath it, transportation and planning, Marty Soul, development service, Devon Doll, transportation system management, Brad Freeze, got capital projects, John Bagozian, multimodal programs, Scott Kibby, local programs, it's a mix of John Bogosian and uh Christie Snail, construction, Tommy Jones, infrastructure, operations and asset management, Cody Osborne, maintenance operations, Herbie King, roadway operations, Herbie King, I've got facilities, the ESC and fleet management, William Robertson and and I say that one because we talked about the storm and we talked about a lot of things to do with that. Rocky played a vital role. He's our ESC when it comes to emergency management and handling all of our fleet coordination, so he played a vital role.

[00:08:21]Most of you are very familiar with Ricky Rucker. He's traffic and license commission and parking enforcement and curb management.

[00:08:29]Human resources, safety and training, Charles Body, strategic communications, Courtney Stone, finance and grants, Kristen Cumro, my left, ITSCPMS is Aaron Cushman.

[00:08:47]This is a little more and I I don't want to say bragging, but this is a little more on our department because, you know, you you I've come up and spoke before you before and talked about how we performed, but I can't say enough about the approval of the equipment that was given to the department. I think it was approved 4 years ago to get the new salt trucks and and kind of bring us into the new it really didn't you didn't see the fullest full expect of that just because we had so much going with the ice storm, but what we were able to do with that equipment compared to what we've been able to do years past is it's it's unthinkable. And I only see that getting better as we go forward as we look at other ways and I know I've talked last time when Diana presented last year, we spoke about how we moved to come up with ways to work on the bicycle lanes and the sidewalks. You know, we we done a little more. We didn't have but the one big event this year, so didn't get a lot of opportunities to to try those plans, but we do have plans moving forward where we're uh we're piloting some programs. You know, we're going to be looking at the dedicated routes that lead to the snow routes or we go and things like that, but we're going to work toward coming up with some opportunities and plans to clear those of some of those routes.

[00:10:11]Beginning January 21st, INDOT crews started pre-treating 80 primary, secondary, and post-secondary routes around the county in anticipation of the winter weather event. Crews worked around the clock treating roads for snow and ice, clearing roadways of fallen debris, and collecting winter storm debris from residential curbs and more.

[00:10:32]From the start of the storm through May 20th, crews have been working on response and recovery. As of yesterday, marked the last day of INDOT special winter storm debris collection. Regular brush collection services have resumed for residents in Nashville beginning the area three.

[00:10:51]So, we're really uh there will still be a lot of debris that comes after this that will be part of this that we will track accordingly. Um but this has been for a long-term event, so far this has been a very successful collection when it comes to the for the debris in the storm.

[00:11:13]This next slide, the next three slides I'm going to go over a few things uh that kind of gives you some facts and some data on on the services we've been able to provide throughout this past year. And this is from July 1st to uh May 1st.

[00:11:29]So, to address safety challenges, INDOT has installed nine new pedestrian hybrid beacons in 2025. The department also implemented leading pedestrian intervals at 90 intersections, installed rectangular rapid flashing beacons at 28 locations.

[00:11:45]In December of 2025, INDOT deployed smart traffic signals at 36 intersections along Lebanon Pike.

[00:11:53]Recent data shows the comparing March 2025 to March 2026, commuters are experiencing a 20% reduction in delay during peak morning and evening travel.

[00:12:06]That is I mean, that's astronomical.

[00:12:09]Since February the 3rd, 2026, INDOT crews have collected over 2.1 million cubic yards of winter storm debris.

[00:12:19]To put this amount into perspective, in all of 2025, INDOT collected around 87,000 cubic yards of vegetation during its brush collection.

[00:12:29]That being said, we had the three low or four locations where we were doing the reductions. All those sites have now been cleared off. We're finishing up some repairs on some of those sites far as hydroseeding and things like that, but it's it's been really it's really worked out great for the city.

[00:12:48]Potholes, we we've repaired 22,694.

[00:12:53]Traffic common projects, we installed 153. Signs repaired or replaced 4,618.

[00:13:00]Metered parking revenue 5.4 million.

[00:13:04]Litter collected from right-of-way 272 tons.

[00:13:09]We've hired 87 employees throughout the year. Lane miles resurfaced 162 lane miles. Linear feet of bike ways built 39,329.

[00:13:22]Linear feet of sidewalk built 17,585.

[00:13:27]Right-of-way permits issued 29,023 community cleanups coordinated 181.

[00:13:40]A little more of the of the data 7.2 miles of alleys resurfaced 3,209 total miles swept on all protected bike lanes 20,067 miles swept and that's just curb line.

[00:13:57]306 litter baskets serviced every 2 days 40 new litter baskets installed repaired 182,731 ft of shoulders cleaned up 3,561 dump sites 11,144 tons of brush collected excluding winter storm debris cleaned and cut alleys four times a year on rotation issued 3,933 permits in transportation and licensing office responded to 6,985 illegal parking and abandoned vehicles in the right-of-way right-of-way mowing on route four times during the growing season and medians responsible by INDOT were mowed every 2 weeks during the growing season.

[00:14:49]We had 11,000 square feet of new pavement markings installed. We refurbished 35,000 ft of pavement markings.

[00:14:58]Litter complaints are down 63% and that's thanks to the council members in the approval of the litter program we put in place.

[00:15:07]Sidewalk repairs 592 work orders over 7,200 ft linear feet repaired guardrail repairs 55 1,967 ft 684 signal bulbs repaired, 2,610 signal repairs, installed 451 smart parking spaces.

[00:15:33]>> [clears throat] >> This is kind of our budget at a glance, the 24, 25, 25, 26, and the 26, 27 budget.

[00:15:42]Um, this shows our 535 positions is what we have now.

[00:15:54]This is our budget at a glance. This is pretty much the budget mods. This is what we're To me, we're here to talk about, but the brush disposal, the contractor will increase.

[00:16:05]That's uh matter of the contract we have for the brush collection. The contract increase is going from 27, 25 to $75 a ton.

[00:16:17]So, that's a that's a significant increase.

[00:16:21]Operational studies, that's the the million dollars you seen on our line item. That is for the funding for the organizational curb management vision zero studies, as well as the implementation of development services modernization efforts. That's to create multiple things, but I tell you one thing I want to share with this group.

[00:16:42]This is so we can get a comprehensive parking curb management plan in place for the city.

[00:16:50]Something that's consistent, we can put a plan together, and I've talked to this I've talked to several council members separately about this. This is something we need. While, you know, I know Diana um, when she was here had a plan, but it was in it kind of left with Diana. You know, I'll share that with you. That was the plan she had. We need a plan in hand that we can go throughout the next 5 years and plan what we're going to do with our curve, how we're going to manage it, how how we can work out the RPPs because I know there were several questions before this meeting about, you know, the RPP RPP versus how we're going to do the paid parking. We've got a And Sabrina spoke well to this earlier.

[00:17:34]The one thing as a department we've decided is collectively we we've started a lot of great programs. We really have. We we've done a lot of great things. July will be 5 years for this department since it was established.

[00:17:50]What we're going to do now, we're going to kind of slow things down a little bit, shore up our foundation, and start doing some things really really well.

[00:17:57]Not saying we weren't doing them well before, but we had a lot of things going. Staff was a little overwhelmed.

[00:18:03]Um but so we're going to slow some things down, start putting some programs and some processes in place.

[00:18:09]Uh I made mention that um Sabrina and her staff's really been you know, uh vital to us putting some processes together. So you'll [snorts] have to kind of bear with us, but we're going to get there. We're going to be in a better place.

[00:18:23]Um The vehicle and storage equipment, that's for a facility so we can have a laydown yard and and a um I don't know if you're familiar, but when we lost the West Center out on Charlotte Pike, you know, and that was sold, we're still trying to build back and get uh the ability to put people and have equipment.

[00:18:46]The traffic management center, that's two FTEs added to the TMC, which Brad manages, and and welcome to ask questions on that, but that's just where right now that's contracted out that we'd like to start bringing some of that in house in order to get the TMC up and where it needs to be going.

[00:19:06]Financial management, that's the two FTEs. That's because over the past 3 to 4 years we've built out the department without building out the resources to manage so we can have a better um payables and receivables and how we manage our money.

[00:19:29]HR that's one position to go to to HR to help with recruitment. That's a partial funded food chime but that's to help with recruitment.

[00:19:43]And the bottom kind of speaks for itself. That's that's the one that reflects to the removal of positions tied to the fee increases that were not approved in FY26.

[00:19:55]That being said on that, I've pretty much talked to every council member that I I think I've had conversations with just about everyone as it pertains to this.

[00:20:04]That kind of leads to what we're trying to do to get the cost recovery for those permits.

[00:20:13]Looking to the future, INDOT is seeking Metro Council approval.

[00:20:18]This is what we just spoke about to restructure certain department fees.

[00:20:22]These fee adjustments will increase department revenue and allow for some cost recovery for certain permit types.

[00:20:29]We will continue to close close cal- collaboration with chime program office, WeGo Public Transit, Metro Planning and many other implementation of Choose How You Move. And that's and I know I I keep saying this, Sabrina said it but we're a lot better aligned with the Choose How You Move. I think our department has a better understanding and and working closely with them is going to kind of help be able to not just in the Choose How You Move role in our capital projects and how we deliver them.

[00:21:07]Metro is conducting a search for a new NDOT director to begin leading the department in FY2027.

[00:21:14]That search is going on as we speak.

[00:21:17]We'll be kicking off a comprehensive parking and curb management study, a strategic organizational roadmap, a development services modernization plan, and we will be seeking a Vision Zero program management team to help deliver safer streets. [snorts] Madam Chair, that's that's all I have.

[00:21:46]Vice Chair of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Councilwoman Ewing.

[00:21:51]Thank you, Chair.

[00:21:53]Um, I wanted to to ask questions related to a couple different things. I'm I'm really happy to hear that you're Well, first of all, thank you for your presentation. Looks like I have to set up a meeting with you cuz I'm probably the only council member you haven't met with.

[00:22:09]I hate to tell you, I left you a call.

[00:22:12]>> [laughter] >> I can assure you.

[00:22:15]Um, so I'm I'm happy to see the emphasis on safety. That's really great and looking at um uh fixing pedestrian crossings, making sure that they're they're safe. Um, one of the things that we're embarking on, as you probably know, is looking at how the city addresses um ADA compliance. I know that NDOT has its own ADA coordinator. So I'm curious how um how that fits into your safety pedestrian safety program. Um, I don't know much about hybrid beacons and I was hoping that maybe those provide more safety to our our citizens with disabilities and I just wondered if you could comment on that.

[00:23:02]Yeah, I think I'll I'll leave that over to Brad to Mr. Freeze to speak to.

[00:23:08]Yes, so great great questions council member.

[00:23:12]So as far as ADA compliance, we actually designate a million dollars a year to update our ADA across the city. So that is a comprehensive effort looking at at our sidewalks, our our ramps and crosswalk locations. So we also look at that as we look at capital investment projects. We pair those upgrades as part of PROWAG as part of the the agreement or the standard when we whenever we touch infrastructure and we're doing improvements like that we I'm sorry.

[00:23:50]So whenever whenever we do whenever we touch things as far as the capital projects, we the standard is that we update the ADA requirements as well. So yes, we have an ADA coordinator John Bagozian is actually a our coordinator currently and working and so we have a we have an action plan that we review and we go through the county to look at those opportunities as we go along. The other I'm sorry, go ahead.

[00:24:16]If you have a follow-up. The other question you asked what a pedestrian habit beacon is. So that's a great question. Pedestrian habit beacon is a light that you can add to actually it flashes red.

[00:24:33]It it's it's like a red it's a red light that that stops traffic when it's activated for pedestrians to cross. Now it turns it turns solid red that is condition where cars are expected to stop. It flashes red cars are expected to yield to pedestrians yield the right away. So it goes through a cycle. First it goes solid red to give pedestrians the time to cross over over the street and then it flashes red uh to give but uh you know, they are still a yield condition in there they can go after they stop uh come to a complete stop. So, that is something working with the community as far as education. We have put out some education materials. I uh I know it it it is it is something that has been very effective uh across the country. Uh we are working with Metro Natural PD hand in hand uh with that uh to work on education, how we educate the public on what to expect.

[00:25:33]There there are sign you know, in in the field there's signage that explains uh the operation. But uh we are looking at doing more in in terms of that and they are very effective.

[00:25:45]That is fantastic news. Um I can only hope if any of our Nashvillian friends are watching, guys, I hope that people um take advantage of that education and and actually follow uh the directions that they're given. Um I've seen more than more than a few people going through a solid red light. So, um hopefully a flashing one will give them a few more options for stopping. Um Okay, so that leads into my second um category of questions. It's just two parts, I swear.

[00:26:22]Um traffic calming.

[00:26:25]>> [snorts] >> When and I I understand that Anna Hollaran is gone, but but the last time we spoke about the traffic calming program, there were many of us who were getting um a lot of negative feedback um well, of all types, but the negative feedback I'm thinking of is specific to the fact that when when when we do traffic calming on one street and we don't look at the whole neighborhood of contiguous streets that feed onto one another or provide an alternative route for drivers who get enraged by speed bumps.

[00:27:02]Um it causes knock-on effects. So you you put speed bumps on one street, and then the next street over, pretty soon they're applying for traffic calming because they have people flying down their road. And then it goes to the next road and the next road. And and so I have maybe three or four, maybe more neighborhoods in D-34 that have that exact problem. My point in saying all this is that we had discussed looking at streets as a system rather than just going street by street. I do understand that street by street makes it a little bit faster, um but I'm wondering if that's at the cost of effectiveness and efficiency in the end, ironically. Um so I wanted you to comment on that, and then and then the second part of that is just a little bit of a a question about the the tactical urbanism program, and what kind of feedback you've seen from that, and if you find it to be an effective use of our funds.

[00:28:05]I'm going to I'm going to let Mr. Balto speak to the traffic calming, but I will share with you that program, while considered to be a very successful program, is we're in the process of looking of how it's implemented in in the way it's implemented. It is part of what we're kind of not stopping any or slowing anything down that we're in the process, but it is one of the things that we're definitely taking a deep dive on what can we do it better. I want to we want to look at other cities, how they do it, how they deploy it. What other options are there out there that we can can do other than speed tables, you know, are there are alternatives we could do? So, we're very aware and and I'll I'll let Mr. Balsam Balsam speak to it, but I just want to make you aware we're really looking at that program closely right now.

[00:28:56]Okay. So, good question and we get that often. So, it's not an uncommon issue for us to address.

[00:29:03]Uh to build on what uh Philip just shared, uh we have just recently uh revised our standard operating procedure for traffic calming and we are incorporating a lot of the feedback that we've received not only from you all, but also the public and then uh the mayor's office and and much of what you're hearing about the collaboration more with chime, with INDOT. Uh we're trying to incorporate programs that are consistent across both programs. So, we're we have one standard to follow and it's consistent and defensible and and successful. So, uh we are incorporating a lot of what you've mentioned and what your constituents are sharing with you in terms of the regional review instead of a singular street review. Also, as Philip mentioned, we're trying to avail options for traffic calming depending on the availability of right-of-way that we're dealing with. We certainly the program does not take into account additional or acquiring additional right-of-way. We try to work within the existing right-of-ways. Uh we also uh just so you know, we work with the emergency response departments as well because we've received feedback from them that some of our efforts have caused some challenges for them in the uh use of their equipment and the transport of their equipment. So, again, as Philip said, we're continually uh trying to improve everything that we offer and we do listen and we do incorporate what we can into the program. Uh also, as he mentioned, just like of all of our programs, we look at best practices uh throughout the world actually and that's why sometimes we bring in consultants because many of them are international and they bring ideas that are proven in other jurisdictions to us so we can save a lot of time and money.

[00:30:53]Vice Chair Spain.

[00:30:54]Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Director, for being here. And I And I want to echo first what you said um about thanking your team and uh for the phenomenal work they did after the winter storm. They really did an incredible job of getting our roads open and safe uh in a in a really short amount of time. I also want to thank you for stepping into leadership role of the department in through a a challenging period. I know you were personally out with the crews in District 35 uh making sure the roads were getting cleared and that the crews had the support they needed. So So thank you for that. Um you mentioned the Well, I shouldn't say final cuz like you said, there's more to come, but at least the total for now on brush collection was 2.1 million cubic yards. Yes, sir. Where did all that go?

[00:31:33]I know you had the four centers set up around the city, but where did it go from there? Um we have a contract and within our contract the material actually belongs to Living Earth. It's It's part of our contract with them. So it went went to Living Earth and it's actually reground, put back into to the surrounding area, whether it's in mulch or it's in compost, but it's a mixture.

[00:31:56]Interesting. Um you also mentioned the litter program.

[00:31:59]Would you talk a little bit more about that cuz that's something I I hear more and more about in my district.

[00:32:03]>> Yeah. And this is something I think everybody should be proud of, but every street we have in the county that that Metro own street gets litter pick up once every 6 weeks, at least once every 6 weeks. That's kind of led to the big drop in complaints and hub requests for litter pick up. Now, where the confusion always comes in what belongs to INDOT versus what belongs to TDOT, that's that's that's another issue. That's just something we're we're we're working collectively with TDOT to do a better job, but I assure you with the contract that you've you've helped us secure. This probably been one of the most dramatic changes I've seen in the city since I've been here has been that that litter contract.

[00:32:52]Very good.

[00:32:53]Couple things on the budget. The funding increase for the contract cost for brush and leaf debris disposal that it's an increase of 1.1 million. Is that just for to maintain our existing level of service? Yes, sir. That that's >> [clears throat] >> it is out for bid.

[00:33:10]I think it comes out in a couple of months, but that's the anticipated increase in in the grinding.

[00:33:18]And we were locked into that contract I think for 10 years. So that's the reasons for such a drastic increase.

[00:33:24]Okay, I think that was that was going to be my next question. That seems like a sizable increase in one of the years.

[00:33:29]Thank you.

[00:33:30]Um Just a couple more under non-program revenue, the other tax licenses licenses and permits goes down by about 4.1 million.

[00:33:41]Can you tell us a little more about that?

[00:33:46]On 272.

[00:33:52]Sure, the non-program revenue um is a combination of items.

[00:33:59]It's some of our permits and it is also some of the items that come in not necessarily through grants, but through other partnerships that we have.

[00:34:11]Is it unusual for them to to decrease that much in a single year?

[00:34:15]It is.

[00:34:17]Part of part of the decrease year-over-year for this from 26 to 27 is going to be based on some decreases that we've seen in trends for the types of permits that we're getting.

[00:34:33]Okay.

[00:34:35]Is that related to the fee bill that the director mentioned that we're looking at? Will that Will that impact that trend going forward?

[00:34:43]It will It will impact It will be impacted by the rate increases, but what we have done in the projections for the budget is account for the trend. So, hopefully if we if the the increase passes, then the revenue that you see is the revenue that we will actually receive. So, we've tried to account for the decrease in permits that we've been receiving over year over year. Okay, thank you.

[00:35:09]>> [clears throat] >> And then similarly on page 274, the federal program revenue goes down by about 1.3 million. Is that attributed to anything in particular?

[00:35:20]274 Okay, then that is directly related to our a combination of our grants and our parking management and surplus fund. The special purpose funds are not part of the general service fund. They are independent. So, the parking garages, the revenue that we receive from there is included here.

[00:35:45]Our CMAQ grant for the TNC and and for natural connector are included here. The excuse me, the drastic decrease in those is due to two of those grants are we're supposed to end in fiscal year 2027.

[00:36:01]I believe we secured an extension for the natural connector.

[00:36:05]So, that's not reflected here. We received that extension after we submitted for budget, but there's still going to be a significant increase because it's only going to be for a partial year. So, that's where you're going to see the dramatic drop here in addition to not having the revenue from the library garage because it is still closed.

[00:36:24]Got you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[00:36:29]Page 274 Councilmember Green.

[00:36:36]Good afternoon. I want to add my praise to the department's great work during the storm. It was absolutely phenomenal.

[00:36:44]However, I would like to comment that I had lots of challenges with our contractor on brush pick up from uh cable lines being knocked down, mailboxes being knocked over, asphalt being damaged. I hope as this contract comes up for renewal, the price point is extremely important, but also added to that is the customer service in these types of events. So, I hope we will stress that. Has there been any historical discussion about bringing that service in-house and not using a contractor?

[00:37:19]You know, we have the ability, I mean, in a small event, we handle a lot of events that you're probably not even made aware of if we have even a small tornado event that doesn't cover, but that is so significant and so countywide, it would be it wouldn't be practical to have the staff and equipment on hand to to to provide that level of service. Be great if we could, but it would be it just wouldn't be practical.

[00:37:47]Given that these extreme events are becoming more common in [clears throat] Nashville, I just thought might be something we could consider.

[00:37:52]>> Yeah. And is that just one contractor for that brush pick up? Yes, sir. Okay.

[00:37:57]And they've handled this event in the last two tornado events. And I believe that's ABC, is that the name of it?

[00:38:04]Crowder Gulf. Oh, okay. Yes, sir. And then my second question is related to the questionnaire. It said for the reduction, those would come from litter pick up, uh brush collection uh to compensate for that reduction. Are there any grants that we can apply for for that litter pick up? Cuz I would agree we've come a long way in that area. I'd hate for us to slide back.

[00:38:27]I think you're talking about the cuts that the that the mayor's office has asked us to take.

[00:38:33]The way we've run it right now with the cuts they've asked us to take, it will not affect the level of service. We're going to be able to continue the the same level of service.

[00:38:43]Okay, thank you. That's good to hear.

[00:38:45]Yes, sir.

[00:38:49]Councilmember Partain.

[00:38:51]Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Director, for the work that y'all do. I want to go back a little bit and bounce off of Councilmember Ewing. We talked about ADA compliance. And I know under the ADA, this is going to be kind of a technical question, but I know under the ADA that there are certain slope requirements for sidewalks. Could you walk us through what what are the permissible ranges in degrees of how sidewalks have to be sloped or not sloped, rather?

[00:39:24]Fred, do you have that specifics?

[00:39:29]So, there's a minimum cross slope of 3%, I believe, with with regard to that. So, but there's also minimums in terms of uh the level of clearance on the sidewalk.

[00:39:43]We have to maintain a 5-ft width of clearance on there. But yes, there there are a lot of standards that we follow in making sure we fit that that cross slope limitation. Perfect. Thank you for that.

[00:39:59]Cuz I've got a number of streets in in District 25. To just name a few, Stokes Lane, Lombardi Avenue, Leyland Lane, that on certain portions are relatively hilly.

[00:40:11]And so, I'm curious about the interplay between being able to install sidewalks on those streets with with ADA compliance and and whether or not being able to whether or not ADA compliance is is something that is keeping us from being able to install sidewalks on streets like that.

[00:40:30]>> We are doing an audit of all ADA sidewalks and issues. And you got to remember, it's well, the the spec that's there now, if you go to our website, it even gives our spec what it refers to, but um in years past, and when I say in years past, you know, they're kind of grandfathered in. That's the reason we're doing an audit now. I think we have until there's a year I'm not sure right off the top of my head, but there's a time frame in which we have to get all sidewalks up to ADA spec, like Okay, perfect. I appreciate that. Thank you. And then, separate apart from Choose How You Move funding and projects under that, how many sidewalk or how many miles per year is INDOT currently able to build of new sidewalks in the county?

[00:41:26]I'm going to turn that over to Hal.

[00:41:28]That's a great question and one we're asked often.

[00:41:32]>> Uh there is a lot to a sidewalk, believe it or not. You would think it would be easy to go out and just form and pour concrete. Uh you know, our city is great. Uh I'm a a a native, a rare native of Nashville. Um uh and city has a lot of catching up to do.

[00:41:52]Um I'm just saying that to say that there are locations that are more challenging. Um also, one of the uh features that we have to build into sidewalk is storm water management. Uh and just like all of our infrastructure and like many cities, we're not that unique in this regard, uh there just hasn't been a lot of investment over the years. Plus, you're hearing the word unprecedented a lot tonight. I think the growth and densities of our city that our city has realized, which is great in some ways, but it also makes it more challenging to retrofit infrastructure to meet those densities while maintaining the infrastructure that's that's in place that needs some level of attention.

[00:42:38]So, in terms of the actual linear footage, it is a metric that we we measure to report, but we try to do that in conjunction with the explanation, not as an excuse, but to give context to what it takes to actually, you know, build these sidewalks. So, as again, you're hearing a repeat on us working with chime to have a unique and universal standard.

[00:43:05]So, you're going to start seeing a lot of sidewalks. We have some quick builds that are coming up through the chime program to again demonstrate to the public and to you all what your investment of that referendum half cent is actually going to. So, we're excited to do that. There is a walk bike plan. You may be familiar with that. It was last updated in 2022, and it prescribes locations where sidewalks are needed and where they're likely to have benefit to the community.

[00:43:36]We have a quite a list of projects as you can imagine of need. One thing we are doing just to give you some context too, we are we have an active project list, a comprehensive project list that are projects that are not yet funded. We map all of these things. We We also, on top of those maps, we we bring in other programs that we have, other transportation programs. We also put hub requests on there.

[00:44:05]We put our unfortunate fatalities and injuries on there as well to again the point of that is to have a comprehensive representation of all the needs so that we with the budget that y'all avail us in the mayor's office avail us, we can apply it to the most critical needs uh outside of chime. Chime is its own thing but the non-chime things we're trying to optimize our budget use. I will say that uh in recent years there've been a philosophy of financial management that would find multi-year projects initially and the department would sit on money uh for many years to fulfill a multi-year project because as again as y'all understand not every project can be done in a few months or even within a year. There it involves planning, design, and then the construction itself. Uh new leadership has directed us to to only identify projects that we can expend the money that we've been allocated in the period of time or the fiscal year we're in. So as to what um interim director Jones is sharing, uh we have a new approach to some of the practices that we've historically done that we think will demonstrate to the public a little more uh uh positive results of their tax money as it relates to transportation. So I I'm sorry to go on and on but there is is there's a lot to just you know, why can't we build more sidewalks? So just wanted to give a little context there.

[00:45:37]I Philip I need to correct the record council member. I I misspoke. It's not 3% it's a 2% cross loop.

[00:45:46]I apologize for that. So I wanted to correct that with you. There is a running slope minimum uh for if the roadway itself is is greater than five uh 5% grade in there the the sidewalk does not need to you know can follow that 5% grade but there's a lot of a lot of specifics that I would love to share with you as far as how we build sidewalks to make sure they are transversal by the public.

[00:46:14]Perfect. Thank you both for for those answers and I and I will note I I completely understand that it is a a very nuanced thing cuz on on top of that you also have to consider whether or not there are existing right-of-ways, whether or not we have to purchase those easements or try and go through an eminent domain process which can be very lengthy. So I I I appreciate the the those answers and that information. I do want to shift very quickly to something that was mentioned earlier with regard to maintenance of our medians and and uh Director you noted that our medians are generally maintained or or mowed every two weeks. I get my question is have there been any discussions or slash what would be the feasibility of instead of utilizing turf grasses within our medians utilizing native prairie grasses or wildflowers that would be good for pollinators and require a little less maintenance which could cut down on fuel cost and maintenance cost for for our yard equipment.

[00:47:09]I'm curious to to hear your thoughts on on that idea. You know over my years we have tried a couple of different variations of that. The medians are kind of new to our department. The medians are something that we've just taken over and started to mow the last couple years so we need to do more research to see if there's some some opportunities there to do that. I agree with you 100% that we just have to be careful with sight distance and things like that that come into play with those. And you'd be surprised when when you say that while you and a lot of other people may know or realize what's actually planted there but it leads to so many complaints that we deal with where things like that are.

[00:47:54]Yeah. We'll we'll we'll definitely do more research on that. I appreciate it.

[00:47:57]Those are my questions. Thank you all.

[00:47:59]Yes, sir.

[00:48:02]Council member Nash.

[00:48:05]Thank you, Madam Chairman.

[00:48:07]I have a sidewalk on Emily Drive that was recently built. And the concrete part looks great.

[00:48:14]But between Old Hickory Boulevard and the top of Emily Drive where that sidewalk was built, we've got about three spots that are still blacktopped.

[00:48:24]It looks like it's patched.

[00:48:26]Like patched in between? Yes. Okay.

[00:48:30]I don't know if that's for I'll I'll I'll get someone to to check it out this week. It could be something they had a temporary conflict that they had to do a temporary patch until they get the conflict repaired. But I'll I'll look into it.

[00:48:44]>> It's been several months now if not a little bit longer.

[00:48:48]Just was interested what was causing that to be done.

[00:48:51]>> In my to me it's probably it could be a conflict with when they were doing it or there could be a future repair and it's a lot cheaper to do an asphalt patch versus pouring a permanent concrete.

[00:49:01]Thank you. Yes, sir.

[00:49:05]Council member Harrell.

[00:49:09]Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is related to sidewalks.

[00:49:13]So a while back I heard a figure like for a mile of sidewalk it was about a million dollars per se. Is that accurate? If not, can you share what is the cost for the public for sidewalk?

[00:49:22]Cuz that's something that we get asked about a lot.

[00:49:25]Do you have the number on that? Well, yes. I can answer that pretty specifically. So again, as we talked about earlier, it depends on the price per foot depends on the environment and the site that we're installing the sidewalk. So a conventional quick build that doesn't require any storm water management is a few hundred dollars a lineal foot. When we add storm water controls, where we have to put in pipe, curb, gutter, and that kind of thing, it can reach up to 800 to 1,000, sometimes 1,200. And then if as the other council person pointed out, if if we have to acquire right-of-way, that cost also is factored into the linear feet footage price for sidewalk at that particular location. Um but we do have uh some uh generated historic costs. If that's something you'd like to have access to, we can certainly follow up with you with that information.

[00:50:21]Absolutely. Okay, we can do that.

[00:50:27]All right, I Oh.

[00:50:29]Council member Allen. Quick one. Just to follow up on the discussion about the ADA sidewalks and the deadline to get all of them in in compliance.

[00:50:37]>> Yeah, I'll have to look at what the deadline is. I know we do have a deadline. So, my question is similar to Council member Prevette. I've got some somewhat steep slopes in my neighborhood and I guarantee the fact that there's a sidewalk there now, it's not ADA compliant in terms of up and down slope.

[00:50:55]>> Would y'all leave Would those be grandfathered in or would you have to do something to them or >> I think that's kind of part of the plan.

[00:51:01]We have to put up a plan. They would They wouldn't take them away, but they might not be considered at some point part of um Okay.

[00:51:09]>> the network. Okay. Yeah. We'll just keep them unofficial. All right, I'm glad they're staying. Thank you.

[00:51:15]I don't see us removing any sidewalks though, Council.

[00:51:20]All right.

[00:51:22]Okay, I do have a question from a council member that couldn't attend. There's a capacity issue when it comes to N dot being able to apply for various grants. Can you share how you plan to address this issue in the next budget cycle?

[00:51:39]I think we and and I will kind of hand this off to uh Christian, but I think it we we take a long look at all grant opportunities and and what opportunities we have but I'll let Kristen speak to it.

[00:51:55]We typically meet with um engineering staff uh administrative staff or about grant opportunities that are presented to us. Our grants uh coordinator Tisha Chambers follows um closely with uh federal and state grants to see what opportunities we can go after um and then she holds regular meetings with those stakeholders so that we can make a decision as a team what ones we can go after uh realistically. So we will continue to keep watch for any grants that we could possibly go after.

[00:52:27]Councilwoman Suare Thank you chair and thank you all for being here. Um so this is from another councilwoman that is not here and uh the question is that uh if you can explain why there's a delay between uh budgeted uh plans of plans that already approved. Uh um I guess you're saying there's usually when you have plans budgeted and plans that are approved, why is there delay?

[00:52:54]If I'm reading the question right. Plans budgeted Mhm. or plans reviewed?

[00:53:00]>> [clears throat] >> Appr- No, approved. No, plans approved.

[00:53:04]I mean unless it's a staffing capacity or a contract issue, you know, unless you had a unless you had a specific I don't know or we would be speaking to that.

[00:53:16]>> has a we've approved funding for a project and then there's a delay in the start of that project. Yeah. It would be capacity. It wouldn't it shouldn't be any or staffing issue. It could be a procurement issue.

[00:53:31]So we could be So we we've recently established um some indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contracts.

[00:53:39]Oh, sorry.

[00:53:41]Hello. Okay.

[00:53:43]So, we've recently established a great group of indefinite delivery indefinite contracts that is available to all Metro departments that will expedite between project being identified and then it being able to go into the next phase, whatever that is.

[00:54:03]If it's a planning phase or a design phase or even a construction phase. And so, one of the historic delays and it's at no criticism because of the volume that they had to deal with, though it would take a lot at times it would take months for us to get secure a contract to advance projects once they had been identified within the department and the funding had been identified within the department. And as we said earlier, one of the results of that has been an observation, a realistic observation by council and the mayor's office and the public that NDOT had money in their reserves that were there for multiple years because we just couldn't spend it quickly enough due to a variety of reasons, not because we didn't want to but because there were situations in play that that protracted the time frame from budgeting and to the project delivery. So, now we're in a better position to hopefully deliver projects more timely. So, maybe the question that your colleague is asking will they'll see a a positive change and improvement in that regard in terms of turnaround time.

[00:55:14]Thank you and I'm sorry I butchered my question but as a follow-up to I think one of the things that was said in the beginning is that part of the delay could also be capacity issue. So, in the case of capacity, how do you prioritize or how do you determine what project goes first?

[00:55:30]Do you want to fill that?

[00:55:32]Yeah, you can go ahead. I mean Well, in terms of priority, in in of which projects advance above others? Well, just like we mentioned earlier, we have a comprehensive list of projects that have been identified over several years. Uh we also have data from uh all the resources that we have that talk about accidents, how many have occurred where, high incident network is part of it.

[00:55:58]Uh the vision zero objectives where there been fatalities or injuries uh of pedestrians. So, there's a lot of things that go into the prioritization of projects that are identified.

[00:56:11]And you heard Ms. Sussman mention on chime that they predetermine the corridors that we're going to focus on.

[00:56:17]So, they've done a lot of that work and the steering committee does that for the chime projects and we'll be able to deliver those more uh streamlined, I'll say, uh compared to the non chime projects. But, again, even with those projects, we do look at a lot of criteria as we identify projects that we we need to advance, uh safety being the the major part of it, and then availing multimodal opportunities where we can in conjunction with those projects.

[00:56:46]Yes, ma'am. And counselor, that also aligns with what we talked about earlier with Sabrina and the choose how you move team, how getting delivery of the projects and and that layout, she's also helping in kind of put our policies and strategy strategy together.

[00:57:05]Yes, ma'am.

[00:57:08]I have a couple of of questions. It's Both of them are related. So, in terms of the services for which you charge a fee, um I know currently you're not collecting enough fees to cover the cost. Do you know what percentage of your costs you're currently collecting?

[00:57:28]Does that make sense?

[00:57:32]I do not have a specific percentage um with me today. Um we had the comprehensive cost study done um 2 years ago that accounted for all of the costs involved um but I I I do not have a specific percentage that we're collecting today. But I can I can definitely look at that study and see if I can um determine what that percentage is. That would be great. And also um I know you all are still finalizing the new fee structure.

[00:58:01]Um how close will you get to covering those costs with the new fee structure?

[00:58:06]Or what's the intent?

[00:58:08]Yeah, I think on those particular the ones that I have discussed with many council members and bring before I I we're really close. Those those those prices that we set on those or those costs on those, it was based upon that. That's the reason when we bring it back within a year, we bring it back before you will have that information to be able to give a real life cost. Okay.

[00:58:33]Any additional questions for our INDOT team? I'm sorry, council member >> I'm sorry. Can I can I add something about the fees?

[00:58:40]The ones that are being presented, the full recovery will be over a 3-year period. So in like in the year one, it won't be the full cost, but it would be over a 3-year period. Okay, thank you for that.

[00:58:54]Any additional questions for our INDOT team?

[00:58:58]Seeing none, that will uh conclude our INDOT budget hearing and we will have MNPD up next.

[00:59:06]Thank you all.