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At the Jan. 9 study session of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Alderman Daniel Berry initiated a discussion about the state of city roads in Tullahoma and how they might be improved.

“Our roads, for the most part, aren’t in terrible condition. Some of our roads are in terrible condition,” he emphasized. “A lot of the complaints we get feedback from are these utility cuts. I would like to see if we can get public works to review our ordinance on these utility cuts, the permitting process, the guaranteed work, just kind of that entire [package]. Most of the complaints that we get aren’t from the road itself being degraded; it’s because of the bumps where we’ve just cut out [for utilities].”

He recommended that the board communicate with the public works department to determine whether regulations are being maintained and if a new process might better serve the public and the city infrastructure.

“Alderman Berry, if I understood what you’re speaking to, you’re talking about utility cuts,” said City Administrator Jennifer Moody. “A lot of the time, it’s not the initial cut; it’s the settling after the fact. Some areas that we have paved and patched and redone just continue to settle out.”

Moody remarked that city employees drive every city road and evaluate their condition on alternating years based on a ranking system of degradation.

“I hear [about the] roads quite often,” said Alderman Jerry Mathis, “but I’ll tell you what I think we should do: we should have someone from the public works take a notebook, drive around this city and just look and write down where these problems are. After they come back, then they can prioritize these and repair them. Don’t just look at them and say, ‘Welp, there’s a hole there! We fell in it, but we can’t do anything with it.’”

Alderman Jenna Amacher recommended that a list be available for the board prior to a meeting, rather than waiting until after the board has gathered for the discussion.

“Since it’s a liability for the vehicles we have to maintain, previously, I had asked the fire department to start keeping that list, and I also think it would be appropriate for our law enforcement officers to do so whenever they’re out on a call,” she said. “If you think about the wear and tear on the vehicles that we are having to maintain with the city taxpayers’ dollars, especially if these are high-traveled roads, I think that should also be taken into consideration. They know probably better than we do a lot of the problem areas.”

Moody affirmed that repairs and settling contribute to bumps and other abnormalities in the road, referring to Berry’s statement.

“I think it does become a question [of] how much of it should be the city’s expense and how do we better enforce going back at the utilities and having them repair the streets that they’ve cut,” she said. “Everywhere that I’ve worked, this has been an issue, and it’s a bit of a struggle.”

She recommended that the board consider instituting a road cutting permit requirement, which Amacher disapproved of due to the current shortage of bidders for public works projects.

“If it was any private contractor, we would want that done. We would want some oversight of how it’s being repaired,” said Moody. “Obviously, in some cases, it can’t be being done correctly, because we see the aftermath. It’s definitely costing you in terms of the perception of this city with our residents, because many people still do not realize that Tullahoma Utilities is not a department that you all are not responsible for what they do.”

The board determined to set aside the discussion for the February study session agenda, at which point they would review roads determined as requiring repairs.