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After the Board of Mayor and Alderman special meeting in December which approved changes to the City Charter, board members from Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA) spoke during the citizen comments of the January BoMA meeting.

TUA President Brian Skelton spoke first.

“I’m here representing TUA and asking for the BoMA to give consideration for a small change in the City Charter that is proposed for the state legislature to consider,” he said. “The BoMA has made numerous changes to the charter, but I’m only speaking regarding two small changes to the charter’s language.”

He said he’d sent an email to the board the week before with his request.

“I also was able to discuss this with the majority of our BoMA members,” he said.

He discussed the changes he was concerned about–namely “previously, TUA was referenced in the charter on board member removal, which required removal for formal-named causes, and also allowed for a hearing with a 10 day notice. That language has all been stricken in the proposal from BoMA. TUA is asking that BoMA consider removing the reference to Tullahoma Utility Authority in section 14, and also remove the language referencing TUA in section 8, referring to article 2, section 14 of the City Charter of Tullahoma. BoMA members would still have the right to remove board members for cause,” he said.

“TUA is a unique entity, as we are taxpayers, not tax receivers from the city. We try to operate our state-approved authority as a business, as our board oversees more than a $50 million budget annually,” he said.

“Our board members sometimes have to make decisions that are not popular with our customers, many of whom are your constituents. Rate increases to operate the utility properly, fees on developers to keep our local growth from being funded on the backs of our existing rate payers,” he said. “TUA board members need to have the assurance that they can make sound business decisions without worrying about the BoMA removing them without cause.”

He expressed concern that BoMA might use the language for politically motivated removals. He asked that the board consider adding an item to their agenda regarding the charter language.

TUA Board Chairman J.T. Northcutt also spoke, reiterating Skelton’s concerns, discussing the amount of training the board has to have over time and requesting they add an item to the agenda.

The concerns brought forward by TUA senior members were addressed by BoMA in a discussion-based item on the agenda.

Mayor Pro Tem Jenna Amacher addressed the concerns first. She said the amendment doesn’t just affect the TUA board, but all the boards they have power to appoint.

“It is my personal opinion that if you have the power to appoint you must also have the power to remove,” she said. “In the past, it has been limited to removing for cause. What is cause? I don’t know if anybody’s ever been removed for cause, so I don’t know what that would be.”

She then addressed the TUA officials.

“I don’t foresee that the reason that we changed this has anything to do with the TUA board, but as a way to cut through some red tape should there be any need for changes,” said Amacher. “My question to this board is, what if a board as a whole, engages in an unsuitable or illegal activity…As a quasi-governmental agency that is taxpayer funded, the reason that we still appoint those members is because we are the taxpayers’ voice, we are the quality control. That is necessary to ensure the liberty for the people.”

She posed an example of what might concern BoMA regarding TUA, stating impact fees as a concern.

“We have a quasi-governmental authority which has imposed an impact fee on developers,” she said. “However, impact fees can only be instituted by municipal government. So, at times TUA acts as a quasi-governmental authority, in this respect. Although, I have not seen anything come across my desk advising we can create impact fees. At other times, they want to be completely autonomous and treated as a business. This is why they cannot be treated as autonomous. Because we must be the gatekeeper,” she said.

She added that she still considers TUA “the Chick-Fil-A of utilities,” but “it is our job to make sure that what you are doing on that board is on the up and up. That is a reason why we must be a check on this board and every other board in this town.”

There was no further discussion.