New gas station and convenience store planned for South Young

 Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen worked quickly through a full agenda of items in their first of two scheduled meetings for the month.

The Feb. 1 meeting began with Mayor Jerry Lowery swearing in Devin Moore as the newest member of Sparta Police Department. After Moore was officially sworn in, the city’s aldermen had several items to vote on.

The first item up for vote was the first reading of a rezoning request. The property in question, 305 S. Young St., is currently zoned as residential and a request to rezone it as commercial had been approved by the Sparta Planning Commission, on Jan. 2.

“The plan is to put in a gas station and convenience store for that community,” Mayor Lowery told the board as they approved the first reading.

The property, which had previously been a service station, will have to pass a second reading before it is officially rezoned and work can begin on converting it for its newly intended use.

Next on the agenda was the approval of an ordinance that would establish an updated occupational health and safety plan, devise rules and regulations, and provide a safety director to implement the new plans. Mayor Lowery, along with city administrator Tonya Tindle, explained to the board the State of Tennessee requires this to be done every seven years.

The board also approved an ordinance to make amendments to Title 12, Chapter 4 of the Sparta Municipal Code pertaining to Residential Sprinklers.

The city’s codes officer, Mike O’Neal, explained to the board that, currently, the city’s code requires every building that is being lived in to have a sprinkler. O’Neal explained that included single-family homes. The amendment will put Sparta’s code in line with the state and no longer require sprinklers in single-family homes. O’Neal explained that all other dwellings, including duplexes, townhouses, and apartments, will still be required to have a sprinkler system.

“We are not saving structures, we are saving lives,” O’Neal explained, saying that sprinklers will give residents time to exit the building or move to safety while waiting for firefighters to respond as well as helping in insurance costs for property owners.

Another key item on the agenda had to do with adding a section to the city’s Human Resource Manual. The new information will deal with the GPS systems that were recently installed in all city vehicles and will let employees know that the systems exist and should they be tampered with, disciplinary action could be taken. The GPS systems will allow the city to not only know where vehicles are being driven but will also give alerts if maintenance is needed or if something is wrong with a vehicle.

Other items on the agenda included approving the sale of items on GovDeals, approving the solicitation of applications for a truck driver for the Street Department, and approving the application of Dalton Wilson for the position of volunteer firefighter. Additionally, the board approved the purchase of 100 tons of road salt to replace what was used in the recent winter storm and the request for a new streetlight to be installed on Sugar Hill Drive.

The next meeting of Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen will be 5 p.m., Feb. 15, at city hall.