Jackson Plaza, new women’s shelter, widening bridge and Sportplex janitorial services discussed by City Council

Jackson City Council had a work session and agenda review meeting on Thursday ahead of their monthly meeting set for Tuesday morning at City Hall.

Among the highlights of topics discussed included an update on the purchase of Jackson Plaza and Service Merchandise building at the corner of North Highland and Old Hickory Boulevard.

According to an agreement between the Rosenblum family and the City of Jackson, no matter what the land is used for if the purchase goes through, the property will be named “Legacy Plaza.”

“Whether there’s an arena or anything else there, it will be called ‘Legacy Plaza,’” said Mayor Scott Conger.

The Council approved the purchase of the land for $4 million on first reading in a special called meeting on Dec. 13. If the Council approves on second reading on Tuesday, the City will still have a 45-day due diligence period to make sure there’s nothing unexpected with the property that would negate the purchase. The Rosenblum family has a similar clause that lasts 15 days if they want to pull out of the deal. Once the City’s 45 days are complete, they then have 15 days to close the deal.

The Jackson Place

Board members of The Jackson Place, a new effort to provide housing for single women who need help getting back on their feet coming out of addiction, sex trafficking or abusive situations, came before the Council to ask for $100,000 to help in its first year’s operating fund.

The Board has a home that’s been fully furnished through donations from Madison County Sheriff’s Department, and they provide services to help women in eight areas of wellness to treat the whole person for two years before getting them back to living on their own.

The City still has some funds remaining in the $1.3 million it set aside from the $13 million is received in ARPA funds that they could use. The Council will vote on that at a later date.

Sportsplex janitorial services

The West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex on Christmasville Road is currently in its hiring process for its seasonal staff to work from February through October as the facility hosts baseball and softball tournaments throughout the travel ball season.

The City put out a bid request for janitorial services for the restrooms, which Building Care Solutions was the recommendation from the Sportsplex staff and Purchasing Director Zach Polk.

“Over the past three or four years, I’m sure as you can imagine, we’ve had a difficult time hiring and keeping workers to help during baseball tournaments where we could average 80 teams playing in a weekend,” said Jason Compton, director of the Sportsplex. “And as we’ve struggled to keep our workforce staffed, one non-negotiable I have is struggling to keep our restrooms clean and stocked.”

Compton said they’re looking to alter the Sportsplex budget to pay for the service in which a staff of two to four people would be on hand throughout a weekend of tournaments, and members of Compton’s staff will let them know their needs.

Interstate bridge expansion

While Tennessee Department of Transportation is in its final phase of widening Interstate 40 through Jackson, City Planner Stan Pilant appeared before the Council to let them know about a budget amendment of a little more than $400,000 needed for the City’s part in another TDOT project on the highway.

TDOT has plans to widen the Christmasville Road bridge over 40 at Exit 85 as well as redo the interchange between 40 and Christmasville.

“They’ll widen the bridge to five lanes, and the road itself will be widened to five lanes from the bridge to the traffic light where you turn into the Pilot truck stop,” Pilant said. “Then it’ll taper off after the traffic light almost to Bedford White Road.”

The entire project will cost $28 million, and the City’s part of the funding is about 7% because of the work on Christmasville outside the corridor of 40. Metropolitan Planning Organization is taking care of the majority of the City’s part with the Council needing to vote on the $400,000.

City Council meeting is Tuesday at 9 a.m. at City Hall in the George A. Smith Meeting Room.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news