OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Metropolitan Council Meeting Summary - October 21, 2025

Metropolitan Council — Tuesday, October 21, 2025
BodyNashville, Tennessee
SessionMetropolitan Council
DateTuesday, October 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:49:05

Transcript — Verbatim
2:24

Good evening, everyone.

2:25

Today is October the twenty first.

2:27

Before I open up our announcements and presentation period, I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the unceded land of the Cherokee Shawnee and UC people, and to remind you all that no one is illegal on stolen land.

2:42

We do have a presentation from Councilmember Capp, but he is still in a committee meeting.

2:46

So I will go ahead and open up our announcement period.

2:50

If there are any council members who would like to be acknowledged.

3:10

The first is tomorrow, 1022 from six p.m.

3:14

to seven forty-five p.m.

3:15

at Hillsboro High School in the cafeteria.

3:19

The second is ten twenty-seven.

3:23

From also from six to seven forty-five at James Lawson High School in the auditorium.

3:41

Thank you, Madam Proteam.

3:42

I'd like to announce that the district three quarterly meeting will be held on Tuesday, October twenty-eighth at the Madison Precinct.

3:57

So just a reminder to everyone in District Three and anyone who would like to attend the district three quarterly meeting will be held on October twenty-eighth, six p.m.

4:07

at the Madison Police Precinct.

4:09

Thanks.

5:00

Um we will have this opportunity for constituents to speak with their council members, but also speak with um metro departments as well.

5:06

Um we ask that everyone attend who can.

5:08

Thank you.

5:10

Thank you, Councilmember Hurrell.

5:12

Are there any additional council members that would like to be recognized?

5:18

Uh Councilmember East Leak, you're recognized.

5:21

Thank you very much.

5:22

We have a very unique event going on in District 11 this Saturday.

5:27

It's at the Thomas Overton Cemetery.

5:29

It will have the Tennessee Historical Commission as well as the Metro Historical Commission coming out to do a cemetery restoration event.

5:39

They'll have some professionals on staff that'll uh be looking at how to restore and showing people how to restore some of these really old headstones.

5:46

And if you don't know about the Thomas Overton Cemetery or Thomas Overton, he was very important when it comes to our president from this area, Andrew Jackson, and a duel that he was in.

5:57

But that event's gonna happen at the Thomas Overton Cemetery this Saturday from 9 a.m.

6:02

to 3 p.m.

6:04

And then on the 30th of October, we have a multi- uh district community meeting talking about planning and the changes in the bills proposed.

6:14

That will be at 400 4004 Lebanon Road on October 30th from 6 until 7, and the members of the planning staff will be there for questions and answers.

6:24

Thank you.

6:27

Thank you, Councilmember Eastlick.

6:29

Are there any other council members that would like to be recognized?

6:34

Uh Councilmember Huffman, would you like to be recognized?

6:37

Let me turn your mic on.

6:39

Yes, ma'am, thank you.

6:41

I was joining the queue.

6:42

Uh so just wanted to uh publicly uh announce that uh the uh I I guess you would call us the Far East delegation.

6:51

I don't even know what you would call us.

6:53

Essentially, districts 11 through 15 will be hosting a meeting with the planning department at Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church.

7:02

That meeting will take place on October the 30th at 6 p.m.

7:07

Uh meeting topic will be the proposed zoning changes.

7:11

Thank you.

7:14

Thank you, Councilmember Huffman.

7:16

And we will uh take a pause from our announcements and move on to our presentation.

7:21

Uh Council members, if there's anyone else who has an announcement, I will circle back to you all.

7:26

Um but we do have RS 2025-1555, a resolution recognizing October 2nd, 2025 as wrongful conviction day in Nashville and Davidson County, presented by Councilmember Capp.

7:38

Councilmember Cap, you are recognized.

7:43

In one moment, once I forgot the button, there we go.

7:46

Let's try that one.

7:47

Thank you so much, Pro Tim.

7:49

And it's really an honor to be joined by uh two of the exonerees that are mentioned in this resolution.

7:55

Um they're here with us today, uh Mr.

7:57

Whitehead and Miss Watkins.

7:59

Uh so thank you to them for joining us for the reading of this resolution.

8:05

Whereas the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County is committed to promoting justice, fairness, and the protection of the innocent, and whereas wrongful convictions cause irreparable harm to people, families, and communities, and undermine public confidence in the justice system.

8:20

And whereas the following people were wrongfully convicted in Tennessee and then exonerated.

8:25

Wayne Burgess exonerated after serving 24.5 years in prison.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Zoning and Land Use████████████12%
Public Health██████████10%
Community Engagement██████6%
Public Engagement█████5%
Emergency Management████4%
Public Transportation████4%
Pending Litigation███3%
Governance Structure███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County - October 21, 2025

The 48th regular meeting of the Metropolitan Council convened on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, to address a variety of legislative items, grant applications, and community initiatives. The meeting began with council member announcements and the recognition of exonerees via a resolution, followed by the approval of numerous ordinances and resolutions ranging from zoning changes to procurement code updates. Significant deliberations occurred regarding deferrals of security grants and new animal control legislation.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved all remaining resolutions and ordinances (including Resolutions 2025-1557 through 2025-1581 and Ordinances BL 2025-1065 through BL 2025-1086 and 882 through 1060) after specific items (78, 79, and 37) were manually removed from the agenda by council members Benedict and Swara.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public signed up or provided testimony during the public comment period.

Discussion Items

  • Wrongful Conviction Day Resolution (RS 2025-1555): Councilmember Capp presented a resolution recognizing October 2, 2025, as Wrongful Conviction Day. Exonerees Mr. Whitehead and Miss Watkins attended the reading to honor their experiences. The resolution acknowledges the systemic factors contributing to wrongful convictions of individuals including Wayne Burgess, Charlie Dunn, Claude Garrett, Scott Minton, and others.
  • Grant Applications (RS 2025-1533 & 1534): Council members moved to defer two homeland security and urban area security initiative grant applications from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for two meetings. Councilmember Huffman clarified that the deferral was necessary due to the federal government shutdown.
  • Redevelopment Plans (RS 2025-1562 & 1563): Two resolutions regarding tax increment financing for the Casey Place and Jefferson Street redevelopment plans were discussed. Committee reports recommended a one-meeting deferral for both items, resulting in their mandatory deferral to the November agenda.
  • Nashville Soccer Club Resolution (RS 2025-1590): Councilmember Swara moved to approve a resolution recognizing the club for winning the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. She successfully invoked Rule 12.3 to amend the motion, granting co-sponsorship status to all council members voting in the affirmative.
  • Amendment to Rule 12 (AG 12): Council deferred a proposed amendment to the rules of procedure to the November meeting for further review and mandatory deliberation.
  • Animal Care and Control Commission (BL 2025-1061): Councilmember Wiener sponsored an ordinance to establish the Metropolitan Animal Care and Control Commission. Despite Public Health and Safety recommending approval, the Rules Committee voted to defer. Councilmember Wiener described the delay as the result of procedural missteps by the Department of Health and advocated for the deferral to allow the Board of Health proper review time.
  • West Riverfront Amphitheater Agreement (BL 2025-1050): Council passed an agreement with Nashville Riverfront Amphitheater LLC. Councilmember Swara expressed support while noting the operator's voluntary commitment to diverse hiring and vendor representation. Councilmember Parker highlighted the inclusion of greenway connection extensions in the agreement.
  • Procurement Code Update (BL 2025-1069): Council approved an amendment to the procurement code regarding recycled paper reporting requirements. Councilmembers Allen and Swara updated the definition of recycled paper to 30% and removed the mandatory reporting requirement.
  • Zoning Amendments (BL 2025-1036, 1037, 1045, 1047):
    • Item 1036/1037 (Cortez): Passed with 37 votes in favor after Amendment One was adopted to remove a sidewalk connection requirement. Councilmember Nash sought clarification regarding community requests, and the Planning Department confirmed the amendment resulted in a disapproved bill status requiring a roll call due to the lack of a majority for a disapproved recommendation.
    • Item 1045 (Coopin): Passed with one abstention (Councilmember Ewing) regarding a zoning change in River North.
    • Item 1047 (Coopin): Passed with one abstention (Ms. Kimbrough) regarding motor vehicle noise standards.
  • Indefinite Deferrals: Ordinances BL 2025-882 and 883 (Benedict) were indefinitely deferred at the request of the sponsor. Ordinance BL 2025-882 was initially removed from consent and later suspended for a late-filed substitute before approval on first reading. Ordinance BL 2025-1104 (Capp) passed first reading after a suspension of rules allowed for a substitute to add a proposal number.

Key Outcomes

  • Adopted: Resolution 2025-1555 (Wrongful Conviction Day), Resolution 2025-1590 (Soccer Club), Resolution 2025-1557 through 2025-1581 (Consent), and Ordinances BL 2025-1036, 1037, 1045, 1047, 909, 995, 1069, 1086 (and others on consent).
  • Deferrals:
    • Two-month deferral on Homeland Security (1533) and Urban Area Security (1534) grants.
    • One-month deferral on Casey Place (1562) and Jefferson Street (1563) redevelopment resolutions.
    • Two-month deferral on the Animal Care and Control Commission ordinance (1061).
    • One-month deferral on the Multimodal Infrastructure fee ordinance (1063).
    • Mandatory deferral on the Rule 12 amendment.
  • Indefinitely Deferred: Ordinances BL 2025-882 and 883 (Benedict).
  • Confirmation: Confirmed the appointment of Shannon Raybon to the Procurement Standards Board (5-0-0).
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Today is October the twenty first. Before I open up our announcements and presentation period, I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the unceded land of the Cherokee Shawnee and UC people, and to remind you all that no one is illegal on stolen land. We do have a presentation from Councilmember Capp, but he is still in a committee meeting. So I will go ahead and open up our announcement period. If there are any council members who would like to be acknowledged. The first is tomorrow, 1022 from six p.m. to seven forty-five p.m. at Hillsboro High School in the cafeteria. The second is ten twenty-seven. From also from six to seven forty-five at James Lawson High School in the auditorium. Thank you, Madam Proteam. I'd like to announce that the district three quarterly meeting will be held on Tuesday, October twenty-eighth at the Madison Precinct. So just a reminder to everyone in District Three and anyone who would like to attend the district three quarterly meeting will be held on October twenty-eighth, six p.m. at the Madison Police Precinct. Thanks. Um we will have this opportunity for constituents to speak with their council members, but also speak with um metro departments as well. Um we ask that everyone attend who can. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Hurrell. Are there any additional council members that would like to be recognized? Uh Councilmember East Leak, you're recognized. Thank you very much. We have a very unique event going on in District 11 this Saturday. It's at the Thomas Overton Cemetery. It will have the Tennessee Historical Commission as well as the Metro Historical Commission coming out to do a cemetery restoration event. They'll have some professionals on staff that'll uh be looking at how to restore and showing people how to restore some of these really old headstones. And if you don't know about the Thomas Overton Cemetery or Thomas Overton, he was very important when it comes to our president from this area, Andrew Jackson, and a duel that he was in. But that event's gonna happen at the Thomas Overton Cemetery this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. And then on the 30th of October, we have a multi- uh district community meeting talking about planning and the changes in the bills proposed. That will be at 400 4004 Lebanon Road on October 30th from 6 until 7, and the members of the planning staff will be there for questions and answers. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Eastlick. Are there any other council members that would like to be recognized? Uh Councilmember Huffman, would you like to be recognized? Let me turn your mic on. Yes, ma'am, thank you. I was joining the queue. Uh so just wanted to uh publicly uh announce that uh the uh I I guess you would call us the Far East delegation. I don't even know what you would call us. Essentially, districts 11 through 15 will be hosting a meeting with the planning department at Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church. That meeting will take place on October the 30th at 6 p.m. Uh meeting topic will be the proposed zoning changes. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Huffman. And we will uh take a pause from our announcements and move on to our presentation. Uh Council members, if there's anyone else who has an announcement, I will circle back to you all. Um but we do have RS 2025-1555, a resolution recognizing October 2nd, 2025 as wrongful conviction day in Nashville and Davidson County, presented by Councilmember Capp. Councilmember Cap, you are recognized.

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