As predicted in the background the last few weeks, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Tuesday set out boundaries for what may become a key battlefield for the Hendersonville Mayor’s race come November. Ordinance 2012-5 failed on first reading in a critical 6-6 vote that would have accepted $4,619,024 in TDOT pass-through federal funding that required a 20 percent local match of $1,154,776 to realign the double-lit dogleg of Walton Ferry Road and Old Shackle Island Road at Gallatin Road.

“Fred [Rogers] has stuck his neck out and I have stuck our neck out too,” said Mayor Scott Foster of how infrastructure projects are selected for funding. “We have assured them that we will have our share,” he indicated. He noted that both he and Rogers had moved up the ladder for the city in the Metropolitan Planning Organization. Planning Director Rogers has served as chairman of MPO’s Technical Coordinating Committee that makes recommendations to the Executive Committee.

Using terminology of the bitterly divided sides, the two sides tagged each other. Tagged as voting for approval of more spending the city could not afford were Aldermen Jim Hoback, Jack Long, Fred Qualls, Scott Sprouse, and Lisa West along with Mayor Scott Foster.  Tagged as voting against infrastructure were Alderman Steve Brown, Arlene Cunningham, Tommy Elsten, Garry Forsythe, Hamilton Frost, and Matt Stamper. Alderman Chris Gallaher was not present.

Recriminations followed the meeting as the current mayor and his supporters quickly jockeyed to blame his two announced mayoral rivals, Aldermen Brown and Elsten, for using the critical infrastructure vote for political purposes and risking the loss of future funding for other projects. Foster asked for the roll call vote after the meeting and said he wanted everyone to know what they had done. For their part, Brown and Elsten and supporters stated they had just grown tired of being pushed around by Foster and that Foster had voted against other infrastructure projects they had wanted. No one mentioned meeting on the playground although childish behavior was referred to more than once by both sides during the meeting and afterwards.

Alderman Cunningham raised the same concerns she had brought up in spread-sheet format the night before at a Special Called Meeting of the Finance Committee. She was alarmed at ever escalating costs, especially for right of way acquisition that went up 109 percent from when a contract was first signed in December 2004 to today. Alderman Gallaher was not present at that meeting either. The committee had not recommended the measure in a 1-1 vote with Sprouse for and Forsythe against, foreshadowing the full BOMA action.

The validity of the contract itself was and is questioned because it bears the signature of former Mayor Jim Fuqua but is dated by TDOT Dec. 6, 2004 - after Foster replaced Fuqua. City Attorney John Bradley said it was signed earlier when Fuqua was mayor and signed later by the TDOT Commissioner. Bradley asserted it is a valid contract that has never been repudiated over the last eight years. It bears Bradley’s signature that it is “approved as to form and legality.”

Brown said he had talked to 33 people who think it is a good project but do not want it now if it requires more debt or taking money out of the General Fund. At one point, Brown took Mayor Foster to task for breaking in when others had the floor. “I did not interrupt you,” he admonished the mayor three times. He objected to aldermen being treated as “little children because we ask questions.” Quoting back the mayor’s words, Brown suggested part of the spending problem boxing the city in now was “maybe because some of us here moved up the ladder and have a little clout now.”

West made her comments on the matter and chastised: “I’m disappointed by comments about people who have gone up the ladder. I am proud of staff, the mayor, whoever moves up the ladder.”

 “How much are we going to pay if we opted not to do this project right now? Through tonight, we haven’t gotten an answer to that,” stated Elsten. That number, according to staff, is at least $419,000 plus some other costs if the deal is derailed with a ballpark figure of $500,000.

Finance Chairman Forsythe stated again that the city’s overreliance on long-term debt was a serious problem and was trapping the city into how it could use funds in the future.

Alderman Hamilton Frost stated, “Our first priority is to keep our financial house in order. Maybe deferral is appropriate. This really pushes us to the edge. The time is not right just now. Maybe it was then.”

“I understand what everybody is saying tonight. If we don’t pass it tonight, we may as well go to the house. Not to TDOT,” said Long. “I’m cheap and I’m not willing to throw $500,000 out the window.”

“I’m cheap too,” said Forsythe. “And I don’t want to throw away $400- to $500,000. These matches are adding up. We need to slow down. We need to put it off 30 days.”

A deferral motion failed 5-7 before the 6-6 vote. Some members were already trying to figure out a way to get the matter back on the next agenda Feb. 28 before a Feb. 29 meeting Mayor Foster has scheduled with TDOT.

During reports at the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Foster noted that the Kid’s Kingdom project funded by Taylor Swift’s $100,000 and other contributions continued to receive favorable reviews for the city and that there are two links to articles on the city’s web site. He also noted that Hendersonville beat out Gallatin for a Pro Anglers Association event. Also, the improvements are ready for Sam’s in Indian Lake to open March 21. He added: “It’s been rather quiet which is nice for a change.”