Jackson City Council meets, approves roundabouts for downtown

JACKSON, Tenn. — The nine members of the Jackson City Council met Tuesday in their monthly meeting at City Hall.

“Probably the most major one would be the roundabout, which should be underway at least by October,” Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said.

It’s a new addition you can expect to see as downtown Jackson expands.

“We’re going to develop about 100 more apartments and about 40 homes, so we have to have access. So that roundabout will be the main arterial street,” Gist said.

The roundabout will be built on Deaderick and Highland, and Mayor Gist says it’s part of a proposal given to the city years ago.

There was no mention in Tuesday’s meeting about the lawsuit filed against the city of Jackson by Madison County regarding $12 million in sales tax being redirected from the Jackson-Madison County School System back to the city.

WBBJ asked Mayor Gist if they were preparing a second or back-up budget just in case things do not go their way in court. He says they are preparing their budget just like they always have.

“We’re preparing our budget just as we do every year, based upon the amount of money we have now. We can’t anticipate anything. If we anticipate additional funding, something will fall through, so we are using existing funding sources we have,” Mayor Gist said.

The council voted down building offices on McClellan Road.

“It’s just really hard for the council to vote a change of tradition,” Mayor Gist said. “That is mainly a residential area. There’s no other commercial even remotely close to it.”

The council approved a business project on Oil Well Road.

“More commercial there. More office space and banks,” Mayor Gist said.