Jackson City Council approves recycling, study proposals
JACKSON, Tenn. —Â City leaders discussed plans to assess recycling and housing needs in Jackson during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The council approved a proposal for the $200,000 purchase of five new vehicles for the Jackson Police Department.
The money will come from the JPD and metro drug fund.
This is in addition to the $2 million worth of vehicles the city purchased this fiscal year.
“Those are either seized assets, that either of those funds seized. They are able to take any revenue that is produced within those funds to purchase equipment for those operations,” said District 6 City Councilman Paul Taylor.
Even though there is no recycling program citywide in Jackson, the council did approve a newly created recycling coordinator position at a cost of over $65,000 per year.
Taylor says they have had issues in the past about what was being recycled in the city.
He says the goal for the position is to figure out the best way to align recycling with resident needs.
“Their first year I think is the real test of what can that person bring to the table, what can they produce,” Taylor said. “Really test the water and see what we can do for the residents.”
Also on the agenda was the approval of a study of the city’s pay scale compared to other cities in the region.
Taylor says they have already started working on first responders jobs.
“Gives us an opportunity to really identify where we may have issues. Where we are undeserving, potentially, if we have a department that is not correctly staffed to correctly serve the constituents,” Taylor said.
Along with salary adjustments, the council approved a study to see what housing issues need to be addressed for those that reside in Jackson, and for those that could be moving here in the future.
“This would be a comprehensive list from the most affordable house that you have, all the way up to higher end housing. What are the needs? If we have engineers that need to move here with Ford, we need to be able to provide housing for them,” Taylor said.
The council also honored the recent passing of Councilman Harvey Buchanan.
Mayor Scott Conger says they will be accepting applications this week to fill his chair.
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