JOHN COFFELTEditor

The Manchester Planning Commission approved the Laurel View subdivision final plat on the Murfreesboro Highway following a lengthy discussion during its Sept. 16 meeting.

The discussion centered on whether developer Allan Howard would be required to contribute to an upgrade to the Fredonia Road pump station.

City Engineer Scot St. John was unsure if the construction plans that called for the Manchester Water and Sewer Department to sign off on whether the additional flow could be handled by the station had been satisfied.

“The comment was made back in March to coordinate with Manchester Water and Sewer to determine if participation is to be made on pump improvements are to be made at the pump station,” St. John said. “Maybe that discussion has been had…. There might not be an issue, but (this board) doesn’t know.”

Howard, however, said that he had gotten approvals from Manchester Water and from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for the project.

“It’s been approved by TDEC,” Howard said. “I don’t see at that time that decision has been made, prior to us coming in here tonight.”

Vice Mayor Mark Mesick suggested the city’s portion of the recently enacted impact fee should be used for infrastructure improvements and paid for by the city.

“You’re putting everything on one developer to upgrade for everybody who’s participating,” he said.

Another item addressed was how the long-term maintenance of common areas like the mailbox kiosk and the water retention areas would be handled. A recent push within the city has been to require subdivisions to create a homeowner association to address that maintenance, yet idea has met some resistance from developers.

The committee approved the final plat with language suggested by Nicholas Northcutt that offered an option for the developer to retain the responsibility until an HOA is established or it is transferred by deed.

“In either of those scenarios, none of that is going to be the city’s problem,” Northcutt said. “It’s going to be on the developer to set the HOA to deal with that or he would have to sell that with the deed on the property or he would be committing to maintain those areas forever.”

 Commission Member Brad Goodwin made the motion to approve the final plat with Northcutt’s note and moved to remove the punch list item concerning the pumping station. Member Ward Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.