John Coffelt, Editor

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted during the Dec. 2 meeting to send a recommendation to the Finance Committee to raise the city’s donation to the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce to cover funds that were redirected from the organization to the Tourism Commission.

That matter is not included on the Jan. 20 Finance Committee agenda.

The Finance Committee meeting scheduled for Dec. 16 was canceled.

Finance Chairman Thomas Crosslin said that no one from the chamber has requested to be added to the agenda.

Alderman Ryan French made the motion during the Dec. 2 BOMA meeting to send the request along with a recommendation that the committee also reconsider its recommendation to redistribute the remainder of the city’s tourism fund allotment ($13,000 for the remainder of the year) away from the Chamber to go into a proposed Tourism Department coffer.

The motion to send the matter to Finance passed 5-1 with Messick offering the no vote. Messick told the Times after the meeting that his “no” was not against the Chamber — rather that he felt it would be more appropriate for the Chamber to bring the request to Finance.

“If they need it, I’ll be glad to listen to them at Finance,” he said.

French recommended the city increase its contribution to the Chamber from the currently budgeted $10,000 to $25,000. This would be separate from the city’s $27,000 tourism fund contribution that comes from hotel/motel tax money.

The Finance Committee during the Nov. 18 meeting voted 2-1 with Vice Mayor Mark Messick voting not to recommend the cut in tourism funding to the Chamber.

French said the city’s support of the Chamber should be increased to better support the small businesses of Manchester and the impact they make on the local economy.

“The Chamber of Commerce continues to facilitate the effective service of the businesses. I work with chambers across 13 counties. I know which ones are great and which ones are terrible. We have a great one,” French said.

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.