By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—The Hampton Inn project is still planned for Paris, but with a delay due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its ramifications.
At Thursday night’s meeting of Paris City Commission, City Manager Kim Foster said the project had been put on hold in March, but is now progressing again but with a new completion date of May 31, 2022.
Foster said Developer Victor Patel of Knoxville called in March when the pandemic first hit and said he needed to put the development on hold to see how severely the virus would affect the hotel industry. She said the bank had also put his financing on hold for the same reason. Patel is with VRL Hotels.
“A few weeks ago the bank agreed to the financing and everything started moving again, but because of the delay, Victor asked for an extension to the required completion date,” she said. Original completion date was October 31, 2021.
When Patel asked for the new date of May 31, 2022, he said he didn’t think he would need that long, she said, “but wants to be on the sae side.”
The request was approved Wednesday by the Paris Industrial Development Board and also needed approval from the city commission and county commission.
The Hampton Inn planned for Paris is four stories, with 72 rooms, swimming pool, business center and meeting area. It will be located at 1540 Mineral Wells Ave.
An amended Paris Police Department Rules and Procedures manual was presented to the commission by Police Chief Chuck Elizondo and Assistant Chief Ricky Watson. The amendments regard the use of excessive force and were approved by the commission after discussion.
Elizondo said the manual was amended on order from Governor Bill Lee who wanted all of the state’s police departments on the same page.
In giving his report, Elizondo noted that in all his 42 years on the fore, Paris Police have never used a chokehold on anyone and it is only authorized as a last resort in local regulations. “Our officers are not even trained in how to use chokeholds,” he said.
The amended rules call for more training and specifically training in de-escalating incidents.
City Manager Kim Foster noted the incident over the weekend in which a large group of people gathered around the Confederate statue on the court square because of a rumor on Facebook that had been circulating all day, saying that BLM and Antifa was coming to Paris by the bus loads.
Foster noted there also have been BLM marches downtown “and everything has been peaceful. I do think people in our community have respect for our police and our police department has good relations with the community.”
The manual’s rules “establish the Paris Police Department guidelines and limitations concerning the appropriate and acceptable use of deadly and non-deadly force. The main responsibility of Department officers is to protect the life and property of citizens. In compliance with applicable law, officers shall use only the amount of force necessary and reasonable to accomplish lawful objectives and to control a situation, effect an arrest, overcome resistance to arrest, or defend themselves or others from harm. When force is necessary, the degree of force employed should be in direct relationship to the amount of resistance exerted, or the immediate threat to the officers or others.”
Officers who use excessive or unauthorized force shall be subject to discipline, up to and including termination, possible criminal prosecution, and/or civil liability, according to the updated policies. The use of force is only authorized when it is objectively reasonable and for a lawful purpose. Accordingly, the Department will thoroughly review and/or investigate all uses of force by officers to assure compliance with all legal requirements and this policy.
In other business:
–The commission passed a resolution refunding bonds for the Splash Pad project, which will save the city some $65,000. The bonds are being refunded at a more favorable interest rate.
–Foster invited everyone to the official opening of the new Splash Pad at Eiffel Tower Park at 10 a.m. Wednesday, September 16.
–Everyone was introduced to the new Building and Codes Inspector Lowell Schrader, who has a military background with a degree in environmental science.
–In her monthly report, City Finance Director Traci Shannon said the city’s retail sales tax revenue reflected another large increase for the month of June. “It was up 10.73% compared to last June and we ended our fiscal year ahead by 2.79% compared to FY19,” she said.
Shannon said the city started this fiscal year off with revenues running behind expenditures. July was a three pay-period month and there were other expenses including $227,000 for workers comp insurance, $34,000 for two zero-turn mowers for Public Works, and $410,000 for the Splash Pad.
Eight business licenses were issued in July:
7 New Businesses: Kstylz Kreationz, Canine Coffee Company, Dunkin Donuts, Higher Hope Boutique, Fresch Start Consulting, Frame Makers FF, Quick Cuts & Color
Photo: From left, Assistant Chief Ricky Watson and Chief Chuck Elizondo address the commission. (Shannon McFarlin photo).