Berry Hill leads fight for Metro subsidies
By Sheldon Scruggs
Diversity Institute Fellow
03.13.06
BERRY HILL — City Attorney Dan Alexander told city council members Monday night that he filed a motion in court that could oblige Metro government to provide services and some revenue for its satellite cities.
Berry Hill has joined Oak Hill, Goodlettsville, Belle Meade and Forest Hills in a petition asking a judge to decide what the cities are entitled to under a provision in the current Metro charter.
Alexander believes Metro is supposed to provide funding to its satellite cities. He said some cities received sidewalk and street services, but Berry Hill did not.
"We don't have any storm water protection, no streets repair and paving, and no revenue from cable TV," he said. "Now is that fair?"
He also claimed that other larger cities, such as Belle Meade and Oak Hill, received more than $80,000 in grant money, while Berry Hill was completely overlooked.
Despite the money they received, Belle Meade and Oak Hill are still involved in the petition.
Alexander said that many of Berry Hill's 700 residents pay exorbitant cable fees. Some of that money goes to Metro, but none is filtered back to Berry Hill. The city also spends thousands of dollars to monitor its own water for pollutants because Metro fails to do so.
"All we want is for a judge to interpret the ordinance so that the satellite cities can get (their) fair share," Alexander said. Two hearings have been set for later this month, he said, but he doesn't believe the issue will be resolved any time soon.
"This is going to drag on for one or two years," he said.