KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville City Council met on Tuesday to vote on several routine items and some standout ones. However, before that meeting started, the city's beer board heard from Hatmaker's Bar and Grill.
The bar was recently the site of a shooting that killed two people. The bar recently paid a fine from the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission after the commission moved to revoke its permit. The owner said he installed a security camera in the front of the bar as a precaution against incidents in the future.
During the meeting, Hatmaker's defended itself after two men died in a shooting in the bar's parking lot. Beer Board members said they received several calls from people angry at the bar and afraid of speaking out against it. According to leaders, neighbors were afraid of people with affiliations to violent gangs staying around the bar.
"Bullets don't have eyes," said Gwen McKenzie. "I am in total agreement. I think there are some serious things going on there, especially when there are gangs congregating there .. we are fortunate there have not been more fatalities.”
They asked the bar owner about his security plans. He emphasized that he hired a doorman. Beer Board members voted for Hatmaker to appear at a revocation hearing, with no date set yet for that hearing.
Following the beer board, city council members met at 6 p.m. There, they voted to rezone areas of North Knoxville to allow affordable housing to be built. It will be built by a company called Hopeful Housing and they hope to house around 120 families in the buildings. The company said they hope to have their first tenants in mid-2024.
Knoxville City Council also voted to move towards buying four electric buses and infrastructure to charge them. The additions to Knoxville Area Transit's fleet come after receiving a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The grant covered around $4.1 million of the cost, and the city will need to pay around $1 million to cover the cost of the buses and equipment. Officials said it would help keep the fleet in good repair and help the city work towards its goals of having a zero-emission fleet.
City Council members also voted to use around $42,000 from the Community Improvement Fund to support several nonprofit organizations across the city.
The Metro Drug Coalition will get $5,254 to help fund recovery houses while the Knoxville History Project will get $1,500 for historic walking tours. My Daughter's Journey will also get $2,500 for vocation training and workshops on gun trauma.
The city also approved a $51,765 grant from the American Red Cross to help teach people how to swim in communities where the drowning rate is above the national average.
They also voted to pay Pyro Shows Inc. $69,050 for large fireworks displays at the Festival on the Fourth, the Celebration of Lights and the New Year's at the Sunsphere events. The Fourth of July festival would cost the most of all three events, at around $42,000.