Collierville aldermen approve routine contracts, advance McDonald’s site plan; resident urges Chick‑fil‑A approval

At its March 23 meeting, the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a series of routine procurement and development items and heard a citizen comment urging approval of a Chick‑fil‑A on the consent agenda.

Contracts and awards
- The board awarded a contract for painting mast arms and decorative streetlights to Matthew Contract Painting, the lowest responsive bidder, at $150,000 including alternates; Tri State Finishing was the second responsive bidder at $231,035. Town engineer Dale Perryman said the work covers intersections and decorative poles and carries a 90-day substantial-completion period.

- The board approved a transportation and disposal contract for sludge, screenings and grit with Waste Connections of Tennessee. Director of Public Utilities John Fox said bids were opened March 4, Waste Connections submitted the lowest responsive bid, and FY2026 budgeted $209,478.84 for the services; staff expects to finish the fiscal year within the approved budget.

- The board approved a yard-waste and mixed-junk disposal contract with Quad County Environmental (the incumbent). Public Works Director Josh Russell said the contract covers about 16,300 tons of material and represents roughly a $40 increase from the previous contract; the sanitation division diverts about 40% of town yard waste through grinding and leaf collection.

IT and public safety systems
- Assistant Police Chief David Townsend presented a contract amendment with Central Square Technologies to move the town's CAD, records management and jail systems to a cloud-hosted environment with geographic redundancy. Townsend provided five-year pricing; the first two years are priced at $340,560 annually. He said the amendment is intended to improve resiliency after a 2019 ransomware incident and that when infrastructure and licensing costs are included, the cloud model could be comparable or slightly lower in cost, with an estimated ~$40,000 savings under the model. The contract delays the first payment eight months so the initial payment would fall in FY2027.

Site plans and zoning
- The board approved a preliminary site plan for a 4,300-square-foot McDonald’s on 1.7 acres in Price Farms (Area 2A). Assistant Town Planner Donquetta Singleton said the PD allows a drive‑thru by right and staff, the planning commission and the DRC recommended approval. The project will have a right‑in, right‑out access to East Shelby Drive and brick-faced elevations with muted colors.

Public comment and consent
- Resident Mark Underwood addressed the board in favor of the Chick‑fil‑A consent item and urged the board not to appeal the staff and commission recommendations; the consent agenda (items 8A–8K, excluding items later moved) was then approved on roll call.

Next steps
- Several items will require follow-up: the Central Square amendment implements a multi-year contract with payments staged to FY2027, the cleanup ordinance returns for second reading, and the Cartwright Place matter will proceed by appeal as recorded on the meeting minutes.