No garage yet

While acknowledging that Bass Pro Shops may want a parking garage someday, Mayor Strickland says they haven’t requested one so far.

After a hiatus, City Hall Insider — our weekly look at the goings-on of Memphis city government — is back. The feature runs online Fridays.

Like most people in Memphis, Mayor Jim Strickland was surprised by the revelation last week that the city could be on the hook to build a parking garage for Bass Pro Shops in the future.

But ina recent interview, Strickland downplayed the possibility of a construction project anytime soon.

“This is a media-generated issue because Bass Pro has not requested a garage,” he said. “They have specifically said they are not requesting a garage.”

Even t hough Bass Pro isn’t requesting a garage, that could change, Strickland acknowledged. If that happens, he said, he’s “hopeful” that the funds generated by the tourism development zone that includes The Pyramid would pay for the garage.

STRICKLAND SAYS NO CITY

MONEY FOR MUD ISLAND

Five companies — including Bass Pro Shops—have submitted redevelopment proposals for Mud Island River Park. But if they hoped to get any city money, they’ll be disappointed, Strickland said.

“I’m open to that discussion (about re developing Mud Island River Park ), but we have no money to put into the project,” he said.

Strickland said he hasn’t seen any of the proposals, but is looking forward to hearing the recommendations of the Riverfront Development Corp., a non-profit that receives about $3 million a year from the city to maintain the riverfront.

HEDGEPETH VS. MLGW

Of the 13 Memphis City Council members, Reid Hedgepeth is one of the least likely to launch into a tirade.

But Tuesday, Hedgepeth woke up an otherwise sleepy afternoon council session by criticizing Memphis Light, Gas& Water Division for not fast-tracking repairs to turn on streetlights on a street in his district.

He then asked for — and got without objection — a delay of the 13 resolutions on the MLGW fiscal consent agenda: nine contracts or contract extensions worth nearly $3.7 million, three bond issues worth $1 . 1 billion, and a $59,963 court settlement. The bond issues were incorrectly on the agenda, and already headed back to committee.

But how badly did Hedgepeth hurt MLGW with his motion to delay?

“No, it will not have a negative impact,” MLGW CEO Jerry Collins said in a statement Thursday.

Hedgepeth didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

RALLINGS MAKES ROUNDS

Memphis Police Interim Director Mike R al lings started Monday, and — after his trial by fire Tuesday at City Council — began making the rounds to local media.

One of his first stops Wednesday was at The Commercial Appeal’s podcast studio, where he talked about a range of issues, including body cameras, the advice he got from former director Toney Armstrong, and why Memphis won’t be the next Ferguson.

Check out the podcast on the In for Memphis page of www. commercialappeal.com.

The New Tri-State Defender took a deeper dive into Rallings’ background, which is well worth a read.

One part that stood out: Rallings slightly deviated from his standard answer about whether he plans to seek the full position to point out that he’s set to retire in April 2018 under the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. Strickland’ s choice on whether to do a national director search seems to be between tearing the Band-Aid off now or later.

BYE, BYE, TBI CRIME LAB

Gov. Bill Haslam’s $34.8 billion budget this year includes $25 million for a new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Jackson that will result in Memphis’ TBI lab being closed, the Jackson Sun reported Wednesday.

Haslam said the lab should be more centrally located in the region, which implies that the move is Memphis’ loss.

But Memphis Police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said the move was “not a big deal,” and would come with a minimal impact on costs and efficiency. She added that police weren’t greatly affected when the lab was in Nashville.