Gresham Smith and town staff brought an amendment to refine design and right-of-way work for the Rock Springs/Old Nashville project. Charles, the project lead, explained that phase 1 will concentrate on the intersection improvements from Needham Drive to Austin Lee Drive and that an optional phase 2 north to Cedar Grove Road was being deferred to keep right-of-way and utility relocation scope manageable.

Council discussion was lengthy and divided. Some members said deferring phase 2 will simply push costs later and risk extending a corridor that already showed a 2019 F level of service in portions; others supported narrowing scope to get the intersection moving, arguing surveying and right-of-way costs can be handled later and that overlapping contracts for survey, functional and right-of-way design can still accelerate overall progress.

Questions included whether the TDOT cost estimates and the engineering fee basis aligned, how construction engineering-inspection (CEI) numbers compared to amendment amounts, and whether the town could repackage work to speed procurement and reduce amendments. Staff said design-to-right-of-way documents can overlap and that construction would likely be 2–3 years out because of extensive right-of-way and utility relocation work.

Council asked staff to confer with finance and return with a refined amendment that addresses the scheduling, budget impacts, and whether survey/phase 2 work should proceed or be held in place. The item will be revised and returned to a future workshop.