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The acronym ‘FF&E’ signals the end may be nigh when it comes to a new build.

Morristown City Council approved purchases related to furniture, fixtures and equipment for Morristown Landing Recreation and Events Center, currently under construction, during its Tuesday meeting.

All the items are components of the FF&E budget and will be funded by the city’s bond financing for the start-up of the facility.

As part of the approval, Council accepted a bid from Strategic Equipment, LLC and authorized a one-time purchase of plates, saucers and cups for $12,151, to be used by catering staff in the Landing’s kitchen.

Bids for miscellaneous Landing items were acknowledged and accepted by Council, including a one-time purchase for additional furniture at a cost of $48,948.53 with an anticipated delivery window of March 1-15.

Coucil also approved Change Order No. 10 to the contract with Path Construction Northeast for various work not included in the original contract.

Certain costs in the original contract were established as allowance amounts, with final amounts to be determined based on actual costs. If, and when, those amounts exceed the allowance, a change order is warranted. Certain other costs are related to items not originally anticipated in the contract.

Items contemplated Change Order No. 10 include construction of monument signs, changes made as a result of Fire Marshal inspections, alteration of a storage room for more active use, floor markings for pickleball, entry area upgrades, and various changes related to utility and electric design.

The change order document shows what appears to deplete and even over-spend contingencies by $49,266.38. However, three of the items will be paid with other resources, so the actual result leaves $16,162.56 remaining in contingency:

The body scanning room upgrade, $12,970.01, and Pickleball markings, $11,016.93, will be paid from the existing FF&E budget. Line Manifold work, at a cost of $41,442.00 is the result of an issue with mechanical design and the cost will be borne by others.

According to staff notes, although the costs will be covered by other resources, it is necessary to include them in the change order document as the work needs to be done under direction of Path Construction as a part of the project as a whole.

Council approved a Lease and Concession Services Agreement with Sports Facilities Food & Beverage Tennessee, LLC enabling the sale of alcohol for certain events at the Landing, subject to all regulatory authorities, and authorized the City Administrator to execute the same, and voiding with mutual consent the Concession Service Use Agreement approved October 18, 2022.

There are 2,491 rentable square feet of space in the Landing building

Tennessee ABC has established that a vendor/concessionaire of alcohol needs to be either an owner or a lessee of the property if/when they serve alcohol on an ongoing/regular basis. The existing agreement from October 18, 2022 only identifies Sports Facilities as a concessionaire-a third-party operator only.

Creating a new agreement (and voiding the old) that identifies Sports Facilities as a lessee of a portion of the facility for the purpose of being a concessionaire will satisfy the ABC requirement. The new version does not change anything about the way alcohol sales are to be handled at the Landing or any of the financial terms of the prior agreement.

“Leased Premises” shall include the use of and access to agreed upon common or public areas and facilities, corridors, lobbies, elevators, restrooms, stairways, sidewalks, driveways, parking areas: common areas.

The one-year agreement term will be automatically renewed.

The Concessionnaire will pay owner (city of Morristown) 50 percent of the monthly net operating income, excluding gratuities. In turn, the city will reimburse concessionaire for actual costs of products and operating supplies.Storage of alcoholic beverages will be in designated locations, with concessonnaire providing an inventory.