MEMPHIS, August 4, 2026 - The Memphis City Council's consent agenda on August 4 carried seven items, including one accepting a performance bond of $1,192,500 and three releasing a combined $616,000 in security back to developers.
Consent agendas exist to move routine business in a single vote. This one nearly did. The vote had already been taken when Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, recorded voting yes, stopped the proceeding.
She asked what is actually going on with A. W. Willis and North Fourth Street, and what the plans are, because it is over a million dollars to secure a bond for the engineering project.
Vice Chair Chase Carlisle moved to divide the question and remove item 8 from the consent agenda. The council then revoted the consent agenda without item 8, and took item 8 up separately.
What item 8 was
Item 8 was a resolution approving the engineering plans for the intersection of A. W. Willis Avenue at North Fourth Street and accepting a bond as security, under contract number CR-5499. The agenda states that the cost of the required improvements is to be borne by the developer, and that the resolution accepts a Travelers Casualty and Surety Company performance bond, number 108531084, in the amount of $1,192,500 as security.
When the item was called, a representative of the city's engineering division came forward but said he could not speak to the specifics. Vice Chair Carlisle suggested he describe the typical order of operations for the division and why an item like this is ordinary course of business, and said that if it is not ordinary, he would need to say why.
The engineering representative said that as he understands it, the project involves intersection improvements needed to accommodate ongoing work at St. Jude and the towers being erected there, and yielded to the developer's engineering consultant.
The consultant, from an engineering firm, told the council it is a traffic signal that will be installed at the intersection in accordance with that ongoing construction on the St. Jude property.
Vice Chair Carlisle asked whether it would be fair to say that when the developer filed its plans to improve the site, part of the city engineer's requirement was to pay for the cost and the installation of the light as a matter of public safety. The consultant said yes.
Councilwoman Cooper-Sutton said she had wanted an explanation of what was happening and appreciated it, and that it was good to know the developer is paying for it rather than the city. She called the omission an oversight on her part.
Item 8 then passed with every recorded member voting yes, and with same night minutes.
The three items nobody asked about
The consent agenda's other three engineering items all went the other direction. Rather than accepting security, they released it.
Item 9 accepted public improvements for Walnut Green P.D. Phase 1 in Shelby County under contract CR-5460, at the northwest quadrant of Walnut Grove Road and Gray's Creek, and released a Financial Federal letter of credit, number 281A, in the amount of $379,300 that had been held as project security.
Item 10 accepted public improvements for Phillips Farms P.D. Area 2A, Phase 1 in Shelby County under contract CR-5477, at Houston Levee Road and Sutton Ridge Lane, and released a Financial Federal Bank letter of credit, number 291A, in the amount of $48,600.
Item 11 accepted public improvements for 272 North Bellevue Residential in Memphis under contract CR-5478, and released a Paragon Bank letter of credit, number 00112, in the amount of $188,100.
Together those three released $616,000 in developer security. All three requested same night minutes. None was discussed.
Releasing security at the end of a project is routine. It means the city has accepted the improvements as complete and the developer's guarantee is no longer needed. What the record of this meeting does not show is any statement, from staff or from a member, that the improvements in question were inspected and accepted.
The consent agenda also carried three items up for first reading: an ordinance amending the short-term rental rules, a rezoning at 2021 Berryhill Road, and the joint ordinance establishing the procedure for replacing the zoning map. None was discussed on the floor.
What happens next
All seven consent agenda items passed, and items 8 through 11 carried same night minutes, which took effect the same evening. The first reading items require two further readings. The record does not state a construction timeline for the A. W. Willis and North Fourth signal.
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