VOL. 10 NO. 19
BUZZ Share your Aubrey’s story Aubrey’s restaurant in Farragut is closing at the end of May after 24 years of serving good food and the Farragut community. Share your stories with us as we look back on the first Aubrey’s restaurant and what it has meant to you, your family and the community. Email your thoughts and memories to gardners@ tds.net
Enjoy blooms, help seniors The sixth annual PAWS Among the Blooms will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, at Stanley’s Greenhouse, 3029 Davenport Road. Dogs on leashes are welcome along with their humans. The event will feature hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, plants, flowers, a silent auction and music by Y’uns Jug Band featuring Michael Crawley. Admission is $30 at the door. All proceeds benefit Knox PAWS: Placing Animals With Seniors.
Beer violations There will be no voting meeting of Farragut’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen Thursday, May 12, because there are no agenda items; however, the Beer Board will meet at 6 p.m. with a workshop following at 6:45 p.m. The Beer Board will hold hearings to address beer permit violations from: Big Kahuna Wings, Casual Pint, China Pearl, El Paraiso, Hana Sushi & Hibachi, Mind Yer P’s and Q’s and Snappy Tomato. The Farragut Business Alliance will present an updated Memorandum of Understanding and contract proposal at 6:45 p.m. No vote will be taken.
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Powell Station Readers countywide may enjoy a new feature. “Historic Powell Station� will include alternating looks ahead (Sandra Clark) and back (Marvin West) as Powell attempts to recreate its downtown after a new, four-lane road diverted thru-traffic off Emory Road. This week Clark profiles a young couple who are building an Internet-based business in a 100-year-old warehouse on Depot Street.
(865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS (865) 661-8777 news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Sherri Gardner Howell ADVERTISING SALES (865) 342-6084 ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore Beverly Holland | Amy Lutheran CIRCULATION (865) 342-6200 shoppercirc@ShopperNewsNow.com
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May 11, 2016
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Thriving in spite of progress By Sara Barrett Twice a day, Sherman Green stops traffic on Bluegrass Road so his cows can cross the street into another field. “Man, it’s pitiful,� says Green of the progress he’s seen popping up all around his family’s homestead. “Nothing good comes from progress. I used to know all of my neighbors, and I don’t know anyone now. Everything’s subdivisions.� Sherman Green still His property begins works the family at the corner of Mourffarm in the Bluegrass ield and runs down area. Photos by S. Barrett both sides of Bluegrass. It can’t be missed this time of year; the bright green fields look like they’ve been sprinkled with glitter made of tiny yellow flowers. A handful of black cows and calves run after each other and laze in the afternoon shade. At 81, Green still cares for the farm where he spent his childhood. He points to a small house where he was born. He inherited the property from his parents and still raises cattle there and cultivates a garden of okra, beans, corn and tomatoes. “My wife says I plant too much, that it’s enough for the whole community, but what we don’t eat, I can give away.� Green learned to farm from both of his parents, who worked full time – his dad with the highway department and his mom at Bluegrass Elementary School. “We would work on the farm after school. My mom would say ‘get your clothes off, put your rags on and get to work,’� he remembers. “School work was done after dark.�
People would come from Knoxville to purchase fresh eggs, meat and milk from the farm, but now Green just works the land because he enjoys it. He purchases meat at the grocery store and sells his cows when they’re old enough, because it is hard to find someone to process the meat nowadays, he says. Offers have come in from across the country to purchase his land, but Green has everything willed to his son, Mark, who plans to continue caring for the farm as both his dad and granddad have. “My grandson likes it, too,� he adds. “He likes working with the tractor. People have asked if we’d sell, but we tell them they don’t have enough money. We even had a couple get married in our field one time because they thought it was so pretty.� The cattle have gotten used to the tradition as well. Each morning and afternoon, they wait for Green at the gate to cross to the other field. “This is my favorite time of year here,� say Green, sitting on his fence and looking out over the fields of green and yellow.
Green’s cattle meet him at the gate twice a day to cross Bluegrass Road.
EDC recommends one-year contract with FBA By Wendy Smith
The Farragut Economic Development Committee has voted to recommend a new one-year memorandum of understanding between the town and the Farragut Business Alliance that would require a $70,000 contribution from the town. It was the third MOU presented to the EDC this year. At its February meeting, the FBA asked for $585,000 over three years, which would have included approximately $140,000 per year for the organization to handle promotion of the town’s new brand. After the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted against the contract, the FBA returned to the EDC in March and presented a proposed budget of $75,000 per year. Committee members suggested ways to fur-
ther slash the budget. At last week’s meeting, the FBA presented a one-year MOU that eliminates the Red, White and Blues Pre-Independence Day Picnic and some contract labor. Red, White and Blues has lost money each of the past five years. The proposed budget includes funding for two community events that will highlight Farragut’s smaller shopping centers and $30,000 for the Shop Farragut program, which was budgeted for $4,644 in 2015. The goal is to make Shop Farragut a year-round program that’s more robust and regionally focused, and the increase may not be enough, said FBA board president David Purvis. Alderman Louise Povlin presented an economic development
overview of the town to the committee. She wanted to understand how the FBA fits into the town’s overall strategy, she said. The town’s revenue for 2016 is only expected to be slightly higher than it was in 2015, and the town’s sales tax revenue will need to increase by 8.5 percent to make up for the reduction in the Hall Income Tax. Most of the difference between the town’s revenues and expenditures goes into the town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Upcoming upgrades to roads and stormwater facilities will have to be delayed if revenue drags, she said. Purvis discussed ways the FBA can help. He estimates that Farragut residents are responsible for just 20 to 30 percent of sales within the town.
“We are dependent on businesses coming here so we can draw non-residents to help pay our bills.� Before the vote, EDC chair Phil Dangel suggested that next year’s FBA budget be approved in March or April so that the organization will have time to manage its affairs if the MOU isn’t renewed. The committee voted to recommend the MOU with two abstentions. Town Administrator David Smoak reported that a site plan for the Silver Spoon property on Kingston Pike and zoning for a proposed assisted living facility on Doug Horne’s Smith Road property will be discussed at the
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Housing market back from recession By Betty Bean
Knox County’s residential housing market, the engine that drives the local economy, has bounced back from a long string of tough years, and those involved in building, regulating and counting the money are happy to put the recession years in the rear view mirror. “We’re really pleased to see single family home construction recover so well,� said Dwight Van de Vate, Knox County’s senior director of engineering and public works. “Pre-recession, we would sometimes see almost 250 homes a month – clearly unsustainable.
Then we cratered to a low of 35 one month. It’s been a wild ride. Now we have robust, fairly stable development, at levels we can manage. It’s a good place to be.� Developer Scott Davis agrees. “In the last 13 months, we’ve seen a very significant turnaround in the housing market. For six or seven years, we didn’t do anything but fight the banks, and now we’re putting lots on the ground at the 2006 rate.� Davis remembers 2006 as the last good year before the bubble burst. “The housing boom we saw in
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2007 was clearly not sustainable,� said Davis, who owns Eagle Bend Development. “Now, we’re growing at a nice, healthy rate and our economy has rebounded very well – Knox County’s population has grown by 60,000 in recent years. There’s lots of stuff coming back toward the downtown area, and we’ve got six subdivisions working, plus a 248-unit apartment complex off Hardin Valley Road.� County Finance Director Chris Caldwell isn’t prone to enthusiasm, but admits he likes the trends he’s seeing in his budget numbers. “It’s good to see the growth in the
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revenue that appears in our general fund. It’s an indicator that tells us our economy is growing and headed in the right direction and that alleviates pressure on the budget.� In fiscal year 2015, for example, Caldwell said revenue from building permit fees came in at 125 percent of budget projections. “We expected $925,000 and received $1.1 million, and it will be better this year. Through the month of April, we are at $994,000, and I can tell you that a year ago, we were at $879,000. We’re up 13 percent over April of last year.�
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