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ISSUE 52 VOLUME 29
FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 • 1A
Citizens sound off at meetings on Town strategic plan ■ TAMMY CHEEK
tcheek@farragutpress.com
A dozen Farragut residents gave their input about Town of Farragut’s strategic plan during an informal public meeting last week. Some said they wanted high-quality retail to fill and renovate vacant commercial centers, while others wanted to develop a Town Center, add a downtown parking garage or develop a major road plan.
“What would you like to see Farragut become?” Town administrator David Smoak asked. “Pedestrian friendly … better connected,” attendee Carol King said. “Less cars.” Robin Hill said he would like to see more technology companies moving into Farragut to create more employment. Larry Whiteside said while growth is inevitable, he thinks it is important “to maintain what we’ve got, the thing that attracted
us all here.” The gathering, which took place in Farragut Town Hall Tuesday, Aug. 29, was one of two public meetings to give Town leaders input on its strategic planning process. Six residents attended the first meeting, which took place Monday, Aug. 28. “We’re having a very good response [to a survey] online,” Smoak said. “We had these meetings for people who wanted to speak in person.”
He said the Town has had a strategic plan for several years. “Every year, we update it on the year’s goals, objectives and things Smoak we want to get accomplished for those years, but this year we want to go back,
test the plan and figure out what do we need to do. You’re here tonight to let us know if we are on the right track,” Smoak said. In reference to the Town’s vision statement: “Farragut — a home, a destination, a connected community that lives closer and goes further,” Smoak asked the gathering, “I’d like you to talk about what that means to you, to live closer and go further?” See STRATEGIC on Page 2A
CAK turns 40
Some reminisce back to Cedar Springs Presbyterian start in 1977, others look ahead
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CAROLYN EVANS cevans@farragutpress.com
When Ernie Trebing rolled into Knox County in 1977, he didn’t know what to expect. All he knew was he would be meeting with a group of parents interested in starting a Christian school. For a long time, parents Jack and Carolyn Rice had been thinking about a Christian school. Their son, Dean, was about to start second grade. For several years, they and some friends from Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church had started talking about how nice it would be to have a Protestant Christian school in Knoxville. Those conversations had gotten more intense as the couples met at one another’s homes to pray about a school.
Finally, the day came and they met Trebing, the prospective headmaster at what would become Christian Academy of Knoxville, face-to-face. “He said, ‘How many students do you have?’ and we said, ‘One,’” Carolyn Rice recalled recently, as CAK celebrates its 40th anniversary. “The board had said, ‘Before we interview this man, sign your kids up.’ It was a long, time-consuming application and we had struggled to get it done. The others just hadn’t gotten it done yet.” “Trebing said, ‘Where are you planning to meet?’” Rice said, “And we said, ‘We don’t know exactly.’ We were looking at a couple of prospective properties. Different couples and one grandparent met with him that weekend and took him to dinner. Trebing said he’d pray about it, but he
eventually came. He was just very open to this challenge.” Rice said they told Trebing they were praying for 100 students by the end of the year in 1977. They met that goal. The school that started in the Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church building now sits on a 77-acre campus at 529 Academy Way, just off Dutchtown Road, in West Knoxville. Instead of a handful of students, the liberal arts school that houses pre-kindergarten through high school Carolyn Evans students has an enrollment of about Carolyn Rice and her husband, Jack, 1,000, which represents 146 churches. The average ACT score is 28. There (not pictured) are two of the founders of are 53 middle and high school sports Christian Academy of Knoxville. teams and over the years, they’ve See CAK 40 on Page 4A
The Class of 2017 celebrates at Christian Academy of Knoxville. CAK celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Laine speech: state level shift has impact on Town Chuck Laine, president of Laine Communications and lobbyist for Town of Farragut, with Chris Camp, president of The Rotary Club of Farragut, after Laine’s speech during RCF meeting in Fox Den Country Club ballroom Wednesday, Aug. 30. Tammy Cheek
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TAMMY CHEEK tcheek@farragutpress.com
Tennessee’s General Assembly has seen a shift in its leadership in the past 10 years, both in the senate and state house, as various members have moved on to higher aspirations, retired or taken other political positions. “In the last 10 years, the legislature has changed from people being there forever to where, today, there is less than one-fourth of the people who were there 10 years ago,” said Chuck Laine,
president of Laine Communications and a registered lobbyist who represents Town of Farragut. He was featured speaker during The Rotary Club of Farragut’s regular noon Wednesday meeting Aug. 30 in Fox Den Country Club ballroom. “We’re kind of losing our leadership in the senate,” he added. As a result, “The laws they’re enacting are really a detriment to cities,” David Smoak, Town administrator and RCF past president, said after the meeting. “They are taking away our author-
ity to be able to govern the way the local officials would like to manage their own cities. “So, it’s been helpful to have someone in Nashville who is there all the time because we can’t be there all the time,” Smoak added about Laine. Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen contracted with Laine two years ago to represent the Town in Nashville, then renewed the contract last year. “One of the reasons we work See LAINE on Page 7A