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ISSUE 2 VOLUME 26
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FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE
Farragut welcomes the king (of beers)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013
BOMA ponders upping expenses for road project ■ TAMMY CHEEK
tcheek@farragutpress.com
Top: Greeted by Budweiser’s famous Clydesdales and scores of neighbors while standing in front of her Village Green home, Carol Rosseel became the firstever Tennessee resident to have a case of Budweiser beer delivered to a home by the Clydesdales. While chatting briefly with Scott Neal, account manager with Eagle Distributing Co., Rosseel enjoyed the spotlight Sunday afternoon, Sept. 15, after her name was drawn at random during a special Budweiser promotion, in conjunction with five area Kroger stores, based on Eagle winning an award. Middle: The Clydes-dales, eight strong, began their local journey at Farragut Kroger Marketplace off Brooklawn Street, where Carol entered her name, as hundreds of Kroger shoppers and other onlookers got an up-close look at the famous horses — and photos — for about 20 minutes in front of Kroger before the trek to Village Green.
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen granted final approval Thursday to increase expenses on the Snyder Road/Outlet Drive extension project. “That happens often with overruns,” Mayor Ralph McGill said during an interview last week. “It’s not unusual.” Vice Mayor Dot LaMarche moved to give the final approval, and Alderman Bob Markli seconded her motion, which passed unanimously. Aug. 22, the Board approved Ordinance 13-21 on first reading. This ordinance authorized the mayor to enter into a contract in which the Town pays Vision Knoxville West, LLC, $96,771.49 for two tracts of land so the Town can complete the Snyder Road/Outlet Drive extension. The ordinance also called for a $476,402 increase to the state street aid fund expenditures so the Town can receive better bids and have a more flexible construction season. “I think we’ve completed nearly all the paving this year, so this may be the final one,” McGill said during the earlier interview.
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asloan@farragutpress.com
With Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen agreeing to a $1.25 million purchase of historic Russell House from its Russell family owners last month “in Connecticut and Florida” according to Mayor Ralph McGill, thoughts turn to the scope of renovations and additions within its roughly two acres. How about moving Farragut Folklife Museum, Knox County government offices and a new visitors center to adjoin Russell
The resurfacing budget was $500,000 but only $23,598 was spent, so the remainder, $476,402, will be transferred to the current fiscal year’s budget. The mayor explained that means if a project comes in under the budget amount the town puts it back into the general fund. Also, the Capital Investment Program’s expenditures will be increased by $100,000. Another change to the budget included an increase to the equipment replacement fund’s expenditures, which will be increased by $6,000 to replace a John Deere Gator used at the parks. While no action was taken, BOMA heard from R.M. Hill of 11504 Mountain View Road regarding traffic control concerns along Kingston Pike. Hill asked that a traffic study be done. He specifically referred to the intersections with Jamestowne Boulevard and Belleaire Drive. He noted when he is driving on Belleaire, going east, some cars are going 60 mph or better. “It doesn’t take long for a car See BOMA on Page 3A
FMPC looks at applying OSMR overlay to R-6
■ Above: The Clydesdales are seen entering Kingston Pike off Brooklawn Street, leaving Kroger en route to greet and reward Rosseel, wife of former Farragut Alderman Thomas Rosseel. She is one of only seven such awardees nationwide this year.
Town contemplates what to do with Russell House ALAN SLOAN
Our Home is always open for you to stop by and visit with us. 122 CAVETT HILL LANE • 777-9000 www.nhcfarragut.com
House, at the corner of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road, within those two acres? How about restoring a basement “slave quarters” not previously known to exist? How about tearing down “wings” of the home in order to restore its 1835 mystique? Although talk about Town expansion is in its infancy according to Farragut Mayor Ralph McGill, “We’re cramped for space here,” McGill said about Farragut Town Hall. “And we need, eventually, some additional space. “So the thought is, maybe we
could build a new building on that other acre and let it house the museum, the County offices and a visitors center,” he added. As for current Russell House property business tenant, Dog Days Canine Playschool, “It’s going to have to be knocked down,” McGill said. “We will own it, we can do what we want.” McGill further defined “completion” of Russell House. “We’re going to try and put the house back in the condition it was in in 1835,” McGill said. “You know, they’ve added on some wings. See HOUSE on Page 2A
ROBBY O’DANIEL rodaniel@farragutpress.com
Farragut’s Municipal Planning Commission discussed a Farragut Zoning Ordinance amendment that would focus on the R-6 Multi-Family Residential District and apply the Open Space Mixed Residential Overlay District to it at the commission’s Thursday, Aug. 15 meeting. “How do we address these kinds of properties that are geographically situated that it would imply that they are ripe for a more dense development, but the land itself really can’t accommodate it?” then Community Development director Ruth Hawk said. “We have several parcels like this in Town that I can think of that would kind of fall under this category. ... We really do have a situation with parcels that – not all land is created equal, and location, location, location, but sometimes it’s not just location. It’s topography, topography, topography or sinkhole, sinkhole, sinkhole, depending on what the situation is.”
Hawk told the commission she would provide graphics, pictures and more information as her next step. “There are actually several parcels in Town where they fall into the location, location, location category, but they have physical constraints on them that are limiting,” she said. “And one of the reasons we came up with the open space cluster zoning districts is because we realized that our southwest sector had a lot of sinkholes, among other things, and land wasn’t getting any cheaper. And developers, we needed to acknowledge the fact that development will occur, and it’s a lot easier from a development standpoint if you have a warm, fuzzy number of what you can potentially get and that if you run into a surprise sinkhole, it’s not going to put you over the edge. Developers, this is a business. They’re doing it to make money.” “We’re really trying to accommodate apartments ... at lands that are geographically situated See FMPC on Page 3A
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