Historic Preservation Awards — The Metropolitan Historical Commission is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Historic Preservation Awards program, honoring Davidson County’s best preservation projects. The public is invited to submit buildings or structures that have been restored, rehabilitated, or carefully maintained over time. The awards also recognize well-designed new construction that harmonizes with a historic environment. To be considered, nominated properties must be located in Davidson County and, with the exception of the infill construction category, must have been built no later than 1968. Infill projects should be no older than 2016. Buildings open to the public as historic sites are not eligible. Previous winners MAY be eligible if the work is significantly different. Categories for nominations include Residential Properties (single-family and multi-family); Commercial Buildings; Religious Properties; Engineering and Industrial Structures; Educational and Institutional Buildings; Monuments and Memorials; Infill Construction (NEW structures located within a context of historic architecture). Nominations will be judged on their architectural merit and/or historic interest, soundness of condition, creativity in adaptation for contemporary use, and sensitivity to historic architectural integrity. Nominations are due Friday, March 9, 2018.
Countywide Flood Protection Plan — Metro Water Services and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience are holding a series of community workshops to provide information and gather community input on resiliency issues and the proposed Countywide Flood Protection Plan. The plan includes ongoing buy-outs of homes in flood prone areas as well as a proposed flood wall for downtown. Upcoming meetings will be held March 14 (pi day!) at 5:30 at McGavock High School, and March 15 at 11 at the Downtown Library.
Belmont University’s Institutional Overlay — There are several more opportunities for information and feedback on Belmont University’s Institutional Overlay, the school’s planning document for development over the next fifteen years. The Plan can be found at belmont.edu/community. A public hearing is scheduled before the Planning Commission on Thursday, March 22 at 4 pm. The council public hearing is scheduled for May 1. The original overlay was passed in 2005 and has guided the growth that has taken place over the past thirteen years. As the university neared the completion of the plan, the neighborhood advisory group requested that Belmont update the Institutional Overlay to spell out what growth over the next fifteen years would look like. The update adds the new academic and residential buildings that have gone up in the past seven years to the existing campus and shows expected future growth between 12th Avenue and 15th Avenue for more academic and residential buildings as well as some mixed-use commercial directly on 12th South. This future growth is not expected to happen for a number of years, but it is helpful to everyone to understand what is included in the long range plans. The plan is amendable through final reading at the Council on May 15.
Beautification Grant for Dog Waste Stations — The District 18 Beautification Commissioner, Miriam Mimms, has received a Beautification Grant from Metro Public Works to provide 4 mutt mitts each for BHN and HWEN. Miriam is looking for suggestions for locations and for folks to adopt a spot to refill the plastic bags. Please send ideas to miriammimms@comcast.net.
Juvenile Crime Reduction Task Force — After a rash of armed assaults in the Green Hills area, Metro Police have established a special juvenile crime reduction task force of 16 officers that has already made several arrests. Last Thursday Officers assigned to the Task Force arrested two 16-year-olds, one of them an alleged carjacker, and a 17-year-old who fled from them in a Toyota Camry that was stolen earlier from the 4100 block of Hillsboro Pike. The 17 year old was also wanted for an earlier incident in the 2000 block of Belcourt. The task force is expected to remain active until the crime wave subsides.
Rabies Vaccines — Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC) is offering the three year rabies vaccine and license at their monthly rabies vaccination clinics. The cost of the three-year license and three-year vaccine is $26.00. The owner must provide proof of previous vaccination, such as their previous rabies vaccine certificate. The clinic takes place from 8:00 a.m. until Noon on the third Saturday of each month from February-November at MACC’s shelter at 5125 Harding Place. A microchip with registration is also available for $10.00.
Driver Awareness Class for teenagers — Registration is now open for the Metropolitan Police Department’s FREE Driver Awareness Class for high school aged teens, scheduled for Saturday, March 24th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This popular course will be held in the community room of the MNPD’s South Precinct, 5101 Harding Place. It is open to all high school aged teens, regardless of county of residency. The class, taught by Nashville police officers, will not offer behind the wheel training, but rather will focus on impaired driving, distracted driving and overall traffic safety. Persons interested in this program may sign up here.
Brush pick-up begins in Belmont Hillsboro, Sunnyside, and 12th South on March 29 and in Hillsboro West End on April 4.
The Metro budget process is underway. Metro Departments are meeting with the Mayor’s office to go over their budget requests. This will result in an operating and a capital budget that will be presented to the Council in May. We have been told that this budget will not include increases, so new priorities will have to be balanced with reductions in other areas. Top areas of interest are Metro General Hospital, traffic calming and pedestrian projects, and housing affordability.
Economic incentives — People frequently ask about the value of offering economic incentives to companies who are considering coming to or departing from Nashville. As the Council evaluates proposed incentives we are typically provided information about how many jobs will be created or what kind of economic impact the relocation might have. The incentives that we have voted for have helped to create and preserve thousands of jobs and have attracted over $1 billion of capital investment in the city. The Mayor’s Office has worked with Metro ITS to make incentive information available to the public in a way that is easily understandable. The project database is located online at the Office of Economic and Community Development. The page features a mapping function that displays project locations, name, and incentive type for the projects. Summaries of incentives are available as well. The pages and map include Job Grants, Infrastructure Incentives, PILOTs, Small Business Property Improvement Grants, Small Business Fast Growing Company Employment Grants.
Fiber — With new communication technology, companies are rushing to install fiber all over Nashville. This means there are frequently machines digging or cutting in the public right of way in our streets and along sidewalks. Sometimes this results in damage to sidewalks or tree roots. The companies are required to have a permit before they break ground, and they are required to repair any damage they cause. Neighbors can help make sure that both Metro and the installers are aware of any problems by forwarding pictures of broken sidewalks or mangled tree roots to pwpermits@nashville.gov.
Village 21 construction — The final phase of the Village 21 project at the Corner of Wedgewood and 21st is underway. This involves the construction of a restaurant where the bank parking lot used to be. The work for the shell of the building will continue through mid-summer with a goal of opening the restaurant in October. The owner has agreed to accommodate parking for the labor forces within their parking garage during construction so there should be no negative impact on parking in the Village. The sidewalks on both 21st and Wedgewood will stay open full time during construction. It will be necessary to reduce the sidewalk widths in the immediate area surrounding the work. A permanent fence will be installed in areas where the sidewalk width will be reduced protecting the walking public from the work, and the bike racks and bus stop on Wedgewood will be moved slightly north during construction to assure they have the room to continue to operate properly.
Belcourt Village construction — As that project winds down, the Belcourt Village across from the Belcourt Theater will begin in earnest. Current work includes utility relocation from March 12 – April 21, which will require a partial alley closure. The pre-blast survey has started and is expected to be complete by March 19. By law, this survey includes every property in a 300 foot radius. If there are tenants or owners within this radius who have not been contacted, Elmington Construction would like to know. Excavation for the parking garage could involve blasting, hoe ramming, and hauling for several weeks. The parking lot behind Hopdoddy’s (the old Bosco’s) will be fully shut down in late April with drilling and blasting to run into July. As information becomes available, it will be communicated to property and business owners in the Hillsboro Village area.
TDOT has received funding to repave I-440 over the next three years. The project will replace the concrete with asphalt, which should be quieter. There will be several sections of sound wall replaced to bring all adjacent residential areas into compliance with industry sound standards. The entrance lanes will continue as a third lane through the exit lanes so that there will be three lanes along most of the way. The grassy median will be replaced with a concrete jersey barrier, which is more effective at preventing crossover crashes. To help compensate for the loss of green down in the interstate, the plans show new trees at the interchanges. I am working with Metro Parks to be sure that the new construction is consistent with future I-440 greenway plans.
Transit Forum — District 18 and 24 are hosting a Transit Forum on Tuesday evening, March 27 at 6:30 in the Belmont Methodist Church Activity Center. Representatives from Metro will lay out the details of the Transit Improvement Plan and the allow time for questions and answers.
Belmont University is hosting the Davis Cup tennis tournament the first weekend in April in the Curb Event Center as the US plays Belgium in the quarter finals. This is an international event open to the public and will draw tennis fans from a large area. Tickets and details here. Belmont will work with US Tennis Association officials to develop a traffic and parking plan to minimize the impact of the neighborhood. Belmont expects it to be similar to traffic patterns for graduation weekend. USTA will also be hosting youth tennis clinics in the area. As the event approaches, more information will be posted on the Belmont Hillsboro listserv.
Walking District pilot study — HWEN was selected for a pilot study (or experiment) to test the impacts of a ‘Walking District’ designation. As part of this designation, our neighborhood received lower posted speed limits (20 or 25 mph versus 30 or 35 mph), speed limits painted on the roadway, and the installation of special ‘Walking District’ signs at your neighborhood’s boundaries. The Metro Nashville Police Department is a partner in the Walking District Pilot and has provided enforcement of the new lower speed limits. If you live in the designated Walking District area, please help Metro Public Works understand how these measures impacted the safety and comfort of your street and the greater neighborhood via this survey. Your responses will remain anonymous. The survey will only take approximately 10 minutes. Thank you for your participation as your feedback is important.
I hope everyone’s spring is off to a good start. Please let me know what is on your mind by emailing me at burkley.allen@nashville.gov or calling 615-383-6604.
Regards,
Burkley Allen
Metro Council 18th District