January ’20 Newsletter MJ D4

Happy New Year to everyone. Now that the holidays are well behind us we can look forward to a great year in 2020. Our next town hall meeting will be March 12 at 6:30 pm at Grace Baptist Church located on Belinda Parkway. Bring your questions and concerns. Linn Yeager, Vice President of REHAB 23 will be our guest speaker. REHAB 23, an all-volunteer organization, serves and supports First Responders (Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and Paramedics) of Wilson County. They operate out of the MJ Fire Hall on Belinda Pkwy.

I would like to take this opportunity to officially announce my candidacy for this year’s election cycle which takes place in November. Therefore, I am asking for your support and votes as well as financial donations to help cover postage, yard signs, mailers, printing, ads etc. In addition, I will be looking for volunteers further into the year and possibly holding a couple of fundraising events. I would be honored to have you to help me keep my seat as your District 4 City Commissioner so that I can continue serving you.

I know we all are grateful to hear that the woman/mother shooting victim at Meridian is at home recovering after being shot by her son 13 times. What an amazing blessing, a true miracle.

Items of interest:

1) Update on ACLU’s lawsuit against MJ. Carafem, which provides “medical” abortions located on Crossings Circle, filed because they could not expand anywhere in the city to do “surgical” abortions. After reviewing the ordinance amendment from last spring, it was determined there actually was no place for expansion. Therefore, last month at our January 13th Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting we voted to amend the 1,000 ft restriction (BOC amendment last spring) and reduce it to 200 ft in order to allow for expansion within an industrial section in the city. This is brief for the newsletter, but the bottom line of what happened. If you would like further details let me know and I would be glad to provide you with them. Please know, the city cannot legally deny this business or any other from providing surgical abortions, but can restrict where they expand. As far as I know, there has not been a court date scheduled yet, which will take place in federal court. Again, I cannot comment on pending litigation.

2) The “idea” for the public swimming pool as presented by the MJ Parks Department is still in the idea stage. When they complete their research, as requested by the BOC, it will be presented again.

3) The nonprofit MJ League, Inc (better known as the little league park baseball/softball) was pulled from the agenda this week after passing 1st reading in December. The park board’s president, Ray Justice was able to acquire a loan from Cedar Stone Bank for the funding of their new LED lighting on 13 fields as opposed to an interest-free loan of $450,000 (hotel/motel tax) from the city offering a payback plan over 10 years.

4) As of this month, the liquor lawsuit between the city of MJ and the Wilson Co School Board has been settled and paid in the amount of $593,000 after the county agreed to accept the offer. The funds came out of the General Fund.

5) Monday, we (BOC) passed the 2nd reading (pending from 2013) of the workplace violence section of the city’s policies and procedures, rewording the language to allow those city employees with a concealed carry permit, to carry their handguns for protection while at work.

6) You probably have noticed by now, but the MJ Streets Department reduced the speed limit, from 40 mph to 35 mph, on Beckwith Rd between the 4-way at S Rutland/Beckwith/Posey and I-40. On the south side of the I-40 ramps (NB) it increases back up to 40 mph. Public Works (PW) made the decision after finding a discrepancy in the NB and SB speed limit signs. Prior to the change, the NB speed limit was 35 mph, whereas the SB traffic was 40 mph, reducing to 35 mph south of the 4-way. Therefore, the decision was made to make all of Beckwith south of I-40 be 35 mph.

7) Any widening/road improvement projects on Beckwith Rd (south of I-40) are on hold until a developer were to show interest in building in that area. Roads and road improvement projects, including traffic signals are funded from developments through impact fees.

8) The residential codes ordinance on private property is currently being studied by the city manager, the codes department, the fire department, and finance, as well as myself, in order to determine if it needs to be revised. Each property owner has the responsibility of keeping their property free of debris, trash, inoperable vehicles, etc. In saying this, each situation is unique that the general public may not be aware of. Moving forward, please know we are all working together toward finding solutions.

9) Two hot topic items will be scheduled on the BOC agenda for February 10. 1) To design and declare the city of MJ as a 2nd Amendment sanctuary city (revised from 2015). 2) Non-Consent to the refugee resettlement. I will be a cosponsor of these proposals.

10) There has been some misinformation spread on social media regarding the city issuing fines if you cut down a tree on your own property. This is not accurate. The city’s Planning Department is “studying” a proposal that would keep big developments from completely clearing all the trees on a piece of land. This came up after the Amazon development (Project Sam) cut down all the trees. The intent is to preserve a certain percentage of the trees and to require the developer to replace some. This does NOT impact residents. It was brought before the Planning Commission (PC) and was deferred, so it is currently being studied and revised. It will come back to the PC at some point in the future.

11) The city is planning the 4th of July fireworks show. More to come soon.

12) Construction vehicles have been using Providence Trail for the Baird Farms development, specifically in the early mornings. This should not be happening. They have been notified by the MJ Road Inspector to put a stop to it immediately and are restricted to the construction access point on S Rutland. If anyone sees this continuing, please notify me immediately.

Status Report on the following projects/construction/developments:

Belinda Pkwy Sidewalks – Sessions Paving (contractor) is entering their last month. If you have an asphalt driveway and notice a small section of gravel between the concrete and pavement, please know this is only temporary to allow you to use your driveway. They will be filled in permanently before the completion of the project, as well as the ruts left in the median. Thank you all for your patience, I know it has been an inconvenience for you.

Belinda Pkwy Directional Signs – The city is in the process of changing/removing/updating the directional signs along Belinda Pkwy, which will be complete by summer. Some signs are currently on order, some of which will be reflective. Example of directional signs would be the divided hwy, keep right, do not enter etc. The intent is to help avoid traffic going down the wrong side of the road (specifically at night), which has been a problem for awhile now.

Intersection striping – After a resident called my attention to the very faded road striping of the intersection at S MJ Rd/Providence Way/Adams Ln, I made the request to have it restriped. PW submitted the request to TDOT, and now a portion of it has been restriped. A complete restriping will be done when the I-40 overpass widening project is complete.

Providence Way/Marketplace – Now that the city has acquired permission from the property owners of Providence Marketplace (PM), these projects can move forward and should be complete during summer. These include: 1) the right turn lane and striping on exit #226C (facing Tire Discounters) and 2) turn arrows on the pavement at the traffic signal exiting PM onto Providence Way (between Red Robin/First Tn Bank). This will include matching signal poll signage.

Clock Tower – Located on the NE corner of N MJ Rd and E. Division, the city’s new clock tower is well underway and set to be complete in a couple of months, possibly sooner. I did not repeat the details of how the clock tower came about, including the funding from last month’s newsletter, but if you would like me to send you those details, please let me know and I will be glad to send them to you.

Bradshaw Farms – This new development on 193 acres passed 2nd reading by the BOC this week. It is located between the back of Jackson Hills (on Golden Bear GB) and 1360 Beckwith Rd. (county road), which will be the access point for construction. A signal warrant study has been submitted to TDOT by Wilson County to determine the need for a signal at Lebanon Rd/Beckwith Rd. Road improvements on Beckwith will include left/right turn lanes at the access point. Commissioner Justice and myself expressed concerns of the construction traffic using the south portion of Beckwith toward E Division. Even though I submitted the numbers from an accident report for the past six years along Beckwith, unfortunately, the city or county cannot control the direction of the construction traffic. Justice moved to have it included in the final plan to “discourage” SB traffic. The WC Road Commission will extend a letter of credit for repairs, on behalf of the developer, along Beckwith from Lebanon Rd to E Division. Several of the requests from Jackson Hills residents were accepted and included in the plan to put safety measures/road improvements in place since traffic will increase through their neighborhood. Also included will be sidewalks along Woodridge Place, connecting to the trailhead at Golden Bear, widening along Golden Bear, a right turn lane SB on GB at Curd Rd and also a signal warrant at this location. I wish the city would have had more control in regards to Beckwith Rd, but unfortunately it belongs to the county who has the final say.

NOTE: A Beckwith Rd property owner has filed a lawsuit against the city, as well as Mayor Hagerty, Commissioner Justice and city attorney Gino Marchetti. His claim is regarding the annexation/rezoning of Bradshaw Farms, detriment to residents on many levels, city notices being inadequate, and no proper approval of road connectors. I am not aware of a scheduled court date at this point.

Traffic signal at NW Rutland and N MJ Rd – The rain has caused some delay in the project, but the poles have been installed. Once the last mast arm is installed, the signals should be operational within 3-4 weeks. They will flash for a period of time to give residents the opportunity to get acclimated to them before they go live. Please remember this is not a city project, it is controlled and funded by Southern Bank. The city only oversees the project.

I-40 Overpass Widening – In the final stage of ROW/easement acquisitions. TDOT is expected to begin construction mid 2020 and be completed by mid 2021.

Lebanon Rd. Widening/EB right turn lane on Golden Bear – (from Park Glen to GB) The transportation report has been completed and environmental work/preliminary design for ROW is underway. Estimated start of construction is within 3-5 years, expected to take 18-24 months to complete.

Right turn lane on S Rutland onto Central Pike – Turn lane on the county road was tied to the Baird Farms development in the city, which was denied by the WC Road Commission. In order to release Baird Farms from the obligation, they have offered a settlement of $132,000
which the BOC approved on 1st reading this week. Recently, another $150,000 (approved by BOC) was offered from a land owner to release their obligation tied to a signal near Exxon/Hobby Lobby on Belinda Pkwy, which was not warranted and PW did not support. All of these funds will only go toward various District 4 projects.

S Greenhill at Willoughby – The city has approved plans to put a roundabout here. Construction is estimated to begin spring 2021. Timeline greatly depends on acquisition of ROW/easements and utility relocations.

Central Pike Interchange – TDOT looking at engineering firms to begin the environmental and preliminary engineering design phases. TDOT surveys have been completed. A very early timeframe for construction would be in the 4-6 year timeframe (at the earliest).

S MJ Rd widening (south from Providence to Central Pk) – The transportation report is substantially complete and environmental work/preliminary design for ROW is still underway with TDOT. Estimated start of construction is within 3-5 years, expected to take 18-24 months to complete.

Signal at Lebanon Rd/S Greenhill Rd – Even though a signal warrant with TDOT did warrant a signal, currently there is no funding. In addition to a signal, the project would include some realignment of S Greenhill Rd to line up with Santa Fe Trail. A portion of S Greenhill Rd is in the county, which adds to complications and delays.

Train Station Parking Expansion – Now that that RTA has approved the expansion project, it should be starting construction between 4-8 months, possibly sooner. Please note, this is RTA property. The city does not own it or control it. It is under the jurisdiction of State and Federal agencies.

Traffic signal at Providence Pkwy (between Kroger/Body Shop) – Construction is set to begin spring/summer 2020. AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE: This was already in the works prior to me ever getting appointed this past August. There is nothing I can do to stop this light because the warrant study showed the need for one. I agree this is going to create many more traffic congestion issues on top of the problems we already have. I am hopeful the city’s transportation and traffic departments will sync this signal and the one at S MJ Rd to help the flow of traffic. 

New FireHall in N MJ – Located next to the new Green Hill High School on Lebanon Rd, the official groundbreaking for MJ’s new north firehall should take place sometime this spring. It will then go through the design stage, go before the PC, then go out for bid. Once a contractor is selected, at that point they can break ground. An outside estimated time frame prior to breaking ground is approximately 6-9 months.

Golden Bear Improvements (N to Curd Rd/Lebanon Rd) – Still in design stage. Some funding from impact fees of the Bradshaw Farms development will go toward this project.

New business updates:
—Exxon (Belinda Pkwy) – set to open anytime.
—CareNow (new building next to Bonfire, current business located next to Pizza Hut) – estimated timeframe is summer.
—Crumble Cookies will be going next to Haagen-Daz in Providence. Marketplace (opposite where LifeWay was) – no timeframe.
—Haagen-Daz is under construction. I do not have a final date.
—Vanderbilt Medical (next to Jason’s Deli) – possibly summer.
—A urology practice planned next to Exxon – no timeframe.
—Dual Brand Hotel (behind Goodwill) – no timeframe.
—BurgerIm (next to Belk) closed, another restaurant is considering the location.
—Possible replacement coming where LifeWay was. May have more information in February.
—Christmas Store on NMJRD – under construction.
—Duncan Donuts going next to the Christmas Store – possibly 12 months.
—Taco Bell on Lebanon Rd broke ground.
—Meatballs eatery coming to Cool View Commons on Lebanon Rd (across from Hickory Hills).
—Pump It Up (near Planet Fitness) closed. A possible replacement is considering the location.
—Local Joe’s Cafe (meat & 3, previous location of Mirko’s, NMJRD/E Division) – opening soon.

The two BOC meetings during February are scheduled for Monday, February 10th and 24th beginning at 6:15 pm for public hearing and BOC at 6:30 pm. The public is invited to attend and if you have anything you would like to share, opinions, input, etc., each citizen has 3 minutes during citizens comments.

MJ City District 4 (south of I-40) is in the MJ’s Chipper Service Zone 1. You can sign up for text/email alerts when they will be back in zone 1 at https://www.mtjuliet-tn.gov/list.aspx?listid=236.