Corner Music Building
Several neighbors have asked about the Corner Music building renovation at 12th South and Dallas. The new owners are re-using and renovating the existing building without any change to the footprint. They have installed a temporary covering on the front while replacing the windows. Full access to the sidewalk will be restored when that work is complete.
21st Avenue Corridor Study
The 21st Avenue Corridor Study has had terrific participation. The Charette Week activities provided the Planning staff with lots of input from neighbors and property owners. The big take-aways are that everyone wants better sidewalks and the possibility of being able to cross the street between Blair and Woodlawn. People are open to the addition of some commercial use to the current office and residential that is currently allowed along that stretch, but parking and traffic impacts will need to be adequately dealt with. Everyone agreed that Hillsboro Hardware and Brown’s Diner are neighborhood treasures that should be preserved and protected. The process will continue as Planners continue to consolidate the ideas onto maps and into an official vision statement and goals and objectives. Neighbors are encouraged to continue to provide feedback at the upcoming annual meetings, on-line, and in January when updates are provided. Anyone who has not been able to take part in Charette Week can see the working documents and take the survey online here.
Murphy Road Hotel
The council public hearing for the Murphy Road Hotel project has been deferred from November 6 until December 4. This will allow time for more discussion on traffic calming measures in our neighborhood and on reducing the scale of the project.
Scooters
Many neighbors have communicated their support or frustration with the arrival of scooter mobility in Nashville. The council put a lot of effort into creating guidelines for the pilot of this new way to get around. While it has served a number of natives and visitors well, there is still much work to be done to reduce inappropriate use, like riding on the sidewalk instead of the bike lane and parking in appropriate places. The Transportation and Licensing Commission (TLC) is in charge of supervision of the pilot and has authority to allow or prohibit expansion of the program depending on how well the companies and their users are complying with the regulations. The TLC will hold a public hearing on Scooters on Thursday, November 15 at 1:30 in the jury assembly room in the basement of the Metro Courthouse. Neighbors are welcome to attend and speak or to write the TLC ahead of time here.
Neighborhood Associations
This is the month for neighborhood associations to get their entire membership together. This year the two major annual meetings fall on the same night, Wednesday, November 13 at 6:30. The HWEN Annual meeting is at Belmont United Methodist Church in Hillsboro Village. It will be both an information event with numerous stations for different topics of interest like the upcoming Tree Day, 21st Avenue Corridor Study, Traffic calming initiatives, and a social event. The annual meeting of the Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors, Inc., will occur at Christ the King Church on Belmont Blvd and will include information from their committees, Metro police, university updates from Vanderbilt and Belmont.
Trees!
November is the perfect month for planting trees, and there are lots of opportunities available. The 33rd annual HWEN Tree Day is November 17. Trees can be ordered by November 9 from the HWEN website (www.HWEN.org) or from forms in the newsletter and picked up the morning of the 17th at the Martin Center, 2400 Fairfax. Trees are 5 to 6 feet tall and balled and burlap. This size is easy for volunteers to load and plant, and they have a good record of survival. Prices are in the $50 to $75 range. For those who would like larger trees, Metro Beautification is hosting its first ever tree sale with 1.5 inch caliper trees in the $100 to $125 range. There are also options to pay extra to have the tree planted by professionals and watered for the next year. Order from Metro Beautification here. Both programs are supporting Metro’s new tree canopy replacement goal “Root Nashville” of planting half a million new trees by 2020. New trees can be registered online here. And while we’re focusing on trees, everyone should know that Metro’s current Tree Ordinance requires each new home to have at least 1 tree in front. Projects that are completed without trees can be reported at Hub Nashville and a gentle reminder to the contractor will bring one more tree to the neighborhood, putting us one tree close to the Root Nashville goal.
2018 Tree Lighting Ceremony
The Parks Department is looking for the perfect Christmas tree for the city’s Tree Lighting Ceremony, which is scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday, November 30 at Public Square Park.
Metro Parks’ Horticulturalist Randall Lantz says they are looking for a specific tree in a specific circumstance. Parks wants a tree that has outgrown its location or is a hazard to a power line, so that it is destined for removal anyway. The Parks Department is looking for a 30 to 40 foot Norway Spruce that looks good from all angles. The tree must be located in Davidson or a bordering county that has service from Nashville Electric Service, Metro’s partners in installing the tree. To donate a tree, contact randall.lantz@nashville.gov.
Street Sweeping
The Public Works Street Sweeping Schedule is found online here. This time of year, it is especially important to keep leaves and debris out of the street so that it doesn’t get washed into storm drains and exacerbate storm water problems. Neighbors can help by moving cars from the street on sweeping day, never blowing leaves into the street, putting leaves in compostable bags for brush pick-up, and adopting a storm drain here.
Holiday Trash Pickup
Holiday trash pick-up takes place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Construction in Hillsboro Village
Construction in Hillsboro Village continues. The Moxy at Belcourt and 20th has completed its night concrete pours. Belcourt Village behind Hopdoddy’s has complete excavation and now will begin construction of the parking garage. Thirteen concrete slab pours occur at night of those spread out over the next eight months. The first pour will be in early November and then there will be a pour every two to three weeks after that. Placement would typically start between midnight and 2:00am and the finishing operations will run into the day, but should be finished by that afternoon.
Belmont University News
Belmont University is beginning demolition to make way for its new Performing Arts Center on Belmont Blvd at the site of the International Market. The International Market will continue operation until August of 2019, but demolition of several structures behind it on Bernard will begin this month followed in December by utility work in Compton Avenue and Belmont Blvd. There will be some blasting in December related to road work. Belmont has hired VCE Inc. to perform pre-blast surveys in all the homes within a 900 foot radius of the site. Homeowners should have received a letter to set up an appointment for the survey. More information is available here.
I-440
TDOT is beginning the repaving of I- 440 this fall. The first stage is surveying, which will require night lane closures, followed by replacement of the lights. Thanks to all the neighbors who wrote to TDOT asking them to change the lights to a less white color. TDOT has agreed to use the 3000K LED lights, which research has indicated has less impact on sleeping. The actual construction will run for the next year and will operate round the clock for much of that time. Some of the process will very noisy for a couple of days for each section of pavement along I-440.
Property Taxes
2018 property tax statements have been sent out. Neighbors over the age of 65 with incomes below $29,270 can apply for Metro’s tax relief programs at the Metro Trustee’s office at 700 2nd Avenue South. More information is available here.
MTA Bus Improvements
MTA has announced new onboard Wi-Fi on its largest buses with a plan to expand to the whole fleet. This will first benefit bus operations along Murfreesboro Pike, where the transit signal priority project construction is wrapping up. It will enable bus operators to begin using green-light extenders, queue jumps, and bus-only lanes to improve on-time performance in 2019. Customers will also notice the buses have new fare boxes. Installation of the new fare boxes will wrap up next week and, with the aforementioned Wi-Fi onboard, will bring the agency one step closer to implementing its new fare collection system in 2019. Select buses also feature an exclusive pilot GPS-based technology, allowing the newest hybrid buses to switch from diesel emissions to a battery-only mode. Three of the new buses will test out the program, which aims to go into a quiet, electric vehicle mode around certain hospitals, schools, universities, and inside the downtown bus station. The goal of the pilot program is to expand the GPS-tech throughout the fleet as well as expand the zones so that Davidson County’s more populated areas can enjoy reduced carbon-emissions and less noise pollution while public transit can be found. Information about the BAE System pilot program in Nashville can be found here.
12South Winter WarmUp
December 1st is the Annual 12 South Winter WarmUp at Sevier Park starting with the Kids 1K run at 7:00AM followed by the 6K and 12K at 8:00AM. More info can be found at their website.
Nashville Reads
The Nashville Reads book this year is Hidden Figures. Start reading now to be ready for book discussion in the spring and a visit from the author in February.
In Conclusion
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall colors in our neighborhoods. Please let me know what is on your mind at burkley.allen@nashville.gov or 615-383-6604.
Regards,
Burkley Allen
Metro Council 18th District