Hello Mt. Juliet:
What do you get when you match a near picture perfect day up with thousands of children, parents, pets, and put them all inside Charlie Daniels Park. The answer is our 17th
Annual Easter in the Park. With more than 18k eggs to be found, we simply couldn’t have asked for a better day, better behaving kids, and even an overgrown Easter Bunny all working together to make the Mt. Juliet Easter in the Park event one of the milestones of our community. I want to pass a special thanks to the crew of the Parks and Recreation Department, the MJPD Explorers, and to our recently reactivated Special Events Committee for all the hard work they put into this year’s Easter in the Park, making it the outstanding success it was. Also a hearty thanks and tip of the hat to Pastor Andrew Wharton and the congregation at Life Assembly Church for their tremendously kind gift of “Ten Golden Eggs” stuffed with nearly $1k in gifts and prizes. The folks at Life Assembly have been extremely kind to our city in many other ways . . . our sincerest thanks for all you do.
As of this writing we plan to break ground on the “Reserve L” portion of the Eastern Connector within the next 30 to 45 days. Thanks to some great work by Mr. Marlin Keel,
Mr. Shannon Joyner of your Department of Public Works who persisted through some incredible bureaucracy and successfully captured a 50% matching grant for this project. We estimate this should save the city about $1.5m. We also received some good news that our request to start the West Division Greenway Project has been approved. An initial $450k, or about one-third of the project cost has been earmarked as part of the President’s national stimulus plan. Look for that work to start on the bike path and pedestrian walkway this summer. Any day now we are also hoping for an announcement that TDOT has approved moving forward with widening Mt. Juliet Road from the Division Street intersection to Lebanon Road. This long anticipated and highly needed project will significantly improve traffic flow through the center of town.
Finally, I recently recieved an email asking about where the "Bark Park" was located. It is in the South Mt. Juliet Park, at 151 Southeast Springdale, just off Belinda Parkway. I understand the Park is hit with most citizens and their furry friends. As resources become available we will add more items for both the two legged and four-legged park users.
Take care and talk with you later.
Sincerely,
R. Robertson
1. This won’t be a “blog” per se. It isn’t meant to be a place to post all commentary or opinions. Everyone is invited to send in a note, but don’t be offended if it isn’t posted. There’s other sites that are perfectly content to drag through what they believe to be wrong with every issue at every turn. This is about what was done, why and where do we go from here. We won’t talk about two and three year old issues. If the desire is to engage in those discussions then look somewhere else.
2. This isn’t the Board of Commissioner forum. MJ has a City Manager form of government. The Board makes policy; the staff implements. I’ll be happy to pass your comments along to the Board, either good or bad, but the intent of this medium is to address how we could better enact policy and improve city services.
3. The narratives will be directly from me, your city manager. I won’t hide under some pseudonym or other persona. My name is Randy Robertson. My phone number is 754-2552. I am your City Manager. If your issue or concerns involves another department of the city (Public Works, Police, Animal Control, etc.) I will invite the appropriate team member to provide some comments, but it will still be done under the auspices of the City Manager.
4. I will try and be as timely as possible, but this is another one of the “additional duties” for which civil service is renown.
5. The City Staff is here for you. The desired outcome is for us to have a positive relationship with the citizens we serve, but we all know that always won’t happen. Everyone has an opinion. It is the staff’s responsibility to work through the opinions and emotion, meet the requirements of the laws and rules under which we operate, and hopefully serve the greatest number in that process. It is not an exact science. The more we have a relationship with you, the better we can meet your expectations.
6. Finally, this is about telling our story. Hopefully you will be able to sort the myth from reality or see the issue through a different set of lens. I hope you will find this of value and participate.
2. This isn’t the Board of Commissioner forum. MJ has a City Manager form of government. The Board makes policy; the staff implements. I’ll be happy to pass your comments along to the Board, either good or bad, but the intent of this medium is to address how we could better enact policy and improve city services.
3. The narratives will be directly from me, your city manager. I won’t hide under some pseudonym or other persona. My name is Randy Robertson. My phone number is 754-2552. I am your City Manager. If your issue or concerns involves another department of the city (Public Works, Police, Animal Control, etc.) I will invite the appropriate team member to provide some comments, but it will still be done under the auspices of the City Manager.
4. I will try and be as timely as possible, but this is another one of the “additional duties” for which civil service is renown.
5. The City Staff is here for you. The desired outcome is for us to have a positive relationship with the citizens we serve, but we all know that always won’t happen. Everyone has an opinion. It is the staff’s responsibility to work through the opinions and emotion, meet the requirements of the laws and rules under which we operate, and hopefully serve the greatest number in that process. It is not an exact science. The more we have a relationship with you, the better we can meet your expectations.
6. Finally, this is about telling our story. Hopefully you will be able to sort the myth from reality or see the issue through a different set of lens. I hope you will find this of value and participate.
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