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.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Update: 1/31/09

Hello MJ:

Greetings on this sunny Saturday afternoon. Here’s a few items of local interest to share.

By most all accounts feedback from last Thursday’s citizens forum on fire protection has been positive. I understand this issue is fraught with emotion for many; some thoroughly convinced we must have greater capability to prevent and react to fires within the City; while others concerned with how it will be paid for. Whatever the outcome; be it status quo, providing greater support to WEMA, or initiating action to start our own fire department, it will be a decision made by your Board of Commissioners (BOC). I urge those of you who have thoughts on this issue to contact your Commissioner or the Mayor. A listing of the BOC with their phone numbers can be found on the city’s home page. However, short of sustaining the current course, please know that whatever is decided will require extensive fiscal resources.

On another note, we had tremendous interest in the bids for the Charlie Daniels Skate Park. In addition to building the skate park we will be do some long overdue storm water abatement efforts in changing the contour of the land around the Rec Center. Along with that, we anticipate work to start on the Rec Center expansion project, courtesy of Panattoni Corporation, within the next few weeks. Visitors to the park will notice prep work has begun for the expansion, so be prepared for a little dust and disruption both inside and out of the Center itself. Visitors will also note a new pavilion has just been completed near the back of the park, significantly enhancing our capability to host picnics and other special events. Many thanks to Mr. Dennis Buchanan, Director of Parks and Recreation, and his great crew for all the work they’ve done to improve park and recreational opportunities for our community. And speaking of new recreational opportunities, we hope to see you at tonight’s “Open Mic” inside the gym, at 7 p.m. This is the first time the Parks staff has tried this kind of event, so we have high hopes it will be well received and attended.

I’ve had a number of questions regarding signage at the I-40/S. Mt. Juliet Road overpass. Please know that the Tennessee Department of Transportation (which is responsible for the road) has designed and is fabricating signs and connections for the poles that are now in place. I am advised this area receives a substantial amount of wind, and the previous signs TDOT installed were removed due to vibrations caused through wind shear. As I understand the new cable support system has springs and buffers that allow acceptable movement during windy periods. While on the subject of roads, like many of you, here in City Hall we await outcome of the President’s economic stimulus package since the widening of North Mt. Juliet Road (from Division St. to Lebanon Rd.) is the only “shovel ready” project TDOT has approved in Wilson County. I want to thank Mr. Shannon Joyner, Mt. Juliet’s Assistant Director of Public Works, and the team at Grisham, Smith Engineering who did a remarkable job this last year in keeping land use changes along this portion of the road posted with TDOT so the widening project would be ready once funding was secured.

For those of you who live or regularly drive along W. Division you’ve seen new delineators at the Greenhills/W. Division intersection. This is part of the required quiet zone equipment. From all accounts work progresses well on the QZ, and testing should start soon, with concurrent training of the railroad engineers. The Federal Railroad Administration requires a 21 day notice posted implementing a quiet zone, but we hope soon after that the horns will be quiet.

Finally, here’s another pitch for our new Animal Shelter. We have over 30 dogs and cats that all need good homes. We also have numerous volunteer opportunities at the Shelter. If you haven’t visited the Shelter yet, it is located at 115 Industrial Drive. On behalf of all our “guests” we extend a hearty welcome.

Take care and talk with you later.

R. Robertson
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2009 at 7:19 AM

    Hello community servant. Thank you for the updates. It seems that all of your comments lead me in one direction. Mt Juliet is on the grow. Multicfacitated endeavors abound, and a city staff tries to manage adequately. As a Mt Julietian I have to pause and wonder, is there a task team assigned to evaluation of the next 10, 20 and 30 years in our city. Do we have a "master-plan" if you will. What will we look like what do we want to look like. Not just in land use but in elements like what fire protection should be or our police force, we could even move to education, will we always be depend on the county for education? I could carry this list on but I think you get my question. Just wondering in that is in place or in the minds of our city leaders and top level staff. Again thank you and all of you for serving extremely adequately. You all are good for the city.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)