Update: October 13, 2011

Good Evening MJ:

A few updates as we head into the weekend:

1. Thanks to a couple of you who have expressed interest in participating in the Community Resiliency System (CRS) initiative which MJ is serving as one of 7 pilot cities in the U.S. If you would like more info on CRS or how to participate, please call Mark Hinesley, President of the MJ/West Wilson Chamber of Commerce, at 758-3478, or me at 754-2552 for more details. Our inaugural meeting will be in early November, so there’s plenty of time to check out some details.

2. September was another great month for sales tax receipts across MJ with nearly $22k more than in September 2010 ($500k v $478k). Remember how important it is to our local economy and our own businesses to “Shop MJ First.”

3. Several local church youth groups are partnering together to host a “Glow Party” at the Charlie Daniels Rec Center on Saturday, 22 October, from 8:00 pm to midnight. A nominal entry fee will be charged which will cover the cost of glow sticks, refreshments, music and more. This promises to be a great event for our teens (13 to 18), and the churches and Parks and Rec Team who are sponsoring this have asked me to encourage all our readers to let your teen’s know this truly great activity. For more info or to help with the cost of the event, call Taylor Bates (566-1660) or Tim Henson (642-6130).

4. Kudos to the MJ Parks and Rec Team and our own PD for great planning and execution of last week’s Halloween in the Park. We estimate about 6k rolled through the park that afternoon, loading up on tons of candy, sun and fun. One of the more interesting things I found from manning the city’s booth is how many of you there were who were already on Nixle. Most of the people I spoke with about signing up said they’ve been on for months and how much they loved the service. For our newcomers, you are an army of nearly 2,300 and growing. Tell your friends to sign up by going to the city’s web page (www.cityofmtjuliet.org) and go to the “Nixle” logo at the bottom left side of the screen.

5. A couple events to be on the lookout for: first, Sam's Sprint 5k Run, this Saturday (15 Oct). Sign up at 7 a.m. with the run/walk starting at 8 a.m. For those who don’t know, Sam's Sprint was created to honor the memory of infant Sam Clark, from here in MJ. Through your kind donations, last year Sam’s Sprint was instrumental in underwriting the cost of creating our “Squirrel’s Run” tot area at Charlie Daniels Park. This year proceeds from the run will go to support the Mt. Juliet Library. What a fantastic way to spend what promises to be a beautiful Fall Saturday morning.
Also, MJ’s own Senior Citizens Center will be holding its own “Celebrate MJ Walk” on Saturday, 29 October, right along North MJ Road. Vicky Yates, News Channel 5 Anchor, will serve as the Honorary Chair and Official “Celebrate Mt. Juliet Walk” Starter for this 6 mile event. Registration starts at 0600, ( yes, that’s 6 a.m. for the rest of you), with opening events at 6:45 a.m. For more details google the “MJ Senior Citizens Activity Center.” Proceeds go to the Center in it’s expanding mission to improve services for our senior population.

6. Did you see the latest edition of the front page of the MJ News? Our own Casey Binion, Project Officer for the NMJR widening project was interviewed, and reiterated, that barring major bouts of inclement weather, all 5 lanes of the road should be “drivable” by the end of the year. While there’s still touch up work to be done, this will be months ahead of what was forecasted when the project started. Many thanks to LoJac, TDOT, the City of MJ, Piedmont Gas, MTEMC, TDS, WWUD, Comcast, and others who have been involved in this tremendously complicated and expensive endeavor. Also, a special thanks to all the businesses and home owners along NMJR, and to our commuters for your patience and consideration. It’s been a long journey but the end is in sight.

7. On a final note, hopefully by early November, we’ll be looking to unveil a major initiative in City Hall with our plans to go to a “311” call in system. You’ll no longer need to remember a whole litany of phone numbers for individual city departments, by using a easy to use, menu driven prompt, you’’ be able to go straight to the department you wish to talk to. There’s still a few more “bugs” to work out, but we’re shooting to be up in the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend. Take care, God Bless and talk with you later.
R. Robertson

Update: October 7, 2011

Good Afternoon MJ:

It’s the day before our annual “Halloween in the Park” blast, and your Parks and Rec Team are busy with last minute preparations in what is traditionally our biggest and best event of the year. Please join us, and over 60 vendors tomorrow for what promises to be a beautiful Fall day. Wear your best costume. There’ll be loads of free candy, great live music, food, hay and pony rides as well as inflatables for the kids. We have over $1k in prizes donated this year for the costume contests thanks to John Barker and his crew at Two Rivers Ford. It all starts at 11:00 am.

Do you have a question on your property taxes? We had another request to publicize the property tax calculator web site. Go to http://www.tennesseetrustee.com/node/13 and just follow the menu.

Kudos to the MJ Animal Shelter’s 501 3C Board of Directors for their excellent guidance and stewardship of the Shelter’s charitable fund. Thanks to them the Shelter continues to have the resources to work with select animals without consuming additional taxpayer funds. They are, in large measure, responsible for raising both the money and food donations that has enabled the MJ Shelter to not spend any operational funds on animal food in now nearly three years. Well Done! Speaking of the Shelter, there will be an Adoption Fair at Halloween in the Park. What a great opportunity to see your prospective pet in the great outdoors.

The Mapco North Station is up and operational. We wish General Manager James and his entire team the best of luck in their bright, attractive and well-designed new store. We also want to welcome a new store, Great Price Cleaners, on Lebanon Road at the Clearview Shopping Center, to the growing roles of new MJ businesses. A few other business notes include Kay’s Jewelers build-out is going great. They should be open just in time for the holidays; the Massage Envy at Providence has an awesome new addition going up; Price’s Collision Center commercials are advertising their new MJ location will be the their largest in the state; the new Firestone Store (behind Cheddars) will hold their ribbon cutting today; and the Diamond Dance Academy at Providence Commons is open for business with a ribbon cutting scheduled for next week. Good luck to all.

Best wishes and God’s speed to the Mission Team from Grace United Methodist (UMC), Providence UMC and churches from around the nation for their mission trip to Zimbabwe, Africa the next few weeks. Under the watchful eye of Mt. Juliet’s own Dr. Paul van Burean, this team will be doing medical, social and construction work with citizens from one of the world’s most challenged nations. Safe travels.

The Annual Martin Cummings Sweet Tooth Auction to benefit United Way - specifically Mt. Juliet Sr. Citizens Center and Mt. Juliet Help Center, will be Tuesday, October 11th at 9:30, with light breakfast at 9:00. Plenty of wonderful cakes, pies, etc., to be auctioned!!! Always a lot of fun, and open to the public!! The event will be at Crye-Leike Realtors on 1285 N. Mt. Juliet Road.

On a final note, the Community Resiliency program is gearing up. To refresh your memory, MJ was selected as one of the seven pilot cities across the US to work with federal officials at Oak Ridge National Labs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to drill into what makes some communities more resilient to natural, man-made or economic disasters. Last month several of us from MJ attended a Department of Homeland Security session of what the pilot program is designed to do, and how it will be tested in these 7 select cities. The fun part is about to begin, and we wanted to extend an invitation to one or two select persons who want to make a difference in our community, and who has some time and the skills and talents to help us move MJ forward through the program. Does any of this sound like you or someone you may know? If that’s the case call or email me at (754-2552) or Mr. Mark Hinesley, Director of the MJ Chamber of Commerce (758-3478 or cell 668-5614/ email: mtjuliet@tds.net ) to talk about “what if’s.”

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

R. Robertson

Update: September 15, 2010

Greetings MJ on this cloudy Thursday:

Here’s a few items of interest and FYI’s from around the city:

We’re getting close to our largest park and recreation event of the year, our annual “Halloween in the Park (HIP).” HIP 2011 promises to be bigger and better than any in the past. On 8 October, the place to be is Charlie Daniels Park. For more info call 758-6522, or go to the Parks and Rec section of the city’s web page (www.cityofmtjuliet.org).

Some good news this month, sales tax receipts for August were up about $27k over the same period in 2010. That’s a little more than a 5% gain, and much better than the dip we took in July. Thanks for Shopping MJ First. Speaking of Shopping MJ, have you noticed the new billboard on the west bound side of I-40 around the Mundy Park area. Special thanks to Decker signs and CPS land for their work on this and for waiving the normal rental cost of the board.

Remember, you can buy Music City Star tickets right here at City Hall. You can also get advanced game day Star express tickets for $15; $5 less than walk up purchases. The game day express will be pulling out of the MJ Station this Sunday for the Titan’s home opener against Baltimore’s Ravens.

The MJ Senior Citizens Center will be hosting a commemorative “Celebrate MJ Walk” on Saturday, 29 October. The walk, which is a recognition of the soon to complete North MJ Road (NMJR) widening project, starts at the Senior Citizens Center and moves north along NMJR and returns the Center. All totaled, it’s 6 miles if you cross the finish line. There will be a special, protein-packed spaghetti lunch and dinner available at the center the day before. All proceeds from the luncheon, dinner and walk go to the Senior Citizens Center. The meals are $7 each, and the walk is $20 (with T shirts available while they last) What a wonderful way to spend a crisp Fall day. For more info call Linda at 557-4703.

Speaking of walks, Nilette Rensch, wanted me to let you know the 2nd annual Huntington’s Disease Walk of Hope will take place this Saturday, 9/17, with registration starting at 8 a.m. and the walk itself starting at 10:00 from Jerry Mundy Park. Last year they raised over $35k to combat Huntington's Disease. HD is a devastating, hereditary, degenerative brain disorder for which there is, at present, no cure. HD slowly diminishes the affected individual's ability to walk, talk and reason, with eventually the person becoming totally dependent upon others for care. For more info, call Nilette at 316-6626, or simply come on down to Mundy Park this Saturday morning to make a difference.

The MJPD wanted me to remind you to lock your vehicle. They’ve seen an increase in car burglaries, with most coming from unsecured vehicles. Don’t leave items visible. Isn’t it ironic how no one ever thinks it will happen to them, yet there’s ample evidence indicating sooner or later it will, particularly if you “invite” it by not locking your car.

Several of us had the opportunity to talk with the leadership of TDOT and TDOT’s Region 3 this week. All of them still indicate they are shooting for all lanes to be open and operational on NMJR by the end of the year. There will be some cosmetic work to follow next Spring, but essentially this will be months ahead of the original projection. Keep your fingers crossed for continued favorable weather.

That’s about all for this edition. Take care, God Bless and talk with you later.

R. Robertson

Update: September 26, 2010

Good Afternoon MJ:

Its been some time since my last posting; quite a bit has occurred and there a lot of items on the horizon.

We received our August Sales Tax figures and they continued to exceed projection. August 2010 figures were over $80k more than in 2009. Again, this speaks to the success of and need for the city's "Shop MJ" program.

Red Alert!!! We'll be hosting County Mayor Randall Hutto in MJ City Hall on Wednesday, 29 September, starting at 8:30 for an "Open Door" opportunity with citizens. For now the plan is to do this the last Wednesday of each month. If you have any concerns or questions with county operations or issues, here's your opportunity to voice them right here in MJ. As an added feature, the County's Veteran Affairs Officer will also join in during these sessions. If your a vet, here's your chance to check out changes and programs within the VA. For more details look for the slide on Channel 3 or call us in City Hall at 754-2552..

Chief Garrett advises that reportable crime is slightly up compared to the same time period last year, with the rate of auto crashes even higher. Please share with your family and friends the MJPD is actively working on both of these elements.

Work is progressing well on both the North Mt. Juliet Road (NMJR) and West Division Greenway projects. For the most part we anticipate all the utility work on the NMJR to be done by the first of the year, with efforts now focused on the road widening. Those who use this road frequently can see this "shaping" is starting to take place. Barring any unforeseen issues or obstacles, Phase 1 of the West Division Greenway should be done by late November or early December.

Here's some upcoming events to post on your calendar:

1. Thursday, 30 Sept, at 6:00 p.m. there will be a Commissioner's Candidate Forum, hosted by the MJ News, at City Hall. All are invited. It is my understanding all candidates from District 2 and 4 who are running for election this November will be there. There will be an opportunity to pose questions to the candidate and if you miss it, tune in to Channel 3 where it will be rebroadcast.

2. Saturday, 9 October. Halloween in the Park (Charlie Daniels). Starts at 11:00 a.m. Lots of booths, candy and fun.

3. Saturday, 11 December. The MJ Christmas Parade. Come join us and hundreds of floats and marchers. If all goes well we'll have an extraordinary "Grand Marshal" this year. Watch Channel 3 and the city's web page for more info as we get closer to 11 December.

Congratulations to Jon Gray and the Volunteers of the MJ Animal Shelter for their recognition of our volunteer program in this year's Greater Nashville Regional Council Annual Awards Program. There's no question the MJ Shelter is comparable to the best Shelters in the U.S. Recent data indicates we have over a 96% adoption rate; in large measure due to the volunteers. It's also noteworthy that through donations we haven't had to buy animal food since the Shelter opened in Dec 2008. Thanks to all involved for making your Shelter a phenomenal one.

Remember: Early voting starts in mid October with Charlie Daniels Rec Center serving as the MJ early voting site.

Want to keep up with when the Chipper service will be in your neighborhood? Check out the city's web page. You can also rent a pavilion at CD Park, report a pot hole, take a look at the animals in the Shelter, or even pay city bills through the menu on the city's web page. Take a look.

That's about all for now. Take care and God Bless.

R. Robertson