BOMA votes 3-0 on trio of items
Drivers may see tulips, crape myrtles and dogwoods when leaving Exit 373 from Interstate 40/75 thanks to a unanimous decision by Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen Thursday, May 26.
BOMA approved a contract between Tennessee Department of Transportation and town of Farragut that would give the Town control over landscaping and maintenance of areas on all sides of Exit 373 from I-40/75.
“This is, let’s say, a dream or something,” Bud McKelvey, Farragut Public Works director, said.
McKelvey said he had brought up the idea for more than 15 years and succeeded in getting the contract after TDOT finished work on improvements to the exit.
The contract gives Farragut Public Works responsibility for mowing, weed eating, litter pickup and installation of landscaped beds.
After the meeting, David Smoak, Town administrator, said McKelvey would bid out the project.
“We’ll see how much we can get done for the budget that we have,” Smoak said.
The current Capital Investment Plan includes $75,000 for this Interstate exit landscaping project.
“I think it’s going to be a great gateway to our town,” he said.
Aldermen Bob Markli and Louise Povlin and Vice Mayor Dot LaMarche unanimously approved an ordinance to rezone property at 1006 McFee Road, a contract for auditing services and a half marathon special event.
BOMA voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to rezone two parcels along McFee Road from Rural Residential to General Single Family Residential.
BOMA approved this ordinance on first reading at its Feb. 11 meeting with the stipulation that all agricultural uses would have to be removed from these properties before they would vote for a final approval.
“Part of the reason why it’s taken a while to get to this point for second reading is they had to remove the barn and sell their horses,” Mark Shipley, Community Development director, said.
The Board voted to approve a three-year contract with In-gram, Overholt & Bean. In fiscal year 2016 it was $13,900, in FY 2017 $14,350 and in FY 2018 $1,400.
BOMA unanimously approved a 13.1 Half Marathon Special Event. LaMarche made the motion.
Knoxville Track Club planned this year’s half marathon for Saturday, Oct. 29. “I’m excited to see this race continue to grow and to celebrate the heart of Farragut,” Povlin said.
She is co-owner of Anytime Fitness, which hosts the first drink station for the half-marathon at its Farragut location along Kingston Pike.
“We’re trying to not disrupt traffic that day,” Karen Tindal, race director, said regarding her reasoning for having a 15-minute delay for safety between the 5K and half-marathon races rather than a longer one.
Joseph Konvicka, AmeriCorps Watershed assistant, gave a presentationearly in the meeting regarding his work with Outdoor Classroom, Earthfest, Water Quality Forum, McFee Park waste audits and other projects.
