Town ideas include speed crackdown; sports tournaments
A major volleyball tournament, an all-inclusive playground for handicapped children and a solution to its speeding motorists were just three of the ideas Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen members prioritized during an annual strategic meeting in Tennessee State Bank Friday, Jan. 25.
“We want to use our goals; we want to use our vision; we want to stick with our vision,” Town administrator David Smoak said. “We want to make sure everything we do is related to those (vision and critical success factors) in some different way.”
Board members spent at least six hours deciding on their top priorities for projects they want completed in 2019, five years ahead and 10 years from now.
Among those priorities, they all saw developing a detailed implementation plan for each phase of McFee Park as a top priority for this year.
During discussions about parks, Alderman Scott Meyer suggested a major sporting event, such as a volleyball tournament, to enhance sports tourism.
“So I would like to see three national sporting events happening here in Farragut and only in Farragut in the next five years,” Meyer said.
Another park-related project, which Alderman Drew Burnette offered, was an all-inclusive playground for handicapped children.
He suggested McFee Park as the venue.
• Getting Virtue and Union roads projects started, from design to construction;
• Establishing a funding mechanism for tourism marketing, which could include re-introducing talks on an occupancy tax;
• Deciding on and funding approved for Phase III of McFee Park, finishing up Farragut Community Center;
• Straightening out the Watt Road/Kingston Pike intersection and other road improvement projects;
• Determining the future use of Campbell Station Inn; developing an expansion plan for Mayor Bob Leonard Park;
• Finding new sources for additional Town revenue streams;
• Creating a unique downtown district;
• Establishing a youth council and work-based learning application, which would allow businesses to connect with student interns;
• Implementing best practices for traffic-calming measures on Town streets to reduce vehicular speeds;
• Updating the Town’s land use plan for Outlet Drive and McFee Road corridors, as well as a major road plan;
• Developing pedestrian connections; and
• Keeping up with state legislature affecting the Town.
