Now it’s Farragut, TN, 37934
The Town of Farragut is “government official,” just in time for its 40th anniversary.
Mayor Ron Williams announced last week that “Farragut” now matches up to its own ZIP code as the official address — not Knoxville — thanks to diligent work by Farragut Municipal Planning Commissioner Jon Greene, Town administrator David Smoak and federal help from U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-2nd District) and his staff.
“They said I could not make this happen,” Williams stated in an e-mail. “But with the great help from Jennifer Stansberry in Tim Burchett’s office and persistent Farragut citizen Jon Greene, we have some great news to report on the 40th Anniversary of the Town of Farragut.
“In the past if you entered 37934 — which is the ZIP Code for Farragut — the primary name for our Town would come up Knoxville, with Farragut as secondary,” Williams wrote. “That has now been changed with the Postal Service.
“When you see Rep. Tim Burchett, please remember to thank him for listening to our needs and making this happen.”
“We helped make that request to the Postal Service,” Burchett said Friday, Jan. 17. “It took a few months to get it done, but we were glad to do it. Ron has been a good friend of mine for a long time, and I knew how important is was to him.
“... And it’s cool it coincided with the 40th Anniversary.”
Moreover, “When we needed (Farragut) addresses in a certain format, we reached out to (Smoak), and he provided that information,” Burchett added.
The issue first came to light last June, when an anonymous farragutpress Presstalk contributor noted he/she was told the Town was not recognized as a separate entity by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when he/she applied for a new drivers license.
Farragut resident Jim Caldwell saw the letter, then addressed the Board of Mayor and Alderman about the issue.
Independently, Greene also had seen the presstalk, and he started doing his own investigation.
“My interest was peaked, and I called the local post office,” he said, adding he checked with Williams, who gave his blessing on Greene’s independent investigation.
“I did some research in the U.S. Postal regulations, and found that nothing prevented a ZIP code be assigned apart from a distribution center,” Greene said.
“They kept at it, and the Mayor found (the change) had finally been approved by a district manager,” he added.
