presstalk 671-TALK (8255) or editor@farragutpress.com
• I commend the (farragut)press on the publication on the (four)-page Constitution and Bill of Rights (special section in our Sept. 17 issue). We are seldom reminded of these important documents in these times of terrible political strife. Also, I agree with Mr. (Mike) Mitchell about the Town Center plans to include apartments. Keep this as a civic and cultural center, not a typical residential complex. (Editor’s note: Town elected and non-elected leaders have repeatedly emphasized a Town Center would be mixed use, a combination of commercial and residential)
• While I’m glad to see a local fast-food franchise renovate their facility, I was saddened to see that they removed all the trees surrounding the property, so that now, in essence, we have a whole section of Town that’s nothing but pavement back-to-back-to-back. Conversely, I am very pleased to see what the Town of Farragut has done with their property at the corner of Campbell Station Road and Kingston Pike. The landscaping is starting to look really nice; I love the trees, and that extra greenspace there will really add a lot to our Town and visibility for the people driving through the area.
• I would like to speak on the environmental impact that the trucks have coming up South Watt Road onto Old Stage Road, filled with the dirt and gravel going over to McFee Road. Today I saw, when I was at the intersection of Old Stage and Kingston Pike, dump trucks and gravel trucks coming down Kingston Pike the way they should, and turning onto Old Stage and then onto McFee Road, where they are building these $1 million homes up there. I live on Old Stage Road, and the other day the diesel fuel smell was just horrendous from these big trucks. … Can the road not have a load weight limit? People walk on either side of the road, and there’s a bicycle lane. It’s just a two-lane road. I would like to put that out to the community to see if we can put some sort of environmental impact (evaluation) as to weight limits for these big trucks coming from South Watt Road to Old Stage road.
• Last week there was another hearing about the Town Center and apartments and soforth over at the Kroger-Biddle Farm area. The Mayor (Ron Williams) made a statement: “again, this is what the majority of the community I represent wants as soon as possible, and my vote would be for what is best for the majority of our Town, as there will always be a handful who do not like changes and will disagree on what the majority wants.” The fact is, 270 people responded to the survey of approximately 24,000 residents in Farragut. That equates to .01 percent of the residents. How does that possibly come anywhere near to making a majority (who) agree with what the mayor wants? Not what the people want, what the mayor wants.
