News
November 20, 2024 by Tammy Cheek
Pedestrians passing along the Virtue Road Greenway at the old Virtue Mill site will see a new addition to the greenway: a Civil War interpretive sign.
“We care about history in Farragut,” Farragut Mayor Ron Williams said during an unveiling of the sign on Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11, at the Virtue Road entrance to the greenway. “You can tell from the historic markers at Founders Park and Mayor Ralph McGill Plaza and the Farragut Museum.”
Funded by a grant from the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable, the sign marks the spot where “the 17th Michigan Volunteer Regiment took a stand against Confederate forces on Nov. 16, 1863, as part of the Battle of Campbell Station,” Parks and Recreation director Ron Oestreich said.
“On behalf of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable board of directors and myself, we are very pleased to have a part in this dedication today,” Roundtable president Tammie McCarroll Burroughs said. “Many thanks to director Tim Vane for his work in making sure that the Dot Kelley Grant is distributed and put to good use.
“Dot would be proud for this today, and we’re proud we get to see this through,” she added.
East Tennessee historian Gerald Augustus, who researched the Battle of Campbell Station, related the events leading to the skirmish between Union and Confederate officers on that snowy day in November 1863, when the 17th Michigan Volunteer Regiment was overtaken at the mill while heading toward Knoxville.
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November 20, 2024 by Tammy Cheek
A change on the Town’s ethics standards raised some eyebrows during Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Thursday, Nov. 14.
Despite concerns, however, the Board conditionally voted 3-2 to approve amendments to its existing code of ethics standards for Town officers and employees on first reading.
Mayor Ron Williams, Vice Mayor Scott Meyer and Alderman Drew Burnette voted for the motion. Aldermen David White and Alex Cain voted no.
There will need to be a second reading to change the ordinance, which addresses “setting limits on and/or providing for reasonable and systematic disclosure of gifts or other things of value received by officials or employees that affect or appear to affect their discretion.”
“...The Town adopted the initial Code of Ethics in February 2007,” Finance director/Recorder Allison Myers said.
“The Town is electing to now adopt the MTAS model code of ethics, which combines these two restrictions with other ethics provisions that municipalities have commonly adopted,” she added.
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November 20, 2024 by Tammy Cheek
Although Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen reviewed designs for a 12-court pickleball court at Mayor Bob Leonard Park, it chose the conservative route: a nine-court complex design with two handicap parking spots in a 4-1 vote during its regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 14.
The decision, with a motion by Vice Mayor Scott Meyer and seconded by Alderman David White, came on the heels of a workshop, preceding the meeting, when Board members relayed their thoughts on both designs.
After a Oct. 24 workshop, “Ron Oestreich, our Parks (and Rec) director, went back with the design team and looked at a couple of modifications,” Town administrator David Smoak said during the Nov. 14 workshop. “What we’re asking for is to give us direction on which (pickleball) complex you would like to have us work with our designer team to design.”
Previously, the Board had six design options: Option 1, an eight-court complex with a parking lot for $1,305,000, which would be $144,000 under budget; option 2, an eight-court complex with a parking lot and fencing between courts plus shade structure for $1.3 million, $114,188 under the $1.45 million budget; Option 3, a 12-court complex with a parking lot, fencing in between courts and a shade structure for $2,118,000, which would be $668,000 over budget; Option 4, a 12-court complex with two ADA parking spots, fencing and shade for $1.6 million, which would be $220,000 over budget; option 5, nine courts with a parking lot, fencing and shade for $1.7 million, which would be $290,000 over budget; and option 6, a nine-court complex with two ADA parking spots, fencing and shade for $1,476,000, $26,000 over budget.
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November 20, 2024 by Tammy Cheek
The former Summit View nursing home at 12823 Kingston Pike near Dixie Lee Junction could get a new life as an independent senior living facility if approved by the Town.
Amy Sherrill, principal architect with Benefit Richeters, and Lynne Overton, currently Fairfield Inn and Suites general manager — but would be executive director for the new independent living facility — will be asking Farragut Municipal Planning Commission, and subsequently Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen, to approve a rezoning of the 5 acres from General Commercial (C-1) to Community Service (S-1). Sherrill and Overton presented their plans at a Town Staff/Developer meeting Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“This will be a workshop discussion with the Planning Commission,” when it meets Thursday, Nov. 21, Community Development director Mark Shipley said.
“The applicants want to re-purpose that (building on property, located across Kingston Pike from South Hobbs Road) and use it for an independent living and care facility,” he added. “So, they’re requesting to rezone it to S-1, Community Service.
“It will be three meals a day provided, with laundry facilities,” Overton said. “It will be strictly independent. There will be no nursing care, no CNA activities provided, nothing required to be licensed by the state.”
“The big picture for the site is we have no intention of changing any form or how much space is taken up on the property,” Sherrill said. “The parking is sufficient for what we want to do.
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November 20, 2024 by Tammy Cheek
Santa Claus is coming to Town.
The Town of Farragut again is gearing up for its annual Celebrate the Season event, presented by its Arts and Beautification Committee.
The event will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5, in Farragut Community Center, 239 Jamestowne Blvd., with the same favorite activities as last year.
“We’ll have photos with Santa available,” special events coordinator Rachel Malone said. She advised families to arrive early for the photos with Santa “if they want to guarantee they will get a spot for the picture.
“We’ll have a cookie-decorating station; there will be some crafts and an opportunity to write a letter to Santa,” she said. Also, there will be a holiday movie playing.
Celebrate the Season is free of charge and open to the public, according to Malone.
“Whenever they walk in, if they want a picture with Santa, they will get a time card that will give them their 15-minute window where they can get in line to get their picture made with him, but no registration is required,” she said.
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November 20, 2024 by
Get your holiday season started by joining Town of Farragut officials as the switch gets flipped between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. on a massive light display at Founders Park at Campbell Station. Countdown to Light the Park starts at 5:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 25, with a full slate of activities, including a visit from a special guest in red.
Meteorologist Mike Witcher emcees this year’s event, featuring entertainment from the Mark Boling Trio, the award-winning/two-time 2024 state champion FHS dance team and local favorite Mike Snodgrass.
Younger visitors will enjoy crafts, games and dropping letters into Santa’s mailbox. To receive a reply from Santa, mail letters by Monday, Dec. 16, and include a return address.
A new addition to Light the Park festivities is a 53-foot-by-33-foot synthetic ice rink that will operate from Friday, Nov. 22, to Saturday, Jan. 4, at Mayor Ralph McGill Plaza. For more information, visit townoffarragut.org
Parking for Countdown to Light the Park is available across Campbell Station Road at Westgate Christian Fellowship, as well at Autumn Care Assisted Living (400 Herron Road) and Holy Cross Anglican Church (515 Herron Road).
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November 20, 2024 by
• Frank Galbraith, a highly respected former Knox County Schools teacher, returns with his “A Day of Infamy” presentation. His annual look at the national and international events leading up to, and including, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, happens this year beginning at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Farragut Community Center, 239 Jamestowne Blvd No. 201.
“I’ve been presenting this program every year for about 20 years,” Galbraith said. “It is a slide program that shows the history of our country from the end of WWI through all the developments of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. It shows how Hitler and the Nazis came into power, how the militant Japanese forces spread in the Far East and how Mussolini and his fascists took over Italy. Then it shows just how the Japanese came to destroy the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and our reactions to this ambush attack.”
Look for a new Galbraith presentation, which he calls “Five Events that Changed the Course of World War II,” at a time, day and location still to be determined.
An apology to our ‘Day of Infamy’ man
November 20, 2024 by
• In our front page “kicker section” at the bottom of the page last week while promoting the upcoming “Day of Infamy” presentation by highly respected former Knox County Schools teacher Frank Galbraith, we somehow let what should have been obvious slip right through the editor’s view: the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, which prompted the United States to enter World War II, of course came on Dec. 7, 1941 — not 1942 as was published.
The editor knew that, but still slipped up. We have the corrected version running in the same place again this week.
Once again, we regret the error and apologize to Frank Galbraith.
November 20, 2024 by
Knox County Sheriff’s Office Reports could not be obtained — through no fault of KCSO — for this week’s issue. However, we anticipate having those KCSO Reports ready to publish for our Wednesday, Nov. 27 issue. We regret the omission.
November 20, 2024 by
• West Knox Senior Center, 239 Jamestowne Blvd., is gearing up for the holidays with its Angel Tree.
Offered by the Office on Aging, items collected go to seniors who are served through the Office on Aging, Senior Center coordinator Darrell Gooding said.
“We always have a drop-off box here at the Senior Center, and I’ve heard the Office on Aging say so many times that the people of this center go above and beyond what’s required,” he added.
“We’ll have a list of items that we can make available to individuals, and they can go out and purchase items on that list, bring them in and drop them off.”
