10,000 lots approved for building in Spring Hill so don't say it can't happen in Nolensville!
CLICK HERE for article by Sue McClure
of Tennessean on 9,989 homes approved
by Spring Hill. Per article these homes
would add 28,900 residents in five years.
Add to that 17,325 residents counted in the
2005 Spring Hill census and you get 46,225
residents. Spring Hill would then be larger
than Franklin was in the 2000 census
(41,842).
Some recent study suggested that in 5 years
Nolensville would grow to 14,000 residents.
Compared to Spring Hill that study missed
some 14,000 additional residents that could
suddenly appear in Nolensville if our city
leaders are allowed to continue their reckless
growth plan without support services.
For example in 4/6/06 board meeting item 12.
Public Hearing of resolution ...#06-07 an
adoption of a plan of service for Burkitt Place
Development. This plan of service is required
by state law and must be approved by state
before any annexation takes place. It's is really
true! And yet our town attorney never fails to
"put down" this requirement as nothing but a
"formality" that requires a superficial "boiler-
plate" plan to put in their state file.
Question? As a local citizen voter have you ever
seen one of those plans? Probably not. Want to
see one? Don't hold your breath. This is where
the rubber meets the road. Can we afford to ex-
tend vital services to another huge annexation?
Who knows? Citizens don't know and you can
bet our current leftover interim mayor and
friends don't know! Nolensville are you listen-
ing? This too, has got to stop! What to do?
Speak up at next board meeting 5/4/06.
Town's next budget 2006-7 comes up for final
approval in June to meet 7/1/06 deadline.
Have you as a local voter/citizen got your copy
and do you know what's in it? Don't be silly you
say, I can't understand it. Well can you say New
Property Tax that you must pay? "Well that's
different..can we get a copy at town hall?"
Yes, you can and make copies for your neigh-
bors and ask an accountant to help you under-
stand it. Then bring your questions to the next
meeting. This is your right and obligation to do
this. Too late, won't get it, start asking questions
now. For example, are the Fire deparment and
the Police department budgets adequate for the
growth that has already happened?
Is there money in budget to repair the roads
that the developers have damaged? Since our
leaders are too tongue-tied to demand the
developers do it, then do we have the money
to do it? Ask the question now before they
rubber-stamp the budget. Don't forget the
money Brentwood is going to ask Nolensville
for their half of Waller road repairs...roughly
$350,000. And don't forget the new bridge
and road on Rocky Fork around the Methodist
church to meet the new cemetery road-roughly
$millions$ or more? It should not be hard to
find these items in the new town budget. Be
sure to ask where they are in next board
meeting.
Here's a scary thot...previous town hall budget
was about one million dollars. So if Nolens-
ville can't run with the big dogs...only thing left
is to stay on the porch. Trouble is, previous
mayor and current "understudy" interim
mayor started this whole "rat race" running
with the big dog developers without having
the budget to stay in the race. Now what can
we do? For starters, attend the meetings and
demand answers on everything. Here's a tip:
treat this whole town government like it was
your very own budget and then get serious
and demand answers.
If you think these town meetings are nothing
more than a place to meet your friends and
keep everything cudddly warm and very fuzzy
when it comes to the budget...you will regret
it "big time." You wouldn't allow such fuzzy
worn out thinking on your budget..so don't allow
the town leaders to do it to your "town budget."
Last thurs. 4/6/06 question was raised about
Treasurer's Report...simple stuff like how
much money does the town have in the bank
& are we ahead or behind for the budget year?
First answer...town has a new system so we
really don't have those figures tonite.
Second answer.."our revenues are XXX%
ahead and the books are balanced."Sounds
good, right? What's wrong with this picture?
No facts, no breakdowns, no nothing...period!
Hints to ask. This huge revenue stream of funds.
.where does it come from and can the town use
this money to pay general expenses? Or did the
interim mayor & staff use some or all of this
new revenue to balance the books?
ANSWER: State approved adequate facilities
tax or on average $2,000 per new home is the
big source of new funds. But here's the catch
those dollars can only be spent on certain items
like a new fire truck, etc. Not one dollar can be
used to pay for general expenses in town budget.
Nor can this money be used to "cook the books"
and balance the town budget. Now can you ask
are we ahead or behind in current budget? And
how will these new funds be used in 2006-7
budget? Wanna bet town budget is behind
some $200,000 or more before this year's
budget ends? How will this deficit be paid for
in the new budget? What happened to the
balanced budget? Where's the 7 million dollars
previous mayor said would cover everything?
Now you know the "rest of the story" and why
Mr. "Cut & Run" ran away from town meeting.
As a local resident, voter and taxpayer you have
a choice...attend the meetings.. study the budget,
ask questions and demand answers. Or you can
ignore it all and cheerfully pay the new property
tax that is coming to your door to pay for the
mis-management of the town's budget.
SEND IN YOUR COMMENTS AND EMAILS.
BE SURE TO VOTE IN OUR POLLS!
posted by Guest Writer at 8:47 PM
6 Comments:
TOUGH QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED!
I WONDER HOW MUCH SPIN WILL BE ON THIS BUDGET?
It is a shame how this town is being managed. Now I see where they have appointed the woman that was instrumental in having two of the present aldermen elected. Ole interim mayor is sure smart..appoint a self appointed vote machine and pretty much gurantee her backing along with her little cronies. Then you have the newspaper owner on the town's payroll and his home is shown on the town website...can we say "tie it all up in a neat little package?" As a citizen, I hope against hope that we elect some new faces in city hall come November. The ones we have placed so far have done ZERO to improve ou lives.
Looks like Mr Dugger has now gone to Alexander for support rather than Felts. The two of them are getting to be quite the pair as they continue their prodevelopment spin. I wonder how Felts and Curtsinger feel about this latest association, especially since Felts was always seen to go along with Dugger as they scolded us about Knapper's bailout!
I want to know why there were no nomination opportunities from the floor since we are the folks that do the electing. Nice way to stack the deck Mr. Dugger,
It might be that the people who were once able to serve Nolensville and even other parts of Williamson County well and without question of conflicts, may no longer be able to serve due to the runaway growth of the entire greater Nashville area, but especially Williamson County. Not too long ago, Nolensville was a quiet little town located too far from major interstates for most people. Brentwood and Franklin were growing at a modest rate, and there was still plenty of undeveloped land near the freeways. Therefore, our local town officials and planners were mostly involved in administrative work. I would imagine that if one reviewed the minutes from 8 years ago, there were very few zoning or development issues on the agenda. However, today Nolensville is hot. The land boom is here and it’s very difficult for any RE agent, contractor, etc. to be totally unbiased no matter how hard they try. The likelihood of their livelihood being impacted favorably by new developments and commercial properties is huge, even if they don’t have an existing relationship with the developers today. I think it’s time for the agents and contractors to step back out of all voting positions with the city and county until the land boom is over. I personally want to thank all who have served, but if you all were to recuse yourselves as you should on some of these votes, there wouldn’t be anyone left to vote. Since some of you have been around for a while, I’m assuming that you just wanted to serve the community you love when you signed up for your tour of duty.
Also, I have no problem with the town attorney being paid for being an attorney, as long as he’s not voting on anything and as long as he’s not getting the town in trouble. (I’m not concerned about developers who throw temper tantrums and sue the city when they don’t get what they want). I am a little concerned however on big misses such as Waller Road.
So what do we do if all these people step down or we want to replace them? Then us concerned citizens need to be ready to get involved. I know there are plenty of people out there who understand the difference between a PUD and SR. It might be a little trickier than we think, but I’m sure the murky waters can be clarified. If last election had a 1400 voter turn out in a town of 3000 (with a lot of kids), that’s probably a decent showing. Let’s see what we can do this next time around.
The question that keeps nagging me though, is that if WC can reputedly give the developers anything they want, then why do they bother with Nolensville? I know we want the tax rolls, etc., but why do the developers care if WC will write them a blank check? What I think is the answer is for Nolensville to work closely with WC in our UDZ (or whatever the zone is called that’s just outside our city limits) to ensure that the developments meet the needs of the people. Maybe I’m dense, but this whole dysfunctional relationship that seems to lead to PUDville just doesn’t make any sense at all to me. It’s not enough to say that the developers are leveraging one against the other, there’s a piece missing here I’m sure.
BTW – I thought the blog was a little tough on Mr. Felts’ letter although when I finished reading it I had no idea what it had been trying to convey. I have a feeling that our small town guys are simply no match for some of the professional developers who have learned on much bigger and more sophisticated fish. Just say NO if you’re getting squeezed. I still think that the developers need us more than we need them.
Hopefully this ramble makes more sense than Mr. Felts’ letter and with that, I bid you adieu. God bless each one of you.
P.S. I was working last Thursday, who is the new Alderwoman?
Good post 1:05 PM...Beth Lothers is the new alderwoman. She got the 2004 survey together that said everyone voted againsst PUDs. She should be a good influence on the board from now till Nov. 06.
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