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Showing posts with label County Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label County Government. Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Maury County Joint Comprehensive Plan Survey
Monday, September 22, 2008
Name That School...
Williamson County Schools is building a new middle school in the Spring Hill/Thompson’s Station area to alleviate crowding at Heritage Middle School. The school, which will be located at Buckner Lane, is scheduled to open in August of 2010. While zoning has not been established, some students who attend elementary school at Chapman’s Retreat, Longview and Bethesda elementary schools will most likely attend the new school.
Under School Board policy 3.210 , community input on the school name will be gathered and shared with a committee which will then present three to five names to the School Board which will make the final selection. If you would like to submit a name suggestion, please complete the form at the following link.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
"Impact" fees?
What is the correct action by the City of Spring Hill right now, considering the caliber of decisions being made for us in Columbia?
E
veryone keeps asking about this Maury County school site, so let's look at it a little bit more. I feel like we are beating the dead horse again, but it is very important, so let's look at solutions to the problem instead of continuing to show how bad a decision it is by the county (because really, when was the last time those governmental bodies down south made a good decision?) So, here is the million dollar question...
What is the correct action by the City of Spring Hill right now, considering the caliber of decisions being made for us in Columbia?
First lets take a look at a recent article about the subject.
Board Tables Middle School Decision
By DAN COPP
Staff Writer
In the latest chapter of the ongoing saga of a proposed middle school in Spring Hill, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen deferred a resolution authorizing the waiver of about $300,000 in building and permit fees for a site on Cleburne Road.
Several aldermen felt it prudent to hold off any building fee deductions until the Maury County Commission voted to fund the School Board's preferred site for a middle school on Cleburne Road.
However, several aldermen have objected to the Cleburn site. On Aug. 8, city officials voted to knock off more than $300,000 in fees associated with property on Jim Warren Road. In a political tug-of-war, the Maury County School Board voted to support Cleburn Road as the target location for a new middle school, fearing the Jim Warren site could cost $400,000 more.
Although he didn't agree with the School Board's decision, Vice Mayor Miles Johnson said the city should support the new middle school for the children's sake.
“There are road problems with this facility,” Johnson said. “We're not in any shape to build roads, and nobody has stepped up to build them. But the School Board has chosen (Celburn Road). Since the city has supported all the schools in the past regardless of where they were, we should support it. No one on this board likes that spot, but if we're going to support one school, we need to support all schools. The children deserve a school here in Spring Hill.”
Ward 2 Alderman Eliot Mitchell echoed Johnson's sentiments but recommended the board defer their vote to deduct any building fees until the Maury County Commission took a stance on the issue.
“I want to point out eight years ago that this board was predominately made up of Maury County citizens, and Williamson County Schools snubbed this board and built a school predominately for Spring Hill children in Thompson's Station as opposed to using property in Spring Hill,” Mitchell noted. “The city spent six figures of tax dollars installing a stop light in front of that school and agreed to run a sewer line to that school even though it was outside of city limits.
“They could have shown Williamson County the stupidity of their decision, but instead looked above and beyond the arrogance by saying it was all about providing a school for the kids, regardless of where it's at,” he continued. “I believe, since the Maury County Commission hasn't voted to fund the school yet, we would be wise to hold off our vote until they had their vote.” Mitchell said city leaders shouldn't squabble with the school board because children could end up paying the price.
“We need to continue as a board to maintain the relationship we've had with these school boards and be a partner to them instead of getting into this tit-for-tat contest to show who's got the most authority or arrogance,” the alderman said before making a motion to defer the item. “I'm telling you right now, if we charge that school board $300,000 to build that school (on Cleburn Road), that $300,000 will come out of the school's budget and will ultimately take away the kids' baseball fields, football fields and more. It's all about building schools for the community, and we should be glad we're arguing where to put the school instead of arguing to put a school in.”
County Road Superintendent Van Boshers estimated it would cost more than $3.5 million to make improvements to roads surrounding the Cleburne site.
Ward 3 Alderman Rick Graham, who voted in favor of deferring the resolution Monday, said on numerous occasions he would deny any building fee waivers for a school on Cleburn Road, which he considers unsuitable for such a facility.
“I'm not going to neglect my duties because of the School Board's poor choices and political influences,” Graham said.
Maury County Mayor Jim Bailey said the Spring Hill middle school issue could surface on the September agenda.
Commissioners brought to light another potential school site at the Honey Farm south of Neapolois, which would cost about $2 million, according Ward 4 Alderman Charles Raines, who owns the property. The Jim Warren site costs about $1.2 million, and the Cleburn property was donated to the Maury County School Board by Chapter 2 Investments in March.
Ward 4 Alderman Bruce Hull feared that any delays to support the proposed middle school could jeopardize its very existence.
“If this school doesn't happen, I personally don't think we'll have a middle school at all,” Hull said. “I don't support deferring this issue because I don't think the county commission isn't going to fund this project. Several commissioners have stated their position on it. Unless we get behind this project, they're definitely not going to fund it. We need to waive these fees and make a show of support of it and let the county commission know if they fund it, we'll do what we can to meet our responsibilities.”
After being seconded by Ward 1 Alderman Michael Dinwiddie, Mitchell's motion to defer the issue passed by a 7-2 with Hull and Raines dissenting.
“A lot of people are carrying their kids many miles to go to school,” Raines said. “I don't think there's a parent who lives on the Maury County side of Spring Hill that wouldn't want a school somewhere in the city.”
Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at dcopp@c-dh.net.
Now, here are some points to consider before deciding your course of action.
* The Cleburn Rd. Site is "technically" inside the city of Spring Hill, although it is on a county owned road, and is harder to reach from most points in Spring Hill than ANY of the other choices INCLUDING the Honey Farm in Neapolis (which is that Columbia site that everyone keeps holding over our heads).
* The road is not being improved by the developer or the County to ANY degree. That cost will be entirely laid at the city's feet to protect those traveling to the site (which would be all children in Maury County). The city will have to improve the road sooner rather than later.
* That road improvement cost will be approx. $3.5 Million. (and it will be placed ahead of other more pressing road improvements in Spring Hill.
* Utilities are on site, but not connected. Connection would involve all of that land from GM that Ken York was trying to condemn. Considerable cost and time still left to finish that project.
* The Jim Warren site is least expensive (especially when the Spring Hill Education Foundation weighs in), more centrally located to the population AND the growth in Maury County, will have all new roads provided at the cost of the developer, could be located near additional recreational facilities (like a future YMCA), and would fit into the Comprehensive Plan that has been laid out by the city and planning commission.
* Have any of you driven from Depot all the way south down Cleburn Rd and Petty Lane to I-31? Go drive it.
Now, what would you do?
Here are the options that have been presented so far:
1.) Decline outright the waiving of impact fees in order to persuade the school board to reconsider, as well as help pay for less than 10% of the impact.
2.) Stay the course. Let the county do what they are going to do. Waive the fees for the school. Gripe about it every time we drive down that road and wonder why we created another Duplex Rd.
3.) Do everything possible to get the school "inside our city limit" and take the road over. Spend the $3.5 million plus to fix the road when we need to and then charge the developers that come into the area to repay our "road consruction shortfall".
4.) Place your idea here...
If you have good ideas (or even bad ones, but good attempts) I will edit this post and add them in. So, for now I will leave this door open to see what you all have to say.
Oh...and one more thing. College football starts TODAY!!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
What would you do???
Consider this a nice cool splash of water to wake you up a bit.
Okay...now that my life has slowed down a little bit, and I have given the new aldermen time to settle in, it is time to get this thing churning again. There is a lot going on in this city again, and it would be an absolute shame if we did not all still stay involved and do our part. That last statement includes me, so let's take control of our community now that we can.
So far, I have mixed reviews on the new aldermen. Despite any criticism that you hear from me today or in the future, we are in a much better place today than this time last year. Even so, one alderman in particular could use a little slap on the hand.
So...here we go again!
Before we talk about some issues with our newly elected body, lets cover 2 topics really quickly.
1.) Ken York's resignation
Ken is a very nice man personally, and an incredible ally IF he is on your side, but his time has finally come. If you read this Mr. York, I have enjoyed all that I have learned from you and enjoy your retirement.
I find it funny how the "Good 'ol Boys" were LIVID about having him in power and out to have his head on a stake a few months ago and NOW they are depressed to see him go. I guess you never can tell who's side he is on. Very well played (on all sides) for a long time Mr. York. You are truly amazing (I am not sure if that is good or not quite frankly).
2.) Maury County School Board
First off let me say that as a whole, this board is an absolute WASTE. I have been to a couple of meetings in the past, and other than maybe one member on any given night, you could fit their common sense in a thimble. It continues to amaze me how a group of people this influenced by "conflict of interests" can even keep a straight face as they berate members of our community, spread lies, and completely disregard facts while making up their own. I will cover their LIES at length tomorrow, but for now here is a question.
If you were a sitting alderman, would you cave to their pressure and give them relief from impact fees on the most IMPACTFUL development in the city (which will cost the city MILLIONS to make right)?
OR
If you were a sitting alderman, would you stand firm and risk having a school be placed outside of our city limits (Neapolis)?
I know what I would do!
Now, for the slap on the wrist...
Michael Dinwiddie - I like you. You make a nice gumbo. You are a good guy to sit down and have a drink with (or lunch). You seem to be a good father. I assume you are a good pilot considering some of the clients that you have. I TRULY believe that your heart is in the right place, and in time you could be a very good alderman. Having said all of that...
You overplay your hand more than any human being that I have EVER met! You have been on two sides of more issues in the first few months than I ever could have imagined. You need to learn (and I thought you had) that gossip flies around this city in all directions and MOST of the time it is better to bite your tongue than say something that will be spread. Count to 5 before you speak and take a deep breath while you think about the consequences of your statement before you make it. And please don't discuss city business with those DOING business with the city. It is one thing to bring a topic to the floor for a citizen, it is another thing to jeopardize the city and cost us cash by promising things and "overplaying your hand" with that citizen or developer.
I will site example if you like, but consider this a nice cool splash of water to wake you up a bit.
Talk to you tomorrow. The Gorilla is back and not very happy.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Not As Bad As I Thought
This is looking a little better every day. Frankly, I don't blame Mr. Gordon any more on this one. I do not trust the Maury County School Board any farther than I can throw them (especially with SSOE's contract being extended). It is nice to see that my initial reaction on Thursday is not exactly correct.
Now, I would much prefer land donation in the future, but I guess with the current state of affairs in Maury County that is just not possible.
Anyway, read it for yourself.
Foundation might help purchase property for new middle school
By SKYLER SWISHER/Staff Writer
The Spring Hill Education Foundation might be able to contribute enough money to cover the costs of acquiring property for a new middle school that would be closer to the city’s fastest-growing area, Mayor Danny Leverette said.
“That is part of the reason I created the Spring Hill Education Foundation was to help with schools in Spring Hill whether with technology or school books or the acquisition of land,” he said.
Local real-estate attorney Huntly Gordon, who represents Arrowhead Land Co., said his clients are offering to sell a 30-acre parcel on Jim Warren Road near Marvin Wright Elementary to the school system.
The land will cost $1.2 million, but Gordon said the school system might be able to tap into the foundation to pay for the acquisition.
Gordon said he prefers the school system receive a cash donation because of how the board treated two of his clients, developers Taylor Golden and Cyril Evers.
The School Board was overly critical and condescending of property on Port Royal Road Evers was willing to donate for a school, he said.
“We are not going to ever donate land to the Maury County Board of Education simply because of the way it has been handled historically or in the recent past,” Gordon said. “We are willing to work with the city with cash donations to ensure funds are available to purchase whatever land that the city feels is appropriate to build future schools.”
Gordon said he would be willing to commit in writing to developers funding the construction of a 60-foot-wide road and providing utilities to the school.
The site will be easily accessible, allow students from nearby neighborhoods to walk and bike to school and provide easy access to a YMCA for after-school care, he said.
“I think you are going to have annual transportation costs associated with the Cleburne Road site that you won’t have with another site on the east side of the city,” Gordon said.
The Spring Hill Education Foundation was organized in April to benefit Spring Hill students and the schools they attend. Golden and Evers have donated $400,000 a piece to the foundation.
Leverette, along with Chairman of the Spring Hill Economic Development Commission Matthew White, will serve as the foundation’s board of directors. A third member is expected to be announced in the near future.
“We’re in the organizational phase right now,” White said. “The paperwork has been filed with the Secretary of State and will take several months before the foundation is made official and accepted as a nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service.”
The School Board already has a deed for property on Cleburne Road behind the General Motors Spring Hill Manufacturing Facility, but that site has faced criticism for its remoteness and the narrow roads that service the area.
“There’s a lot of commissioners who probably won’t be happy with the site that they picked,” said Maury County Commissioner Bob Farmer, who represents the Spring Hill area. “I think between Spring Hill and Maury County, since we all seem to be in agreement of where the school doesn’t need to go, that maybe we can come up with something.”
The Maury County Commission has yet to approve funds for the school. It is expected to cost $26.4 million.
Director of Schools Eddie Hickman said he thinks the School Board is committed to the Cleburne site but will consider all other sites for future schools. Construction needs to begin as soon as possible, he said.
“It’s a better site,” Hickman said. “It is free land. There are utilities.”
Hickman said the roads could be better, but the infrastructure is sufficient to accommodate the school with an expected capacity of 1,000.
“That road is better than the roads around Culleoka School and other schools in our district,” he said.
School officials want to open the middle school by the beginning of the 2009 school year.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Disappointed And A Little Bit Confused
Well, there is something VERY interesting that I intend to get to the bottom of, and if I find what I think I am going to, I am not very happy. We will see, but I do not ever want to hear "Woe is me" from a couple of people ever again!
If this article is 100% truthful, which I am checking into, I am fairly disappointed and a little bit confused at what is now being said. A couple of weeks ago, the offer was very different so some games are being played.
School site comes with a catch
Now, even with the cost being mentioned in the article, the new site is MUCH better than Cleburne Road, but I am a little bit upset about what I am hearing. With schools, these type of games should not be played. Everything that is now being said is 180 degrees from what I heard from the same people a few weeks ago. The School Board could now be entirely justified in building that school out on Cleburne Road if these games are going to be played at City Hall and by these developers. Again, we will see very soon if this is true.
MUCH more to come, but for now that is all.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Shell Game Continues...
Okay, we have now cleaned a little house at the city level. It is now beginning to look like the only thing that will save our Maury County schools is a similar housecleaning on that board. The logic displayed by our current Maury County School Board right now is reckless and devoid of ANY common sense.
Article in this morning's Columbia Daily Herald:
Lawyer offers land to build new school
Panel will hear proposal May 1
By Skyler Swisher, Staff Writer
SPRING HILL - A Spring Hill attorney and city judge said he's willing to donate property for a new middle school with just on proviso.
All the school system would need to commit to is building a school, Huntly Gordon said.
The site is on Jim Warren Road near Marvin Wright Elementary School. Spring Hill middle school students currently attend E.A. Cox Middle School, 14 miles away from downtown Spring Hill.
But Gordon never got a chance to discuss his proposal with the Maury County School Board Thursday.
Huh? Someone comes to offer you a MILLION dollar land donation and you don't even take a moment to hear about it? More about this in a second...
Instead, the board instructed Gordon to return to its Facilities Committee meeting May 1. Gordon said he will attend.
Board members could have voted to waive the rules to allow Gordon to speak, but they opted not to because they said the meeting was running too long and other items needed to be discussed.
Gordon said he's had a hard time communicating with school officials despite repeated phone calls.
Actually, Mr. Gordon has mentioned at public meetings in the past month or so that his calls to both Chairman Shaw Daniels and Director Eddie Hickman have gone un-returned. Again, why would you not want to hear about a MILLION dollar land donation? I'm pretty sure that I know the answer...It's beginning to look more and more like the Maury County School Board is hell bent on putting a school on Cleburne Road. Even at the cost of a 60 acre option out on Port Royal Road (remember, this option expires on June 1st), and at the cost of an ideal site located less than a mile from Wright Elementary School.
The incredible lunacy continues...
Maury County School Board Chairman Shaw Daniels said the school system already has a deed for property on Cleburne Road. The board approved the site in March.
Not quite...
"We've got the attorney getting all of the proper signatures," he said.
So the deed hasn't been given to the school board yet, has it? Folks, look for this 'getting all of the proper signatures' to materialize as a ONE YEAR OPTION for the Cleburne Road Site. I, as well as many Spring Hill citizens, were at the last BOMA meeting where Chairman Shaw Daniels held up the deed to the site and said that Maury County Schools had already received the school site. I hope that I am wrong about this, but it's beginning to look like this is one big SHELL GAME being performed by Chairman Daniels. I wonder why? (Wouldn't have anything to do with SSOE, would it?)
The article continues...
Several Spring Hill officials have been critical of the system's decision to build a middle school on Cleburne Road.
At least someone is looking out for smart, managed growth around here...
At a meeting earlier this month, the newly elected Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted down a proposed 1,224 home subdivision where the school would have been located.
Developer Pete Crutcher's offer to donate land for a school has remained on the table, and so far, the Maury County School Board has not backed away from the site.
Building a school in the Cleburne area does not make sense, some Spring Hill officials say.
City officials estimated road improvement to accommodate traffic associated with a 1,000 student school would cost more than $2 million. Both the Maury County Commission and Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen have expressed an unwillingness to pay for the road improvements.
The road that would service the school is only two lanes wide. There are also narrow bridges and railroad crossings in the area.
Here comes the hypocrisy...
Daniels said the board is still willing to consider other proposals (the Derryberry Lane site) but wants a detailed schedule for construction of roads and utility connections to the school (off Derryberry Lane).
"I don't know if he is willing to give us the stuff we requested," Daniels said.
Huh??? Now Chairman Daniels is worried about roads and infrastructure? Are you kidding me? Parts of Cleburne Road are only one lane wide and includes a 14 foot railroad crossing, and Chairman Daniels is worried about roads servicing a school off of Derryberry Lane? Had Chairman Daniels picked up his phone or returned Mr. Gordon's phone calls or suspended the rules at the School Board Meeting to hear details of Mr. Gordon's proposal, all of this could have been answered.
Spring Hill Mayor Danny Leverette also attended the meeting. He called the decision to build the school on Cleburne Road "not smart growth," saying it will be built in a remote area away from where growth is occurring the fastest in Spring Hill.
But Daniels said buses already travel on Cleburne Road, and all that is needed is a turn lane for traffic entering the school.
Buses may indeed already travel on Cleburne Road, BUT NOT AT THE FREQUENCY REQUIRED TO SERVICE A 1,000 STUDENT SCHOOL!
The real reason why the Cleburne Road site has been chosen becomes clear in the following quote by Chairman Daniels...
"There are other students in the area," he said. "There are other developments taking place on that side of town."
How soon Mr. Daniels forgets...At the Spring Hill Planning Commission meeting 3 months ago, Chairman Daniels and Director of Schools Eddie Hickman each stated that this middle school would be filled almost exclusively by students coming from the now dead Harvest Point subdivision. At a Question and Answer Public Meeting at Spring Hill High School in March, they reiterated that this middle school would be a 'Spring Hill' middle school and that over 80% of the students would come from Harvest Point. Now that Harvest Point is not in the picture, suddenly there are other students in the area. Make no mistake, this middle school is being sold to Spring Hill residents as a Spring Hill Middle School, and to the rest of Maury County, it is being sold as a North Maury County Middle School.
Remember, there are currently about 600 lots approved on the west side of Spring Hill and over 7,000 lots approved on the east side of Spring Hill, yet Maury County has decided that the growth is going to occur on the west side of the city? Have I understood that correctly? Shell Game, indeed!
Oh yeah, back to SSOE...
The board also gave approval to initial designs by SSOE Inc. for the middle school.
The current design depicts a 46-classroom, two-story building with a capacity of 1,000 and the potential to expand to accommodate 200 more students.
Although SSOE is doing the initial design work, the project will be opened up for bids from other firms. School officials would like to see the school open by 2009 at the latest.
We have gone from having one or two school site options a few months ago to now having five or 6 options (one of which is going to expire on June 1st). Our school board has yet to act on ANY of them (including the Cleburne Road site), despite their desire to build approx 10 schools in the near future. Let me know something if you will...how exactly are we going to get ANY property donated in this city in the future if the Director of Schools and School Board Chairman REFUSE to return phone calls and dance around every piece of property being thrown at them (with the exception of one of course, and we all know why that is).
Why do we still believe ANYTHING that we hear come out of the school board when the CHAIRMAN is waiving around a deed (that apparently does not yet exist); when the leadership declines to take phone calls that are worth MILLIONS of dollars to the county; when Shaw Daniels (School Board Chairman) is employed by the very company (SSOE) doing all of the school building for the School Board; when we get the Director of Schools Eddie Hickman speaking in front of our BOMA and to parents in the area talking about needing schools specifically for Spring Hill due to the tremendous growth and then to a different crowd threatening to just use the money to enlarge Cox Middle School. How exactly are we ever going to trust a word that comes out of their mouth when in a newspaper article, Shaw Daniels is worried about road and infrastructure on several sites in Spring Hill, but completely disregards the same arguments in relation to the Cleburne Road site?
Frankly, I think that our County officials are losing sight of the real purpose of a school board, and that is to ASSIST in any way possible the EDUCATION OUR CHILDREN. The School Board, more than any other, should not be in the business of "back room deals" and profits for associated companies and developers. The best interest of our children should be the primary focus, and frankly they lost their focus long ago. Is it any wonder that our schools are in crisis?
Maybe our Maury County school system can only be fixed through wholesale change? A change in policy, a change in ideas, and maybe a change in some faces.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Know Your Facts If You Threaten!
So, there are now threats being lobbed around by multiple people since this election. One in particular was made by Mr. Raines at the meeting on Monday night, and it is laughable, so pay attention. With a little bit of basic math, we can all learn what the true numbers are in relation to the Cleburne Road site and its impact on our city.
Now, to catch you all up a little bit, at the meeting Monday night Charles Raines made the statement that he did not understand why the city would be turning down a 6 Million dollar income stream on Harvest Point(impact fees, etc.) for fear of a 2 million dollar road improvement. Well, let's look at the impact fees that the city would collect on 1,200 units at Harvest Point (real numbers), and figure our what exactly they are used to do.
Here we go...
First off, developers are required to pay a variety of fees (which are later passed on to the home buyer). Impact fees are collected to help the city pay for the impact that would be made by that particular development (ie roads, increased police and fire protection, city services, etc.) Our impact fee is collected on a lot by lot basis at $500 + $.50 per square foot. So, let's plug in the numbers.
Let's take an average home size of around 2,000 square feet.
$500 + $1,000 = an average of $1,500 per lot in impact fees.
Now, there were a few over 1,200 lots proposed...so $1,500 x 1,200 = $1,800,000.00
Huh, I wonder where that other $4.2 million of revenue is going to come from? I think if you asked Mr. Raines, he would say water tap fees, sewer tap fees and building permit fees. That will create quite a bit of extra cash, but sadly that cash goes directly to something (like inspectors, equipment, etc) and is not able to be spent on road upgrades.
Now let's look at how this would REALLY impact the city, because a $2 million dollar road improvement is just the start. I guess maybe I am a little confused, because I cannot figure out how exactly $1.8 million over the next 15 to 20 years going to pay for a road in excess of $2 million AND an increased police and fire force (paid on a yearly basis)? That is a $300,000 shortfall in roads and who knows how much in additional city staff and equipment.
The facts just do not add up on this, so please spare me the threat Mr. Raines. Business will not be conducted as usual in this city from this week forward, so please cease with the intimidation and misinformation. We are all (including you) in this for the good of the city, and frankly the only one that was really doing the honorable thing was Mr. Crutcher. I believe he truly wants to do his part to get a school in this city, I just don't believe we are quite ready to put it there. The time to build a school west of the railroad tracks is still a few years away.
For those of you that were not there, two very interesting things happened. First of all, Mr. Crutcher presented the school board with the DEED to the proposed school site. No conditions, just the land, and THAT should be commended. With or without this development, the land is there for the school to use if they so choose. And speaking of that, our school board member Tommy Dudley, and the school board chairman Shaw Daniels both assured the BOMA that they had no problem placing the school on that site with or without a single road improvement.
I am not sure if you heard that correctly so I will repeat it. Mr. Daniels and Mr. Dudley expressed NO concern over that site as it is right now.
So what does that mean? It means that the Maury County School Board needs to stop with the threats about taking a school out of Spring Hill. They now have FIVE school sites located in Spring Hill (or Neopolis) and also have the deed to the site on Cleburne Road that they preferred from the beginning.
No more threats! I am sick of hearing it from Mr. Raines, and I am sick of hearing it from the Maury County School Board.
Put up or shut up!
...as for the other threats, I will get to those later!
Monday, April 16, 2007
A new day in Spring Hill...TONIGHT!
For those of you that have been looking forward to this day for a long time, enjoy it! Tonight is the start of a new day in Spring Hill. If you get a chance, stop by City Hall this evening to show your support for the outgoing Aldermen, and those that are new to the position. It is what makes our country great, and everyone that takes part in the system should be applauded.
Now, speaking of this evening...
Expect the Historic Commission to pass with relative ease, and expect the next argument to begin over this proposed subdivision on Cleburne Road.
For those that have not been paying too much attention, there is a new development being proposed on Cleburne Road that includes over 1,200 lots (making it the largest subdivision in our city so far). The developer and Maury County are both unwilling to make all of the necessary road improvements, so this will place an extreme burden on the city to make the improvements ourselves, in excess of $2,000,000.
Now, in the middle of this subdivision is one of five proposed schools sites for the area, which will make it a pretty "hot button" issue. Many in Maury County have been trying to place Spring Hill over the barrel on this for quite some time, and make no mistake, the threats are rolling from the school board members. Some in this city (and Maury County) are playing on the fears of parents in order to get some pressure on our BOMA to pass this subdivision, even though it places our children and community in greater danger than other school sites. Now, I will get to some of the motivations behind this decision, but for now, let's take a look at an email from our Maury County School Board Representative. (I will add comments as they are needed to clear up some things)Hello to all of you.
My name is Tommy Dudley and I am the School Board representative for the 11th district of Maury County. The 11th district consist of a very large area which covers the northern parts of the county from Carters Creek Pike around to Bear Creek Pike on its eastern end. Spring Hill is in my district, but I want to represent the entire district equally and fairly.
As most of you are aware, Maury County does not have a middle school located in the northern end of the county. Middle School students from the northern end of the county are required to attend Cox Middle School in Columbia. This requires the students to endure lengthy trips and creates hardships for the parents of the students.
The School Board has for sometime now, been trying to obtain a middle school site in the northern end of the County. Only two sites were offered as a donation to the School Board until recently. The first site was off Port Royal Road. This site was not suitable for a middle school due to it contains wetlands, TVA easements and development of the site would be very expensive due to requirements established by the property owners. After development of the site the usable land would not be sufficient for a middle school.
Now let's be honest here, the Port Royal site does in fact contain some flood plain. Of the 60 acres available, flood plain takes up around 10% making over 50 acres usable for building, and the other 6 acres or so available for use in ball fields etc. I would consider 6 acres extensive, but I live on about 1/4 acre. In a 60 acre development, 6 is not too bad, especially considering 54 usable acres is better than 33 just about anywhere.
Now let's talk about the "development of the site would be very expensive due to requirements established by the property owners." Since our city has gone to a gravity system for sewer in that area, there is no longer a need to pay for the pumps, etc that were required. It just doesn't make sense to me why this decision is so tough, something fishy must be going on.
...back to Mr. Dudley.The second site is a 33 acre tract off Cleburne Rd. This site is not perfect but it is a better site than the first site. The property is on the western side of Spring Hill just past the railroad tracks off Beechcroft Road behind the GM Assembly Plant. Buses will have to cross the railroad tracks if coming from the east, but we have buses going over railroad tracks not only in Maury County but also in Williamson County daily. Buses going all the way to Bear Creek Pike in Columbia create just as much concern for me as the railroad crossing on Beechcroft Rd. The Cleburne Rd. site has more usable land and will carry less development cost with it. Utilities are already available at or near the site. If we can keep the development cost low we can use the savings to build a nicer school or even be able to better equip the school.
Over $2,000,000 in road development on Cleburne Road is not free. Placing a development of over 1,200 hundred lots is not currently appropriate in that area, much less adding to the congestion a middle school. I have no idea how a 33 acre site in the midst of an area with little of no development is more appropriate than a 60 acre site in the midst of our current growth. Especially when you consider the road network that is being installed in the Port Royal area, I cannot understand why we would voluntarily take on additional dangerous roads to have the city fix RIGHT NOW with our own money. Remember, we still have a nice handful of roads to fix, so why are we volunteering to fix another? I forget for a second that we are also voluntarily placing our CHILDREN in danger on Cleburne Road and around those railroad crossings.
Anyway...An additional site has since been offered in the Spring Hill area next to I 65 off of Jim Warren Road, but the developer and the City of Spring Hill have yet to establish that the roads are any safer, that the site development will be any less expensive or that the infrastructure will be there to support a school when completed. As a member of the School Board, I certainly appreciate the offer of this additional site, but a final decision needs to made now.
If you were present at the last planning commission meeting, you saw exactly what roads are planned for this area. You would have also seen that they are going to be paid for by the developer, not the city or county.
Now, Mr. Dudley is correct in saying that the decision needs to be made now, but for very different reasons (both to them, and for our city). Most of you may not know, but Shaw Daniels, chairman of the school board, works for SSOE. If you did not know, SSOE is the architect and builder that is currently on contract with the county for school building. SSOE's contract expires pretty soon, like in July. I wonder if the reason Mr. Daniels is so "hot to trot" on this particular site has something to do with that contract? After this contract is up, it will be put back out to bid, and SSOE may or may not be awarded the contract.
Here is another reason that time is of the essence, but in this case for a very different site. On June 1st, the offer for the 60 ACRES on Port Royal Road expires. There has yet to be a contract offered on the Cleburne Road site, so why are we not taking the larger site (Port Royal Road) that is in the middle of our city's growth, and is larger to place one or more of our schools, and getting the Cleburne Road site in contract for to exercise at some point in the future when our city is ready to have development in that area? I guess "common sense" is not so common when we are dealing with politics and $$$.Other sites may be available in the City limits of Columbia also, but do you want your middle school students to have to attend school that far away?
The Cleburne Rd site offers the best opportunity for a middle school site in the northern end of the county. The School Board is ready to act upon the building of a middle school, but if we continue to have delays, other school projects could be placed ahead of it. If this were to occur, it could be years before another opportunity for a middle school in the northern end of the county comes around again. The Cox Middle School could be expanded or an additional middle school could be built in Columbia.
So this is the new threat! If we do not accept the site now, for NORTHERN MAURY COUNTY I might add, then we could choose to just expand Cox Middle School. I was at a school board meeting a couple of weeks ago when the Mr. Hickman stated in from of an audience that this school was being built SPECIFICALLY for Spring Hill. He went on to elaborate that the VAST majority (something like 85%, I will check my notes) of development is going on in Spring Hill as compared to the rest of the county. He then continued to say that this school is specifically for our students here in the city. Now, IF that is the case, why the threat Mr. Dudley?
Why would the county not take EVERY SINGLE PIECE of free land being offered? Build on the Cleburne Road site when it is feasible for all of the players? If the city and county are in partnership here, why is this such a hot issue and why all the threats? Again, Eddie Hickman himself said that this school needed to be in Spring Hill, and there were several available properties for that to take place. Why is he now not returning phone calls about those wanting to extend offers?Some of the members of the Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen have stated that they do not want a school on the Cleburne Rd site and have even suggested that they would prefer the school to be built in Columbia. I ask you to contact them, and let them know that you want a middle school built here. They are scheduled to vote on the approval of the developers plans which include the school site on Cleburne Rd. on Monday April 16, 2007 at 7 PM. Please call the members prior to the meeting or plan on attending the meeting at Spring Hill City Hall. Kathie Johnson has given you the phone numbers of all of the members of the Mayor and Aldermen.
The other sites offered may be used in the future for additional schools. The School Board is not turning down their offers. With the expected growth of Maury County over the next few years, we will need many more school sites.
If you have any questions, call me.
Thank you.
Tommy Dudley
931-486-2982
Well, I do hope that you all call Mr. Dudley's hand on this one. While you are at it, call the aldermen as well! I have a feeling you will hear a very different story from each.
Here are some quick points to remember about all of this:
1. In 2004, the developer of Royalton Woods offered and signed a 3 year option contract with Maury County Schools for 60 acres off of Port Royal and Kedron Roads. This option expires June 1, 2007. Why would we not take 60 acres of free land now while we can? Why haven't we taken it already...it is in prime location considering our growth both now and in the future.
2. The developer of a proposed 1,200 lot subdivision (the largest subdivision in Spring Hill to date), has made a VERBAL offer of 33 acres to Maury County Schools as part of a proposed subdivision off of Cleburne Rd. Put it in writing and let's build out there when we are ready to handle it as a city.
3. Some have continually said that the Cleburne Rd site is 'free' and has no costs associated with it. That is absolutely incorrect! The city will have to spend in excess of 2 MILLION dollars to repair the roads to even think about placing our children on them.
4. In March, the Spring Hill BOMA deferred voting on the proposed Cleburne Road 1,200 unit subdivision because costs had not been determined on the road improvements that would be required on Cleburne Road (specifically, the at times 12 foot wide road with railroad crossing and 2 single lane bridges between Petty Lane and Carters Creek Station Road).
5. After the BOMA vote to defer in March, Maury County Commission voted to not fund any road improvements to Cleburne Road.
6. Since the BOMA meeting in March, 3 other sites have been offered in Spring Hill / Neapolis for schools; 2 off of Derryberry Lane and Jim Warren Road (just down from Wright Elementary School), and at least 1 in Neapolis. This brings the total number of proposed sites to 5.
7. In April, the City of Spring Hill identified the cost of improvements on Cleburne Road to be in excess of $2,000,000.
8. Schools should be built where the growth is located. With over 7,000 lots approved on the east side of the city, and only 600 lots approved on the west side of the city, how can this be considered proper planning? Isn't that what we are trying to do here...plan for our growth. Why make the same old mistakes now?!
The City of Spring Hill has made proper planning a priority. Building a middle school on the west side of the city where the growth does not currently exist is not proper planning. Additionally, approving the largest subdivision in Spring Hill on Cleburne Road is not proper planning. What exactly is going on here?
Tonight, our NEW Board of Mayor and Aldermen are ultimately deciding whether to approve a 1,200 unit subdivision on Cleburne Road. The do not have the luxury of approving schools, just subdivisions.
So I guess in the end my question is simple. Would we even consider a 1,200 unit subdivision (with insufficient road improvements) on Cleburne Road if a school wasn't involved?
Personally, I hope that we have learned something from our past!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Is the Port Royal School Site Really That Bad?
All this talk about how 'poor' the Port Royal site is for a Middle School and how 'pristine' the Cleburne Road site is has got me thinking. With a little research, I have been able to locate a copy of the Port Royal School Site Option Contract between Cyril Evers (Maury County Planning Commission Chairman) and Maury County Public Schools.
You can download the Port Royal School Site Option Contract here in its entirety (pdf).
Below is a copy of the site survey that is included in the option contract (I have added the Yellow to show the area of the site that is in the Flood Plain):
Also available for download are a letter from Director of Schools Eddie Hickman to the engineer of Harvest Point (pdf), as well as a letter of credit from Community First Bank to the City of Spring Hill regarding the surety of the completion of Rice Road (the road from Port Royal Road to the proposed school site).
Special thanks to Alderman Jonathan Duda for helping me get this information.
I'll get to the Port Royal School Site Option Contract in a minute, but first an article that appeared in the Daily Herald thursday:Mayor: Proposed Cleburne repairs insufficient
By D. FRANK SMITH
School board officials said the developer of Harvest Point is willing to do some road improvements surrounding a site for a new middle school, but the city’s mayor said that’s not enough.
School Board Chairman Shaw Daniels said Chapter 2 Investments, developer of Harvest Point, a 1,224 home subdivision, is willing to pay for road improvements on Cleburne and Beechcroft roads, which would experience heavy traffic should a middle school be built within the development.
These improvements would include installing a traffic light at the intersection of the roads and a turn lane from Cleburne Road into Harvest Point.
Daniels said traffic from surrounding roads would also be alleviated by a 26-foot wide street that would be built through Harvest Point. This road would allow school buses to bypass Petty Lane and its narrow bridge, he said.
A commenter under a previous post had made the statement that the developer is building a new 26 foot wide road between Cleburne Road and Petty Lane, the truth is that the developer is proposing to 'bypass Petty Lane' with internal streets already required within the subdivision. I have one question for Mr. Crutchers 'spokesperson', Mr. Shaw Daniels:
What happens to that traffic once it leaves Harvest Point?
ANSWER: West Bound traffic will exit on Petty Lane, North Bound traffic will exit on Cleburne then Beechcroft Roads, South Bound traffic...Well, South Bound traffic doesn't exist according to the RPM Traffic Study...Pete Crutcher, an associate with Chapter 2 Investments, could not be reached for comment after repeated calls Tuesday and Wednesday.
That's OK, Mr. Crutcher's pseudo 'spokesperson' Mr. Daniels was available for comment instead.These improvements would not address what many city officials have said is the main traffic concern — the widening of Cleburne, a road that is in some parts only 10-feet across.
Again, the south bound traffic on Cleburne Rd between Petty Lane and Carters Creek Station.Mayor Danny Leverette is skeptical of the impact these road improvements would have on traffic. He said the concessions made by the developer are not sufficient.
"That is potentially a traffic nightmare," he said. "What we’re looking at here is the creation of another Duplex Road."
Duplex, one of the highest-trafficked roads in the city, is in the process of being widened to accommodate the dozens of subdivisions that have been built on it during the past several years.
"To funnel 1,224 units of traffic out Beechcroft and then out Cleburne ... it’s just not an ideal situation at all," Leverette said.
With more than 1,200 homes, each having on average three household members and two vehicles, Leverette said there could be 1,800 vehicles on Beechcroft and Cleburne on a given day, once construction is completed on Harvest Point.
The city is currently working with the Tennessee Department of Transportation in an ongoing project to widen Duplex Road. But Leverette said widening Beechcroft, which could become another major artery in the city, is not even a project the state organization has looked at yet.
"There are other sites available, and we want to work with the School Board and the County Commission to see what we can do at those other sites," he said.
These other sites include one on Port Royal Road, the Honey Farm development that will be off U.S. Highway 31, the Northpoint development, also on U.S. Highway 31, and a piece of land near Marvin Wright Elementary School on Derryberry Lane.
The board prefers Cleburne over these sites because it would require the least amount of upfront investment, and said it is more feasible for various reasons.
Here's where it gets real interesting...The Port Royal site would require extensive site preparation along with requirements that the school system pay for a new road and spend $150,000 for a sewer lift station, board member Daniel McCulley said.
He said the Port Royal developer wants the system to build two schools. If the system chooses to build one, it will not receive enough land to build the school.
Ok, lets take a closer look at the Port Royal School Site Option Contract between Cyril Evers (Maury County Planning Commission Chairman) and Maury County Public Schools. Although the contract says numerous times that the Grantor (Mr. Evers) will convey all (approximately 60 acres) or part of the property to Grantee (Maury County Public Schools) 'for the purpose of of constructing one or more public schools' and that if the Grantee elects to obtain more than 30 acres, Grantee shall pay $150,000 for the expense of a sewer pump station and force main (irrelevant now, since the city has already planned and appropriated funds for a GRAVITY SEWER line), I can't find anywhere in the contract where it says that Maury County Schools has to build two schools in order to exercise the option on all 60 acres. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like plenty of land for a Middle School, possibly even a High School!
I don't blame Board Member Daniel McCulley for saying that the school system must build two schools if it wants to accept the full 60 acres, after all Schools Director Eddie Hickman told that to those in attendance, including me, at the Public Meeting at Spring Hill High School last week, the Spring Hill Planning Commission last month and to the Maury County Commission the month before during the 5 year growth plan presentations."Right now, we can’t put a middle school there with the restriction on (the land)," he said.
Oh, I do believe that you could put a middle school or even a high school on 60 acres...The site also includes a wetland, a flood plain, would need to be leveled to develop. However, the Cleburne site is level and would not require significant site preparation.
Another miscommunication...How many times have we heard that 20, 30, or 40% of the Port Royal Road site is in the flood plain? Well, take a look at the plat that was included in the contract:
I have highlighted the flood plain in yellow. See that handwritten "FP: 5.35 Acres"? I'm pretty sure that 'FP' stands for 'Flood Plain', which would make the total Flood Plain less than 10% of the total 60 acre site.
By the way, if you are wondering where the Cleburne Road Site Option Contract is or what it says, you'll have to keep looking because it has never been completed.
One thing is certain about the Port Royal School Site Option, if Maury County Public Schools doesn't act by June 1, 2007, the option EXPIRES.
So again, tell me what we are doing waiting to move on this Port Royal site? Why are we wrapping up this Cleburne Road site with an option that makes it available for a few years from now? Crazy! Some people around here are Crazy!
I think that tonight's vote will tell you all a lot about who stands where. I think we covered in the last post "Roll Call!" how this is going to go. Once again, a few aldermen are OUT OF TOUCH with the citizens in this city.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Finally...Coming to their senses!
I guess that I am not the only one confused about this Cleiborne Road issue. Now the school board has 5 offers! Tell me again why we are still considering Cleiborne Road right now? We absolutely should look at building there in a few years when the money is available for someone to spend the MILLIONS that it will take to improve the roads.
Two articles today in the Columbia Daily Herald about the issue.
County Commissioners Balk at Cleiborne Road idea.
Three New Locations Offered for the School.
If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the site and the section of Cleburne in question, please take the time to do so. It's plain as day to see. I went again this morning to remind myself.
Directions:
Take Beechcroft Road to Cleburne. Turn Left on Cleburne. School site is approximately 1 mile on your right. The section of Cleburne that everybody should be concerned about is just past Petty Lane, on the East side of the RR crossing, up to Carter's Creek Station Rd.
EnjoyCounty Commissioners balk at Cleburne plan
By SKYLER SWISHER
A site for a proposed Spring Hill middle school met criticism from county commissioners who threatened to withhold funding for road improvements Tuesday.The commission’s Budget Committee gave initial approval to a resolution that would make it policy for county government to not pay for major infrastructure improvements for remote developments.
"The [Spring Hill] taxpayers are getting ripped," Commissioner Rick Miller said. "It’s time we draw the line."
Miller’s proposal could have far-reaching implications if approved by the whole commission since no one has come forward with an offer to make road improvements for the new school. The school would be located on a plot of donated land near a proposed 1,200-home subdivision.
Although the School Board has chosen the site, the County Commission controls the county’s purse strings.
The commission might block funding for the project if the infrastructure issues are not addressed, Miller said.
Spring Hill officials annexed the area but did not annex the road, meaning the county is technically responsible for improving the thoroughfare.
Commissioner Glen Hasse said he has heard bringing the roads up to the standard needed to accommodate school traffic could cost more than $4 million. Hasse said the developer should foot the bill.
$4 million?!?!?Repeated phone calls to the developer, Pete Crutcher with Chapter 2 Investments, were not returned.
The committee’s vote came after the Maury County School Board approved the Cleburne site this past weak.
Board members passed on a site on Port Royal Road offered by developer Cyril Evers, who is also chairman of the Maury County Planning Commission.
They said that site was not acceptable because of a wetland on the property, as well as stipulations from the developer the school system pay for a road and make sewer improvements.
During Tuesday’s meeting, county lawmakers expressed discontent with the school system’s decision.
Building a school on Cleburne Road seems impractical, Hasse told the committee.
"I went out to the site over the weekend and almost had a heart attack looking at the roadway," he said.
Roads in the area are narrow. There are also one-lane bridges. There’s a railroad crossing, and railroad tracks used by slow-moving trains run parallel to Cleburne Road.
Commissioner Lee Dugger said he’s worried about hazardous waste being transported on the railroad track near the school.
"Propane gas and all other hazardous materials go down that track all the time," he said.
The Maury County Office of Emergency Management’s Hazard Mitigation plan states hazardous material incidents are "likely" in Spring Hill, and that hazardous material is transported via rail in Maury County.
There are about 30 major facilities within Maury County, including the General Motors’ plant near the Cleburne site, that manufacture or store hazardous materials, according to the report.Three new locations offered for facility
By D. FRANK SMITH
While city and School Board officials continue to quarrel over improvements around the "preferred" site for a new middle school, three more potential sites for schools have entered the fray. The Maury County School Board gave its blessing to building the school on Cleburne Road on a plot of land donated by Chapter 2 Investments’ Harvest Point development. However, some city and county officials prefer the school be built elsewhere.
There are at least four other sites developers are offering to donate for a school.
These include a site off Port Royal Road, the Honey Farm development that will be off U.S. Highway 31, the Northpoint development, also on U.S. Highway 31, and a piece of land near Marvin Wright Elementary School on Derryberry Lane.
Spring Hill officials have said they want the school built on the east side of the city, where the growth is occurring and infrastructure is in place.
Water and sewer extensions from the city have not been installed to the Cleburne site, and a nearby railroad crossing runs parallel to the road, and could delay bus traffic throughout the school day, city officials said.
Alderman Eliot Mitchell said the sites on the east side of the city would benefit all parties more.
"It’s more reasonable," he said, referring to the Port Royal site. "We’ve already got sewer there, we’ve already got water there, and we’re already addressing roads on the east side."
However, School Board officials said the Port Royal site had portions that were not feasible because it is within flood plains and would cost millions in site improvements.
Another potential site was presented by Spring Hill-based lawyer Huntly Gordon.
Gordon told the board he would be willing to donate property near Derryberry Lane, 1/2-mile away from Marvin Wright Elementary School.
"The way I understood it, Derryberry would be extended to run into a new road that’s being proposed," School Board Chairman Shaw Daniels said, "and that road would run back into some of the property where this would be located at."
However, because it was only recently presented to the board, it is unclear how serious the Derryberry Lane offer is.
Several improvements would need to be done near Cleburne to accommodate the traffic sure to circulate around a new middle school, not to mention the more than 1,200 homes planned for the Harvest Point development where the school will be located.
Some of the roads near Cleburne are little more than 10-feet wide, and the cost for improving them could be several million dollars, city officials have said.
"There’s some concern over the city being ultimately left holding the bag on upgrading the roads," Mitchell said. "We’re not wanting to necessarily pick up that cost."
Though the Cleburne property was annexed by the city, the road was not, and Mayor Danny Leverette said improving it would be the responsibility of the county’s highway department.
Likewise, Maury County officials have also said they are not willing to pay for the road improvements.
"We don’t have the money right now to repair that road to the level that it ought to be done," County Mayor Jim Bailey said.
That leaves private developers to repair the infrastructure. Bailey said developers will have to "step up to the plate" for the multi-million dollar improvements.
Chapter Two Development’s co-founder Pete Crutcher did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday.
Though School Board members appear to be set on choosing Cleburne for the newest middle school, these other donated properties could be used for future schools, school officials said.
"We know we’ve got several sites that are going to be needed with the number of schools that we’re proposing," Daniels said.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Official: As of November, $750,000 spent!
I thought that many of you might be interested in this. I have some more thoughts, but for now I will let the release stand on it's own.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dave Huebner
Spring Hill , TN – In December of 2006, the Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital (CFSHH), a volunteer advocacy group organized to promote the proposed Spring Hill Hospital , requested information from Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional Hospital under the Tennessee Open Records Act.
The group, which consists of concerned citizens residing in both Maury and Williamson Counties , requested the following information from the Counties relative to their opposition to the Certificate of Need for the Spring Hill Hospital as well as their continued appeal of the nearly unanimous 7-1 Health Services Development Agency ruling on July 26 th:
Total monies expended by WMC and MRH from May 1, 2006 through November 30, 2006 opposing the CON for Spring Hill Hospital
Total monies expended by the respective entities on advertising and marketing during this time period
The identity of any individual, organization or entity which receives any funding or in-kind services from either entity related to their opposition of the CON hearing
In mid January of this year, the CFSHH received a response from officials from both hospitals. As of November 31st, 2006, Williamson Medical Center had invested approximately $449,540 in opposition and on the appeal of the CON. Maury Regional Hospital has expended a total of $261,261.
The Citizens group was alarmed to learn that these organizations, which answer to Williamson and Maury County governments, have spent nearly $750,000 dollars fighting the very citizens that reside in their jurisdictions. This group intends to file an additional request under the Tennessee Open Records Act to obtain information from the time period of December 1 st through March 1st 2007.
As both counties enter into their budgetary processes and will seek to pass a balanced budget by June of 2007, the CFSHH believes the counties need to be held accountable for these expended funds and believe officials should answer the following questions as fiduciaries of the citizen's money:
How much property tax would a proposed $120 million hospital put in the county coffers?
How many computers, band instruments and books would the expended $750,000 have purchased for Maury and Williamson County Schools?
How many elementary school portables and playgrounds could be purchased or how many classrooms could be furnished and painted with $750,000?
How many new teachers could you hire for $750,000?
How many new police cars could you purchase for $750,000?
How much of a county employee pay raise would $750,000 fund?
Should the county raise property taxes when the county owned hospital is spending $500,000 on advertising and lobbyists to prevent economic development in Spring Hill?
If WMC/MRH has $750,000 in extra cash to waste on advertising, lobbyists and lawyers fighting economic development in Spring Hill, maybe they should return an equal amount back to the county to help pay for schools, police and firemen.
Is it true that on average, WMC & MRH are spending about $100,000/month fighting the Spring Hill Hospital?
MOST IMPORTANTLY, how long will the Hospitals continue to spend the taxpayer's money to oppose the Spring Hill Hospital?
Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional Hospital continue to actively oppose the Spring Hill Hospital. Their appeal is set for April 11th at the Davidson County Courthouse.
The Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital procured 10,250 signatures from Maury and Williamson County residents in support of the proposed Spring Hill Hospital in 2006.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Is This The Future of Cleaborne Road?
Mark Your Calendar!!!
Is this the future of Spring Hill with a school on Cleaborne Road?
Maury County School Board Wants Public Input
If you have a question about the Maury County school system, school board members want to hear it.
They have set a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday community meeting at Spring Hill High School to hear concerns, ideas and questions regarding schools.
A brief description of the Maury County Board of Education's five-year strategic plan and expected growth will be presented and members of the audience can submit questions prior to the meeting.
Information gathered at the meeting will be used for goal setting and future growth.
Why is Maury County so hot to trot on this particular site? It makes absolutely no sense right now when there are so many other good pieces of land being offered in other areas of the city. Here's your chance to tell the Maury County School Board why a school on Cleaborne Road is a bad idea right now without improvements to the CSX Railroad crossings on both Cleaborne and Beechcroft Roads!
If I were the school board, I would take ALL the land being offered by developers on all the sites. It would mean a savings of millions on hundereds of acres of land across this city. Build on this particular site sometime down the road when the city is ready, both from a growth standpoint and a roads standpoint!
Think I'm kidding about this site on Cleaborne Road? Maury County Director of Schools Eddie Hickman seems to think that it is 'more feasible':
Cleaborne Road Site Preferred
Harvest Point is a 463-acre, mixed-use development that could bring 1,224 homes, a 10-acre commercial district and a new middle school to Cleaborne Road.
The Maury County School Board has two possible sites for the middle school — one in Harvest Point and the other off Port Royal Road.
Schools Director Eddie Hickman said at the Feb. 6 meeting of the Planning Commission the Harvest Point property was "more feasible" because of the necessary costs of developing the Port Royal site.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Things are starting to come together
I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
I am personally very thankful (among many other reasons) that our city has FINALLY begun to shake off some of our past habits and are really starting to look proactively at our city in terms of planning. It has begun to shape everything in our city, even despite the wishes of some. In fact, it appears that even those that have historically been most outspoken against some of these measures are even the ones now making and seconding motions. Good stuff...surely there isn't an election approaching? Nah!
Here is a quick glimpse of what happened while most of us were out of town (and of course a little commentary below).
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Economic Development Council has been formed
The amazing part of this article lies with those that oppose it. Here is a funny quote from the article that you should all enjoy.
"According to Cindy Williams, wife of former city mayor Ray Williams, her husband had set up the commission around 2002, but it had 'fizzled out' after a year when they realized larger companies would move to the city regardless of the commission's work."
While Cindy Williams is correct in her assumption that business follows growth, she is very poorly educated on the types of issues that drive major economic development and corporate development. This commission (in the hands of the right people...jury is still out) can be extremely effective in helping develop the right type of business in our city. This can be a tremendous tool for our city, as can a Chamber of Commerce "in the hands of the right people." Hopefully with the departure of some on the chamber, we can make great strides in improving both.
"Williams said she wasn't sure how much the commission could do for the city. She said larger businesses like Kroger, Target and Publix already know about the values and growth rate of Spring Hill without a group convincing them of it."
'Spring Hill will rock along whether they have it or not,' she said.
Now that is the type of attitude a community leader should have (tongue placed firmly in my cheek)! If we do not promote our city, no one else is going to do it for us. Both counties are beyond poor at promoting our city, and only fight us. I am sure that all of the development in Williamson County was brought about by sheer coincidence...especially Nissan!
Someday maybe people will begin thinking before they speak...
(in some cases, maybe they won't)
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Rec-Center approval
This is very much a needed thing. There are quite a few things that stink in this, but one way or another it needs to be done. Do a little research for yourselves and find out how much all of the other communities paid for their rec centers, etc.
I will save you the time...
Brentwood Indoor Recreation Complex - City of Brentwood Contribution: Land
Brentwood Indoor Soccer Complex - City of Brentwood Contribution: Land
Franklin Soccer Complex - Land
Fairview Recreation Center - City of Fairview Contribution: A big fat 'Thank You'
Bethesda, College Grove, Hillsboro, Nolensville, and Thompson's Station - Freebies
...the other communities don't pay for theirs.
Either way...great development for all of us!
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Spring Hill Hospital / Ambulance
The battle wages on...and I can tell you that it is going to get ugly again very soon. The appeal will not be affected one way or another, but if people at Williamson and Maury are listening the PR campaign is about to get rolling again by the Concerned Citizens for a Spring Hill Hospital.
The amount of taxpayer money being spent on this appeal is amazing! More to come soon.
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Money approved for Master Thoroughfare Assessment and Plan
This is probably the most needed thing that our city has done in quite some time.
We will talk about this at length soon (maybe even tomorrow), but it is a very good thing for our city, albeit late.
By the way, the state is planning to start fixing Duplex very soon! Great stuff!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A school off of Cleburne Road?
Okay kids...for those of you that have been waiting patiently for your info fix, buckle up because we are going to crank this site back up. The post hospital respite is over and now we can all take part in shining the light on numerous opportunities and challenges within our city.
first up...
A School on Cleburne Road?
Developer: Pete Crutcher, Chapter Two Investments
Land for middle school offered to Maury County
35-acre donation in 'one of the next growth areas'
By SUE McCLURE • Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, 03/22/06
SPRING HILL — A developer has offered to donate 35 acres on Cleborne Road to the Maury County school system for construction of a new Spring Hill middle school.
"We're just trying to be a good neighbor," said Pete Crutcher, an associate with Chapter Two Investments.
"We put this land deal together out here a couple years ago as an investment and having a school here would benefit both the county and us."
The land is located off Beechcroft Road, a half-mile down Cleborne Road on the right, Crutcher said.
The property does not have city sewer and water, but city officials have been discussing extending service out Beechcroft Road.
"That's one of the next growth areas for the city," City Administrator Ken York said.
If the land had sewer and water, Crutcher estimated his 35-acre donation would be worth between $875,000 and $1 million.
Maury County Schools Director Eddie Hickman said he's delighted with the offer.
"It looks like a good site," he said. "Of course, you never know 'til the testing has been done."
Hickman said the new middle school would likely be L-shaped.
"And there's plenty of room for a playground and ball fields," he added.
Hickman said he plans to take the offer to the school board and then approach the County Commission in April to request construction funding.
But, wait… There’s another site being offered, isn’t there?
Homes of Royalton Woods
Shouldn't we consider WHERE the growth is happening in Spring Hill before we start placing schools (not to mention locations of railroads that we will send all of our children across on a daily basis)???
Well...here is a list of the growth in Spring Hill with respect to the two choices:
Subdivisions Approved on the East Side of Spring Hill (Port Royal Road area)
North Meadowbrook – 484 Units
South Meadowbrook – 679 Units
Royalton Woods – 403 Units
Stone Creek – 554 Units
Sommerset Springs – 418 Units
Walden Creek Apartments – 468 Units
Port Royal Estates – 277 Units
The Reserves at Port Royal – 352 Units
Williams Park – 1,100 Units
Total: 4,735 Units
Subdivisions Approved on the West Side of Spring Hill (Beechcroft/Cleburne Rd)
The Meadows of Spring Hill – 675 Units
Total: 675 Units
So given a few facts, we want to put a school where?
Tennessean Article
Here is the process if you want to see where we stand on the issue.
Maury County Schools Property Timeline:
Step 1. Contract (option) to purchase (accept) land is signed by the Director of Schools and approved by the School Board (usually 2 years).
Step 2. Request is made to the County Commission to Fund the Due Diligence Process
Step 3. After Due Diligence is completed, option for property is either accepted or denied.
Step 4. A request for funding by the School Board is made to the County Commission for the construction of the school.
Current School Site Status:
Royalton Woods Site – Step 1 Completed, Option expires June 2007
Cleburne Road Site – Step 1 is current being negotiated
Other Options Currently Considered:
Build new High School; convert existing High School to a Middle School.
Approach GM for additional land near High School for a new Middle School.
Extend Royalton Woods site and accept Cleburne Road site for new Middle School and future High School.
Contact for Maury County School Board:
Tommy Dudley - shal1983@bellsouth.net - 931-486-1983
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Millions
This from the Williamson AM this morning:
Cost of hospital appeals 'will be significant'
"The cost will be significant," Brogden said. "I'd rather not speculate on the cost, but we have had cases that were in the millions of dollars. And this is a complicated case."
How much is this really going to cost MRH and WMC? How many services could be added or improved upon with the 'Millions of Dollars' that this futile appeal is going to cost?
Here's a few that I came up with:
1. A fully staffed and equiped NICU Unit for WMC and MRH (at $50,000 a bed that WMC relies on private donations to support)
2. A fully functional Cath Lab
3. A 128 or 256 slice CT Scan
4. A fully funded Foundation for WMC
Any of thing about this rub you the wrong way?
Call your county commissioners:
County Commissioner Judy Hayes (Williamson): 615-794-5380
County Commissioner Clyde Lynch (Williamson): 615-368-7870
County Commissioner Gwynne Evans (Maury): 931-486-2848
County Commissioner Bob Farmer (Maury): ?????
Friday, September 08, 2006
TAXPAYER $$$
Crazy day! Let's get back to looking at taxpayer funding of this CON opposition...AND CONTINUED APPEAL !
According to the Columbia Daily Herald, Maury Regional Hospital has admitted to spending $167,400 thus far in their cause to oppose Spring Hill Hospital. I think that this is a conservative estimate, and does not include a single cent of the appeal process. Does anyone now doubt the WASTE of TAXPAYER money as our elected officials continue this fight against a 7-1 decision?
I would LOVE to see actual numbers from Williamson Medical, because it will far eclipse the total from Maury County taxpayers.
Columbia Daily Herald Article
Maury Regional spends $167,000 in turf war
By SKYLER SWISHER/Staff Writer
Maury Regional Hospital loaded its slingshot with at least $167,400 in its initial attempt to ward off “Goliath,” and more expenses could be forthcoming in the nonprofit health provider’s fight against the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain.
MRH recently responded to The Daily Herald’s request for a breakdown of expenses as of July 26, the date of a state hearing in which officials voted 7-1 to allow HCA to build a 56-bed, $105-million hospital in Spring Hill.
MRH CEO Robert Otwell has compared the hospital’s opposition to HCA’s proposal to “David versus Goliath.”
During the first round of the battle, MRH spent $77,500 in attorney and legal fees, $75,500 in contracted services and $14,400 in advertising and marketing, according to data provided by the hospital.
Contracted services included a study by a population analyst as well as communications consulting by a Nashville-based public-relations firm.
MRH did not release an itemized list of expenses. Instead, officials provided three lump sums for attorney and legal fees, contracted services and advertising and marketing.
Rita Williams, director of marketing for MRH, said the hospital was unable to determine expenses incurred as a result of employee hours spent working on MRH’s campaign against the proposed hospital.
But she said the potential costs of allowing a Spring Hill hospital to be built more than justify the expenses.
“Any hospital in America is going to oppose a new hospital 14 miles from its front door,” she said. “The potential loss of patient revenue is substantial and would significantly overshadow any expenses.”
The decision by MRH and Williamson Medical Center to appeal the certificate-of-need approval began the second round of the showdown. A hearing will be conducted from April 11-24 before an administrative law judge.
The appeals process could cost the losing party tens of thousands of dollars in administrative fees, deposition fees and expert witness fees, said Reid Brogden, general counsel for the Health Services and Development Agency.
MRH paid legal fees accrued as of July 26 to Nashville-attorney Dan Elrod of Miller & Martin, PLLC, officials said.
Williams said MRH did not conduct a cost-benefit analysis when deciding whether to appeal the agency’s decision. Since the agency’s inception in 2002, no appeal has overturned the Health Services and Development Agency’s decision, Brogden said.
Williams said it would be “speculative to estimate the cost of the appeals process.”
Frank Morgan, a Nashville-based health-care industry analyst with Jefferies & Co., said he is not surprised by MRH’s decision to appeal.
“I don’t know if it is a wise decision,” Morgan said. “It is certainly normal they would take this thing through every avenue of the existing procedural process. That’s just the way it works. People do that. Even if they lose, they’ll go through the appeals until there is absolutely no appeals process left.”
NO CHOICE?
The consequences of standing aside as a new hospital moves in could be serious for Maury Regional and the community, Williams said.
A second hospital in Maury County would skim off well-insured patients from MRH, duplicate services already provided, raise the cost of health care in the region and threaten MRH’s ability to deliver care to all patients in southern Middle Tennessee, regardless of their ability to pay, she said.
“After carefully examining the impact that another hospital would have on MRH, we felt it was our obligation to protect the financial well-being of the hospital ... for all of the 260,000 residents of our region who depend on us, including those in Spring Hill,” she said.
Morgan said legal disputes among hospitals are not uncommon in states that utilize a certificate-of-need process.
“At the end of the day, an existing hospital company doesn’t want new competition,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. They’d just as soon not have any competition.”
One expense reported by MRH was the hiring of a population growth analysis expert, a one-time expenditure that Williams said will benefit MRH during its appeals hearing.
MRH also contracted with Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock Inc., a public affairs firm founded in January. MRH is no longer using the firm, Williams said.
“If you asked a resident in any town if they would like a hospital, chances are they would immediately respond with a ‘yes,’” Williams said. “That is because we see hospitals as a good thing. So you can see we were presented with a challenge of educating those we serve about why we opposed another hospital in the county.”
MRH bankrolled all of the expenses of Coalition4Care, a group of health-care workers and citizens dedicated to opposing an HCA hospital in Maury County.
Williams said “adjustments will be made in other administrative areas of the budget to offset ... expenses,” but she could not specify what adjustments were made.
“It is not possible to itemize the expense reductions,” she said. “Overall, even with the additional unforeseen expenses, the hospital achieved its targeted budget for fiscal year 2006.”
HCA DECLINES REQUEST
The Daily Herald made a similar request for information from HCA, but officials declined to release any information about the hospital’s expenditures.
Cheryl Chubbs, an HCA spokeswoman, cited the hospital’s status as a private corporation as a justification for withholding the information.
“Our expenses are proprietary,” she said. “Sharing this type of information would set a precedent and generate numerous other requests.”
Chubbs said most of HCA’s marketing expenses are budgeted a year in advance and none were set aside specifically for efforts to win approval for a hospital in Spring Hill. At any rate, such a comparison would not be “apples to apples,” she said.
“It is not real easy because our advertising is placed for all of our hospitals together under a group,” Chubbs said.
“The only thing we ran were four ads talking about four community events,” she added. “That was the only thing that was specific to Spring Hill.”
Even if MRH’s appeal is unsuccessful, the hospital’s decision to appeal could postpone construction of HCA’s hospital by nine months, Chubbs said.
“Our expenses will surpass our original projections due to the appeal filed by Maury Regional and Williamson Medical Center,” she said.
If built, the Spring Hill hospital would open in 2010.
Remember folks, loser pays ALL in the appeal process! When the judge upholds the 7-1 decision by the HSDA, Maury and Williamson County TAXPAYERS will foot the entire legal cost! I hope that our elected officials remember this decision when their re-elections come up. How many teacher salaries would this pay for? What kind of school facilities could be built for the kind of figures that we are little throwing around? What kind of infrastructure improvements could be made with this sea of cash?
Stop this appeal process, and stop WASTING our time and money!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Still in the news
I couldn't resist...
Ex-official hits patrol car, sends trooper to hospital
It sounds like the trooper is going to be alright.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Keep following the $$$
Okay, I really did want this hospital issue to go away, but I think that there are a few more things that need to see the light of day.
Appeal set for April
A few months ago, we came up with a pretty substantial amount of TAXPAYER money that was being spent to fight this hospital in Spring Hill. Let's review that list again:
1.) Advertising - at this point the number is right around $100,000
2.) Jerry Sharber's retainer - in excess of $100,000
3.) Legal fees from CON hearing - I'll do more research, but it makes items #1 and 2 look pretty paltry.
4.) Legal fees for the appeal - I have heard numbers like $150,000 per month, but will do more research to verify. Let's see...$150,000 x 9 months = 1.35 million
* Remember that the LOSER pays the entire cost
** Remember that the vote was 7-1...and I should repeat 7-1
*** Remember that an HSDA decision is very rarely if EVER overturned.
**** Remember that if a decision is overturned, it will go back to the HSDA to be heard again. The first time it was heard, the decision was 7-1.
***** If all of this does in fact happen, that TAXPAYER cost figure that we are talking about will at least double.
So, having looked at items 1-4, let's just say that OUR money is being spent to the tune of $2,000,000.00 or more to this point. That does not even begin to touch on the economic impact that will be caused by Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional to both counties. Delaying this hospital development by at least 9 months will also do a few things:
1.) Delay impact fees and take away one year's worth of tax revenue to both counties. How much would that money help things like schools and road construction in all areas of this region?
2.) Delay 350+ jobs to the area
3.) Delay road and infrastructure improvements to the area
4.) Delay construction jobs in the area
5.) Delay the development of other business that likes to ride the coat tails of major industry, which causes further loss of tax and impact revenue to both counties.
...and here is the kicker of it all
This decision by Williamson Medical and Maury Regional to appeal a 7-1 decision is an absolute slap in the face to the citizens that fill your beds, and would have filled your beds for years to come. By delaying development, not only are the counties being EXTREMELY irresponsible with TAXPAYER dollars, but they are alienating a city that is becoming more influential by the day. Great decision WMC and MRH!
Can't we find a better use of several MILLION dollars that this?
Couldn't our school system use a little extra cash?
Why are our County officials allowing this to happen?
Wasn't that vote 7-1?
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