Knoxville Neighborhood Advisory
Neighborhood Advisory – Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015
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Knoxville Neighborhood Advisory – Vol. 8, No. 38 – Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015
PDF Version: http://bit.ly/NeighborhoodAdvisory2015-11-3
- Parkridge Elects Board Members, Officers
- Fountain City Town Hall to Host Medical Center Security Dogs
- Nominate the Good Neighbor of the Year
- Home for Sale in Homemaker Program
- Thursday Session Aims to Enhance Broadway Corridor
- Mayor Encourages Citizens to Consider Health Insurance Options
- Summit to Address Accessibility, Mobility, Livability
- City, Partners to Offer Resources for Landlords
- Reminder: Check Your Smoke Alarms
- South Knoxville Alliance sponsors Micro Fundraising Event
- Neighborhood and Government Calendar
Published by the City of Knoxville’s Office of Neighborhoods to report news important to Knoxville’s residential neighborhoods. News & calendar deadline: 5 p.m. Mondays.
- Parkridge Elects Board Members, Officers
Parkridge Community Organization (PCO) held its annual elections this week and returned eight board members to subsequent one-year terms.
Returning board members are David Anderson, Tanner Jessel, Jennie Mezick, Jennifer Montgomery, David Nix, Seanna Rupe, Zachary Smith and Lynne Sullivan. Christopher Salmons was elected to the ninth board post.
David Anderson and Seanna Rupe were reelected president and secretary, respectively. Jennifer Montgomery succeeds Calvin Chappelle as vice president. Chappelle stepped down from the board but said he will remain active in the organization. Lynne Sullivan was elected treasurer, succeeding Zachary Smith, who remains on the board but was term limited as treasurer.
A representative of the Office of Neighborhoods conducted the election for the organization.
In addition, PCO celebrated another successful Tour of Homes, which was held last Sunday. Chappelle said the group will continue to hold the event each fall around Halloween.
- Fountain City Town Hall to Host Medical Center Security Dogs
Security dogs will be the featured attraction at Fountain City Town Hall’s general membership meeting at 7 p.m. this coming Monday, Nov. 9, at Church of the Good Shepherd, 5337 Jacksboro Pike.
The dogs are members of the K-9 security unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, which introduced the program last year to help address security needs at the sprawling facility. Medical Center officers will discuss aspects of the training for the canine unit as well as the unit’s importance at the hospital.
The Fountain City Town Hall board meets at the church on the second Monday of every month starting at 6 p.m. General membership meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of February, April, September and November. For more, contact Jamie Rowe atombroligo@aol.com or 688-9525.
- Nominate the Good Neighbor of the Year
Nominations are now being accepted for the Diana Conn Good Neighbor of the Year Award, which is presented annually to a City of Knoxville resident who — in the spirit of cooperation and with commitment to inclusive community — has devoted time and talent in service to his or her neighbors and neighborhood.
A committee made up of Neighborhood Advisory Council members will select the winner, who (along with other finalists) will be announced at the 2016 Neighborhood Awards and Networking Luncheon on Saturday, March 5, 2016, at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Who in your neighborhood deserves this award?
To learn more about the award, visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/neighborhoods and click on Good Neighbor of the Year Award. Or just download the form.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, Dec. 18, at 4:30 p.m. The nominations can be sent to Debbie Sharp by email todsharp@knoxvilletn.gov or by mail to Office of Neighborhoods – Room 528, City of Knoxville, P.O. Box 1631, Knoxville, TN 37901.
The award was named for the late Diana Conn and was presented to her posthumously at the 2013 Neighborhood Conference. The next two winners were Betty Jo Mahan in 2014 and Rita Schwartz in 2015.
- Home for Sale in Homemaker Program
The City of Knoxville has recently listed another home for sale in the Community Development Department’s Homemaker Program.
The ranch style single family home is located at 177 Chickamauga Avenue in the Oakwood- Lincoln Park neighborhood near Sharp’s Ridge Memorial Park. The 3-bedroom, one-bath, 880-square-foot house was built in 2004.
Under the Homemaker Program, the City offers vacant lots and lots with substandard structures for sale to individuals, non-profit organizations and businesses. These properties were identified by the City for acquisition to further its mission to remove blight, redevelop neighborhoods and provide affordable housing opportunities.
The purchaser will be required, in almost all cases, to construct a new dwelling on vacant parcels or rehabilitate existing structures.
Individuals can make an offer on a property by submitting an application. The sales agreement includes a provision that allows the City to take the property back if the new owner fails to make improvements to the property per guidelines.
For a copy of the application, along with other details about the program, see:
http://knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_departments_offices/community_development/homemaker_program/
- Thursday Session Aims to Enhance Broadway Corridor
A “design charrette” organized by the East Tennessee Community Design Center will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. this coming Thursday, Nov. 5, in the fellowship hall of St. James Episcopal Church, 1101 North Broadway.
Participants will include Broadway property owners, businesses, and other stakeholders, as well as residents of neighborhoods bordering Broadway between Fifth Avenue and I-640, designers, planners and government officials.
Seating is limited. If you wish to participate, please contact Leslie Fawaz, studio design director at the Design Center, at 525-9945 orleslie@communitydc.org.
At the charrette, there will be a 30-minute input period followed by a 90-minute break-out session. Designers and planners will work with North Broadway stakeholders to address challenges such as parking problems and the lack of any unifying landscaping along the corridor. The break-out groups will then get back together to share their findings.
The results of the charrette will influence the Broadway Corridor Enhancement Plan that will be developed through the Design Center and that will analyze existing conditions, assess shortcomings, and develop demonstrative solutions that can be implemented throughout the corridor.
- Mayor Encourages Citizens to Consider Health Insurance Options
Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero is urging citizens who need health insurance to check out their options under the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment began November 1 and will run through January.
Locally, the Tennessee Health Care Campaign is hosting events where trained volunteers help citizens with the enrollment process. This applies not only to those who have no health insurance currently, but also to those who want to compare current coverage with options that may be available to them in the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Sign-up events will be held at South Knoxville Community Center and Cherokee Health System on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. For appointment or best walk-in time, call (844) 644-5443.
For more details, see these web sites: www.knoxvilletn.gov/affordablecareact/, http://www.getcoveredtenn.org/, andhttps://www.healthcare.gov/.
- Summit to Address Accessibility, Mobility, Livability
The upcoming Knoxville Livability Summit has been designed to appeal to seniors, persons with disabilities, family members or friends; members of design, construction, and business firms; government officials and other community leaders.
Livable communities allow all people to maintain independence and quality of life through economic prosperity, built and natural environments, affordable and accessible housing, adequate mobility options and engagement in civic and social life.
The Knoxville Livability Summit, sponsored by the City of Knoxville, the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging, and the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability (TCAD), will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Rothchild Conference Center, 8807 Kingston Pike. The cost is $25 per person.
Click here to register and to read more about the workshops. For more, call Nancy Lofaro at 524-2786 or Stephanie Cook at 215-2034, or email Cook at scook@knoxvilletn.gov.
- City, Partners to Offer Resources for Landlords
The City of Knoxville and other partners have scheduled a “Landlord Summit” to provide landlords with information on topics ranging from weatherization and lead testing to Section 8 rental assistance and affordable housing for veterans.
The free gathering will be held from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, at O’Connor Senior Center, 611 Winona Street. A continental breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m., and no registration is necessary. Mayor Madeline Rogero will make opening remarks.
Various presenters will discuss the new program to weatherize rental housing; how to get rental units tested, abated and certified as lead free; ways to house homeless veterans; details about participation in the Section 8 rental program and other social services; and need-to-know details about fair housing regulations and the state’s landlord/tenant act.
In addition to the city, partners in this event include CAC (Knoxville – Knox County Community Action Committee), Legal Aid of East Tennessee, KCDC (Knoxville’s public housing agency), the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, the Knoxville Knox County Homeless Coalition, and Volunteers of America.
For more, contact Michael Dunthorn at 215-3103 or mdunthorn@knoxvilletn.gov.
- Reminder: Check Your Smoke Alarms
The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s office suggests using this past weekend’s change from daylight savings to standard time as a reminder to check your smoke alarms.
It is suggested that you test your alarms monthly, but with hectic schedules that can be hard to remember. So, use this time now and then again in the spring as a reminder to test your alarms and replace the batteries. If the detector is more than 10 years old, the whole unit should be replaced.
Every home, the fire marshal says, should have a smoke alarm on each floor and in living quarters to be most effective in notifying residents of a fire. Also, make sure everyone in the home knows what the alarm sounds like and what the plan is, should it ever go off.
The Knoxville Fire Department has a Smoke Alarm Program for those in single family homes who need assistance installing alarms. Visithttp://knoxvilletn.gov/kfd and click on ‘Smoke Alarm Program’ — or call 311 or 865-215-4311.
- South Knoxville Alliance Sponsors Micro Fundraising Event
South Knoxville Alliance (SKA) — a business and professional association — will hold its third Knoxville SOUP, a micro-funding event and dinner, starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at Woodlawn Christian Church, 4339 Woodlawn Pike.
The suggested donation is $5.00, but more can be given. All donations go to the project winner at the end of the evening. Proposals will be presented at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and then the announcement of the winner.
The project presenters will be Vestal School Pottery, Family Friendly Drum Circle at Ijams, South Knoxville Elementary Scientists in the Library, and Joe Hill Roadshow.
Previously this event has supported the rejuvenation of the Mary Vestal Park and Greenway Extension, and the South Knox Food Co-op. For more, email soup@SouthKnoxvilleAlliance.org or call 865-309-4020.
- Neighborhood and Government Calendar
Include your neighborhood-related event or meeting in this space. Call 215-4382.
Visit http://knoxvilletn.gov/calendar for a complete list of meetings of various city boards and commissions.