Neighborhood Cleanup Day a Success!

Thank all of you who came out to help on our Annual Neighborhood Cleanup Day.  There were a number of new faces that joined us this year.  We couldn’t get everyone to hold still at the same time for the photo, so here’s a representative group that were documented.

Here are some of the outcomes:

• 29 volunteers on Saturday and more before and after March 28
• 85 hours of volunteer time
• 600 lbs of trash collected
• 8 miles of roads cleaned
• 1/4 mile of shoreline cleaned & the embayment at Maloney Rd. park
• daffodils planted at the park
• weeds pulled, leaves raked at Bluff Point and Circle Lake greenspaces

Most unusual items found along the road:  4″ light fixture, ladies black lace panties, a wallet from a Seymour resident.

Big THANK YOU to Keep Knoxville Beautiful for providing the garbage bags, gloves and tee shirts.  And THANK YOU to Ijams Park for arranging the garbage bag pickup from Maloney Rd. Park.  But mostly – THANK YOU to the residents of Lakemoor Hills who take pride in their neighborhood and helped to make it beautiful!

With great gratitude from the Beautification Committee!!!

As Lakemoor Hills homeowners we often remark that among the things we value most about living in our neighborhood are its peaceful atmosphere and natural beauty, enhanced by individual homeowners’ creative landscaping and maintenance.  As spring and the Dogwood Trail bring more visitors driving through our neighborhood, let’s show off these qualities to best advantage by sprucing up our street-side lawn and garden views.  

Hoping to start a  tradition of recognition, the LHHA beautification committee has announced plans to identify three of the more notable examples of individual creativity and hard work with attractive yard signs that will be placed on or shortly after April 8 ( the selected homeowners will be notified and consulted regarding placement).

In a spirit of shared anticipation of the pleasures of spring,

LHHA Beautification Committee members

Please join us!!

1. Meet at the church at 9 AM to get your assignment, garbage bags, Tee Shirts (must be preordered) & safety vests, and have our group photo.
2. Dress warmly! Wear gloves and shoes that can get wet. I have 20 pairs of gloves to loan out, but they are large. If you have trash picker tools, bring them.
3. We will pick up trash along the roads, plant some daffodils, and clean up Maloney Rd. park.
4. We will deliver bags of trash to Maloney Rd. Park parking lot for pickup.
5. We must return the safety vests to Keep Knoxville Beautiful – so bring them back to the registration table at the church.
6. Pizza will be delivered about 11 to the picnic pavilion at the church.

ALSO – if you pre-ordered a carpenter bee trap, they will be available for pickup at the registration desk. $15/ trap. Checks payable to Lakemoor Hills Garden Club.

ALSO – if you have not picked up a bow for your mailbox, they will be available for $3 at the registration desk.

Thank you so much for caring about our neighborhood and helping make it beautiful!

Kathy Proctor
Beautification Committee

Hello neighbors,

I was just curious if anyone else has had problems with their natural gas service in the neighborhood.  We live at 3628 Maloney Road and have had nothing but problems since we moved in. We had the gas regulator replaced about a year ago and are still having problems. KUB has been out multiple times. This time he says he thinks the gas regulator is bad again. The builder thinks that possibly the construction on the gas lines at the street has allowed some dirt / trash to enter the lines and disable the regulator. If that is the case, then surely I am not the only one having problems.

Thanks,

Skip Farr

Bruch pickup BEFORE Tuesday, March 31.  Get your brush to the curb immediately!

Ann Graf , Dogwood Trails Committee member, reports that the City of Knoxville will pick up one more time before the Dogwood Festival.  Brush will ONLY be picked up 1) if the house is on the Dogwood Trail, 2) if the lot has a house built on it – not on undeveloped lots;  and 3) if it is placed by the street before March 31.

Knoxville Neighborhood Advisory – Vol. 8, No. 9 – Tuesday, March 24, 2015

 

1. Love Towers, South Woodlawn Elect Officers
2. Help Clean up First Creek and the Greenway This Saturday
3. Buffat Trace HOA Seeks Advice on Roofers
4. City Council to Tackle Sign Ordinance
5. MPC Updates Web Page on Proposed Zoning Changes
6. Citizens Can Testify on Blighted Properties This Week
7. Knoxville Scores to Host Home Energy Savings Fair
8. Neighborhood and Government Calendar

 

Published by the City of Knoxville’s Office of Neighborhoods to report news important to Knoxville’s residential neighborhoods. Deadline for news & calendar items: 5 p.m. Mondays.

 

1. Love Towers, South Woodlawn Elect Officers

 

Love Towers Fellowship Association has elected new officers. They are Bill Jackson, president; Joyce Lynch, vice president; Shelley Jackson, secretary; Bobby Hilgerson, assistant secretary; Karen Kaiser, treasurer; and Brenda Wolfe, representative to the Knoxville Tenant Council.

 

Outgoing officers include Mickey Norris, president; Gary Hutchinson, vice president; and Judy Breedon, treasurer.

 

South Woodlawn Neighborhood Association has elected a new board for the coming year. Officers are Shelley Conklin, president; Danny Gray, vice president; Dara Hitson, secretary; and Rosie Collins, treasurer.

 

To ensure geographic diversity on its board, SWNA elects at least one board member from different areas of the neighborhood. Area board members are Sylvia Woods, district 1; Marianne Hitchcox, district 2; and Debbie Sharp, district 3. At-large representatives are Janice Tocher, Steve Madden, Raymond Aldridge, and Andy Blanchard.  Stepping off of the board are Sara Baskin, Betty Spangler, and Roe Lyle.

 

 

2. Help Clean up First Creek and the Greenway This Saturday

 

Old North Knoxville, Inc. (ONK) is calling for volunteers to help clean up First Creek this coming Saturday, March 28, from 9 a.m. until noon.

 

The clean-up is part of an effort spearheaded by ONK and the North Knoxville Business and Professional Association (NKBPA) to improve the appearance and safety of the entrance to the First Creek Greenway near Broadway and Cecil Avenue.  ONK and NKBPA received a Parks and Recreation Department Challenge Grant for the project.

 

“We will meet at the corner of Hoitt and Luttrell streets to divide the territory,” according to an email blast sent by Lauren Rider of ONK. “We will be sharing the area with volunteers working to clear invasive species from the entrance to the First Creek Greenway on Broadway near the paint store.

 

“We need volunteers to work for any or all of the time. If you have small children, or need flat stable ground to work on, you can pick up trash in the main areas of the greenway. More adventurous souls can walk the banks of the creek, occasionally using a grappling hook to snare items in the water and pull them up onto the shore for retrieval.

 

“Even more adventurous (and lucky) souls can don waders and enter the creek waters (assuming it’s not a rushing river) and help us remove trash and large items like shopping carts from the creek bed. Our invasive species team will be cutting limbs, pulling kudzu, and making room for new signage and other improvements.”

 

Rider notes that the inventory of items pulled from the creek is quite interesting and includes an aged pay phone, a tiki doll, an inflatable girlfriend, the drive shaft from an 18-wheeler, and even more. Volunteers can keep anything they find — as long as it’s not contraband, Rider adds.

 

Bring hedge-clipping tools, as well as gloves and hip waders if you have them. ONK will provide gloves, trash bags, drinks and snacks. Also, the organization will provide a pizza lunch at the end of the event. If possible, please inform ONK if you plan to volunteer. Contact Rider at 964-3905.

 

 

3. Buffat Trace HOA Seeks Advice on Roofers

 

The Buffat Trace Homeowners Association is getting ready to start a multi-year program to re-roof all of the homes in its subdivision, and the group would like to hear from similar developments to see how they have handled this task.

 

Located in the Alice Bell Spring Hill area, Buffat Trace is a Planned Unit Development (PUD), which has very specific zoning and setback requirements. All living units are attached in two-, three- or four-unit pods. Although each homeowner owns his or her own home and the land it sits on, the HOA is responsible for yard maintenance, exterior painting and roofing.

 

If your HOA has similar responsibilities, and you have experience to share regarding roofers, going out for bids, and managing a multi-year roofing contract, please call Gene Mathis, the Buffat Trace president, at 556-0399. Depending on the response and the need, this issue could be the topic of a future workshop sponsored by the Office of Neighborhoods.

 

 

4. City Council to Tackle Sign Ordinance

 

Knoxville City Council will hold a special call meeting on Thursday, April 9, in hopes of hammering out the details of a new sign ordinance.

 

The meeting will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Small Assembly Room, in case the monthly meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Commission is still underway in the Large Assembly Room.

 

See this MPC document for further information.

 

 

5. MPC Updates Web Page on Proposed Zoning Changes

 

The staff of the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) has updated the Proposed Zoning Ordinance Changessection of its web site. Three of the new features are:

 

*** City Historic Properties Demolition Delay Ordinance — This item will be heard by MPC on April 9.  The amendments propose changes to city building code and zoning code to create a 60-day delay for demolition permits involving historically significant structures, and add a section related to existing state law that requires certain review procedures for pre-1865 residential structures.

 

*** City Sign Ordinance Amendments — The sign ordinance amendments are still being reviewed by City Council, with a Special Called Meeting scheduled for April 9.  Although not confirmed, the amendments may be referred back to MPC for a recommendation at its May 14 regular meeting.

 

*** City Pet Services Amendments — These amendments have been referred by City Council back to MPC, and will be heard on April 9.  A revised version of the draft ordinance is being prepared, and will soon be available for review.

 

See http://agenda.knoxmpc.org/preagenda.pdf (starting March 26) for the preliminary agenda for the April meeting of MPC.

 

 

6. Citizens Can Testify on Blighted Properties This Week 

 

Blighted properties will be front and center at two public meetings this week.

 

If any of these properties are in your neighborhood, consider attending the appropriate meeting to submit testimony about the impact of the property on the neighborhood. Full agendas for these two meetings can be found here:

http://www.cityofknoxville.org/boards/betterbuilding.asp

 

First, the Better Building Board — meeting at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26 in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building — will hear an appeal of a public order on 211 Gilbert Lane, and will consider a request from the city’s Community Development Department to certify 3037 East Fifth Avenue as blighted.

 

The BBB earlier determined that the East Fifth Avenue property is blighted, so the certification of blight is the next step in a process that could result in the city’s purchase of the property at fair market value using the powers of eminent domain. That could occur if the owner fails to take corrective action.

 

If the city does acquire the property either through negotiation or eminent domain, then it would eventually be put up for sale via the Homemaker Program.

 

In addition, 21 properties are on the agenda for the next Public Officer Hearing at 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 27, also in the Small Assembly Room.

 

The properties that have been approved to be heard for repair/demolition orders are: 3310 Ashland Avenue (including accessory structure), 2904 Atoka Lane, 200 East Burwell Avenue, 310 East Burwell Avenue (accessory structure only), 1721 Crestview Street (including accessory structure), 4530 Holston Drive Lot #10, 804 Houston Street,  2143 Keith Avenue (including accessory structure),

 

2822 London Circle (including accessory structure and fence), 4609 Millertown Pike, 432/434 East Morelia Avenue, 2412 Selma Avenue (including accessory structures), 3019 Sevier Avenue (including accessory structure), 909 Sidebrook Avenue, 3630 Skyline Drive (including accessory structures), 1009 Sunrose Road,  2915 Tecoma Drive, 4117 Van Dyke Drive, 2445 Washington Avenue and 2742 Wilson Avenue.

 

At this meeting, the Public Officer — David Brace, director of the Public Service Department — will hear testimony on buildings that inspectors contend are in violation of the city’s building codes. Testimony can also be made by the property owners, neighbors, neighborhood groups, and other stakeholders, such as lien holders.

 

The Public Officer then will decide whether to issue an order requiring that the violations be addressed in a certain period of time. Failure by the owner to cure the problem may result in the boarding or demolition of a structure, or the cleanup of a dirty or overgrown lot, with costs billed to the owner. A property owner may appeal the Public Officer’s decision to the Better Building Board and, ultimately, to Chancery Court.

 

 

7. Knoxville Scores to Host Home Energy Savings Fair

 

Are you interested in reducing your home’s energy consumption?  If so, come learn how to compete in the “Knoxville Scores with Energy Saving” challenge.

 

Knoxville Scores urges Knoxville residents to get a home energy audit and increase the energy efficiency of their homes.  Knoxville Scores kicks off its contest with the Home Energy Savings Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, April 13, at the Community Action Committee building, 2247 Western Ave.

 

“If the cold winter weather left you with a high power bill, come to the Home Energy Savings Fair and meet the weatherization contractors, utilities, and educators who can help you tame that bill both in winter and summer,” says Knoxville Scores team member Louise Gorenflo.

 

Knoxville is one of 50 cities across the nation chosen to compete in a two-year, $5 million competition to see which city can reduce its energy consumption the most.  The City, as well as the public schools in Knoxville, is participating in reducing their energy consumption to help the city reach its goal.

 

At the Home Energy Savings Fair, learn how to participate in the challenge, reduce the energy consumption in your home, and compete for door prizes. For more, visit www.knoxvillescores.org or email[email protected].

 

 

8. Neighborhood and Government Calendar

 

Include your neighborhood-related event or meeting in this space. Call 215-3456.

 

Visit http://www.cityofknoxville.org/calendar/ for a complete list of meetings of various city boards and commissions. See the Community Events Calendar: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/events/events.pdf

 

If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to attend a City of Knoxville public meeting, please contact Stephanie Brewer Cook at [email protected] or 215-2034 no less than 72 hours prior to the meeting you wish to attend.

 

Tuesday, March 24 — 6 p.m.

Inskip Community Association (Asociación de la Comunidad de Inskip)

Community Meeting (Fourth Tuesdays)

Inskip Baptist Church, 4810 Rowan Rd.

Betty Jo Mahan, 679-2748, [email protected]

 

Wednesday, March 25 — 9 a.m.

Infill Housing Design Review Committee (Fourth Wednesdays)

Re: infill housing in central city neighborhoods with IH-1 overlay

http://www.knoxmpc.org/zoning/infill.htm

Jeff Archer, 215-3821, [email protected]

 

Thursday, March 26 — 9 a.m.

Special Events Community Meeting (Fourth Thursdays, January-October)

“Meet with city services that may assist in planning your event.”

Civic Coliseum Ballroom, Third Floor

Free Parking available at Civic Coliseum Parking Garage

Office of Special Events, 215-4248

 

Thursday, March 26 — 3:30 p.m.

Better Building Board

(Last Thursday, January-October. First Thursday, December)

Small Assembly Room, City-County Building

Agenda: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/boards/betterbuilding.asp

Cheri Hollifield, 215-2119, [email protected]

 

Friday, March 27 — 9:30 a.m.

Public Officer Hearing – Neighborhood Codes Enforcement

(Usually held on the Friday following Better Building Board meetings)

The PO considers action on violations of city’s building codes.

Small Assembly Room, City County Building

Agenda:  http://www.cityofknoxville.org/boards/betterbuilding.asp

Cheri Hollifield, 215-2119, [email protected]

 

Saturday, March 28 — 9 a.m. until last person is heard

“Coffee with the Councilman”

(Usually the Last Saturday of Each Quarter)

Vice Mayor and First District City Council Member Nick Pavlis

Bring your concerns or stop by to chat; open to all city residents.

Roundup Restaurant, 3643 Sevierville Pike

Nick Pavlis, 454-7216

 

Monday, March 30 — 5:30 p.m.

Public Meeting on ULI Report

East TN History Center

[email protected]

 

Tuesday, March 31 — 6:30 p.m.

Chilhowee Park Neighborhood Association (Last Tuesdays)

Administration Building, Knoxville Zoo

Paul Ruff, 696-6584

 

Tuesday, March 31 — 7 p.m.

City Council (Every Other Tuesday)

http://www.cityofknoxville.org/citycouncil

Agenda: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/citycouncil/agenda.pdf

 

Neighborhood Cleanup is 9 AM to 11:30 Saturday, March 28.                                                                                                                                              

Meet in Lake Hills Church parking lot at 9 AM for assignments.

Each volunteer receives a Tee Shirt from Keep Knoxville Beautiful and a pizza lunch.   If you plan to participate I need to know your Tee Shirt size.  (You don’t have to do your cleanup on Saturday if you have a time conflict – Just let me know what streets you plan to pick up and you still get your Tee Shirt)  I will pick up shirts for each volunteer from Keep Knoxville Beautiful Wednesday.  Please email me your size, by Tuesday, at [email protected].  Pizza will be served at 11:30 AM at Lake Hills Church.  I could use a volunteer to pick up the pizza.  Thank you!!

Kathy Proctor  [email protected]

The Lakemoor Hills Garden Club sold out of the first run of Carpenter Bee Traps at the LHHA meeting.  We will construct the next group on Thursday, March 26.  If you want to order a trap, they will be available for $15 but you must preorder so we know how many to make.  To do so, email or call Kathy Proctor 599-7783 or [email protected].

Lakemoor Hills Garden Club has pink and green mailbox bows to spruce up your mailbox for Dogwood Arts Festival – cost $3 per bow.  Funds from the sale of these bows are used to maintain the landscapes on the common properties throughout the neighborhood.  If you would like to purchase one you can 1) contact Kathy Proctor 599-7783 or Ann Graf 254-4452 or 2) come to the Neighborhood Cleanup Day at 9 AM on March 28 in the Lake Hills Church parking lot.  Thank you for your support!