According to Blount Today, Blount County Commission, the Board of Education, and the Public Building Authority are having a workshop on Aug. 8th to settle some differences:

...issues have been raised about the cost of PBA services and allocation of costs among projects, division of responsibilities between the mayor’s budget staff and the PBA, the necessity of written contracts between the PBA and the county and payment for PBA services.

I have to agree with Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham, who is quoted in the article as saying there should be a written contract. There's too much money involved and too many important projects to be left to verbal agreements and memory that tends to get fuzzy over time.

As Flower mentioned here recently, there is ongoing controversy regarding the Maryville High expansion plans. Everyone seems to agree that additional capacity is needed. Not everyone agrees on how to accomplish that.

Architects and planners hired by the City have developed five alternate proposals, at least two of which require taking of nearby property by eminent domain. The neighborhood around the existing school consists of period and craftsman style homes of historical significance to downtown Maryville and its traditions.

One of the proposals, "option E", would take out at least one city block and possibly part or all of another. This is the plan that the City's consultants seem to be pushing.

It would be a shame to further damage the character of this neighborhood. In our opinion, one of the alternatives for a new, second high school would better meet Maryville's needs going forward and preserve what's left of the neighborhoods around the existing school. What do you think?

You can read more about the evolution of the expansion plan here, including links to news articles and a presentation on the five proposals made to City Council and the School Board in June.

This issue will be decided soon, possibly in September, so the City needs citizen input to make an informed decision that protects the interests of all who will be affected. City Council contact info is here, School Board contact info is here.

To give you an idea of the existing character of the neighborhood and what is at risk, attached are photos of some of the endangered homes and others from around the affected neighborhood . Click "read more" to view them...

Three days of Music, Arts & Crafts, and a Children's Adventure Land

Apparently there's no such thing as too much.

And I thought this was bad. Let's hope Blount County is never quite this "successful".

We finally made it over to the new Tomato Head in Downtown Maryville yesterday afternoon. I'm glad we did and my only regret is that we waited so long to check it out.

This is Tomato Head's second location. The original is on the Market Square in Downtown Knoxville, and is a favorite on the local hipster scene.

Click read more for our review...

In the August, 2007 issue of Southern Living magazine's Tennessee Living section, there is an article about Capitol Coffee and the owner, Heath Claiborne. The article is not on-line so run out and purchase the current issue.

Capitol Coffee is in the old Capitol Theatre building in downtown Maryville. The building still has the theatre sign. Apparently, you can book the theatre for private functions.

Claiborne is an artist with a coffee shop to support his art.

We've been to Capitol Coffee and enjoyed our visits. We will return. Thanks to Heath and his wife, Benita, for selecting downtown Maryville!

Photos after the jump...

Meet PEER

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Link...

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.

The Blount County Planning Commission approved Overlook at Montvale Phase I, pending completion of some erosion controls and other construction items.

The proposal to increase rural R-1 density within the urban growth boundary apparently fizzled and did not come up for a vote. But, the Planning Commission did vote to update the R-1 zoning to include exceptions for convenience stores on a case by case basis.

Follow the links for more details from the Maryville Daily Times.

P.S. Money quote in the MDT from County Commissioner Brad Harrison: "We need to look at really helping our people who are willing to invest in Blount County. We need to bend over backwards and try to help them instead of trying to treat them as criminals."

Citizens must speak up. Let Duncan know we are ready to replace him if he fails to do his job. Duncan's inaction aids and abets the criminals in the Bush / Cheney administration.

There are so many problems with this administration it is hard to know where to begin. I will describe them top down, however the actions to effect a cure might be most effectively implemented in the opposite order.

The Maryville Daily Times reports that the Blount County Planning Commission will meet Thursday.

Final approval of Overlook Phase I on Chilhowee Mountain is on the agenda. According to the article, the developers have settled all the lawsuits with Save Chilhowee Mountain and Planning Commission Chairman Jim Scully has inspected the site work and says it is OK.

Also on the agenda is a zoning change that would increase density to three residential units per acre in Rural R-1 zones that are inside the urban growth boundary and have sewer service. According to the article, Planning Director John Lamb developed the new regulations at the direction of the Planning Commission. Planning Commissioner Bill Proffitt expressed concerns about adequate roads with the increased density.

As you may recall, the was quite a bit of controversy about the project on Chilhowee Mountain. The Save Chilhowee Mountain group brought many concerns to the public's attention, but now says they are working with the developer on land use regulations and have setup a watch dog project to bring water quality and other issues to Harmony's attention.

The group had previously sued the developer for environmental violations and sued Blount County for not enforcing them, saying "The future of Blount County needs a little more scrutiny than the rubber stamp that was given" to the project.

Another controversy involved the purchase of Camp Montvale from YMCA for the project and concerns that the historical camp would be shut down and developed. This was settled when the developer agreed to lease the property back to Friends of Camp Montvale and allow them to continue operating it.

It appears the developer was successful in fighting off various citizens groups and the handful of public officials concerned about growth and mountaintop development, and has managed to turn them into allies. We hope they make good on all their promises and everyone remains as happy as they appear to be today.