Thursday, August 26, 2004
South Doyle Middle School Library
Meeting Summary

Members Present - Councilman Joe Hultquist (Co-Chair), Tom Allen, Vickie Andrews, Liz Farr, Ron Emery, John Finger, Margaret Gripshover, Pat Harmon, Don McLean, Alan Miller, Lynne Miller, Barry Neal, John Nolt, Martha Olsen, Eugene Robinson, Dean Shipley, Ed Smith, Whitney Stanley, Marilyn Roddy, and Sylvia Woods.

Mike Conger and Jeff Welch from the TPO were present, along with Dave Hill and Renee Davis from MPC, Glenn Malone from TDOT, and Mike Dunthorn from the City of Knoxville’s Community Development Office. David Kitts, Jeannie Dulaney and Kathy Hamilton from Leadership Knoxville served as meeting facilitators. Participants enjoyed refreshments and informal discussion during a meet and greet social time beginning at 5 PM .

At 5:30 , Councilman Joe Hultquist welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming.

Ron Emery reported that at the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting on August 16, they did not all agree on whether to build or not to build the extension, and some had asked for more information. Looking at the vision of less traffic on Chapman, slower traffic, bike trails, he believes this may support building the road. Customers tell him it is too dangerous on Chapman Highway . He shared the Downtown South concept, and showed the artist made logo.

John Finger reported a fruitful discussion at the August 23 meeting of the Neighborhood Impact and Opportunity Subcommittee resulted in two proposals with no unanimity and no formal vote. He noted that the minority preferred a variation of the no-build scenario with improvements on Chapman to Moody and improvements to ramps, traffic signal timing, law enforcement and turn lanes. Improvements to Old Sevierville Pike (which would remain 2-lane) and the widening of Gov. John Sevier Highway to four lanes were suggested, as well as future mass transit. The majority preferred to extend the parkway to Gov. John Sevier Highway with no more than one exit/interchange (NOT at Red Bud) , with a greenway to follow the course of the parkway. It should be done in an environmentally sensitive manner. John reported the proposal was the subcommittee’s attempt to reconcile sometimes conflicting ideas.

Don McLean reported that the Transportation and Mobility Subcommittee came up with one proposal through a vote, and made the recommendation to remove the ‘if built’ portion of the vision statement. They see Chapman as the business side of the corridor, and JWP as the transportation side and recommend the extension be built to Gov. John Sevier Highway as a parkway with no interchange at Redbud Road and no more than one interchange between Moody and the terminus.

Jeannie Dulaney noted that the subcommittees had coalesced around two approaches, and discussion centered on what to take to the public, and how to best describe the proposals. The benefits of not going out to the public with solid decisions made versus postponing public meetings was debated, as well as whether or not to present proposals as majority and minority viewpoints. How to approach improvements to Chapman Highway was also discussed. While everyone agrees that improvements need to be made to Chapman Highway , the specifics are unknown and not everyone feels that major changes can take place to Chapman without having better alternate routes to travel on during the construction process. This is why current proposals recommend that improvements be made from Moody north to Henley St. bridge. Also, in the proposal where JWP would not be extended, a series of improvements to Chapman Highway and parallel routes has not been fined tuned.

It was agreed that staff would begin preparing materials to present to the public at meetings on September 23, 27 and 28 at locations to be announced, and a preview of the material would be available for the task force on September 16 in the City-County building. Committees will have an opportunity to view the public comments before the task force recommendation is made. To report the final recommendation, staff will prepare the written document, outlining the planning process, alternatives, milestones, etc. in October. The subcommittee chairs will provide input and the report will be available for review before being sent to local officials in late November.

Meeting summary by Renee Davis