Before the beginning of the County Commission meeting last week I got the opportunity to speak to the IT Director and view the rough draft of the County Commission Blog software.  It looks simple and clean not a lot of bells and whistles but it does allow for RSS and ATOM linking.  It is not as sophisticated as some software that I have used or seen, but it is "free" and should do nicely.

I hope that this will be addressed at the July meeting so we can get it up and running as soon as possible.

Feel free to drop a note or your comments.

        

A email invitation I received but will be unable to attend.  Maybe you have some free time.

Solar PV Technology - An In-Depth Look. A free Workshop at 10 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday, June 13th at Ijams Nature Center.  This workshop is provided free through the City of Knoxville Solar America Cities program, and will give an in-depth understanding of Photovoltaic (PV) technology. Speakers from the City of Knoxville, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority will cover such topics as the legal requirements for a solar energy system in Knoxville, Market Trends in the PV industry, Building Integrated Solar, new innovations such as micro inverters, potential maximum efficiencies and Concentrated Solar PV. The workshop will also provide an update on TVA's new version of the Generation Partners program and have a small group "tabling" break out providing a chance to talk more in-depth with solar experts.
——————-
Agenda
10 AM - Introduction and Welcome - Erin Burns, Knoxville
10:05 - An overview of solar PV technology - Gil Melear-Hough, SACE
            The legal requirements and explaining Generation Partners
10:30 - Where the PV industry is going - Neil Placer, TVA
            Building Integrated solar
            Innovations, micro inverters
11:00 Conventional and unconventional PV technology - Curt Maxey, ORNL
            Efficiencies and fundamental
            Concentrated Solar PV
11:30 Q & A on topics and Solar Installer identification - facilitated by Gil Melear-Hough, SACE
12:00 Topic Tabling - Generation Partners, Industry Trends and More!
12:30 Wrap up

        

Good evening!

Just wanted to drop a note and let those who read know that I have requested that the idea to allow Blount County Commission to have a blog that follows the pilot program that Knox County has used for the last year will be on the agenda for the next commission meeting.  The actual request will be for the IT committee to investigate and see if the means and money exist in the budget for this to happen.

More to come later.

        

I have forwarded a copy of the letter contained below to the planning commission to allow some level of flexibility to rezoning request within the Urban Growth Boundaries of the Cities contained in Blount County.  Let me know what you think.

Dear Chairman Stucky and Members of the Planning Commission:

I would like to thank each of you for your service on the Blount County Planning Commission. I am aware and appreciative of the time and effort that each of you put into your positions. 

I have a request that I would like the Planning Commission as a whole to consider. I feel that this request, if considered and implemented, would allow Blount County more flexibility and also allow it to meet the needs of the other municipalities contained within its boundaries. 

What I am suggesting is for the Blount County Planning Commission to review the zones that are contained within each of the cities who have filed an Urban Growth Boundary with Blount County. After this task is completed, then implement the missing zones as available zones within each UGB for each city.

This would allow Blount County the flexibility to zone properties accordingly so it would meet future growth or annexations by any of these cities.  Possibly, we could add the wording “such zones would only be applicable within the UGB of the related cities.”  Thank each of you for your time, attention and service to Blount County and its residents.

Respectfully,
Mike Walker
County Commissioner, District 8 Seat B

        

There has been a bill of interest filed in both the House and Senate of the Tennessee State Legislature.  HB0513/SB1105.  The State Comptrollers office has the cost of this bill at over $5,000,000 to local governments.  The interesting part of this bill is that it would be back dated to July 1, 2007 and end July 1, 2009.

"AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 29, Chapter 20, relative to governmental tort liability.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 29-20-403(b)(4), is amended by deleting the final sentence and by substituting instead the following:

The provisions of this subdivision (b)(4) shall apply to any action arising on or after July 1, 2007, but before July 1, 2009.

SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 29-20-403(b), is amended by adding the following language as a new, appropriately designated subdivision:

(5) Minimum limits of not less than four hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($425,000) for bodily injury or death of any one (1) person in any one (1) accident, occurrence or act; and not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) for bodily injury or death of all persons in any one (1) accident, occurrence or act; and not less than one hundred forty thousand dollars ($140,000) for injury or destruction of property of others in any one (1) accident, occurrence or act. The provisions of this subdivision (b)(5) shall apply to any action arising on or after July 1, 2009.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring"

        

Effective Tuesday Evening I resigned from the Blount County Beer Board.  This was due to the recent legislation that was brought to light concerning commissioner serving on committees to which they appoint.  I am interested in knowing "IF" there is a possibility of appointing a resident to this committee is there someone within the 8th Commission District who would consider serving or you may like to see serve on this committee.

As always I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Mike

        

Just a quick note on the 411 North Rezoning request.

This item has been pulled from the Commission agenda indefinitely.  Rumor is there will be a residential development go in on the property.

        

Realizing that each have their own concerns the following survey is to see where some may lay.

        

Good Evening!

I was able to attend the Blount County Ethics committee's meeting last Monday, 01/05/2009.  During the committee meeting there was a discussion about changing the committee make up to include 2 citizens or possibly to be made up of all citizens.  While this is an idea to be discussed, I would also like to see a couple of other changes to be discussed as well.

1. That when a complaint is brought to the committee, whether it changes or not, that the complaint be discussed solely based on the alleged transgression without the identity of the person being divulged. 
   
2. When a decision is rendered and the ruling decided that it be entered into the policy for future infractions to be handle accordingly.
3. After the ruling is official as to handle the particular case in question then the identity and the person against whom the charge is made would be handled according to the policy as written.
   

I would like to hear your input on this idea.

Thanks as always!

Mike

        

Good Afternoon!

With the recent discussion related to the rezoning of properties on both 411 and Montvale Road.  I have a question and I am seeking input.  Family businesses for many years have been a backbone of both employment and taxes in Blount County.  When zoning came along these business, many of which, were located out in the county and in what one would consider residential areas. 

As our County grows so do these family businesses, I mean they are local and have a interest in the local economy and contribute to the local economy as well.

How are these businesses supposed to grow?  Where are they supposed to grow?  Are they supposed to grow?

Please feel free to chime in as I intend to bring this discussion up before the County Commission soon.

Thanks!

Mike