First and foremost, I want to say thank you for all the encouraging emails, calls, and texts. My letter about the squandered opportunity to partner with Williamson County was hard to write and send, but I felt like if I didn’t say something, I would be part of the problem. I’m going to follow up on that as well as a few other things going on in Brentwood.
As always, thank you to my friends who help pull this together. I can be reached at Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov for feedback, and 615-917-1384 (voice or text) if it is urgent.
My letter from September has sparked considerable discussion, and I truly appreciate the comments and conversations. If you didn’t see it, a good starting point is the Williamson Herald coverage here , and you can also find all the details on my website if you scroll down the bottom of the home page.
I would like to address some comments including:
I’ve had a chance to talk directly with Williamson County Commissioner Paul Webb who is Chair of the Williamson County Parks & Recreation Committee and also sits on the Williamson County Budget Committee. Commissioner Webb let me know that at the Williamson County Commission meeting this Monday, Oct. 9, they will vote on bond issues for this year. Brentwood’s review of the proposed joint Indoor Tennis/Pickleball facility and the timing of the county bond issue preparation led the county to defer this project to a future year at the recommendation of county staff.
The good news is that Commissioner Webb went on to say “As Chairman of that Committee (Parks & Recreation), if Brentwood is supportive, I can work to try to get it back on the capital improvement plan for 2024-2025 or 2025-2026. I don’t think a possible collaboration is truly dead unless Brentwood decides not to pursue it with Williamson County.”
I also had a chance to talk to Williamson County Commissioner Tom Tunnicliffe, also on the Williamson County Parks & Recreation Committee, and he commented that he is pleased that Wilco Parks & Recreation has been able to keep the racquet facility in Maryland Farms running to support the tennis and pickleball community as leaders sort through a cost-effective solution.
At this point, it looks like we still have three options as a Brentwood City Commission, and it is important we consider them carefully with public input:
I think it is important for citizens to weigh in with their commissioners to let them know which of these three approaches you would prefer we take. I can be reached at Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov or 615.917.1384, and you can find contact information for all the commissioners here.
Thank you to all who reached out about pedestrian access to our parks, and about the possibility of a Deerwood Connection to River Oaks in particular. If you have not heard already, there is an opportunity to buy a piece of property with potential for a bridge between River Oaks and Deerwood Park & Arboretum. According to long-time city commissioners, Brentwood has been looking for an opportunity like this for years, and this could open up pedestrian and bike access for an area of the city where it is very limited.
While I’m told the property owners considering selling this land to the City of Brentwood have an offer to sell to a private buyer, Brentwood can submit a backup offer in case the first offer falls through. For the city to exercise the option, Brentwood should do proper due diligence for safety and cost effectiveness, among other things, as well as hold a community meeting to gather feedback.
This conversation prompted me to look at Brentwood’s “bigger picture”, and I pulled up our online walking & biking trails map to see what the access looks in different parts of town. The difference between the East Side of I65 and the West Side is notable.
For instance, this is what the trails connecting Crockett Park to local neighborhoods look like (trails are the red dotted/dashed lines).
While it is not entirely complete, you can get around many neighborhoods and to our library, parks, & schools without using public roads.
When we looked at Deerwood during a Commission briefing, it is considerably different:
River Oaks can only access the park by either driving or wading across the river. I also noticed that Wildwood only has walking/running/cycling access to the rest of Brentwood either by coming across Belle Rive Dr. with no shoulders or sidewalks, or Old Hickory Blvd, which no one should ever try. If something doesn’t open up for another route and Belle Rive Dr. gets any busier, Wildwood could end up on an island apart from the rest of Brentwood.
At our City Commission briefing October 5th, staff asked the commissioners if we were supportive of an effort to explore this further. Three commissioners were supportive of evaluating the opportunity, but four were not, saying they don’t feel like the people most impacted are supportive. You can find the full discussion video on the city website at starting 17:27 into the meeting.
Personally, I would not want to build access unless it is feasible, safe, generally supported by the community and not require the City of Brentwood to condemn anyone’s land. That said, I think it is important to find out if it is feasible, safe, and generally supported. At the briefing, one of the commissioners suggested that instead of looking here, we invest the same money into improvement for bike/pedestrian access on Belle Rive Dr., which I also generally support, but with the same qualifications (feasible, safe, generally supported by the residents, and not requiring condemnation). I’ve heard from several sources that this was investigated a few years back, and it would in all likelihood require condemnation of some private property owned by Belle Rive residents.
If you would like to comment, please reach out by email, phone, or by speaking at one of our City Commission meetings (2nd the 4th Monday every month, 7pm at City Hall in Brentwood). You can find contact information for all the commissioners on the City Website here.
I’m working to keep Brentwood Safe, Clean and Beautiful, and appreciate your support!
Nelson Andrews
Commissioner, City of Brentwood
“From Brentwood, For Brentwood”
Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov
615-917-1384
Thank you again for your feedback. I enjoy my work on Brentwood City Commission and look forward to continuing to represent the Citizens of Brentwood.
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