Sept 2020 update from Commissioner Nelson Andrews: Focus on YMCA One Brentwood Plan

This year continues to be a year of challenges, and I’m sure we are all going to remember 2020 for a long time. While there are changes both welcome and unwelcome, there are also opportunities for growth and improvement.

Right now, we are working hard to successfully restart contact sports in our schools and parks, adapt social norms to requests by our state health department, and look for ways to support our community as some of our cornerstone institutions change and restructure. The last of these is a reference to a decision by the YMCA of Middle Tennessee to sell their aging facilities in Maryland Farms and use the proceeds to reinvest in the Brentwood Family YMCA on Concord Road to transform it into a state-of-the-art family center.

As always, your perspective and comments are very important to me, and I want to encourage you to contact me at either Nelson.Andrews@BrentwoodTN.gov if it’s not “on fire” and 615-917-1384 (voice or text) if it is.

News:

Brentwood is moving forward with plans for the city’s first Inclusive playground at Granny White Park

Brentwood has budgeted $1.875 million for playgrounds in Granny White and Crockett Parks over the next four years within the Capital Improvements Program.
The Brentwood City Commission unanimously approved a resolution to enter into a fundraising agreement with the Rotary Club of Brentwood and Brentwood Rotary Club Charitable Foundation for a future inclusive playground planned for Granny White Park.
Details can be found at Williamson Home Page and The Tennessean.

August 6, 2020 the Tennessee Pledge was updated to allow Contact Sports

These guidelines are intended for youth and adult sports. Athletics play an important role in the community, and these guidelines provide recommendations for facilities, teams, and spectators to protect student-athletes and amateur sports participants.
The risk of COVID-19 transmission varies by sport/activity, and these guidelines are intended as a supplement to assist with safely engaging in practice and competition.
Recommendations include:
- Screen Coaches, athletes, team personnel, volunteers/staff, officials and specators for illness upon arrival
- Direct persons who exhibit COVID-19 symtoms to leave the premises immediately and seek medical care and/or COVID-19 testing
- All persons should stay home if feeling ill
- Practice social distancing
- Consider requiring cloth face coverings
- Increase hygiene practices
- Use personal drinks and snacks (not shared or communal)
- Plan for potential COVID-19 cases
You can find more detail here and here.
Brentwood Blaze and Tennessee Soccer Club, two of Brentwood’s premier youth organizations, are working with Brentwood Parks and Recreation to be sure they are consistently implementing this framework in our parks.

Brentwood has been named the safest mid-size city in Tennessee by AdvisorSmith

Brentwood has been named the safest mid-size city in Tennessee by AdvisorSmith, a group that uses data to analyze insurance needs across the nation.
According to AdvisorSmith, Brentwood, with its population of more than 42,000 residents only sees 0.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 9.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents, with AdvisorSmith granting the city a 16.6 crime score.
Collegedale, Germantown, Franklin and Spring Hill are just behind Brentwood with Franklin seeing 1.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 12.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents, while Spring Hill sees 1.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 15 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
AdvisorSmith has defined mid-size cities as cities with populations between 10,000 and 100,000 residents, which according to their data, which was compiled from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Data, these cities have an average crime score of 84 across the 48 listed cities.
You can find full coverage here.
If you would like to help us reduce our crime rate even further, encourage everyone you know to lock the doors of parked cars. Our crime rate is remarkably low, and much of what remains is theft from unlocked cars.

Brentwood Water Services Earns Perfect Score on Water System Inspection

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s (TDEC) Division of Water Resources recently performed a Sanitary Survey of the Brentwood Water System in which the City earned a perfect score of 100%.
The last time Brentwood scored a perfect score was in 2012.
The average score for Brentwood over the last five surveys is 99% according to TDEC.
The unannounced on-site audit is an important component of the Safe Drinking Water Act Public Water System Supervision Program and occurs at least every two years. One Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) employee spent two days at Brentwood Water Services facilities inspecting all aspects of operations and reporting in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Sanitary Survey Manual.
You can find full details on our City of Brentwood News Page. .

Brentwood Signal System Project Selected for $2.2 Million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has selected Brentwood’s Signal System proposal to receive funding under the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.
The project will be funded with $2 million in federal CMAQ funds and includes a local match of $118,000, for a total project cost of $2.2 million.
The Brentwood Signal System Upgrades Project will help reduce mobile source emissions and improve our state’s air quality.
Brentwood’s plan includes:
- Traffic signal detection system upgrades at 10 intersections
- ADA pedestrian signal system upgrades at 15 intersections
- ADA sidewalk ramp modifications at 8 intersections
- Updated traffic signal timing plans along major corridors
You can find full detail at City of Brentwood.

Brentwood Donates More Than $344,000 to Schools and Community Service Providers

For the past 34 years, the City of Brentwood has awarded more than $8 million dollars to Williamson County Schools and community service providers.
Schools that serve Brentwood students receive money for non-recurring costs such as books, technology, and special projects. Our City of Brentwood Finance Department mailed checks totaling more than $238,785 to the twelve Williamson County Schools that serve Brentwood residents.
Brentwood and Ravenwood High Schools received $62,400 each while Brentwood, Sunset and Woodland Middle each received $15,600. Crockett, Edmondson, Jordan, Kenrose, Lipscomb, and Scales Elementary schools were also awarded $10,400. Sunset Elementary was awarded $4,785 due to its lower percentage of Brentwood students enrolled.
Since 1992, the City of Brentwood has donated more than $2 million to community service providers like the Brentwood Family YMCA, the Brentwood Civitan Ball Club, Brentwood Blaze, and the FiftyForward Martin Center. This year, a total of $102,000 was presented to the groups.
You can find full details on the City of Brentwood website.

Briefly

Williamson County did not extend the County Health Department mask requirement into September. Both Williamson County and the City of Brentwood encourage residents to follow CDC and state guidelines related to social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, etc. Masks are still required in both county and city public facilities. Full coverage is available here.
Home Starts continue to fall in Brentwood:

Our Splashpad at the Williamson County Aquatic Center in Brentwood is open Monday-Friday 9am to 12pm, Saturday 9am to 3:30 pm, and Sunday’s 1 pm to 4:30 pm.
Granny White’s paving and re-striping has finished and the bicycle lanes are ready for use.
Planning and Code permit requests are now available online.
The 7^th Annual “Battle of the Badges” blood drive took place August 26^th and 27^thin memory of Brentwood Police Officer Destin Legieza, who was killed in the line of duty on June 18, 2020. This year’s blood drive collected 415 units for those in need, exceeding our goal by almost 20%.
The old “Dolphin Club” property on Wilson Pike has been rezoned from SI to R2 to allow 5 homes to be built by Hidden Valley Homes.

Calendar:

While we are starting to move back towards in-person meetings, the City of Brentwood is still working to minimize opportunities for the transmittal of COVID-19. The City of Brentwood is continuing to follow the guidance set by the health department at Williamson County and State of Tennessee.

The City of Brentwood TN homepage will have updates.
We are posting updates on status and format of meetings on our public calendar

This Month’s Focus: The YMCA realignment and commitment to the Brentwood Community

On August 28, 2020 I received the following message from the YMCA Organization:

To the City of Brentwood Board of Commissioners:

As a leader in the Brentwood community, I want to share with you some important news regarding our Maryland Farms and Brentwood YMCAs. Today, the YMCA of Middle Tennessee is publicly announcing plans to combine the operations of its Maryland Farms and Brentwood YMCA facilities in order to increase efficiency and better serve the growing needs of individuals and families through one updated, state-of-the-art regional YMCA at Concord Road.

As the first step in this capital reinvestment plan, we have engaged a real estate broker to explore the possible sale of our Maryland Farms YMCA property with the intent to use the sales proceeds to help fund a multi-million-dollar reinvestment in the Brentwood YMCA. Our vision is to create a “next-generation” Y that will serve the community for decades to come.   

For your reference, I have included the following resources that I hope will provide you with more context regarding this important decision:

Click here for a short video offering a high-level overview of this decision and why we felt we had to make it https://vimeo.com/451367680/103f66c67a
Click here for a more in-depth, narrated PowerPoint video that provides a “deep dive” into our decision-making process and future plans https://vimeo.com/452067851/7fcbdd94ad
A copy of today’s press release, attached to this email https://ymcamidtn.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/MISC-20-FCLTY-pdf-MFY-press-release.pdf

After reviewing this information, it is my hope you will see that our Y did not take this step lightly, and not without considering all options available to us. Our Y has wrestled for a decade with the challenge of what to do about a Maryland Farms facility that, at the end of the day, is approaching the end to its useful life. That recognition in no way diminishes the impact the facility has had on the Brentwood community, nor does it reduce our commitment to continue serving this community in the years ahead.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration of this important next chapter for our Y operations in Brentwood. If you would like any additional information or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you again,

Bob Knestrick
Chief Operating Officer
YMCA OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
1000 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37203

If you would like more information on the process for making the decision, the YMCA shared a couple of videos with the commission and other leaders:

You can find a short video about this decision here.
If you have time and are interested, a very detailed video with more information is also available.
You can also read the full press release by following this link.

The Maryland Farms YMCA land is zoned C2 (commercial retail), and has been since its original opening as a private racquet club in the late 1970’s. If you would like to learn more about how this land could be used in the future without being rezoned, you can find information at https://www.brentwoodtn.gov/departments/planning-codes/planning-section/planning-and-zoning-101.

The Brentwood Family YMCA on Concord Road is zoned SI-3 (service institution, cultural, recreational and government). As plans move forward, the YMCA and their team will work with Brentwood Planning and Codes as well as the City of Brentwood Engineering Department to be sure the updates integrate well into our community. According to the YMCA, updates to the Concord Road facility will include:

Expanded and enhanced wellness and group exercise areas.
Transformed youth spaces including Y-PLAY child watch (infants to 6 years) and a new Youth Activity Center (ages 7-11).
Enhanced teen center to accommodate educational programs including STEM, arts and music, and to support outreach programs like Y-CAP in collaboration with the juvenile courts and other youth-serving agencies.
Improved accessibility for families, seniors and people with diverse abilities who come to the Y from throughout Middle Tennessee.
Enhanced outdoor aquatics facility.
Multi-purpose spaces to conduct regional programs like After Breast Cancer, Full Circle, Weight Loss and small support groups, which operate in collaboration with more than 50 community partners.
Enhanced youth skate park.
Additional parking.