Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |
Spring Hill continued on an upward growth trajectory in 2017, bringing with it many notable changes and accomplishments. Here’s a look at what the city said its accomplishments were.
Part 3 (Continued)
The BOMA in October voted to purchase the Workforce Development & Conference Center at Northfield for $8.18 million, which will save taxpayers millions of dollars by meeting the City’s expansion needs without the need to build new stand-alone buildings to house a new police headquarters and library. The two-story, 355,000-square- foot office building at 5000 Northfield Lane is about a mile southwest of City Hall, off Saturn Parkway and U.S. 31. The seven connected buildings on 38 acres that make up Northfield currently serves a wide range of lease tenants, including satellite locations of college and technical school programs, two call centers, the Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce, among other offices, with extensive unfilled office space.
The City of Spring Hill, one of the fastest growing Tennessee cities, launched another special census in 2017 to certify the growth in population our city has added in recent years. It’s important to verify the latest population, and imperative that all residents respond, because of the State-shared tax revenues our city receives for each certified resident. The state is paying cities about $123 per resident in State-shared revenues. The additional revenues received for added population will allow the City to provide much needed services, such as police, fire protection, library services, Public Works, and expansion of our roads and parks. Please complete the census today at www.springhilltn.org. It only takes a minute!
The City of Spring Hill in November was designated by Governor Bill Haslam as a
“Healthier Tennessee Community.” Of the 346 incorporated cities in Tennessee, Spring Hill is now one of only 46 to earn the “Healthier Tennessee Community” designation, which takes a grassroots approach to improving Tennesseans’ health by engaging citizens and local leaders to establish wellness councils and develop sustainable community-wide events and activities that support physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco abstinence. Along with these things, the City of Spring Hill has made other efforts to encourage a healthy, active population by hosting an annual Spring Hill Health & Wellness Fair, partnering with nonprofits like the Late Bloomers to help make a community garden possible, and Mayor Graham’s launch last year of the first Mayor’s Healthy Challenge.
The Spring Hill Mayor’s Healthy Challenge kicked off in 2017 and will be continuing in 2018. It officially launches Friday, Jan. 5, and registration is available through April 6.
Mayor Rick Graham is encouraging businesses and their employees to compete in one of three categories: Small business, 1-6 employees; Medium business, 7-99 employees; and Large business, 100+ employees. Participating businesses will receive a window decal designating them as a healthier workplace, and the winner in each category will receive a plaque to display in their office. Six categories are offered for individual competitors:
Males 5-19 years old; Males 20-55 years old; Males 56+ years old; Females 5-19 years old; Females 20-55 years old; and Females 56+ years old.
Individual winners from each category will receive a plaque.
The Maury County School District is now constructing a new campus of Spring Hill schools on land off Mahlon Moore Road. The City recently annexed the vacant property into City limits. The City also is looking at partnering with the school system to provide road improvements and eventual public park space on parts of the property.
The City installed much-needed traffic signals at four key intersections on Duplex Road, including at Port Royal Road, Buckner Lane, Miles Johnson Parkway, and Commonwealth Drive. These are considered temporary signals as they were installed with wooden poles and strung across the roadway in order to have functional signals as soon as the property right-of- way was acquired. They will be made into permanent signals as part of the Duplex widening project, including replacing the wooden poles and wire with metal cantilever arms.
The BOMA approved the Diablo package of improvement to U.S. 31, which includes a series of small incremental improvements intended to improve traffic flow until the road can be widened.
Design work for the extension of Tom Lunn Road was approved and should be complete by early 2018. Construction will follow design in 2018 to widen and improve the road.
The City in November, in cooperation with TDOT, submitted a request to the Federal Highway Administration to approve the construction of an interchange at Buckner Road and I-65. If approved, the City will be moving forward with design and permitting for the interchange and related road improvement project along Buckner Road and Buckner Lane.
The City approved design work for the construction of Crossings Circle North that will provide a second entrance to The Crossings at Spring Hill, our city’s largest shopping center. Once design is complete, the City will more forward with construction of the road and bridge project that will extend access north of The Crossings and connect at the intersection of Stephen P. Yokich Parkway and Main Street (U.S. 31).
The TDOT extension of Saturn Parkway to Beechcroft Road, and the related widening of Beechcroft to three lanes, is expected to begin construction in winter/spring time frame of 2018. This also will include a bridge over the CSX railroad on Beechcroft, which will resolve issues with the CSX train frequently blocking the tracks.
