Collegedale is continuing to upgrade the city’s parks. Just completed is the new playground behind city hall known as Imagination Station. Around 200 children were at the opening, Mayor Katie Lamb said. Vice Mayor Tim Johnson said the updated equipment has been very well received.
A new monument has recently been delivered to Veterans Memorial Park that the park board members have been working to get for the past 15 years.
The city now owns a TA-J4 trainer jet that came from the Pensacola Navy Museum. It was used to train fighter pilots on aircraft carriers during the Vietnam War. The next step, said Commissioner Phil Garver who is on the board, will be to have it painted before mounting it on a pedestal in the park. The goal is to have it installed by the end of August.
At the commission meeting Monday night, the commissioners approved applying for a state grant for maintenance of the Collegedale Municipal Airport. The city has received this state funding in the past that will pay 50 percent of expenses up to a maximum of $14,300.
A homeowner who was annexed into Collegedale came before the commissioners for the second time, to ask for help from the city. Larry Wallace’s house at 7235 White Oak Valley Circle at McDonald Tn. sits 2,000 feet off of Lee Highway, but because 10 feet of his property touches that road, the house was taken in by the city.
The city’s garbage trucks cannot negotiate a sharp angle in the long driveway, which forces Mr. Wallace to take garbage to the street for pickup. He told the commissioners that he pays $1,500 yearly in taxes yet must carry the garbage. He asked to be de-annexed so he can return to paying a private garbage service with a smaller truck. City Manager Ted Rogers asked for the name of the garbage provider with a truck that is able to get up the driveway, and said he would get in touch and perhaps work something out with the city.
The mayor said that the police department has sworn in seven new police officers recently who graduated from the Police Academy.
The commissioners, acting as the Collegedale Beer Board, approved a new beer license for a restaurant that has recently changed owners. Mr. Totto Japanese Steak and Sushi is located in the area around Walmart. City Attorney Sam Elliott said that as long as the owner has passed a background check, a license must be issued.