I have lived in the city of Red bank my entire life (minus about three years when I lived just outside of it) and I have never seen it flourish and bloom quite like it has over the last few years. We have businesses moving in, buildings being renovated, new homes being built and old homes being brought back to life.
I love this town and love its people but I do not appreciate some of the changes being proposed. I am all for curbside recycling and having a connection to the public library once again. But turning the entire middle school property into a park? Not keeping the city manager who has gotten us on this track of prosperity and not wanting to pay him fairly for his services?
Tim Thornbury has served this city for 35 years of his life and worked from the ground up to get where he is. He deserves to be treated with respect and given his dues for his time with the city. I have attended a couple of meetings with the new commission and have not been impressed with how it's going. There seems to be a lack of understanding about how commission meetings work and how things ought to be done during the meeting. There's a process to be followed during meetings for a reason, to keep order and to make sure that everything is done fairly and by the book for the citizens of this wonderful city.
I believe in being environmentally conscious and responsible, but there are some ideas being thrown around that are just not smart or feasible for our city but are being proposed by our new commissioners. Conservation of natural species and more green spaces is commendable and while I fully support the conservation of native species, we are a small city with only so much area to us. Why don't we invest in supporting homeowners and businesses having a "bee and butterfly native garden" area in their yard or in a planter? Invest in education about how to support these native species and protect them. Revitalize and revamp our current park areas (Kids corner, city park on East Midvale with a dog park, and the park and pool behind Erlanger North.) We have one of the last existing public pools in the county and it needs our support to stay going.
Just because some of our green spaces are off the beaten path and not directly on Dayton Boulevard doesn't mean they don't exist. The dog park could be a wonderful area but there are no trees for shade and very often its just a giant mud hole. Kids corner is a wonderful park for children of any age so perhaps the tennis courts next door could be downsized to two courts to allow for a grassy field area for children? The middle school lot is in the middle of town and would be ideal for a mixed use development like what Ooltewah has with Cambridge Square.
I would love to see that area become a spot for small businesses that could support this city. I love this city and only want the best for it, sometimes I don't feel that is what's happening with our current commission.
Molly Johnson