Metro Nashville Council bans selling animals on roadside

Bill sponsor cites welfare concerns By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • February 3, 2010 Selling dogs, cats and other domestic animals on the side of the road is now illegal in Nashville. The Metro Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban outdoor sales of animals, or even giving them away, with some exceptions. Councilwoman Karen Bennett of Inglewood, who sponsored the bill, said the practice is especially common in areas like Rivergate, Gallatin Road and Nolensville Road. The ban should give some animals a better shot at healthy lives and reduce the number of situations in which people adopt animals that haven't been treated properly, Bennett said. "Sometimes they don't know what they're getting into," she said. "If you adopt from a reputable rescue or from Metro Animal Control, most of them have a return policy." Along with dogs and cats, the law is designed to protect chickens, rabbits, hamsters and numerous other animals, Bennett said. It provides exceptions to the outdoor ban for Animal Control, licensed dealers at their places of business, nonprofit organizations whose main purpose is the care and adoption of animals, and people who want to sell or give away their animals from their homes or businesses. The 'Downtown Code' The council also unanimously approved a new zoning district called the "Downtown Code," which applies to 823 acres. The code is designed to provide more flexibility for the development of downtown Nashville in 15 distinct neighborhoods, allowing buildings to change uses over time. If they work, the new guidelines will create more open space, promote infill development and reduce reliance on automobiles, according to an analysis by the council's legal staff. The code also provides incentives for developers, allowing them to build higher in exchange for promoting open space, environmental sustainability and work-force housing. Councilman Mike Jameson, a co-sponsor, thanked the Metro Planning Department staff for work that was "enormously complicated and, I think, enormously significant."

TN budget proposal raises fees, limits TennCare

Governor's $28B plan could eliminate more than 1,300 state jobsBy Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • February 2, 2010 The cost of a driver's license could double, TennCare recipients could face caps on their coverage and more than 1,300 state jobs could be eliminated, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday as he delivered a budget proposal that he said would help Tennessee weather the recession. Bredesen presented a $28.41 billion spending plan that would tap the state's reserve fund and raise some fees to deal with stagnant sales-tax collections and the loss of federal stimulus money over the next budget year. His plan, which can be viewed at http://tn.gov/, calls for cutting $200.7 million in state spending from TennCare, the state's biggest program, and reducing the work force by about 2 percent. But the state would also set aside $202 million from reserves and other cash pools to help it avoid deeper layoffs and cuts, including some that would have been made to health, mental health and children's services. Bredesen also said he would tap reserves to pay a 3 percent bonus for state workers, who have gone without a raise since 2007. "It is raining hard enough that we can use some reserves to soften the worst of the cuts," the governor told lawmakers. Bredesen released his budget on the same day that he made his eighth and final State of the State address to a joint session of the state legislature. Overall, the $28 billion budget is about 5 percent less than this year's $30 billion spending plan. To Read the rest of the article click here

COA Scam of the Month

Hello District 29 Neighbors: Below is an alert from the Council on Aging (COA). Please beware! Vivian COA Scam of the Month February 2010 Don’t Buy the Sob Story! Backgrouund information This scam occurred in West Nashville during January 2010.

The Scam At 8:00 a.m. an elderly person answered the door at their home and a man asked for money for his sick wife. When the victim came back to the door with her wallet, the man took all of the victim’s money from the wallet and fled. Prevention Never allow unknown persons into your home Don’t bring out a wallet or purse to help the person pay for an “emergency.” Offer to call the police for the person if there is an emergency situation. Don't let them in. The police can assist the person and take them to an agency who can help. A scammer will flee if you offer to call the police for help.

Source: Metro Nashville Police Department, West Precinct

Metro asks departments to prepare for 7.5 percent budget cuts

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • January 29, 2010 A Metro government could be looking at budget cuts of more than 7 percent in the next fiscal year but will try to preserve basic services, a top aide to Mayor Karl Dean said Thursday. Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling asked the city's department heads to prepare budgets showing the impact of 7.5 percent cuts on operations and staffing by Feb. 25. Dean has until May 1 to give the Metro Council his operating budget proposal for the 2010-11 year, which starts July 1. The city, which cut $27 million and made some painful choices when it started the current budget year last summer, is facing another difficult cycle as the nation tries to crawl out of the economic recession. "Obviously, all budgets are tough, and this one won't be any different," Riebeling said. "The economy is still fairly weak." Dean could seek a property tax increase but might choose not to do that for economic and political reasons. Riebeling didn't discuss potential budget fixes in his brief meeting with the department heads and their finance aides. Instead, he asked them to follow a few guidelines, including: • Maintain and, if possible, increase reserve funds. The city's general reserves are in better shape than they were when Dean took office, but school reserves are on shakier ground. • Maintain the level of services to the public if possible. • Bring potential sources of new revenue forward for consideration. • Keep in mind higher costs for employee pensions and health care, and try to increase employee pay after two years of no raises. Some departments have already been thinking along those lines. Terry Cobb, director of Metro Codes Administration, said some fees, like building permits, probably would go up so they can cover the department's costs to provide services related to construction. Covering those costs with fee revenue used to be routine, but taxpayers are subsidizing construction services this year to the tune of about $2.5 million, Cobb said. "It's appropriate that the fee schedule be adjusted so that subsidy doesn't continue," he said. 'Cautiously optimistic' Nancy Whittemore, director of Metro General Services, said she was concerned that a 7.5 percent funding cut could affect direct services. Her department has already reduced trash collection in government buildings from five days a week to two, and some routine maintenance might need to be delayed. "We'll do everything we can to be efficient in how we cut back," Whittemore said, adding that the 7.5 percent guideline was "better news than what I thought we'd hear." Sgt. Robert Weaver, president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, attended the meeting and said he was encouraged by Riebeling's comments about employee pay. "We're cautiously optimistic," he said. "We encourage investment in the employees as a true asset to the city".

Streets to close as work starts on Nashville convention center

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • January 29, 2010 Downtown Nashville will soon have a new look, but it's not what you think. Before the new convention center opens downtown, three years from now, construction of the $585 million center will cause a transformation of its own, affecting some people's daily routines and their driving, walking and cycling habits. Metro announced road and parking lot closures Thursday as it prepared to start work on the convention hall site south of Sommet Center and First Baptist Church next week. Though the city hasn't secured all of the property it needs yet, its contractor plans to start putting up concrete barriers and fences around what it owns. Workers also will start removing asbestos and other hazardous materials next week from the parcels Metro has acquired, said Gary Schalmo, project director and senior vice president of Bell/Clark, the contractor. Any parking lots now owned by the city will be closed starting Monday "Our goal is to construct this facility safely, efficiently and with the least amount of disruption to downtown traffic and businesses," Schalmo said in a news release from Mayor Karl Dean's office. The city plans to shut down part of Demonbreun Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues the week of Feb. 8 for utility relocation work. That work should last two to four weeks, then move to the stretch of Demonbreun between Sixth and Seventh avenues, Schalmo said. The mayor's office said workers will try to keep two-way traffic going throughout the utility work. If that's not possible, traffic detours will lead drivers through the construction site. By the end of February, if legal proceedings go Metro's way, the city will have all of the property it needs in hand. At that point, it will close several streets around the convention center site, which sits between Fifth and Eighth avenues and between Demonbreun Street and an extended Korean Veterans Boulevard, which is being designed. At a meeting with more than 100 downtown business owners and residents Thursday, project leaders pledged to keep the public informed. "We are committed to communicating with you," senior project manager Larry Atema said. "It won't be a perfect process."

Schools Closed Friday In Anticipation Of Winter Storm

Posted: Jan 28, 2010 5:16 PM CST NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Several Middle Tennessee school systems, including Davidson County, have already closed schools on Friday in anticipation of winter storms. A winter storm watch has been issued for Middle Tennessee beginning late Thursday night, and a winter storm warning has been issued for southern Kentucky counties beginning at 6 a.m. Friday. The National Weather Service said accumulation from the upcoming winter storm will be light at first but will increase with intensity on Friday. NWS also said Northern Middle Tennessee will see mostly snow, while the southern two thirds of the mid state will see a mixture of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. By Friday, all of Middle Tennessee should be seeing snow as colder air moves in.

Nashville Davidson County Crime Report Jan. 17 and 18

Davidson County Crime log for Jan 16

Mayor's task force to plan better Nashville for youths

By Jaime Sarrio • THE TENNESSEAN • January 26, 2010 A collection of school officials, student leaders, nonprofit heads and Metro employees is charged with figuring out what would make Nashville the best city possible for its youth. Mayor Karl Dean announced the 40-member task force at a press conference Monday. The group's ideas will be due to the mayor at the end of July. "The idea is to create a master plan of how we can better serve the kids of Davidson County in all facets of their life, whether in school or out of school," Dean said. "We're going to look for the areas where there are needs and how we can fill those needs." Dean has a history of using task forces to generate new ideas — a committee on high school dropouts led to the city's attendance center for truants, and a task force on special education led to new practices for educating students with special needs. Dean said he'd like to see this task force touch on transportation and health. Similar plans are in place in other cities, he said. "The National League of Cities is a big proponent of this way of approaching youth issues," he said. "It's the right time to do this in Nashville." Student is a chairman The task force has three chairs: Ronnie Steine, councilman-at-large; Renata Soto, executive director of Conexion Americas; and Martin Luther King Magnet High School student Jairus Cater. Soto said she would like to see a plan that connects nonprofits across the city and helps youth get access to them. "I don't think as a city we have a unified vision of how to engage youth and provide resources so they can become all they can be," she said. Cater, a senior, said he believes the main reason students don't make it to college is because of a lack of support and access to the help they need. He hopes to bring a youth perspective to the task force. "The generational gap is a big issue," he said. "But if we can get a inner-generational crowd together and have the youth listen to the adults and the adults listen to the youth, I think we can make an effective change in our city."

Second Harvest of Nashville gets truckload of meat

By Kevin Heim • THE TENNESSEAN • January 28, 2010 Ham and ribs came rolling into Second Harvest Food Bank on Wednesday in one of the biggest donations that the agency expects to see this year. "Very rarely do we get a tractor-trailer full of meat," said Jaynee Day, president and CEO of Second Harvest. Smithfield Foods and the United Food and Commercial Workers donated 150,000 servings of ham and ribs, which will be split between individual food boxes for local families and programs that serve food directly to those in need. The donation couldn't have come at a better time for Second Harvest. The group is seeing former donors come to ask for help in feeding their families. "People are asking, 'Do I make my mortgage payment, or do I feed my family?' " said Dennis Pittman, director of corporate communication for Smithfield, which has pledged to donate 6.4 million servings of meat to the nation's food banks. Chef Jeff Henderson of Food Network was on hand to help unload the donation, as well as to stress the importance of giving to food banks. "This is the most trying time in my 45 years," said Henderson. "We have to come together as an American family." He challenged shoppers to take one item from their cart each time they go grocery shopping and donate to Second Harvest. "If everybody gave one item, we'd have this place full in no time," said Henderson. To donate to Second Harvest Food Bank, call 615-329-3491 or visit secondharvestmidtn.org

Piedmont Gas loses bid to change rate structure

Regulators say plan to charge more for reduced use is unfair By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • January 26, 2010 Piedmont Natural Gas lost its bid Monday for a plan that would allow the utility to raise rates for residents when less gas is used, after Tennessee Regulatory Authority directors said the proposal as presented was unfair to customers. The panel of directors voted 3-0 to deny the rate structure change, which Piedmont, formerly called Nashville Gas, had unsuccessfully asked the legislature to authorize last year. Piedmont, which offered to fund a three-year conservation program, said less gas use means a cost saving for customers, even though rates would increase to make up for its profit loss. "With this petition it's abundantly clear to me that Piedmont circumvented the Authority last year when it filed legislation in the General Assembly, said Director Mary W. Freeman. "And now after the General Assembly expressed a desire to study the decoupling issue, Piedmont is attempting to circumvent the General Assembly by filing its petition with the TRA." Such "decoupling" plans are intended to give a utility an incentive to encourage energy conservation by compensating it for reductions in use. Different plans can be found around the country, with some providing more protection for customers than others. One tricky point is whether gas use goes down because of a company's conservation efforts or because of other factors. Directors fault plan The way this plan was written fell short on several fronts, according to the three voting directors. "The conservation programs proposed by Piedmont lack specificity and measurements that would allow a determination as to whether conservation would actually be achieved," said Freeman, who made the motion to deny the request. She and Directors Eddie Roberson and Kenneth C. Hill took Piedmont to task for wanting to make 2003 data, which include everything from gas usage to the number of customers served, its starting point for figuring out compensation for lost revenue. "Piedmont's last rate case was filed in 2003, making the information pertaining to Piedmont's revenues stale," Freeman said. A rate case is used by the Tennessee Regulatory Authority to determine how much a utility can charge customers. Frank Yoho, with Piedmont's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., said the company was disappointed with the decision but hasn't given up on decoupling. "The intent around it is to continue to cover our costs to operate our system safely and reliably, but the real goal is to help customers get their bills down," he said. The Consumer Advocate and Protection Division of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office submitted an analysis of the proposal showing that rate hikes in the first year — if 2003 figures are used — would result in $1.9 million more for the company, while lost revenue from less gas use that year would amount to $20,000. Natural Gas which typically makes up the largest part of a customer's bill, has prices that fluctuate according to the market. Other charges include fees for service and equipment maintenance. A rate hike introduced in North Carolina after Piedmont adopted a plan similar to what it proposed in Tennessee left residents with increases over three years that included $50 million to cover lost revenues from less gas use, without indications that conservation programs caused the decrease. If the plan had been in place in Tennessee since 2003, the company would have brought in an extra $19 million, versus a loss of $20,000 a year for Piedmont, the state consumer advocate division maintains. In a Tennessean story on the issue last week, Yoho called the $19 million figure "fairly high." Safeguards criticized With a monopoly such as Piedmont, special care must be taken, Director Roberson said. "Also, the risk between utility and consumer needs to be more properly balanced," he said in the TRA meeting. Piedmont's decoupling measure "fails to provide adequate safeguards," he added. Much has changed since 2003, so a rate hearing would be appropriate, he said. Rate setting hearings require a utility to open its books and provide current information. "To consider such a dramatic change in rate design as proposed by the company — at a minimum — the TRA needs to have current usage and financial data from the company, not data almost seven years old from a 2003 rate case where conservation was not considered," Roberson said. Director Hill said Piedmont's proposal might actually discourage conservation and has not been proved to be needed. "Declining customer usage is not a new trend," he said. "It's been going on for a couple decades." Mike Hassell, an identity theft risk management specialist in the Priest Lake area, said he was pleased with the TRA's decision "How can you expect us to save, and then they're going to charge us more because they've got to keep their profits up? No, you cut back in your business." Yoho said he didn't know at this point what the company's next step would be. "A rate case clearly — from all directors — was a direction they were pointing us in," he said. The company had opted not to do that so it could more quickly roll out conservation programs that would save residents money, he said. A rate case can cost $300,000 to $500,000. "We thought this was a common-sense approach," Yoho said.

Piedmont gas not granted rate structure change

"Decoupling" proposal deemed unsound by TRA directors By Anne Paine • The Tennessean • January 25, 2010 The Tennessee Regulatory Authority today denied a request by Piedmont Natural Gas to allow rate increases to make up for lost profits when residential customers use less gas. Directors voted 3-0 against allowing Piedmont's proposal for what is called "decoupling," saying that it was unfair to residential gas customers. The utility, formerly known as Nashville Gas, said its intentions were to put money into programs that would encourage conservation of natural gas resources.

Nashville Uniting for Haiti

I am very happy to have joined this group of Nashvillians on this worthwhile event. As many of you know Haiti needs our help. It really hurts to see the suffering and pain of this country, especially the children...many without food, their parents and homes. Please attend. Your donation WILL help. Gratefully, Vivian

Wal-Mart cuts 11,200 workers at Sam's Clubs

By Mae Anderson • ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 25, 2010 NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will cut about 11,200 jobs at Sam's Club warehouses as it turns over the task of in-store product demonstrations to an outside marketing company. The move is an effort to improve sales at Sam's Club, which has underperformed the company's namesake stores in the U.S. and abroad. The cuts represent about 10 percent of the warehouse club operator's 110,000 staffers across its 600 stores. That includes 10,000 workers, mostly part-timers, who offer food samples and showcase products to customers. The company also eliminated 1,200 workers who recruit new members. Employees were told the news at mandatory meetings on Sunday morning. "In the club channel, demo sampling events are a very important part of the experience," said Sam's Club CEO Brian Cornell in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "Shopper Events specializes in this area, and they can take our sampling program to the next level." Shopper Events, based in Rogers, Ark., works with Wal-Mart's namesake stores on in-store demonstrations. Sam's Club wants the company to improve sampling in such areas as electronics, personal wellness products and food items to entice shoppers to spend more. Cornell has been working to improve results since taking the helm in early 2009, introducing new store formats, price cuts and offering more variety and more brands of food items. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart Stores closed 10 underperforming Sam's Club locations, resulting in the loss of about 1,500 jobs.

Opposition to new Nashville convention hall keeps eyes on process

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • January 25, 2010 Whether elated or frustrated, some of the people who spoke longest and loudest about Nashville's convention center proposal said they're likely to stay involved now that the facility has been approved. Kevin Sharp, president of opposition group Nashville's Priorities, said the organization's leadership will meet this week to talk about where to go from here. Sharp said he expects the group to be on standby as Mayor Karl Dean works on a deal for a hotel that would serve the $585 million convention hall. If the hotel requires significant public financing, as Sharp expects, Nashville's Priorities could reactivate for another fight. "I don't think it goes away," he said Friday. "We sit and watch and see what happens." The convention center debate was a tough fight, with both sides making their cases at public meetings, in conversations with Metro Council members and in the press. The most intense battles came after Nashville's Priorities got started in September. In the end, the council approved construction by a 29-9 vote Tuesday. "It was grueling," Sharp said. "Most of the people (in Nashville's Priorities) haven't done anything like this before. It's not something volunteers do." Union watches, too The Service Employees International Union Local 205 also plans to keep an eye on the project, which is expected to break ground by late April and open in the first quarter of 2013. Political and communications coordinator Mark Naccarato said SEIU will follow the progress of construction and revenue collection. If tourist taxes and fees fall too far below projections, Metro's general fund will have to make up the difference so the city can meet its debt obligations of $40 million a year. "There is a legitimate risk for the general fund," Naccarato said. "The general fund is what pays our members' salaries and benefits. That was the core of why we've been opposed." Councilwoman Emily Evans, who spent more time than anyone researching and talking about the project's shortcomings, said she'll leave it to Dean's administration to oversee the convention center's execution. "Once it's approved, we expect the executive branch to monitor and manage those things," Evans said. "If it's not properly managed, I would expect the legislature to get more involved. Until that point, we don't really have a role." Advocates for the convention center said they also could stay involved, depending on the situation. Dave Cooley, whose government affairs firm was hired by the Music City Center Coalition to lobby for approval, said he would stand down for now but could re-engage for a hotel battle in the council. Ron Samuels, the coalition's chairman, said his group's members would reconvene this week and talk about what they can do to make sure the convention center is successful. "We stand ready to help," he said. "It's exciting." Contact Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 or mcass@tennessean.com.