Nashville residents can set out their leaves for pickup on two Wednesdays this fall: Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, said town council President “Buzz” King.
“If there’s a big demand — which, in recent years, there hasn’t been — we might expand that,” he said.
The other reminder he gave at the September town council meeting was about basic traffic rules: Don’t go against the light or the wrong way on a one-way street even if nobody’s looking, don’t park the wrong way on the street and don’t jaywalk.
Nashville’s prime visitor season is nearly here, which means even more people in town. “Everybody, please be on your best behavior while our visitors are here,” he said. “I admit they do it more than we do but, after all, they’re our guests.”
Firefighters welcome fish tent help
If you can dish up food or wipe a table, the Brown County (Nashville) Volunteer Fire Department wants you.
The department’s fish fry tent on the courthouse lawn opened Saturday, Sept. 24 and will be open every Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 23.
Serving hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but help is needed from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., said Chief Micah Fox. Help for any length of time would be appreciated, he said.
Anyone who works more than four hours gets a free meal, he said.
The menu includes fish sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, coffee, hot cider, soda and water.
Sandwiches are $4.50, fries and hot dogs are $2, and drinks are $1.
Arts commission working on signage grant
The Nashville Arts & Entertainment Commission is embarking on a new project: Helping visitors better find their way into Nashville.
The group plans to apply for an Our Town grant through the National Endowment for the Arts, said commission member Kathy Anderson.
It’s a $25,000 matching grant for planning of a “wayfinding and placemaking” project. If it’s awarded, the town would need to match the $25,000. Anderson thinks all but about $8,000 could be gathered from the commission’s budget and the $17,000 in donations it’s received.
What the commission is considering is how to better explain the “brand” of Nashville to people passing by on their way to somewhere else, like Bloomington or Columbus. The signs drivers pass on State Road 46 are nice, but they aren’t very large or noticeable, she said.
“We need an organized plan, something that will not only be a gateway but will have a brand … that is also consistent through the whole town,” she said.
If the planning grant is awarded, the commission proposes to have a series of 21 meetings over seven days at different times to gather public input, she said. Then, consultants would be used to create the plan and concept designs.
The town council approved contributing up to $2,000 out of economic development income taxes toward the grant match, if it is awarded. Anderson said fundraising is planned to make up the remainder.
If the grant is awarded and a plan is developed, Anderson said the town could apply again to the NEA for a grant to implement it.
Paving in Nashville likely to happen in spring
Don’t expect paving in Nashville to happen this year with the money awarded from the state’s Community Crossings grant program.
Nashville Utility Coordinator Sean Cassiday told the town council Sept. 15 that the grant money probably won’t arrive until November, and won’t be released until the town has a contract with a paving company. By then, weather conditions won’t be ideal for paving.
The town has until July 2017 to get the paving done that was approved in the 2016 grant program, he said. Nashville was awarded $172,000 and has plans to pave about half of its roads with this round of grant money.
The state recently announced that the Community Crossings program will be offered for at least two more years, and the town plans to apply for more money to work on the rest of its priority road list, Cassiday said. Not getting the paving done in the 2016 calendar year won’t prevent the town from applying in 2017, he said.
