The city of Chattanooga’s Department of Parks and Outdoors has released its 2023 Parks and Outdoors Plan, the blueprint for achieving a Chattanooga where all residents and guests have access to parks, greenways and recreational facilities.
The plan – the city’s first in 25 years – builds on planning documents as far back as the Nolen Park Plan (1911), the Riverfront Plan (1985) and the ReCreate 2008 Plan (1998), a news release from the office of Mayor Tim Kelly reveals.
During the engagement process, consultants with Design Workshop and the city’s parks team visited and assessed every park and greenspace in Chattanooga. The team’ condition ratings indicate less than 20% of the city’s parks are in an acceptable condition and give the city’s park system an overall rating of C+.
The news release indicates the city will focus on short-term goals after the city council adopts the plan, initially fixing neighborhoods where the city has historically failed to invest sufficient money or resources.
The POP also calls for city council to consider preserving over 500 acres of existing city-owned land for natural wildlife habitat and outdoor education and to increase the 32% of residents who live within walking distance of a park closer to the national average of 55%.
This land will also provide space for new parks and greenways that will connect thousands of residents and guests to greenspaces and recreation amenities.
The short-term phase of the POP will also increase community engagement through a new Parks and Outdoors advisory commission that includes representation of each district, pave the way for Chattanooga to become the first designated National Park City in the Western Hemisphere, and create a park standard system for the entire city.
New amenities in the POP include 16 miles of new greenways and connectors, 19 park upgrades and redevelopment projects, seven new parks and four new special use facilities.
Read the full plan at www.chattanoogaparksandoutdoorsplan.com
Mayor says city’s fiscal strategy is working
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is commending the City Council’s unanimous approval of his fiscal year 2024 budget this month and saying the vote of confidence heralds good things for the years to come.
“When you look at some of the key metrics – the nearly 50,000 potholes we’ve filled, the 275 additional early learning seats in the works, the more than 2,000 Chattanoogans who have been housed, and the countless workforce development initiatives and apprenticeship programs we’ve launched – it’s clear momentum is on our side,” Kelly says. “This year’s budget builds on that momentum and doubles down on the things we know matter most to Chattanoogans.”
The budget continues Kelly’s first-term commitment to allocate $40 million to paving and adds an additional $3 million to revitalize parks and green spaces.
It also includes $3 million for affordable housing and homelessness prevention, building on the momentum of Kelly’s 40% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in 2022, according to the most recent point-in-time count.
Beyond the capital projects, Kelly’s budget enhances his efforts to reform and optimize city government, including the rollout of a new cost savings incentive program that rewards employees for identifying opportunities to save taxpayer money.
The budget also includes funding to support the more efficient and effective delivery of city services, including new refuse trucks.
Finally, Kelly’s budget includes an investment in non-sworn city employees, creating a new step play plan that will help attract and retain quality talent to the city’s workforce.
The new budget – which covers July 1 through June 30, 2024 – is available for the public to view at chattanooga.gov/finance/finance-division/current-year-budget.
Kelly’s budget includes a $187 million investment in infrastructure – including roads, sidewalks, bridges, traffic signal synchronization, sewer and stormwater projects – representing an increase of $57 million from the current budget.
Ten million dollars will go toward repaving roads in continued fulfillment of Kelly’s commitment to invest $40 million into road repair over four years. The budget also sets aside $18 million for the renovation of Walnut Street Bridge, $13.3 million of which is coming from federal funding sources.
The city will also continue to invest in preserving and enhancing its green spaces, with $1.3 million going toward a new park on Provence Street in Brainerd and $200,000 toward a new pilot program with Hamilton County Schools and Trust for Public Land that will turn local schoolyards into community parks. Another $1 million will go toward the revitalization of Chattanooga Skate Park, while the city will set aside $400,000 for overdue maintenance projects in neighborhood parks.
Nearly half of the budget covers public safety, with the police and fire departments making up 45% of general fund expenditures.
Kelly’s budget will also continue to fund community partnerships focused on preventing violence, as well the police department’s Crisis Response Unit and Victims Advocate Center.
To maintain Chattanooga’s insurance services office rating, the budget adds nine firefighters and reserves $4.5 million for five new fire trucks. Favorable ISO ratings are essential to maintaining affordable homeowners insurance rates, the city notes in its news release.
The city will also deploy more than $3 million in federal funds to create and preserve an additional 400 units of affordable housing over the next year. The budget includes three positions to support new Chief Housing Officer Nicole Heyman – including a director of housing finance.
Kelly’s budget also earmarks $2.6 million for the city’s Office of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, with $820,000 going to the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition to continue rapid rehousing of residents experiencing homelessness and to develop an outreach plan focused on veterans and households with children.
The budget also includes investments to improve city service delivery, including seven new refuse trucks and four new driver positions, as well as two new short-term vacation rental inspectors and an administrative hearing officer to preside over disputes.
Kelly’s budget also aims to reduce areas of operational redundancy in projects, programs and jobs. It reorganizes the Department of Community Development to sharpen its focus on community centers and services, for example, and proposes funds for a new cost savings incentive program to motivate employees to identify ways to save money within their departments.
The administration has also identified and eliminated 29 positions – 15 of which were vacant and 14 of which were filled – that had become redundant through either the reorganization of Community Development or streamlined processes that reduced workforce needs.
The city paid impacted staff through June 29 and encouraged them to apply for vacant positions.
About 62% of the city’s operational expenditures go toward employee pay and benefits, the news release states. To ensure continuity of essential services, the budget provides more than $3.5 million for a step pay plan for non-sworn employees. The plan will provide a structure for increasing employee pay over time according to years of service and performance.
Nonexempt (primarily hourly) employees will start with a pay increase based on years of service, with more than two-thirds receiving a more than 4% increase. Exempt (salaried) employees will receive two steps equivalent to about a 2% cost of living increase.
Appointed employees will receive a 1.5% cost of living increase, while sworn (CFD and CPD) and wastewater employees will receive their regularly scheduled step increase.
tnAchieves needs additional mentors
Registration to serve as a tnAchieves mentor in 2024 is now open.
tnAchieves needs 9,000 volunteers – including 425 in Hamilton County – to support the class of 2024 on its college journey using the TN Promise scholarship.
Mentors will ensure each student has local support on their way to a post-secondary credential.
The deadline to register as a mentor is Oct. 20. Register at tnachieves.org/mentors/apply.
Each tnAchieves mentor commits one hour per month to serve a group of 8-10 high school seniors. Mentors attend one in-person meeting hosted at the student’s high school and can choose the high school they serve.
Volunteers will receive virtual training, a handbook and weekly updates.
tnAchieves is a privately-funded scholarship and mentoring program. Send questions about the program to tyler@tnAchieves.org.