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6,250 subscribers www.TML1.org Volume 69, Number 5 March 12, 2018 CDBG program has far-reaching impact on Tennessee municipalities TML Legislative Conference BY KATE COIL March 26- 27 in Nashville TML Communications Specialist The Opioid Crisis, transpor- Scheudle At-A-Glance For nearly 45 years, munici- tation funding, the governor’s palities across the nation and the new TN H20 water plan, the state Monday, March 26 state of Tennessee have relied in budget, and other funding issues 11:00 am Registration Community Development Block are just a few of the hot topics to 12:00 pm Buffet Lunch Grant funding to help finance be discussed during TML’s Annual 1:00 pm Rep. Tim Wirgau projects ranging from sewer and Legislative Conference, slated for 1:15 pm Rep. Barry Doss water line extensions to purchas- March 26-27 in Nashville. 1:30 pm Sen. Paul Bailey ing new fire trucks and ambulanc- A host of state officials are 1:45 pm Sen. Ken Yager es to removing blight and renovat- lined up to speak, including Lt. 2:00 pm Sen. Mark Norris ing important local infrastructure. Gov. Randy McNally, House 2:30 pm Sen. Bo Watson Between 1975 and 2014, the Speaker Beth Harwell, Senate Ma- 2:45 pm TML Staff Reports program has provided more than jority Leader Mark Norris, House 4:00 pm Senate Floor $139.9 trillion in funds in all 50 Majority Leader Glen Casada, Session states and Puerto Rico. The pro- Senate Finance Chair Bo Watson, 5:00 pm House Floor gram has also brought more than House Finance Chair Charles Sar- Session $2.1 billion in funds to the state gent, Senate State and Local Chair of Tennessee, including more Ken Yager, House Local Chair Tuesday, March 21 than $1.01 billion to small cities Tim Wirgau, Senate Transporta- 7:30 am Breakfast and towns. tion Chair Paul Bailey and House 7:45 am Speaker Beth One of the longest-running Transportation Chair Barry Doss Harwell federal grant programs in exis- and TDOT Commissioner John 8:00 am Lt. Gov. tence, the CDBG was established Schroer. Randy McNally in 1974 by President Gerald Ford In 2011, the town of Greeneville received a $500,000 Community Conference registration opens 8:15 am Rep. Charles through the Housing and Com- Development Block Grant (CDBG) to improve its municipal sewer at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 26, Sargent munity Development Act of 1974. plant. Originally constructed in 1984, the funds helped the town followed by a buffet lunch at noon. 8:45 am Deputy ECD The first grants were awarded in upgrade the aging facility. Greeneville again applied for a CDBG The conference will kick off at 1 Commissioner 1975 with the goal of extinguish- grant and received $525,000 from the program in 2017. This new p.m. and run through 4 p.m. on Dr. Shari ing poverty and urban blight. grant will help finance half of a $1 million project to change the plant Monday afternoon. Meghreblian When the program was reau- over from chlorine disinfection to ultra violet disinfection, which will On Tuesday, March 27, things 9:00 am TDOT Commissioner thorized in 1978, a new measure treat more bacteria and be safer for consumers. will get underway at 7:30 a.m. with John Schroer required a “rural set-aside,” which a breakfast served until 8 a.m. The 9:15 am Rep. Glen Casada required 30 percent of all CDBG dersonville, Jackson, Johnson communities in the state. conference program will begin at 9:30 am Closing Remarks funds to serve projects in rural City, Kingsport, Knoxville, Knox “Our eligible entities are local 7:45 a.m. and continue until 10 a.m. The voice of Tennessee’s mu- areas. To date, approximately 95 County, Memphis, Metro Nash- governments – city and county The two-day conference pro- nicipal governments must be heard percent of CDBG funds benefit ville, Morristown, Murfreesboro, – and our annual allocation is vides an excellent forum to net- in the legislative process, and the low-to-moderate income house- Oak Ridge, and Shelby County usually somewhere between $24 work with other municipal officials TML Legislative Conference is a holds. are each given individual pots of and $25 million,” Archer said. and interact with your legislators. great opportunity to communicate One of the main differences funding to administer while proj- “Our different sections include Those in attendance are encour- that message. For information between the CDBG and other fed- ects conducted by other munici- water systems, sewer systems, aged to attend legislative commit- regarding registration and hotel eral grants is that CDBG funds are palities and counties in Tennessee a housing rehabilitation compo- tee meetings while in Nashville. reservations, visit www.TML1.org subject to less federal oversight are administered through the Ten- nent, and community livability. and are often used at the discretion nessee Department of Economic The community livability portion of state and local governments. In and Community Development is really everything else. The Tennessee, CDBG funds are split (TECD). intention with those funds is to Instability in grocery between the state’s largest cities Kent Archer, CDBG director improve health, safety, and quality and the remaining cities, towns, for TECD’s Community and Ru- of life through those grants. It can sector could have and counties in the state. ral Development Division, helps be anything from rehabilitation Bristol, Chattanooga, Clarks- oversee the distribution of funds to work to a hospital to financing fire local econmic impact ville, Cleveland, Franklin, Hen- the remaining or non-entitlement See CDGB on Page 8 BY MICHAEL GRASS Grocery sector instability is Route Fifty also a very timely issue for public Lawmakers, advocates tout ‘Safe at Home’ officials to consider. Here’s a difficult question that Amazon.com, Inc.’s $13.7 program to protect domestic violence victims local economic development and billion acquisition of Whole Foods planning officials across the U.S. last year sent shockwaves through BY KATE COIL would probably rather not think the grocery world. More Ama- about: If the grocery industry is zon-related grocery reverberations Domestic violence victims, disrupted in ways other parts of are expected. The Seattle-based advocates, lawmakers and Ten- the retail sector have been upended online retailing giant this month nessee Secretary of State Tre by online shopping in recent years, announced plans to deliver Whole Hargett are teaming up to support what happens to the physical foot- Foods groceries through its Prime legislation that would create a new print of the traditional grocery store Now service in select markets. It program to help protect victims of if brick-and-mortar locations aren’t also opened two Amazon Fresh abuse. necessarily needed in the same way pickup locations and a new cashier- The “Safe at Home” program or same number? less Amazon Go convenience store has already been implemented by It’s an important question for in Seattle. 35 states across the country and communities across the nation, All this has put traditional aims to help survivors of domestic whether they’re a struggling small- brick-and-mortar retailers either violence, rape, human trafficking, er city or an economically thriving in a defensive position or has pres- stalking, and other crimes who urban area. sured them to pursue new strategies have relocated or are about to For decades, grocery stores to stay relevant to consumers and relocate, in their effort to keep Secretary of State Tre Hargett Sen. Brian Kelsey, have been fixtures in neighborhood financially viable. In January, the their abusers from finding them. R- Germantown commercial corridors and have an- Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based In doing so, the program will allow protections for victims and taking chored countless shopping centers Kohl’s department store chain an- victims to take back their lives by positive action to shield all our cit- in urban and suburban areas— nounced it would lease a portion of preventing an abuser from locat- izens from the effects of domestic usually accompanied by a large its store footprint to other retailers, ing them through public records violence,” Hargett said. “For these parking lot. In more recent years, including grocery and convenience searches and inflicting additional reasons, we look forward to serving the introduction of a new grocery stores. harm. our fellow Tennesseans through store, like Whole Foods, has served Meanwhile, the nation’s largest In 2016 alone, 78,100 domes- our assistance in preventing vio- as a catalyst for neighborhood grocery chain, Boise, Idaho-based tic violence offenses were reported lence in our communities.” redevelopment or an integral part Albertsons, which has 2,323 stores in Tennessee. In over 80 percent The Safe at Home program of a mixed-use development. In across the U.S., announced this of these reported incidents, the provides victims with a govern- food deserts, a new grocery store week a bid to acquire the remainder primary victim was either a woman ment-managed substitute address opening can be transformative for of the Rite Aid pharmacy chain or a child. In over half of reported (such as a post office box), for both struggling communities. A store that’s not being sold to Walgreens. cases, the victim was physically themselves and their children. This closure can be equally as devas- That would give Albertsons more injured. Victims may need to move address can then be used to obtain tating. See GROCERY on Page 7 to other towns, switch jobs, move a driver’s license, register to vote, their children to different schools, and complete most other govern- or even change their names just to ment forms without disclosing the Rep.