Examples of a traffic garden
Topics at the Red Bank Commission on Tuesday night including beautifying the city and adding a traffic garden.
Efforts of the Red Bank commissioners to beautify the city has been noticed by the Red Bank and Soddy Daisy Charitable Foundation, a long-time benefactor of the city. That group has given the city grants of $1,070,627 over the years since it was founded in 1991. The Charitable Foundation was the vision of Arnold Stulce Senior from Soddy Daisy and Sam Swope from Red Bank. When the Red Bank Community Hospital was sold, the proceeds were invested and managed and interest from the investments have been divided between the two cities every year.
At the commission meeting Tuesday night, Chairperson Patricia Baker and Board Member Becky Browder came to present the city a check for $21,000. The money must be used to benefit the most citizens, not just an individual group. And the organization specifies what projects that will be funded with the annual grants. The city must agree with the use, in order to accept the grant.
The grant this year will further the beautification efforts with the addition of one or two murals that will be painted on city owned property. One choice the city has been given is to paint a small mural on the rest room building at Kids Corner off of Redding Road, which is estimated to cost $7,000. The other choice is to partially fund a larger mural on the retaining wall across Morrison Springs Road from Food City. The cost for that project is estimated to be $75,000 and will require adding funds from other sources.
The city is also applying for another grant from T-Mobile, the telecommunication company. To be eligible for this Hometown Grant, grant, a city must have a population of under 50,000, and Red Bank is eligible. If received, it can be used for public arts projects. These grants are intended to be used for building, rebuilding or refreshing community spaces and helping to foster local connections. The grants that are worth $50,000 require a matching amount from the city. The projects that money can be used for must be able to be started within 12 months of receiving the funds. If the city receives this grant, plans are to use some of the $21,000 that was gifted by the Red Bank Soddy Daisy Charitable Foundation to pay the needed match for the T-Mobile grant.
Red Bank is getting ready to have a “Traffic Garden” built on some city owned property. The council approved signing a memo of understanding with the White Oak Bicycle Co-op which will build and run it. It is a paved area filled with miniature streets, crosswalks, traffic signs and features that mimic real-world roads. It will be used to teach children and new cyclists, safety and traffic rules. The bicycle co-op will create programming and schedule educational events for teaching safety to the kids. And it will be open to the public when scheduled events are not in progress. The city will assist in promoting programming in cooperation with White Oak Bicycle Co-op. But the group is asking nothing from the city, their spokesperson said they already have all the needed materials and equipment.
Mayor Stefanie Dalton thanks volunteers who helped with the Red Bank Day of Services to celebrate MLK day. She said about 3,000 pounds of trash were picked up. On Saturday, March 1, Red Bank will hold its fourth annual weed wrangle. Volunteers will meet behind the Gear Closet and most of the work will be done behind that store to remove invasive, non-native plants such as kudzu and honeysuckle. Vice Mayor Hollie Berry said it is a good opportunity for homeowners to learn how to identify invasive plants and eradicate them from their own property.
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