Stitch

The other day I wrote about how being proactive can save more work later - remember a stitch in time saves nine?

What should have been mentioned - but wasn't - is that that one stitch needs to be done correctly or all is for naught.

So do it promptly, but correctly.  Or you might as well not bother at all.

Good start

Last night the City Council and Bristol Industrial Development Board met to approve a development agreement for the Bristol Border Region Retail Tourism Development District.

The day marked the culmination of 19 months of concentrated work by many to position the city for a major retail project on Interstate 81 at Exit 74 that will be anchored by Bass Pro Shops - the 5th Bass Pro to open in Tennessee and the first anchor tenant for the project.

The day also marked the start of the next chapter of work - the construction phase including public improvements followed by vertical improvements (i.e., stores).  This phase will be completed by April 2014 when the initial public improvements are completed to usher in the opening of Bass Pro; to be followed by the first opening of other retail stores in the Spring of 2015.

This project was identified as key objective in the strategic economic development plan that was adopted one year ago this month.  So it's fair to say where off to a good start.

Thread

A "stitch in time saves nine" is a great proverb.

And its meaning?  To prevent more work later - do it now - even if it doesn't involve needle and thread.

Haggis

Happy Robbie Burns Day.

An 18th century Scottish poet and writer, Robbie is best known for Auld Lang Syne, the song most often heard at New Years.  A true Scot, his favorite food was, of course - haggis.

Everybody who likes haggis, please raise your hand.  And for the rest of us - a double cheeseburger will be just fine.

King University

Dr. Greg Jordan announced today that King College will officially be renamed King University on June 1, 2013 to reflect the comprehensive nature of their academic programs.

Congratulations to President Jordan, the Board of Trustees, and the faculty and staff for another milestone event at this great academic institution.

Reward

Are your days busy and productive?

It really doesn't matter how, why, or what for, or whether at work, home, play, or some or all of the above.

Just be busy - and productive.  Life will be more rewarding that way.

Directions

I asked you to wish for sunny days - not heavy snowfall like we had yesterday.

Reminds me of an incident a long time ago about following instructions before starting an elementary school quiz.

The instruction of the teacher was to read the directions in full before starting the quiz.  Turns out the last direction of the 3 on the top of the page was to disregard the other 2 and just put the pencil down and quietly fold hands on the desk and wait on the others - to not take the quiz at all.

Of course, most of the students didn't bother to read the directions and were later embarrassed when the teacher shut down the exercise and pointed out their failure to follow her instructions and the directions.

So follow directions - you'll be better off because of it - as was I.

Rain

Did you know that 71% of the surface of the earth is water, with 97% of that salt water?  That leaves a mere 3% in freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams.

And that's just water on the surface.

There's also water in the ground and in the air - although I suspect much of it above the earth has reached the ground in the form of rain in Bristol the past week.

So keep your umbrellas handy - and wish for sunny days.

Justice

Stand up to injustice whenever you see it.

Balance the scale - make a difference.

Fish

Fish or cut bait is a great American expression that had a very specific meaning at one time but has morphed to its 21st century meaning.

Back in the 1800's, it literally was used in the fishing industry to differentiate between work assignments - either to have the job of fishing or the job of cutting the bait used to fish.

Today it is commonly used to act or not act; to take action or alternatively, to procrastinate or stand down.  A far cry from the act of fishing.

So given the choice, let's fish.

And that's it - lock, stock and barrel.

Survey

Were you one of the 1,200 randomly selected Bristol households to receive our community survey in the mail?

If so, please complete it and return as soon as possible as your response is important.

The National Citizen Survey is designed to elicit responses in key service areas and community characteristics to assist the City Council in making policy decisions and prioritizing resource allocations in the future.

The survey will result in a 95% confidence level around every question and will provide norms against which to compare our results.  These norms are derived from an integration of results from over 400 citizen surveys administered in more than 40 states and will provide real context to the resulting data. 

The survey results will be compiled, analyzed, and returned for public review in the next few months.

GIGO

Remember the acronym GIGO, Garbage in, garbage out that was commonly used a few years ago in the computer science field?

You don't hear it so often these days, but basically it means that if the data used to make a decision is faulty, then the resulting conclusions will subsequently be flawed.

So get and use good data - and your decision making success will exponentially improve as a result.

Land Use Plan

Thanks to the good work of Shari Brown and the Community Development Department staff, the city has a new Land Use Plan and Policy.

The purpose of the Land Use Plan and Policy is to provide a general pattern for the location, distribution and character of future land uses within the city and urban growth boundary.  It reflects the community's vision of its future self by guiding future land use decisions and the accompanying physical development in the city that will occur.  It is intended to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare by providing efficiency and economy in the process of growth. 

The policies are based on the following principles:

-  To utilize land resources in a manner that contributes to community health, safety, and quality of life.

-  To secure the city's economic future by strengthening cultural tourism and arts, motor sports, medical arts and healthcare, diversified manufacturing, and destination retail.

-  To ensure that policies are in place that will allow the construction and availability of housing that will provide diverse housing choices throughout the community.

-  To create an efficient, well-connected, intermodal transportation network.

-  To preserve important community assets including cultural, historic natural, and archaeological resources.

The plan was adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council following its presentation and review at five community meetings that were held for public input and feedback.

  

Persevere

Initiating a new program or service, undertaking a new project, or introducing a new product is harder than it looks.

Look to the news today for a great example - the new Boeing 787 is being severely questioned and scrutinized as the result of several minor mishaps for which the causes are still under investigation.  Just a few short months ago the Dreamliner maiden commercial flight was widely heralded for its innovation and technology.

And a few months back Apple iOS6 maps were roundly criticized for their failure to live up to Apple standards of quality - resulting in a public apology from CEO Tim Cook and the return of Google maps as an option.

Yes - it's harder than it looks.  You just have to put your nose to the grindstone and persevere.  And persevere you will if you just try.

Legislation

This past week the Joint Legislative Policy of the Tri-Cities for the 2013 Session of the Tennessee General Assembly was presented to area legislators, city officials, and staff at a luncheon in Johnson City.

The legislative policy is developed annually by the Cities of Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City to provide a unified position regarding key state legislative initiatives affecting the communities.

The 2013 Policy includes twenty-five (25) objectives grouped into the seven subject areas of Education, Public Safety, Economic Development, Unfunded Mandates and Local Control, Land Use and Growth, Transportation, and Local Revenue.

Bristol Vice Mayor Ben Zandi, Johnson City Vice Mayor Phil Carriger, and Kingsport Mayor Dennis Phillips did a fine job presenting the policy agenda this year.

E-agenda

One of our work plan goals was to institute an electronic City Council agenda packet this year.

So starting with the January 8, 2013 meeting, all of our agenda packets will be available for viewing online.

You can link to the material from our website, www.bristoltn.org, or at the following:

http://www.boarddocs.com/tn/bristoltn/Board.nsf/Public

Hope you keep watch as an informed and educated citizenry is always the best friend of city government.

2012

With the calendar turned and 2012 now behind us, it's appropriate to think back on all that we accomplished as a group last year.

First and foremost, we continued to provide a high level of basic municipal services in an efficient, consistent, and effective way.  That is our primary mission and the fundamental reason we exist as an organization.

We made significant progress on a number of fronts through strategic capital investments in buildings, property, and equipment.  These investments serve as the building blocks for future enhancements to the quality of community life or provide the necessary tools and resources to conduct our business operations effectively.

We reached out to the public and community in immeasurable ways, be it the many festivals and events we supported, the neighborhood meetings we held, through our governmental television channel, BTN-TV16, or in the thousands of other ways that we directly touched the lives of our residents and visitors.

We maintained our fiscal house in order despite a still soft local and national economy.

And we showed tremendous pride, teamwork, and a can-do attitude that was pervasive throughout the organization.  The character of our organization is a major contributor - if not the major contributor - to our overall success.

Yes, 2012 was a good year - bring on 2013.

Numbers

Sorry if yesterday confused you.

Since it was day 1 of the new year, I thought it might be amusing to picture the digit 1 on a calendar chanting "we're number one" - much like fans do after a championship win.

And "you can be too" was an attempt to bring the number 2 into my numbers play - a tongue in cheek sort of thing, but with a message.

The message was positive - we all can be the best at whatever we strive to accomplish.  And that's a good message to send.

One

We're number one.
We're number one.
We're number one.
And you can be too.