Peru

So where is Bristol anyway?

Well to start with - it's located in Sullivan County in Northeast Tennessee, adjacent to the Commonwealth of Virginia.  And of course in the United States of America, on the continent of North America.

But what else?  In the World Geodetic System our latitude is 36° 35′ 42″ N and our longitude is 82° 11′ 19″ W; and in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) geographic coordinate system we're 17S 393682 4050603.  Don't ask - beats me too.

So for reference - in the states we're on the same latitude as Las Vegas Nevada and Virginia Beach Virginia, and just a little bit north of Santa Fe New Mexico and a little south of San Francisco California.  Internationally, think Algiers Algeria, Athens Greece, and Tokyo Japan and you're just about right.

And up and down (north and south) we're in basic alignment with Cleveland Ohio and Orlando Florida; and Panama City Panama and San Jose Costa Rica in Central America.  And for you trivia buffs, we're also in alignment with the port city of Talara Peru, the westernmost city in all of mainland South America.

Huh - I didn't know that.

Academy

The participants in the 2012 class of the Citizens Municipal Academy were recognized last night for completion of the program designed to increase their knowledge about the operation of city government.

The class showed great interest at each of the six sessions which made it a pleasure to visit with them on our various areas of responsibility.

One of the graduates was kind enough to share the following thoughts today that summed up his experience in the program:

"Thanks so much for everything during the CMA classes.  They were wonderfully informative, and very well run.  I continue to be amazed at the extraordinarily positive attitude of the city staff.  Perhaps I should have asked the average salary of a City of Bristol employee.  In all seriousness, please pass this thought along to the staff with whom we had contact, not just the speakers, but the support staff, and even the personnel that cleaned up our messes at the end of the evening.  The good attitude was pervasive at all levels."

Members of the class of 2012 included David Akard III, Nancy Cook, David "Spence" Flagg, Cindy Green, Matthew Mills, Lea Powers, George Rogers, and Walt Stickley.  The program was again ably coordinated by Director of Community Relations Terrie Talbert.

Watch for the next session of the Citizens Municipal Academy that will be held later this fall - we'd love to have you join in.

Rotary

Enjoyed lunch today with the Bristol Virginia/Tennessee Noon Rotary Club at the Bristol Train Station in downtown Bristol.

It's always nice to see a group of women and men who join together to foster the ideals of service to others; high ethical standards in business and professions; and goodwill, peace, and fellowship.

The Bristol Train Station was the perfect backdrop for a presentation on the strategic economic development plan.  The completely renovated building is a centerpiece of downtown revitalization efforts nearly 162 years after the first passenger train pulled in on October 1, 1856.  Several stations have ably served the community with the current building constructed in 1902.

The Rotarian's and guests in attendance were very kind to share their time - and it was my pleasure to do it.

Creek

Looking north from Shelby
Street

Work continues on Phase 1 of the Beaver Creek flood reduction project in downtown Bristol.  With continued good weather, the project should be completed by June 1.

Holston Avenue

Saturday morning - day of rest, right?

Nope.  Community Development Director Shari Brown and I had the opportunity to visit with 30 residents from the Holston Avenue neighborhood to discuss a community development issue.

The morning meeting went very well - Shari did her usual outstanding job of discussing the issue of the day.

The neighbors were energized too and helped us understand their perspective to a public policy decision to be made by city council.

A Saturday morning well spent I say - thanks to residents that cared enough and were able to spend their time with us.

Thanks to you residents of the Holston Avenue area.

Spring race

Race banners showed up downtown today so that can only mean one thing - spring race week at Bristol Motor Speedway is just around the corner.

The Ford Ecoboost 300 will take place on Saturday, March 17 followed by the Food City 500 on Sunday the 18th.

The city will be ready, as always, to welcome the throngs of visitors that will pack the speedway to enjoy the finest that NASCAR has to offer.

This great race and community experience can't be matched anywhere else on the circuit - and will be all the much better if the weather cooperates.

So keep your fingers crossed for great weather to go along with a great race.

Spillway

The spillway at Steele Creek Lake dam on a sunny March day.