The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 46

i mi-. IAMSON A.M wn Got a news tip? Call 771-5411 or fax 771-5409 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1997 Town center, McBoealdPs on way bounty I lines Lium Hill TTTTTT' 1 1 ililll Heart of Fairview? I A new town center would sit across Fairview 'downtown' may not be far behind initial development. from a planned shopping center. So who is using those sidewalks? "You can always look at an appraisal as a glass that's halfempty or half full," said Commissioner Erie Etherton. "It's just a professional's opinion about what he thinks the property is worth.

"On the front side, you could wait for a better offer. On the back side, you've got to look at what's in the best interest of this community." In the long-term, he said, the shopping center will bring jobs and a boost in local sales tax revenues. Also Thursday, commissioners discussed the status of a complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In October, the federal agency cited the city for releasing unsuitably treated sewage in 1995 on pasture land owned lv Dorris It.

Jones, CCC ltd. City Attorney Jim Petersen said he is negotiating with the agency over a settlement even though the city says it did nothing wrong. He said a false test result was turned in. from the sale of land for Food Lion and McDonald's, which will generate $310,000, and the eventual sale of property north on Highway 100 where the existing city hall and police station are located, which could bring about $200,000. "That would, I hope, cover most of the cost" Stewart said.

Meanwhile, the developer representing Food Lion and McDonald's has six months to iron out the details of his project but construction is expected to begin before that Before approving the sale of land for the shopping center Thursday night commissioners took up a last-minute debate over whether the city was getting the best price for its property. In December, officials turned down a $200,000 offer for 9.5 acres from Nashville developer Cason Dickinson, and he later came back with $310,000. Eventually, Uiey agreed the new offer was fair enough. cox Pike O00J Food Lkn and Town McDonald't fcT Chester Fairview ljT fast-food restaurant Construction on the new town center, the Food Lion and the McDonald's should begin by the end of the year. The city may go a step further and piece adjacent land together for a new commercial district The idea would be to reserve land to draw financial, retail and other industry around the town center the genesis of a true downtown.

"We'll do a feasibility study and go from there," said City Manager Asa Stewart "That's when we'll decide if we're going to have a development district or just have the town center and let everything else take its course as demand dictates." He said there is no exact timeframe for the study yet but that construction on the new town center should begin this year. Funds for the facility will come toWllflNKSIWi SUiff'Vfnkr FAIRVIEW The first step has been taken toward developing an area that could one day be known as "Downtown Fairview." The city's Board of Commissioners, at its meeting Thursday, selected a site at the intersection of Highway 100 and Chester Road for a new town center a city hall and police station that possibly will be flanked by other businesses. The city will fund construction of the town center through the sale of city-owned land across the highway to a private developer for a Food Lion grocery store and McDonald's STAFF "We did not spread contaminated sludge. But it was true that we reported a false test result" Historic home looks for savior I I Mm a Cool Springs developer, local architect have yet to live up to Collins House pledges. 1 IS 1 rr; Mil) Ill i.

It: Vv mm- Happy New Year! In honor of the newly born Chinese Year of the Ox, which mysteriously coincides with Mardi Gras, County Lines presents the second installment of Unsolved Mysteries of Williamson County. No, I'm not doing my sought-after Robert Stack imitation. And these conundrums do not for the most part involve aliens, or kidnappings or bizarre family histories. They're just things that occur, for no particular reason, to me and a random group of acquaintances as we cruise the county. Most of them have no answers that's Williamson Answer Man's job but if you have a suggested solution or another mystery you'd like addressed, let me know.

Please do not let any of your questions involve the words "pre-first grade." Concrete Reasoning. Have you ever noticed that most of the Cool Springs development is virtually overrun, so to speak, with sidewalks? Have you ever seen anyone actually walking on any of them? Have you yourself ever been seized with the urge to park your car and walk on one? Where would you walk? And why? It's as if the developers were thinking, "If we build them, they will hoof it" It's one thing to put sidewalks in a place where there's somewhere to go and something to do, or something nice to look at along the way. But why in the middle of a commercial development where nobody ever leaves the car except to park in a lot and the only people on foot joggers are in the street? On a Tear. If you're a customer of the Utility, this has happened to you. You get your bill, separate it along the perforated line, write the check and tuck it with the stub in an envelope, then seal the envelope.

Too late, you realize that the return address for the water company is neatly in two parts, one of which you just sealed up. What design wiz decided to put the perforation right through the address on the bill? And speaking of utilities Why is it that almost no public utility companies send you a return envelope with your bill, forcing you to buy those boxes of 100 envelopes that require a full year to use up? Go ahead, bill me another 50 cents a month, but send me an envelope, preferably the self-sealing kind. Oh Say Can You See? One of Brentwood's most beautiful homes is Mountview on Franklin Road, a columned brick with beautiful grounds and an eloquent name. But which mountain, exactly, does Mountview have a view of? Can you see all the way to the Smokies from the top floor? Was the name Hillview just not evocative enough? Pass the later Tots. Just what does Lunch Menu Man ingest to reach his trademark level of vocal hyperactivity on the phone? Is it legal? Does he wake up like this every morning? This Richard Simmons of the fruited lime Jell-0 set is onto something.

Could it be carrot sticks, chicken fingers and gingerbread with topping? Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Next time you're sailing down Murfreesboro Road toward Franklin, slow down and take a look at the big white house on the corner of the Mack Hatcher Bypass. Notice anything odd about the chimney? Here's a hint it's probably the only chimney in the county in which you could hang a Levolor blind. Now there is an answer to this one, I'll bet Be the first on your block to let me know. photos by jared lazarus staff The rear side of the Collins House, which now sits on the hill beside Carothers Parkway where tt ends near Gillespie Lane, shows Just some of the damage the house has suffered.

Below, the house's revival-style columns have collapsed into the front room. Ui WiiUr FRANKLIN Just three years ago the old frame house was one of Franklin's nationally recognized historic homes. Today, thanks to lack of interest and broken promises, it is a mangled heap of rotting and broken boards in a field off of Cool Springs Boulevard and Carothers Parkway, an ironic counterpoint to the development springing up daily around it Moved twice to make way for new buildings, the fate of the James E. Collins House, once on the National Register of Historic Places, is precarious. Some say it is beyond restoration, after many months of exposure to weather and vandals.

Others still hope it can be lived in agaia But unless something is done quickly any chance of saving the house and its historic value will be lost The house's official owner. Hines Interests Limited Partnership, has not followed through with preservation proposals made to its previous owner, the Williamson County School Board. And a local architect who told Hines he'd take the house off their hands is floundering in his efforts. Regardless of fault preservationists are frustrated. "It's a tragedy that in a town known for its historic character we have no protective zoning for these individually listed National Register properties," says Mary Pearce.

executive director of the Heritage Foundation. Vv I which in 1994 tried to keep the house from being moved from its original site. A pretty hite farm house with Greek Revival features, the Collins House was also known locally as the Anderson House. It stood from its construction in 186 until 1994 at the end of a winding, evergreen lined drive on HilLsboro Road near the present Fieldutone Farms. When it began planning a new school, now Hunter's Bend Elementary, the Williamson County Board of Education was faced with the dilemma of what to do with a nationally listed house that stood squarely in the way of the new school's footprint "We did a study about whether could incorporate the hoase into the plan for the school and it just wasnl feasible," says Rebecca Schwab, superintendent of schools at the time.

"One thing we really, really wanted to do was keep it on the National Register I Please see HOUSE on 2F 7 mi. -A i ja 'i -mr Board, Grier share burden of communication Members ask teachers, parents to follow chain of command. The Imard also will take steps to help in that effort iK-rhaps inviting the constituents to informational meetings twice a month, Smith said. He hopes that if a parent or teacher has a problem with something in a school that does not deal with xlicy. that the person talks first to the school principal, then to the director at the central office.

If that does not work. Smith said, that person should talk to the superintendent and then to the school board only as a last resort. "We aix like the Supreme Court" board mcmlxT Sina Miller said. "We have to be the place for cople to turn when they have no other option. We cant do that if we've been involved from the very start of a problem." cerned about proposed changes in the county's pre first program, but also lists poor communications among its concerns.

They told Grier to work on improving that communication to lessen the amount of rumor mongering and misinformation circulating. Grier said he would work to improve communication, but noted to the board that his job of improving performance and establishing accountability in the schools is like a two-edged sword. "On Uie one hand you want to create enough concern that people will do their jobs and on the other, you don't want to demoralize people." he said. "I promise you. I dont want to shake people up, but I am not a status quo person." Williamson County Board of Educatioa told his 11 colleagues Saturday at the board's retreat "If we get constituents who call with questions about their school, we need to remind them of the chain of command." The school board, which commended new superintendent Terry Grier for his performance in his first six months on the job, has heard many complaints of poor communication from parents, teachers and principals.

A group of parents calling themselves "SOS" for Save Our Schools held their first meeting Saturday even as the school board met in Chattanooga. The grass roots group is con By RYAN IfWRWOOO Wnkr CILTTNOOGA In hopes of slowing the spread of misinformation about school programs, Williamson County school board members plan to remind constituents and each oth-e about the chain of command in the school system. "People, we're not educators and we shouldn't try to answer questions that we're not qualified to answer," Chuck Smith, chairman of the Reporter Laura HII lives In Franklin. Write to her at the addresses below or by e-mail at LauraRHHI9aol.com. fJL V.

Zl ta-YJi 1 f-lwl aL'J Lrit ifin AiiAaaaaaaaaaLiiai'laaBaaaa aaL atiaaLifijaJ mm, 1 For The Records Community News Ovr Cm VVWa Ml 4-5 Classified ads 6 Things to Do 100 SHOW UP TO PERFORM FOR DISNEY More than 100 singers and dancers did what they could to Impress talent scouts from Walt Disney World during auditions Saturday at Columbia State Monday-Friday in The Tennessean Tennessean Publisher Craig Moon General Manager and Editor Ted Power Advertising Manager Sara McKisstck Write: Williamson AM, 277 Mallory Station Road, Suite 116, Franklin, Tennessee 37067 E-mail: willamtennessean.com For advertising. Information: 771-5430. 1 BRENTWOOD AND CENTENNIAL SHOW TEAMWORK Last fall, the Brentwood High School wrestling cheerleaders helped new Centennial High got its cheerleaders up and shouting. The Cougars return the favor tonight as the cheerleaders wrestle each other at 7 p.m. at Brentwood to help pay for thft Bruins' new wrestling room.

Mmission is $3. On 6F. LOOK OUT FOR ROAD WORK Ongoing construction projects including those at Maryland Way and Franklin Road in Brentwood and on Moo res Lane between Franklin Road and Mallory Lane will continue to tie up traffic at peak hours. Consult our roadway construction map for all work scheduled this wflak in the county. On 2F.

DONT FORGET There's more Williamson news in the local, sports, Iving and business sections, plus other news froM the wortd, nation and state. Community College's campus In Franklin Disney World will lot them know If they can work this summer by rrvjl in coming weeks. On 4F..