Dear ,

With Spring upon us, there’s a lot going on in Metro, as usual, so please see below—this one is all good news!

Shelby Gym

I am delighted to report that repairs to the Shelby Community Center Gym are now underway! The gym will open back up as soon as repairs are complete, and no supplemental appropriation will be needed. Many folks at Parks and the Mayor’s office have worked hard on this over the past few weeks, so please join me in thanking them for their partnership in moving this forward. See you there soon!

The Scrap Yard

The Scrap Yard rezoning had its final debate in the council last night. My goals for everything related to the East Bank have been the same ever since I joined the council: what we build there must be a neighborhood, instead of a tourist zone, and we must build it to be active and walkable, instead of building it around a huge amount of cars that will choke up East Nashville, and beyond. I brought forth several amendments to the Scrap Yard proposal to advance these goals, and all of them were adopted last night. We’ve achieved a significant limitation on hotels, required multimodal transportation studies and much more effective ways of managing traffic and parking, removed a stadium as a potential use for the area, and much else. East Side colleagues CM Parker and CM Benedict bought forth some really creative policymaking into this discussion, and their amendments were included as well. CMs Vo and Horton contributed critical amendments too, including one for an environmental impact study. I also want to thank CM Kupin, sponsor of the legislation, whose district includes the Scrap Yard, for listening to the voice of the East Side and helping add these amendments to the bill in a collaborative spirit.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who wrote me or reached out with questions, concerns, and ideas. The community discussion we had in District 6 is what informed the amendments I brought, and the East Side amendments significantly improved the bill. I am always proud to represent District 6, but I’ve been especially proud of the community effort we put in here—it has made a big difference for the future of East Nashville.

My Child Care Legislation

I am also glad to say that my child care affordability legislation also passed last night! Child care is scarce, and expensive—to a ridiculous degree. My kids are a little bit older now but I remember well the stress and hassle of trying to find child care in town when they were little. Metro should and can help address that. This legislation creates a process to expedite permitting for qualified child care projects, which will help them get online faster and more predictably, which will make these projects cheaper to open and operate. There’s nothing more important than nurturing and educating children, and this is a sound policy update for the city to help those doing that crucial, wonderful work, and all the families and kids who need it!

Foam Recycling Available Starting Today!

This is another one of those solid, sound, Metro policy fixes that I love. Starting today, styrofoam recycling is now available—and it’s only available, for now, at the East Convenience Center (943 Dr. Richard G. Adams Dr.) You can just drop off your styrofoam, and we can recycle it. See you there soon, too!

Main/Gallatin Community Meetings

After the transit referendum, there’s been background work among Metro departments to start preparing the way to improve our major roads. Now, NDOT is moving forward to hosting community meetings about improvements to the Main/Gallatin corridor. These will be useful opportunities to weigh in and let them know how these roads can work better and more safely. The meetings are: April 28 from 6-7pm at the East Branch Library, and April 29 from 5-6pm at the East Precinct. You can see more details here. There will be more to come on this, and if you can’t make the meetings but have thoughts, please send them my way anytime!

As always, please reach out to me directly at [email protected] or 615-864-0008. You can also use Hub Nashville for an array of city services and other Metro requests. 

Hope to see you soon. Yours in service, Clay