Terrier found behind Murphy Road Animal Hospital

If you're missing a dog that matches this description, please let Denice (below) know:

A sweet male terrier mix was found this evening by Park Cafe employees behind Murphy Road Animal Hospital. He is not neutered, weighs about 15 to 20 pounds and is white with black spots and brown markings. His ears stand up, his legs are short and his body is a little extra long.

If this is your dog, please contact Denice at dmzh91@comcast.net, and I will put you in touch with the kind dog lovers that have taken him in.

Alan LeQuire to showcase Dream Forest Thursday (July 2)

Renowned sculptor Alan LeQuire will hold a special viewing to showcase his latest creation, a sculpture called Dream Forest, on Thursday, July 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. at LeQuire Gallery (4304 Charlotte Avenue). The event is free and open to the public.

The sculpture will be comprised of nine elongated, interpretive human torsos, assembled together on a colossal scale, with tree-like stature. It will be housed in a darkened room, where the viewer will walk among the highlighted, 12-foot tall human torsos as if they are in a dream forest. Dream Forest will be publicly unveiled on Thursday, July 9, at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in Clarksville.

Sign posting is illegal except on private property

Please note that posting signage anywhere except on private property is illegal in Davidson County. The yard sale signs you see displayed on telephone poles and in other right-of-way areas are there illegally. Here's more advice from the Metropolitan Nashville Codes Department Property Standards Division:

• Promptly remove small ground signs from your yard. These include those that advertise services and political signs.
• Only post signs advertising a yard sale on your property, not on utility poles or on the right of way, that’s illegal.
• Banners are temporary signs, and they require a permit.
• Permanent signs have to be made of a rigid material, banners cannot be used as a permanent sign.
• Grounds signs along the right of way are illegal. They can only be used on private property with the permission of the property owner.
• Ground signs advertising real estate can only be posted on the property being offered for sale, not along the right of way, that’s illegal.
• It is illegal to attach signs to utility poles, lamp poles or other structures.
• Other than a political sign, anyone can remove ground signs from the right of way and signs attached to utility poles. Illegal signs on private property should be reported to Metro Codes.

MNPD reports recent neighborhood crimes

The Metro Nashville Police Department is reporting the following criminal incidents during the week of June 7 to 13:

• Residential burglaries on the 4100 block of Media Street and the 4100 block of Nebraska Avenue. Offenders entered through the back doors of both homes.
• A commercial burglary, technically outside the neighborhood, at Bobbie's Dairy Dip.
• A street robbery on the 4300 block of Nevada Avenue.
  
• A larceny (theft of property without breaking and entering) on the 4400 block of Dakota Avenue.
  

Please report criminal or suspicious activity to the police at (615) 862-8600. Reporting this activity helps the police department determine appropriate staffing and assignments for our neighborhood.

Suspicious behavior involving HVAC unit on Dakota

A neighbor has reported some peculiar activity concerning his air conditioning unit:

I wasn’t sure who to report this to, but I had something strange happen to me the other day. I live on Dakota in between 51st and 53rd. The other night I noticed my AC unit quit blowing cold air. I called my HVAC guy the next day, and when he came out he discovered that someone had pulled the fuse on the outside unit which of course shut it off. Whoever did this left the fuse on top of the unit, so I’m not quite sure what the purpose was. Either way it was very strange since my neighbor’s dog barks at anything and everything. I just wanted to let someone know in case this has happened to anyone else. I put a pad lock on the unit now so it won’t happen again. Thanks!

There's no telling whether this was criminal activity or something else, but please be aware of this situation in case you or your neighbors notice similar incidents. As always, please report any suspicious activity to the Metro Nashville Police Department at (615) 862-8600.

Stormwater user fee to take effect Wednesday (July 1)

From Metro Water Services:

Most of the property owners in the Metro Nashville and Davidson County service area will participate in the Stormwater User Fee, which takes effect July 1.

Since stormwater runs off every property in Davidson County, it contributes to the polluted runoff problems in the area, and magnifies the need to properly operate and maintain the storm sewer system.

Some properties are located in areas that pay for stormwater services already and/or that do not receive stormwater services for MWS Stormwater Division (e.g., satellite cities). Those residents and businesses would not pay a Metro Nashville stormwater user fee.

More information (is available) from Metro Water Services.

SPNA summer newsletter now available

The latest edition of the SPNA newsletter is now available online. Issues will also be delivered to households throughout the neighborhood during the next several days.

Community Street Fest in Sylvan Park tomorrow (June 21)

From the Green Wagon:

The Green Wagon (4429 Murphy Road) is shutting down Murphy Road between 44th and 46th Streets on Sunday, June 21st from 2 to 8 p.m. for a Community Street Festival and belated celebration grand opening shindig. There is going to be a stage powered by a generator that runs on biodiesel, great music, food vendors, cool local environmental businesses and non-profits with booths set up, etc. Come on out and enjoy the fun, and spread the word!!

Mayor Dean's environmental pledge

Mayor Karl Dean is encouraging Nashvillians to follow his lead in making our city a more ecologically friendly place to live. Here are more details from the mayor:

I have made a commitment to make Nashville “the greenest city in the Southeast.” Being green is about being a city that is clean, healthy and environmentally sustainable. Most importantly, it’s about being a city that continues to be a great place for you and your family to live, work and play.

Many of you want to know what you can do to help make our city green. The most important thing you can do as an individual is to make easy changes in your every day life to reduce energy use, reduce waste and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that go into our air.

Today I am asking you to commit to five small actions that can have a big collective impact on our environment. Please take my Environmental Pledge. By taking the pledge, together all Nashvillians will be able to:

• Save enough kilowatt-hours to power 5,260 households
• Conserve enough water in a year to fill LP Field four times
• Eliminate the equivalent of 5,800 cars from the road every year
• Eliminate as much carbon dioxide as the trees on 4,652 acres of undeveloped land every year
• Eliminate 120 million plastic bags and over 2 million pounds of waste every year

The pledge is online at www.nashville.gov/green. Once you take the pledge, you’ll be able to see a running total of how many Nashvillians have taken the pledge and the combined impact all of your actions will have on our environment. Go online and take the Environmental Pledge today.

Thank you for helping make Nashville green.

Final reappraisal appeal deadline Friday (June 19)

The final reappraisal appeal deadline for the recent Davidson County property reassessment is this Friday, June 19. If you have not appealed and are interested in doing so, please call
(615) 862-6059 as soon as possible. Property owners can appeal even if they did not appeal during the first phase of the appeal process, which ended in May.

The reappraisal appeals process works in 3 phases:

Phase 1 - Informal Review by the staff at the Property Assessor's office is complete. Deadline for informal review of property appraisals was May 15. Notices following informal review were mailed to property owners from May 17-June 3. Any property owner may go on to Phase 2, regardless of participation in the Phase 1 informal review process.

Phase 2 – Formal Review: The deadline is Friday, June 19. Please call the Property Assessor's office as soon as possible to make your appointment.

Following the informal review period, property owners that are dissatisfied with the Property Assessor's informal review results, or those that missed the informal review period altogether, may appeal to the Metro Board of Equalization by Friday, June 19. The Metro Board of Equalization is composed of 5 citizen members appointed by the Mayor's office, and is independent of the Property Assessor's office. Property owners may go before the Metro Board of Equalization for a full hearing or may choose to present facts to a Hearing Officer on one-on-one basis. Hearing Officers are private sector Realtors and appraisers that hear property owner's cases and present recommendations to the Metro Board of Equalization. Hearing Officers have no stake in the results and make recommendations based on the facts presented by the property owner and property sales data. Notification of the Metro Board of Equalization decisions will be mailed to property owners by early August. Deadline for Phase 2 reappraisal review is Friday, JUNE 19. After June 19, by state law, jurisdiction over property values shifts to the state.

Phase 3 - State Board of Equalization. For property owners that are dissatisfied with the Property Assessor's informal review system, as well as the findings of the Hearing Officer and Metro Board of Equalization (Deadline is June 19 for Phase 2), you may appeal to the State Board of Equalization. Property owners must appeal to the State Board within 45 days of receipt of the Metro Board of Equalization notification by US mail. Please see www.padctn.com for more information regarding the State Board of Equalization.

Dogs lost on Richland Creek Greenway

A neighbor has lost two dogs on the Richland Creek Greenway. Please keep your eyes out for them if you are in the area this week:

HELP! a friend has lost beloved Scotties on the Richland [Creek] Greenway. Anyone along Richland Creek please keep your eyes open for a stray BLACK scotty. there are 2 of them and they could be separated by now. Charlotte Park, Sylvan Park, West End? etc. Heck, they could be anywhere! thanks for noticing!

Please email spna@sylvanpark.org if you see these dogs.

Citywide community garden tour tomorrow (June 13)

Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee and its partner gardens will host a free community garden tour tomorrow (Saturday June 13) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Several of Nashville’s finest community gardens will be showcased on the tour and you are invited to visit the gardens and hear from gardeners about the impact of community gardens in Nashville. The tour is free, and participants may tour one or more garden sites– just drop in any time between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. The purpose of the tour is to promote community gardening in Nashville.

The featured gardens are listed below, including one location a few blocks from Sylvan Park on 57th Avenue:

• C. E. McGruder Community Garden (2013 25th Avenue N, 37208)
• Chestnut Hill Community Garden (Johnson School, Corner of 1st Avenue South & Chestnut, 37210)
• EarthMatters/Carver Food Park (1101 Gale Lane, 37204)
• Edgehill Community Gardens (14th Avenue South & Horton Avenue, 37212)
• Nashville Urban Harvest (1211 57th Avenue North, 37209)
• Old Hickory Village Community Garden (1105 Hadley Avenue, Old Hickory, 37138)
• Shelby Park Discovery/ Community Garden (401 South 20th Street, 37206)
• Vanderbilt Educational Garden Initiative (225 Berry Street, 37207)
• Wedgewood Urban Gardens (613 Wedgewood Avenue, 37203)
  

In case of light rain, the tour will continue as planned, so bring an umbrella. Heavy rain and lightning will postpone the event, so please see the Food Security Partners website for rescheduling information. Detailed maps and contact information are available at www.foodsecuritypartners.org.

Recycling drop-off site relocated to Charlotte Walmart

Metro’s community recycle drop-off site at the Charlotte Center Strike & Spare has been relocated to a new location, the Walmart SuperCenter (7044 Charlotte Pike). It will continue to be open 24 hours and accept all the same materials for recycling: newspaper, mixed paper, paper board, cardboard, aluminum, tin, glass containers, plastic bottles & containers. For more information about recycling, visit the Metro recycling Web site or call (615) 880-1000.