August 2025 - ONK Meeting Minutes

Date: August 25, 2025

Attendance

Board members: Board members attending: Chloie Airoldi-Waters, Garrett Bentley, Joy Guilford (presiding), Martin Cordell, Dustin Durham, John Golliher (recording)

Others attending: Drew Sparks, Donna Spencer, Jenny Spatz, Officer Shelley Clemons, Grant Rosenberg, Martin Cordell, Katie Cooper, John and Hillary Keith

Officer Reports

President: Joy Guilford

No report outside of old and new business

Treasurer: Martin Cordell

Provided updates on KUB electric bill for Beth Ann Parker. We spend around $0.10 a month on electricity and the rest is the service charge.

Minutes

Chloie Airoldi-Waters made a motion to approve July minutes. Drew Sparks seconded, and the motion passed.

Officer Clemens

Officer Clemens addressed a concern regarding a seemingly abandoned building on Broadway, which appears to be occupied by a motorcycle club. Since there have been no complaints from the property owner, the police are unable to take any action at this time. Officer Clemens checks the property periodically.

She encouraged neighbors to continue reporting any suspicious activity, as this is the most helpful action the community can take. She noted that providing specific details like vehicle tag numbers, descriptions, and videos can be particularly useful.

Officer Clemens also mentioned an upcoming event called Faith in Blue. This is a free event on Monday, October 13th from 6-8pm at the Jacob Building (3301 E Magnolia Avenue). This is a free event with community resources, tables, family friendly activities,"Touch a Truck", and youth performances.

City Sales Tax Increase proposal

Grant Rosenberg, the Chief Operating Officer for the City of Knoxville, provided information about the proposed half-cent sales tax increase that will be on the November 4 ballot. Many surrounding counties, including Grainger, Jefferson, Sevier, Blount, and Anderson have already adopted a similar increase.

The proposal is estimated to generate an additional $47 million annually for the city. This money would fund a variety of capital projects, with a five-year investment plan totaling $235 million. The planned investments include:

• $37.5 million for sidewalks

• $50 million for parks

• $40 million for greenways

• $25 million for facilities

• $20 million for road paving

• $12.5 million for neighborhood traffic calming and safety projects

• $50 million for housing

The current sales tax in Knoxville is 9.25%, which is a combination of the 7% state sales tax and the 2.25% local option sales tax. If the increase is approved, the new local sales tax rate would be 2.75%. The City of Knoxville estimates that a typical household would see a monthly impact ranging from $5 to $12, depending on their income. As a simple comparison, a half-cent increase would be about a nickel on a. $10 purchase.

The proposed sals tax increase would not apply to certain essential items, including groceries, gas, rent, utilities, bus fare, or property tax.

The local option sales tax is paid by everyone who spends money in Knoxville, including tourists and visitors, not just residents. To ensure transparency, the city plans to create a project tracker website to show the progress of these initiatives.

On another topic, Grant mentioned that the county is interested in selling the Sears building and will likely put out a Request for Proposal (RFP), although a timetable is uncertain.

More information on the tax initiative can be found here.

Committee Reports

President

Joy Guilford 

No report outside of old and new business

Historic Preservation

Sean Bolin

The last few months have been quiet. There were only two applications last month. If there are any questions, reach out to Sean.

Beautification

We're still looking for someone to take over beautification!

Drew Sparks spoke to Augusta Lawn Care for maintenance of Beth Ann Booker Park. We'll pay them to do the initial cleaning and then they will do the ongoing maintenance in exchange for a sign in the park as well as an add in the Home Tour calendar. Margareth asked if someone had knowledge on native plants for the park. Please reach out to her, or the board, if you do.

Public Works

Dustin Durham

Dustin created a new, digitized survey for the neighborhood. He is asking meeting attendees to test the survey before it is distributed more widely. The goal of this survey is to gather input from the community to better understand their needs and desires. Based on survey results. Dustin will prepare a report that can be used to formally request improvements or resources from the city.

Communication

Drew Sparks

Drew inspected a few of the banner poles and discovered the crossbars are not all the same width, so we may not be able to get wider banners. He will follow up on ordering new banners once we figure out sizes.

We've been more intentional about blog posts to ensure information is given out to the neighborhood. Drew spearheaded this, but mentions that anyone with interest on writing a blog post can do so. Feel free to reach out to him.

Neighborhood dues can now be paid on the website here.

Home Tour

Martin Cordell

We are now up to four houses! We'd like four more houses on the tour, so if you're interested please reach out to Martin or check out the Home Tour page.

We've started getting more ads in, but we need to get more going. If anyone has any leads for businesses/organizations interested in sponsoring the home tour, please reach out to Martin. Sponsorships can now be done online here.

Social

Kelly Arsenault

Next Wednesday is the monthly neighborhood social at Schulz Brau from 7-9pm. The Porch Crawl will take place on Saturday, September 27. The first stop will be on Irwin Street at 4:30pm. Earlier that day, the owner is hosting a children's art show. The Porch Crawl will start on the tail end of that, so we'll have the opportunity to see young artist's works! The next house is on Kern place, and the last house on West Glenwood.

Jenny Spatz made a motion to increase the amount of money given to each host house to $150. Chloie Airoldi-Waters seconded the motion and it was approved.

New Business

Knoxville Children's Theatre (KCT)

Knoxville Children's Theatre (KCT) was a resident of North Knoxville for 16 years. They are now moving close to World's Fair Park and asked if the neighborhood was interested in purchasing a chair in their new theatre for $5,000. Drew Sparks made a motion to donate $5,000. Dustin Durham seconded it, and the motion passed.

Voting!

Voting is tomorrow (Tuesday, August 26). Remember to vote!

Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, September 3 (7-9pm): Neighborhood Social @ Schulz Bräu Brewing Company

• Monday, September 22: Monthly potluck meeting

• Saturday, September 27: Porch Crawl