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Franklin aldermen affirm Creekside as top capital-priority; staff to pursue acquisition details
Summary
City staff presented a second-round prioritization of capital investments and asked the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to confirm top projects. By consensus the board signaled support to pursue acquisition and phasing plans for the Creekside property, which staff said was the group’s top-rated project.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen of Franklin signaled staff to pursue acquisition and phasing work for the Creekside property after a second-round prioritization of the city’s capital investment plan.
City staff presented an updated prioritization exercise at the April 8 work session aimed at gauging board interest across 22 agenda projects. The presentation noted roughly $75,000,000 of funding capacity in the current model and flagged a potential state partnership on the Mack Hatcher Southeast project that could change the city’s funding capacity.
Staff urged the board to indicate projects it wants to move forward and highlighted a subset of projects that received consistent board support. “Your number one priority where seven of you identified it as a funding priority, which is the Creekside property,” a staff member told the board. Staff said having board concurrence would allow them to open additional dialogue with property owners and refine acquisition phasing.
Several aldermen discussed their individual prioritizations and trade‑offs among transportation, parks and public safety projects. Alderman Alden Brown and others emphasized balancing major roadway projects with park and quality‑of‑life investments; Alderman Caesar noted parks and public safety as priorities for both local amenity and visitor economic benefit. Vice Mayor Potts and other aldermen said they favored projects that improve traffic management, including a traffic/technology project for emergency services.
Mayor and staff asked whether any of the seven members who ranked Creekside first had changed their mind; no board member spoke up and the mayor interpreted that as direction to proceed. Staff said they will bring back a Creekside master‑planning presentation at a future meeting and refine cost and phasing information.
Staff repeatedly cautioned that the prioritization is a snapshot in time: the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) 10‑year plan and the state budget process may create partnership opportunities or additional capacity later in the fiscal year. Staff asked whether the board wanted a special work session to dig deeper into the list; members agreed additional focused time would be helpful.
What was discussion vs. direction: the meeting recorded deliberations across many projects but only a staff request and board concurrence on Creekside as an explicit direction. No formal ordinance or vote on project funding was taken at the work session.
Where this goes next: staff will refine acquisition cost estimates, present the Creekside master plan and propose next steps and timetable for negotiation and possible inclusion in the FY‑26 capital budget.
