Blog: City Blog

Thank You, City Employees, for Your Hard Work & Dedication in 2022!

Throughout 2022, the dedicated men and women who work for the City of Knoxville continually innovated, collaborated and problem-solved.

But mostly, they just rolled up their sleeves and matter-of-factly delivered quality services to the residents and business owners they serve.

"I’m thankful for the nearly 1,500 conscientious and hard-working professionals who work alongside me and who care about making Knoxville better," Mayor Indya Kincannon said.

"I see their enthusiasm and their willingness to help every day. I'm proud to use the hashtag #KnoxvilleJobWellDone to recognize and celebrate their ownership and creativity in delivering high-quality, dependable and efficient services."

Over a two-week period, City Communications highlighted a sampling of their accomplishments and successes on social media.

This City Blog post summarizes just a handful of 2022 highlights.

Public Service

Did you know that the City Public Service Department’s Horticulture crews maintain more than 1,300 acres of City parks, medians and other areas?

In 2022, these green-thumb employees planted a total of 25,000 bulbs, annuals, grasses and shrubs.

A City Horticulture crew in spring 2022 mulches a bed on the South Waterfront riverwalk.

A City Horticulture crew in spring 2022 mulches a bed on the South Waterfront riverwalk.

In addition, the Urban Forestry Division planted a total of 717 trees in parks and schools, and as part of neighborhood projects.

Fleet Services

Throughout 2022, the Fleet Services Department ordered 196 new vehicles and pieces of equipment – 82 of which are electric powered. Fleet Services also completed 10,741 repair orders and coordinated the release of 3,011 impounded vehicles.

Community Safety

The Office of Community Safety in 2022 awarded more than $240,000 in grants to community organizations working to raise awareness about youth violence prevention and provide direct engagement with youth at high risk of involvement in violence.

For the first time, OCS awarded micro grants for Spring Break and Youth Violence Prevention Week. Approximately 120 opportunity youth were served during Spring Break and approximately 738 residents participated in programs during Youth Violence Prevention Week.

The Office of Community Safety also commissioned an independent gun violence problem analysis and supported the development and launch of a violence interruption street outreach pilot program.

Police

A 2022 Year in Review roundup wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging two Knoxville Police Department milestones!

Under Chief Paul Noel’s leadership, KPD underwent a significant reorganization in October, which included an expansion from two police districts to three. The Department reorganized to make its operations more efficient and more narrowly focused on each sector's specific public safety issues, and to enable officers to more proactively engage with the community.

A few months earlier, in August, the Knoxville Police Department became the first Tennessee law enforcement agency to join the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project. The ABLE Project provides training to improve personal and departmental accountability and employee wellness. KPD will begin implementing ABLE training in 2023.

Pictured below: Chief Noel submits KPD’s application to the ABLE Project.

Chief Paul Noel submits KPD’s application to the ABLE Project.

Chief Paul Noel submits KPD’s application to the ABLE Project.

And here (below) is a photo of the first Central District roll call of officers on Oct. 23.

The first Central District roll call of officers on Oct. 23, 2022.

Knoxville Area Transit

KAT's free phone app, Transit, which launched in March, has been downloaded 4,565 times and has been used 443,753 times over 9 months to track buses, plan trips, and learn which bus routes are nearby.

Neighborhood Empowerment

Throughout 2022, the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment directly worked with 105 neighborhoods with one or more of its many programs.

These programs include:

Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program
Neighborhood Small Grants Program
Neighborhood Advisory Council
The Neighborhood Conference
Consultation services
Training Workshops
Community Wildlife Habitat certification
Healthy Knoxville
Annual Wiffleball Tournament

Learn more by clicking HERE.

Parks and Recreation

In 2022, the City invested more than $4 million in new park amenities and upgrades. The Parks and Recreation staff and the families they serve have much to celebrate!

New playground installed at Skyline Park in East Knoxville

New playground installed at Skyline Park in East Knoxville

New and improved amenities include:

- Claude Walker Ball Park renovation
- Fountain City Park renovation (new playground, ADA improvements, etc.)
- Sam Duff Memorial Park (ADA improvements, restrooms, a new dog park)
- Northwest Connector Phase I greenway
- LED lights on 2 fields at Maynard Glenn Ballfields
- New playgrounds at Inskip-Norwood Rec Center, Skyline Park, Forest Heights Pocket Park and Paul Hogue Park, plus a new surface at Ashley Nicole Dream Playground
- New outdoor fitness equipment at Edgewood Park and Caswell Park

Plus, soon to be opened - a renovated Milton Roberts Rec Center!

Engineering - new sidewalks!

In 2022, the Engineering Department replaced more than 3,400 linear feet of existing sidewalk and constructed nearly 7,200 linear feet of new sidewalk throughout the City of Knoxville.

The City in 2022 invested more than $7.2 million in major greenway and sidewalk projects.

The City in 2022 invested more than $7.2 million in major greenway and sidewalk projects.

One of these projects, the Coker Avenue sidewalk project, involved constructing approximately 2,000 linear feet of sidewalk with a curb and drainage system along the north side of Coker Avenue between Nadine Street and Whittle Springs Road. This new sidewalk connected two existing sidewalks and provides a safe route for students walking to Belle Morris Elementary.

Check out this video!

Another great project, opening soon: A new sidewalk on the east side of Texas Avenue between Western Avenue and Gerald Street. This 1,300-foot-long pathway connects two existing sidewalks and includes a retaining wall and major drainage improvements along Texas Avenue.

The Texas Avenue and Coker Avenue projects were part of more than $7.2 million in major sidewalk and greenway projects initiated or completed in 2022. See this earlier City Blog write-up.

Fire

Firefighters stay busy, and as consummate professionals, they’re always upgrading their skills.

Did you know that the Knoxville Fire Department in 2022 responded to approximately 28,000 calls for service?

Or that KFD firefighters completed a total of almost 100,000 hours of training this year?

Also this year, KFD graduated a class of 21 Firefighter Recruits. The whole city joyfully welcomed our newest firefighters!

Community Empowerment

The Mayor’s Youth Council hosted its first Empower Knox Youth Summit on Nov. 19.

The Council hosted roughly 60 youth in the Main Assembly Room for an all-day workshop. The aim was to develop ideas for addressing challenges with mental health, violence prevention, civic/community engagement and homelessness that youth face.

The Mayor’s Youth Council hosted its first Empower Knox Youth Summit on Nov. 19.

The Mayor’s Youth Council hosted its first Empower Knox Youth Summit on Nov. 19.

Stormwater Engineering

You’ll often find City Stormwater Engineers wading into blocked creeks and drainage culverts, locating clogs and determining how to get water flowing back to where it’s supposed to go.

But community partnerships are always welcome. The City’s Adopt-a-Stream mobile trailer provides equipment, waders, PPE and items needed whenever community volunteers take on a creek cleanup.

In 2022, approximately 4 miles of creek were cleaned by volunteers utilizing support from the Adopt-A-Stream program.

The City’s Adopt-a-Stream mobile trailer provides equipment, waders, PPE and items needed whenever community volunteers take on a creek cleanup.

In addition, the City has cleaned 1.5 miles of creek through its Creek Remediation Program.

About 4.2 miles of creek were walked, assessed, sampled and inventoried by Stormwater Engineering staff, and 220 outfalls were evaluated during the dry weather screening program. This resulted in 880 field inspections.

Stormwater Engineering is also managing a $23 million federal investment in upgrading City infrastructure.

Additionally, the Engineering Department and its stormwater engineers play a critical role in supporting development and reinvestment while safeguarding water quality. Engineering staff in 2022 reviewed more than 3,000 submittals for site development permitting and collectively attended almost 400 meetings with customers.

In addition, construction field inspectors completed more than 10,000 site inspections.

Its Technical Services unit reviewed more than 245 survey plats and declaration documents, scanned and archived 7,380 documents, and administratively supported 20 right-of-way closures (including 11 associated with the publicly-owned East Knoxville multi-use stadium to be under construction in 2023).


City Court

You might think of City Court as the place where you go if you want to contest or pay the fine on a City-issued citation.

But did you also know that City Court staff advocates on behalf of thousands of motorists each year?

In 2022, City Court sent the Department of Safety and Homeland Security 7,946 individual citations to be cleared as paid - or for the hold to be lifted while the citations are being paid on a payment plan.

This allows a motorist’s Driver’s License to be reinstated while he or she is making payments on the balance.

Transportation Engineering

The Transportation Division of the City’s Engineering Department maintains, times and coordinates traffic signals. It makes and installs 8,000 traffic signs a year. And transportation engineers maintain parking meters, conduct traffic counts and safety studies, and generally oversee just about everything related to City traffic operations.

That’s a lot. And sometimes, their work involves updating and modernizing equipment and signals.

In 2022, City Transportation Engineers replaced 50-year-old signal infrastructure on East Summit Hill Drive downtown from South Central to Locust streets.

In 2022, City Transportation Engineers replaced 50-year-old signal infrastructure on East Summit Hill Drive downtown from South Central to Locust streets.

Just one example: Earlier this year, City Transportation Engineers replaced 50-year-old signal infrastructure on East Summit Hill Drive downtown from South Central to Locust streets.

This modernization replaced 138 LED (light emitting diode) vehicle/pedestrian indications and added 12,000 feet of new electric cables.

Information Technology

Each week, the Information Technology Department email filtering software processes approximately 250,000 inbound emails and blocks more than 60 percent of those because they contain spam, malware, phishing and viruses.

Emails are the #1 source of ransomware. The IT department works hard to keep the City computer networks safe.

Engineering - smooth roads!

A look back at 2022 City highlights would be incomplete without a review of the Engineering Department’s Citywide Resurfacing Program, which included the repaving of 38.7 miles of public streets.

This paving work is distributed evenly throughout the six City Council districts.

Other projects included the design and installation of 166 speed humps citywide through the Neighborhood Safety Program.

Public Service - big numbers!

City crews collect 44 million pounds of brush and leaves in neighborhoods citywide each year… that’s more than 8,500 loads!

City crews collect 44 million pounds of brush and leaves in neighborhoods citywide each year… that’s more than 8,500 loads!

Here's a by-the-numbers look at some of the great work delivered by our Public Service Department crews last year:

44 million – Pounds of brush and leaves collected in neighborhoods citywide… that’s more than 8,500 loads!

115,000 – Pounds of household hazardous waste responsibly disposed of by our Transfer Station teams

90,000 – Bags of litter collected by the Downtown and night shift crews who keep the center city and Market Square looking their best

9,500 – Pounds of compostable food scraps collected the Knoxville Compost Pilot Project launched in February 2022

1,400 – Hours devoted to graffiti removal and improving the facades of notable historic buildings

15 – New park benches installed

Engineering = safer roads

Last year, the City invested $1.6 million in the Amherst Road Slope Stabilization Project.

The work improved a large portion of the south side of Amherst Road by re-establishing a deteriorated roadway shoulder and supporting slope. The solution involved bringing in better soils, stone and gabion baskets.

Re-establishing the roadway shoulder, rebuilding the supportive roadway slope, and bringing the guardrails up to current standards required the cooperation of residential property owners on one side of the road and the CSX railroad line on the other side.

Working collaboratively with KUB, a major waterline was replaced as part of this complicated project.

Read this City Blog post for more details about the 533-foot-long retaining wall that needed to be constructed – a wall that’s 11.5 feet tall at its highest point.

Amherst Road retaining wall

Here (below) are "before" and "after" photos showing the road improvements:

Amherst Road, prior to improvements being made

Posted by evreeland On 01 February, 2023 at 6:54 PM