Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

126 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 to contribute just over $86,000 to complete the project. Cole explains, “A sizable part of our community walks in different areas depending how close they are, the proximity between their home and the retail, so this will project will facilitate that. Making the city a more walkable area for everybody really helps to establish that cityscape. Considering what were getting, it’s not a huge amount to match… again, it’s a result of partnerships with our state and federal officials to get this done and improve the look and feel for the whole city.” The city has a large industrial area that houses a diverse array of businesses and is home to Amazon and ICEE headquarters. The state has made Tennessee very business friendly with low taxes and incentives and La Vergne tries to keep that trend alive and well. Broeker reports, “We’re perfectly centrally located in mid-America. You can be to all 48 mainland states in fast order – I’ve heard numbers say 95 percent of the states within 48 hours in a truck.” Local industries employ more than 28,000 workers that either live in La Vergne, or come into the city on a daily basis, and the goal is to encourage more people to live and work in the community. In the future, the city will continue to focus on attracting more retail to keep people in La Vergne and add to the quality of life for residents. “We are losing millions of dollars by center while there is no emergency and will have a kitchen, office space, storage space, and more. When the weather does look grim, there is a 1,140 sq ft tornado safe room. The city still needs to be approved for phase two of the project and will have to pay $1.8 million toward its completion, which they estimate could be done as early as the end of 2021. La Vergne also received a grant from the Randy Boyd Foundation to create a three-acre dog park in the city. There will be two sections separated by a parking lot, one for large dogs and one for small dogs. Broeker notes, “We are also now talking about adding in a memorial for a fallen canine unit dog, Jacques, who was killed in the line of duty here just a few months ago.” They’ve also secured a $2.6 million grant to help make the community more walkable by adding sidewalks on both sides of their major thoroughfare, Murfreesboro Road, from Davidson County to Smyrna. Also, each intersection with a stoplight will get a crosswalk. The city will have