Summary

Envision Maryville Working Group Discussion

June 25, 2015
Summary by Bob Adamcik,
adamcikb@pobox.com,
(865) 249-9109

Present: Matt Sterling, Bill Pope, Jeanna Beck, Bob Hirche, Nathan Higdon, Bob Adamcik and
David Freeman (arrived later)
Missing: Bill Kilgore, Tim Richardson, Kevin Proffit, Greg Rowe
Summary: We met at Bob Adamciks residence, where we spent two hours in a facilitated
discussion voicing our individual ideas of what we would like Maryville to become. We also
captured general thoughts on resources available to support that vision, some strategies to
achieve it, and the current conditions that threaten it.
In a very informal and hurried way, what we went through was a visioning exercise and an
analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). This summary simply
relates the results.
Toward the end of the discussion, we agreed that the first step would be to write our narrative,
in order to communicate the future we seek and perhaps what we are willing to do to achieve it.
We did not discuss what form that narrative would take, but I (Bob A) agreed to draft something
that might serve that purpose. The attached Our Town description is the result.
(Note: After the formal discussion, everyone except Bob Hirche continued informally for
perhaps 90 minutes, and further thoughts that surfaced are included in this write-up.)

Part 1: Descriptive words and phrases suggested (for use in the narrative or vision):

city of choice: people live here by intention

affordable
affordable housing
tiny houses
quaint
shops ice cream, etc
downtown is a destination
community
collaborative
together
close: know one another
know your neighbors
sharing (collaborative consumption)
welcoming

arts
high density, low sprawl
sustainable
low-impact development
energy
open to new ideas
progressive
creative
outside the box
experimental
bikeable
walkable
abused and neglected kids (cared for)
caring

Envision Maryville Working Group Discussion, page 2

compassionate
natural resources
gardens
community gardens
e-based economy

not industrial
not manufacturing
not a wage-based economy
invested in business for both mind and
money

Note: We failed to mention two others I considered important and included them in the draft
narrative. These were medical center and ethnic community. Im certain there are others,
which should surface as we refine the narrative.

Part 2: Strengths and Opportunities

- Vienna Coffee
- Downtown Maryville Association
- Studio 212
- Tysons-Magee airport
- Oak Ridge
- Extensive available commercial space
- Areas natural outdoor resources
- A low cost of living
- A workforce that is more highly-educated than average
- Many people already live here by choice
- We are a very friendly, generous community
- Inhabitants generally are different, magnetic, intelligent and welcoming
- We have great proximity to several larger cities
- The beer community is already firmly established
- Maryville College and the University of Tennessee
- Blount County hospital and medical center
- The small size makes it easy to get downtown at 5:00 from anywhere
- Downtown traffic and street pattern makes it easy to close downtown.
- We are (or are near) a crossroads to several other important areas
- There is already interest in music and the arts

Contact: Bob Adamcik, adamcikb@pobox.com, (865) 249-9109

Envision Maryville Working Group Discussion, page 3

Part 3: Weaknesses and Threats

- Maryville at a critical juncture, especially current growth in Alcoa

- Alcoa is a city on the move that will leave Maryville behind
- No e-component to Maryville business
- There is no pushback to City Council or County Commission
- There is no plan in place, or viable alternatives, against which the City Council or County
Commission can weigh proposals

- Avoidance of taxes is the current underlying city and county philosophy

- Too much random building
- Too much vacant commercial space already (about one million square-feet?)
- As random building occurs, we lose opportunities for planned development because existing
buildings and businesses must be planned around

- No entrance fee to GSMNP (ed., Bob A is not sure this belongs here, or what it means)
- There is danger of becoming another Gatlinburg
- Growth around the Pellissippi Parkway (and around the planned extension) is haphazard and
opportunistic, with no holistic vision or master plan

- The city policy of annexing anyone on the boundary on request is foolish

Part 4: Ideas for Strategies and Projects:

- Develop a co-work space, a building for small businesses with individual offices but shared
common space and resources

- Obtain high-speed internet in one or more buildings

- Initiate a business incubator in partnership with universities
- Partnerships with UT/MC: business, architecture, agriculture
- Develop a Maryville currency
- Design/create a pilot alternative housing project (e.g., tiny houses)
- Create a collaborative consumption project (e.g., a coop of some kind)
- Develop a FaceBook page, later maybe a website to build a following

Contact: Bob Adamcik, adamcikb@pobox.com, (865) 249-9109

Envision Maryville Working Group Discussion, page 4

- Create model projects for what we want to do (Note, in writing this up, I thought of a possible
slogan for us: Demonstrate, Educate, Advocate)

- Get 1,000 supporters to turn up for a city council or county commission meeting around an
important issue

- Find examples elsewhere that demonstrate the feasibility of what we want to do: collectives,
cooperatives, community gardens, alternative housing, foot-friendly downtowns, agropark or
sustainable farming projects, etc

- Develop a specific strategy for dealing with the city council and county commission
- Make better use of Kaufman Kamp (sic) to support local events and the local arts scene
- Attract artists, writers, musicians, etc.
- Court the airlines to provide more international destinations from Maryville
- Write our narrative
- Find cities that have already transformed themselves and ask how they did it.
- Come to the table with funding and partner with the powers that be in Maryville
- Dont reinvent the wheel, build on existing strengths
- Create stronger connection to National Guard base
- Rather than push for a city master plan, recruit other like-minded individuals to relocate here
in order to build a constituency for what we are doing (and eventually, a majority)

Part 5: A general approach to moving forward

1. Write our narrative or vision
2. Bring existing resources to the vision
3. Identify the dots (things already going on) and begin connecting them
4. Become the glue to bind diverse efforts and projects so that they all come to bear on a
common vision
5. Facilitate a community voice
6. Create noise around our projects, goals, what we want to do
7. Market to the broader Maryville and Blount County communities (i.e. those who arent
necessarily of our philosophyas yet)
8. Each of us becomes and ambassador for Maryville and for our narrative

Contact: Bob Adamcik, adamcikb@pobox.com, (865) 249-9109