New Growth Deep Roots
Franklin Tomorrow will hold the first in the 2009 series of “New Growth Deep Roots” lecture series on Thursday, April 30, at 6 p.m. at Franklin City Hall.
The topic is “Water 101: Where Does It Come From and Where Does It Go?” and will feature a panel discussion with Mark Hilty, Director of Franklin Water & Sewer Services; Dorie Bolze, Executive Director of the Harpeth River Watershed Association; and Joe Whitson, executive vice president, Water Services, Gresham, Smith and Partners.
“Clean, available water is such an essential part of a community,” said Natalie Dodd, Franklin Tomorrow executive director. “During the last two years, the city of Franklin has conducted a number of studies and undertaken a number of improvements to the city’s water supply, and even more remain to be made.
“This is a broad topic so that is why we are approaching it with a panel discussion. Dorie will be able to explain the role the Harpeth River plays in the water table of the area, while Mark can talk more about the system’s status, recent improvements and planned improvements,” Dodd said.
Earlier this year, the city of Franklin’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen decided to pursue the concept of an integrated regional water management plan after realizing that drinking water, wastewater, irrigation, stormwater and the distribution system needed to be dealt with as a whole rather than as individual components.
Whitson and his firm have worked on the development of integrated regional water management systems, which is “a process that promotes and brings together a process of bringing together water-related efforts in a region in a systematic way to ensure sustainable water uses, reliable water supplies, better water quality, environmental stewardship, efficient urban development, protection of agriculture and a strong economy,” according to city officials.
The panel will each spend about 15 minutes discussing their area of expertise and then take questions from the audience. The city will tape the meeting for future broadcast on Cable Channel 10. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dodd at 794-0998.
Additional “New Growth Deep Roots” lectures are planned for July 30 and Oct. 29, as well as a regional speaker set for this fall with the Williamson County Franklin Chamber of Commerce.
Franklin Tomorrow also is hosting “Live Green in Franklin” lecture series in 2009, with the first one held on March 30. The remaining lectures are set for June 29, Aug. 31 and Nov. 30.
Franklin Tomorrow is a non-profit community organization that communicates a shared and evolving vision for the future of Franklin and focuses that vision through education, advocacy, evaluation, implementation, and recognition of the vision’s specific goals and strategies.
