MATA Files $9.1M Permit For South Intermodal Terminal

The Memphis Area Transit Authority was issued a $9.1 million permit by the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement for its South Intermodal Terminal at 3033 Airways Blvd. near Memphis International Airport.

The facility is under construction and should open next spring, said MATA’s director of marketing and customer service, Alison Burton.

About six months after breaking ground on the 9-acre site at the intersection of Airways and Brooks Road, MATA is 25 percent finished on the 29,000-square-foot, $16 million facility.

“All of the building foundation slabs have been poured and steel erection is about 95 percent complete,” Burton said.

The public transportation agency filed its initial permit for the structure in March 2009, but MATA ran into a host of problems before finally getting the project off the ground last winter.

The facility was at the center of a controversy that involved former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s alleged deal to profit from Greyhound Lines Inc.’s current home on Union Avenue by encouraging the bus company to move to the Airways locale.

MATA’s board of commissioners last year voted unanimously to approve construction of the facility, and Greyhound signed a lease to occupy 76 percent of the terminal.

The bus company will pay $2.5 million in construction costs.

Zellner Construction Services LLC is the general contractor for the project, having submitted a low bid of $9.6 million last December.

TRO Jung | Brannen – Memphis is architect of record for the facility, which is being built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certifications, meaning it will be an eco-friendly structure.

“When completed, it will be the first LEED silver-certified building for MATA and the first in the nation for Greyhound,” Burton said, adding that it also will be the first government LEED building in Shelby County.

“The project is currently on schedule and within budget.”

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

— Eric Smith

MLGW Board Scheduled To Move on Resolutions

The Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division board of directors at its monthly meeting scheduled for Thursday is set to take action on several items.

One of those items includes voting on a resolution awarding a $380,300 contract for smart meter demonstration to Smart Synch.

The board also is scheduled to take action on resolutions rejecting proposals received for a comprehensive disparity study and for the approval of a 36-month, $287,900 contract for fiber-optic ground wire.

The board meets at 3 p.m. in the MLGW Administration Building, 220 S. Main St.

— Andy Meek

Tenn. Banking Commissioner At Rotary East

Greg Gonzales, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, was in Memphis Wednesday to speak to the Rotary Club of Memphis East.

In his speech to the group, he touched on the condition of the state’s banking system and major challenges going forward. He said one of the reasons Tennessee has not seen any in-state bank failures during the current economic crisis is “we have had traditionally conservative and prudent bank management in Tennessee.”

- Andy Meek

Trestle Capital Gets CCC Grant To Renovate Washburn Office

The Center City Development Corp. awarded a $7,500 office grant Wednesday to Trestle Capital Partners to renovate the Downtown space it's moving into and signing a five-year lease for inside The Washburn building at 60 S. Main St.

Trestle Capital Partners is an investment management and consulting firm that will specialize in marketing hedge fund investments to high net worth investors.

- Andy Meek

MSCAA to Consider Checkpoint B Contract

The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority will vote to award a construction contract to Inman/EMJ Construction Corp. for Checkpoint B improvements at today’s June board of commissioners meeting.

The meeting will be held at 8 a.m. in the Airport Authority boardroom, inside the terminal building at Memphis International Airport.

Other resolutions on the agenda include contract awards to Scheidt & Bachmann USA Inc. for the design and installation of the airport’s parking and revenue control system and to American Civil Constructors Inc. for pavement joint resealing.

The board will vote to amend a lease and concessions agreement with Anton AirFood Inc. and approve a contract renewal with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center–Dorothy L. Bobbitt Health Station.

Last, the board will appoint a director of information technology.

This morning’s meeting includes a full slate of division reports. The next MSCAA board meeting is set for Aug. 19.

– Eric Smith

Commissioners Defer Decision On County Partisan Primaries

Shelby County Commissioners dealt a death blow Wednesday to a resolution calling for an end to partisan primaries in county elections.

Outgoing County Commissioner John Pellicciotti sponsored the resolution, but wasn’t present for Wednesday’s committee session.

The five commissioners present deferred the item to Aug. 18, which will be the commission’s next to last meeting before the terms of current commissioners end.

Pellicciotti, a Republican, lost a primary battle in the May elections to remain on the body.

Voter turnout was 10 percent in the Republican and Democratic contests, in which the winners advanced to the Aug. 5 general election ballot.

The set of primaries that began with the 1994 elections has never had a turnout of more than 20 percent.

Local GOP chairman Lang Wiseman has talked about possibly doing away with the primaries.

But local Democratic leaders have been more resistant as they anticipate some gains in countywide offices in the August elections.

Democrats became the majority on the 13-member commission with the 2006 elections.

Any move to abolish the primaries would be up to the executive committees of both parties.

Democratic Commissioner Sidney Chism was party chairman in 1995 when he and other Democrats resisted the idea of joining the Republican move to primaries.

“I got jumped on by both sides,” he said Wednesday. “Now that I’ve got a leg up, you think I’m going to give it up? Not in this life.”

— Bill Dries

Shareholders Approve Name For Gold Strike Parent Co.

The parent company of the Gold Strike Casino Resort has a new name, MGM Resorts International.

Shareholders this week approved changing the name from MGM MIRAGE to MGM Resorts International.

The company also announced that it will relaunch its Players Club loyalty program as M life.

Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said the new name better represents the company’s growing global presence. Besides its casinos in the United States, MGM Resorts International has an investment in a Macau property. It also has development and management agreements for other international ventures.

— Tom Wilemon

U of M Receives Grant For Online Library Project

The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences has awarded a $552,168 grant to the University of Memphis through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.

The grant will assist the U of M’s School Librarian Support for Online Study project in producing 30 qualified school librarians to work in high-need school districts, including one urban district and two rural districts.

The urban district will be Memphis City Schools and the two rural districts will be Haywood County Schools and Tipton County Schools.

Each SOS program participant will be expected to work with an average of 575 students.

By completion of the program in 2013, they will be serving more than 17,000 students annually.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program supports efforts to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and the faculty who will prepare them for careers in library science.

The program also awards grants for research related to library education and staffing needs, curriculum development and continuing education and training for participants.

— Taylor Shoptaw

UT Appoints Head Of Development, Alumni Affairs

Scott Rabenold will become the interim vice president for development and alumni affairs for the University of Tennessee System.

In that capacity, he will also serve as president of the UT Foundation.

He will replace Henry Nemcik, who is leaving Tennessee for the University of New Mexico.

Rabenold, currently the director of the Campaign for Tennessee and associate vice chancellor for development at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, assumes his new responsibilities on Aug. 1 when Nemcik leaves.

The interim appointment is for a one-year period.

Rabenold previously worked at the University of Memphis.

— Tom Wilemon