The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce held their monthly lunch meeting this afternoon at Stonebridge Golf Course. Mayor Wyatt Bunker was the special guest and gave a “State of the City” address to the crowd. In what’s become an anticipated annual event, the crowd enjoyed hearing all of the things Mayor Bunker had to say about Lakeland, our current state of affairs and what to expect in the future for our city.
Mayor Bunker was introduced to applause by Kevin Bailey, chamber board member, and then went straight into a presentation discussing a variety of topics.
Topics included:
- Strategic planning that’s been underway over the last 12 months.
- Infrastructure projects to double our sewer capacity (paying cash as we go) and New Canada Rd.
- Major projects like The Lake District and a potential new town square on Hwy 70.
- Major paving projects in neighborhoods like Plantation Hills and Sterling place, both of which are currently underway.
- Lakeland fire department, hiring Chief Wolf and phasing out the fire fee.
- Our number one rated Lakeland schools and the lawsuit to stop a high school by a local group.
- Parks and Rec, the $500,000 state grant to build an athletic field plus another grant to build a dog park and how we have over 700 children participating in Lakeland sports.
- Economic and residential development, including the number of lots and what’s under construction.
- Lakeland’s strong financial standings, including the lowering of the tax rate (2nd lowest in Shelby County) and our “excellent” rating according to Moody’s Investment Service.
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“I always enjoy telling people about Lakeland. Our city is recognized as an emerging leader in West Tennessee and that’s why an organization like St. Jude choose Lakeland to build their next dream home,” said Mayor Bunker. St. Jude recently selected Lakeland for their dream home event. More about that story here. The Mayor continued by saying, “we’ve lowered taxes, doubled our reserves, tripled our paving projects and have two of the best schools in the state. That’s why we’re rated as one of the top 5 places to raise a family in Tennessee. It’s hard not to get excited for Lakeland!”
While the crowd sat down to enjoy their lunch of meatloaf and macaroni and cheese, Harold Byrd, with the Bank of Bartlett, spoke highly of Lakeland and everything happening in the city. Mr. Byrd has two development projects getting underway in Lakeland.
There was one question from the crowd about the population size of Lakeland. Mr. Bunker said he thinks it’s close to 12,500, but it could be more like 13,000 to 14,000. It will not be confirmed until the next census in 2020. He added he likes to tell people in the year 2000 Lakeland was almost 3 times larger than Arlington, but they have now caught up to our population size (2000 was the year Arlington High School was constructed).
Commissioner Wesley Wright, who attended along with other commissioners and city staff, said it was a positive meeting “that showcased all the wonderful things happening in Lakeland.”
If you would like to see the slides and information from the Mayor’s address, please click here.
The Chamber of Commerce streamed the event on Facebook and you can watch Mayor Bunker give his presentation here.
Photo Credit Anna Smith. Learn More About Anna’s Local Photography Business
