It’s been a week of strong opinions, tough questions and renewed commitment in the suburbs.

In Germantown, city and school leaders met Wednesday, July 16, to hash out possible ways to finance a long-awaited $100 million renovation at Houston High School without blowing the city’s budget.

The city has already committed $10 million to the project but wouldn’t add more funding, citing its debt policies, while the Germantown Municipal School District has said that $10 million won’t be enough to renovate the school. 

Both sides sat down for a joint work session this week that left local leaders feeling hopeful.

“This is the way you get things done,” Alderman Tony Salvaggio said. “This is the brightest day in Germantown this year. We all came together, we’re all working on solutions and this group will find solutions.”

Among the ideas discussed to cover the $90 million shortall: partnerships with corporations and health care institutions, creative lease structures, monetizing city-owned land and exploring nonprofit foundations as funding conduits.

“We are going to have to look at ways that we are not traditionally doing in this community,” Hicks said.

Houston High is the only high school in the six suburban districts that hasn’t undergone major renovations since it opened in 1989, aside from athletic upgrades.

In Bartlett, residents packed into the city’s Performing Arts & Conference Center Tuesday, July 15, for a meeting about the redevelopment of the former Quail Ridge Golf Course.

The proposal is for 216 single-family homes, a mixed-use senior housing component and various community amenities. But many nearby residents are not sold. 

And in DeSoto County, Debbie Mendenhall has been named executive director of the DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau. - Suburbs reporter Brandon LaGrone II

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With the city’s debt capacity limitations, the focus of Wednesday’s joint session shifted towards finding alternative funding measures.

Her immediate focus will be to leverage the new and larger event spaces that are part of the Landers Center’s $88 million expansion.  By Brandon LaGrone II

A packed house at the Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center got to hear the current plans for the former golf course Tuesday night, and some audience members didn’t like what they were hearing. By Michael Waddell

The Lakeland school district will add its first-ever senior class this year. By Michael Waddell

A couple of land donations, more law enforcement presence and the city’s first pickleball courts were big topics tackled at the Thursday meeting. By Michael Waddell

A rezoning decision could mean new homes in northwest Collierville.  By Abigail Warren

Before Todd Ondra was hired, Olive Branch’s 17 department heads reported directly to the town’s mayor.  By Brandon LaGrone II

Prosecutors alleged he exploited his position and knowledge of law enforcement. By Brandon LaGrone II

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