Crossville council meetings back on Tuesday evening, discussion on city manager hiring and land for animal shelter

The Crossville city council returns to holding their regular meetings on Tuesday evening January 10, 2017 and will consider the selection of a new city manager, donating land for a possible new animal shelter, and the possibility of a city special census among other items on the agenda.

The council's schedule for the evening starts with the audit committee meeting at 5:15 PM, moves to the Beer Board at 5:45 PM and regular council meeting starts at 6:00 PM. Also for the first time, public comment from the public has been moved to near the start of the agenda.

Several of the agenda items were discussed at last weeks work session and the council was to have a list of their initial top picks from the candidates for city manager for tabulation by the meeting. Three additional candidates submitted resumes late last week. The council is accepting resumes through January 16 but is hoping to get a jump on possible interviews as soon as possible.

At the work session, councilman Scot Shanks said, I really feel like we need to move forward with interviewing for the city manager position.” Mayor James Mayberry agreed saying they could start interviewing finalists before the deadline by having each council member come up with a list of names and see how that narrows down the list.

Councilman Scot Shanks

Initial interviews may be done through the internet and city clerk Sally Oglesby said the city staff was working on setting that up for the council's use. There was some discussion of what kind of questions and how that would be handled. The main thing councilman Shanks felt was that the process needed to be started. He said he had a list of 6 or 7 names he'd picked out and other council members said they also had chosen names from the list.

Council was given a deadline of Monday to send in their lists and a breakdown would be available at the meeting.

During the work session, council also heard from Dr. Mark Hendrixson on behalf of the local group that wants to see a better facility for the city/county animal shelter. The group FOCCAS (Focus on Cumberland County Animal Shelter) is seeking to raise some $500,000 for a new adoption center that will be built next to the animal shelter but they are seeking a better location for the shelter then its current location.

Dr. Mark Hendrixson, standing, talks to the council about FOCCAS plans

for improvements of the city/county animal shelter during a work session.

According to Hendrixson, the county is planning to redo the animal shelter and FOCCAS is attempting to raise additional funds for the adoption center. Hendrixson described what a poor site for the shelter the current location is and is asking that the city donate 3 to 5 acres behind the current city dog park that a new shelter could be built on with the adoption center adjacent to it. The city and county have budgeted $180,000 together for building program of shelter in the current fiscal year.

FOCCAS had asked the county to delay the start of the project as they work to raise the additional funds but the county wants to get the project underway. The project would be in the location of the current shelter that FOCCAS describes as not community friendly while the location near Centennial Park would be more easily accessible and easier to get donations for. Council will consider the group's request at the meeting.

Based on discussion at the work session, it appears likely the council will put off a special census until next year. There are several time lines that must be met for a special census including a January first deadline to notify the state and a March deadline to have the census complete so it can be reviewed for certification. Dave Warner, who managed the last special census recommended that the city wait until 2018 to do the census.

Warner has said he does not want to do the census again and it may be difficult to find a firm to take over that work. The council had approved the first reading of a budget amendment for $30,000 to fund the census at the December meeting. It is unclear what action the council will take at the meeting.

Council will also consider providing sewer service to a property on Deep Draw Road that is out side the city limits and removing lumber on the city's Maryetta Road property being considered for an industrial project.