February CIty Council Work Session Tuesday covers Raw Water Supply, Downtown Parking and the Depot budget

The Crossville city council holds their February work session Tuesday, February 6 starting at 5 PM in preparation for the upcoming regular council meeting.

Presentations on the raw water supply study by engineer J. R. Wauford originally set for last month but delayed due to council member J. H. Graham's illness will be held along with a presentation on the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts (TAUD) proposal for an insurance program to protect customers from water leak expenses and an optional protection for water line repairs as well.

The raw water report, dated November 2017 looks at current raw supply, sales and future demand for water 20 and 50 years into the future. The study looks at some preliminary alternatives for future supply and further study.

Meadow Park Lake Dam

The alternatives considered in the study include raising Meadow Park Dam and continuing the current water harvesting from Lake Tansi, Raising the dam and adding a water harvesting project from the Caney Fork River. The third alternative includes the harvesting from Tansi and Caney Fork with the addition of water harvesting from Holiday Hills Lake as well and the final option is the harvest raw water from Watts Bar Lake and pump to Meadow Park Lake. The last alternative would not require the Meadow Park Dam height to be increased.

The TAUD plan that is being used by some other water suppliers across Tennessee charges a small monthly fee to cover the cost of water leaks when a customer's line leaks on their side of the water meter. A customer will be able to opt out of the monthly fee if they do not want the protection. A larger charge would cover the repair of a broken water line between the water meter and the foundation of a residence. If approved a customer would have to request the additional coverage.

Jim Young Reporter is sponsored by:

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Brad Allamong with the Chamber of Commerce will present their parking survey to the council. The survey includes the response of downtown businesses and their opinions on parking availability and need.

City engineer Tim Begley will present an outline of the Community Development Block Grant proposed for the city. The grant will request funding for sewer line repairs.

Council will also consider a request from the Cumberland County Board of Education to eliminate their responsibility for the sewer lines that serve schools outside the city limits including North, South and Brown Elementary schools.

Council will also discuss a budget amendment to move funds budgeted for the operation of the Crossville Depot from the Palace Theatre operation to a separate Depot department. According to city manager Greg Wood, the Palace Theatre, that used to be overseen by the Marketing Department has become a separate department and the Palace will not be involved in the operation of the depot at all.    

Crossville Depot back open under city operation with remodeled meeting space.

The Crossville Depot is back open for business after the City of Crossville has taken over the operation of the historic building that opened in 1926.  The building houses a gift shop and meeting space and includes a small museum and caboose.

The large meeting space that makes up most of the building has been remodeled and now features hardwood floors.  For rental information and rates, contact the Depot or Crossville city hall.

Scroll to the bottom for a photo of the original Crossville Depot from the very early 1900s and an old photo of the depot in the 1960's.  The Tennessee Central Depot has been a part of Crossville's Downtown for 92 years.

The 1926 Crossville Depot and Caboose

The gift shop features products made in Tennessee

Checkers Anyone?

Newly improved meeting space with hardwood floors

Meeting Room kitchen with ice maker

Old luggage cart buffet and media center

Back Porch can also be used when the weather is nice.

A number of community members worked on the 

most recent round of improvements to the depot and

were recognized by the city including members of 

Downtown Crossville Inc. that had the new hardwood

floors installed, also Mikki Kavich, Peggy Welch and

Margo Carroll who were presented with the

Key to the Depot by city marketing director

Billy Loggins.

Brief History of Crossville's railroad service

Bob Patton and the Crossville Rotary Clubs worked to

restore the depot after the City bought the building from

the railroad in 1994. 

The Original Crossville Depot. Photo circa 1905 from

a postcard. This depot burned in 1925.

Note from when the new depot opened May 1, 1926.

The station agent at the time was E.M. Roland

The current depot in a photo from the 1960's.  Note the

old semaphore signal on the left.

Final "Friday at the Crossroads" for 2017 wraps up a 2nd year of great events

Another Year of Friday at the Crossroads is in the books and the nice weather for the December 2017 event brought out people to stroll Main Street, kids to see Santa, and merchants and shoppers to get together for Christmas shopping.

The next Friday at the Crossroads will be April 6, 2018, so mark your new calendar!

People filled the street for the December edition of

Friday at the Crossroads

The Crossville Depot and new gift shop attracted

a big crowd (more photos below)

Santa stopped in at Highland Federal

Santa and Mrs. Claus heard Christmas wishes

Christmas window at Mitchell's Drug Store

Christmas Lights along Main St.

Even the Moon made an appearance!

Festive Folks in the Christmas Spirit

Dr. Coffee was serving great drinks

A little Bagpipe music

And a little Bluegrass too

Many Organizations shared information with the public

Music and clogging got folks ready for lighting

the Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Downtown Crossville

The Depot has a selection of Tennessee Products for

your holiday shopping

Crossville city council approves city operation of Crossville depot meeting room and gift shop

Crossville city council approved moving forward with the city operating the Crossville Depot starting out with 2 part-time positions and upgrading the facility.

Crossville city manager Greg Wood estimated that the depot could be generating revenue by the second year of operation based on estimates of cost versus revenue.

Mr. Wood told the council that students at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) would be providing some of the work on the improvements to the building and the total capital improvements would be around $25,000. The estimated cost of operation of the depot would be over $36,000 and revenue for the short year is estimated at some $62,500. Including the capital improvement costs, the net loss for the first short year of operations would be around $10,300 but Wood hopes the revenue over expenses for the second year would net the city some $23,400.

Crossville train depot

Plans for upgrades including utilizing projector and sound equipment leftover from the Palace Theater that will allow PowerPoint presentations and other multimedia presentations. “Expect to see a first class product come out of that,” Wood told the council.

Wood felt the council didn't need to take any action on the operation yet and the staff would bring back budget amendments in the near future but Councilman Danny Wyatt said he wanted to move forward with putting the money in the budget. Wood explained that he didn't see a high level of activity until the improvements were completed.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car stores; not near the price!

It's the city's building and we need to tear it down or we need to fix it,” said Wyatt. A motion to approve the operation based on Wood's estimates including hiring two part-time employees and making capital improvements was made by Mr. Wyatt and seconded by council member Pamala Harris.

It was clarified that Mr. Wyatt's motion included the first reading of a budget amendment for the depot operation. The motion passed unanimously.

The city is working toward having the depot named to the historic register as well.  

September City Council meeting may decide Depot future, water sales contract and industrial property price.

Will the city take over operation of the Depot? Will the city agree to a new contract with South Cumberland Utility District for sale of water? And will the council agree on a price for the industrial property with a pad ready to construct a 200,000 square foot building?

All these questions and more could be answered during the Crossville city council's regular September meeting Tuesday, September 12. The council's busy evening starts with the Audit Committee meeting at 5:15 PM followed by the Beer Board meeting at 5:45 PM. Council will also meet as the solicitation board at 5:55 PM. The regular council agenda starts at 6 PM in Council Chambers at city hall.

Council will consider the renewal of the city's water sales agreement with the South Cumberland Utility District. The district's board has requested that the same terms be continued on a 10-year renewal of the contract.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car stores; not near the price.

Council will discuss and consider the future operation of the Crossville Depot. For many years the depot was operated by the local Rotary Foundation and for the last 2 years by the C.A.T.S. Art organization. C.A.T.S. Advised the city they would not renew the lease and the city began looking at options.

Crossville Depot

In addition to upgrading the facility, the proposal for the city to operate the depot in the future includes 1 additional full-time and 2 part-time employees. The meeting room would generally be available between 9 AM and 9 PM but additional hours could be arranged. The city would not give out keys to renters but a city staff member would be present to assist the renters whenever an event is being held. Rental of the depot meeting room for 3 hours is recommended to be $105. The city would also operate the gift shop and plans to stock only Tennessee made products.

Council will consider a request for sewer service from the Cumberland Homestead Tower Association. Currently, the tower museum does not have public restroom facilities due to septic issues. Sewer service is currently used by the Homestead Elementary School and sewer lines are near the tower.

Council will also consider setting a price per acre for the site being developed in the Interchange industrial park. The land is the location of the 200,000 square foot construction pad funded through a state grant along with the city and the county. $60,000 per acre has been recommended though discussion during the work session indicates that price may change. The property is currently being marketed in anticipation of the site being ready next year.

Council will discuss the proposal for health insurance from the Tennessee Municipal League risk pool program. The city currently participates in the liability portion of the program and the health insurance pool is a newer program. Council members heard a presentation on the program during the work session last week.

Council will go back to first reading in an attempt to remove the monthly report by the Chamber of Commerce from the agenda.

Additional items on the agenda for council are bids and purchases on 10 items including water meters, a street department leaf vac trailer and several trucks. Under the consent agenda Council has the second reading of the telecommunications facilities ordinance, several grant applications, and several event street closings.

Council worksession touches on Holiday Lake levels, utility district contracts, health insurance and Depot operations

Crossville City Council's September work session touched on a number of topics including water levels at Holiday Lake, utility district contracts, health insurance costs, new plans for the Crossville Depot, and more.

Two items on the agenda and were quickly disposed of with no discussion. There are no plans for any changes to the city charter at the current time and the proposal to re-establish an airport committee has been scrapped.

Several waterfront property owners on Holiday Lake came to the council or were represented by two men who addressed their concern about water levels in the lake and the damage they claim fluctuations in the levels are causing to their property. Ron Boadry and Tom Bailey both addressed the council seeking compensation for damage they claim has been done to their property and others whose petitions they brought with them.

Tom Boardy, left, and Tom Bailey, lake front

residents of Holiday Lake address concerns

with lake level fluctations with council.

Boardy claimed several times that the water level has not been maintained at the level of the automatic relief valves in the weir that the city installed in 2008 to better maintain water levels. In addition, the dam improvements allowed better control of the water levels by building a wider weir that meant less fluctuation in the water level. According to the discussion, before the upgrades to the dam, the water level would rise into peoples yards following heavy rain and it took much longer for the level to drop then it does now.

Holiday Hills Lake reservoir 

Crossville water supervisor Jerry Kerley told the council that a lake the size of Holiday is not like a bathtub and you can't keep the level constant. Anytime rain fall runs into the lake the level rises. “You can't control mother nature,” said Kerley.

Discussion of the concerns also pointed to boats on the lake creating wakes that also cause erosion to the shore line. Council heard the information from the complaints and will take them under advisement. The topic is not on the regular September agenda.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car stores; not near the price!

Council briefly discussed the upcoming renewal of the water sales contract with South Cumberland Utility District. The current contract expires the end of the year and the utility district is seeking no change in the terms of the contract to purchase water.

In addition, the council heard from Ed Anderson, vice chair of the board of the West Cumberland Utility District, as the board is asking to explore the possibility of purchasing water from Crossville. The district currently buys water from the Bondecroft Utility District and has some 7 years left on a 20-year contract but Anderson said that neither side is completely happy with the current contract between them.

Council members advised the utility district to meet with the city manager over a possible contract or merger between the utility district and the city water system as was done with Catoosa several years ago.

Council heard a proposal from the Tennessee Municipal League risk management pool and their program called Tennessee Health Works which is a self-funded health insurance program through the pooling of a number of municipalities. Dawn Crawford, President, and CEO of the TML Pool explained how the program worked to the council and another presentation went over the details of the program and the benefits that the city could see.

Dawn Crawford, right, TML President and CEO talks to

Crossville city council about their health insurance program

The city's insurance renews in January and the TML version of the insurance would have the same benefits for city employees and the cost would increase over the city's current rate by under 2 percent. The city has not received the rate for the coming year from their current carrier yet.

Council discussed the change in operations for the Crossville Depot since the C.A.T.S. Organization is not renewing the lease. The city is looking at running the depot itself and doing some upgrading to the building including new flooring for the meeting area. According to the discussion, Downtown Crossville, Inc. advised the city that they support the project and are willing to assist by providing a new solid wood floor up to $10,000 for the meeting room to look more like the original floor. The room currently is carpeted and the carpet is not good shape after years of use.

Crossville Train Depot

In addition to upgrading the facility, the proposal for the city to operate the depot in the future includes 1 additional full-time and 2 part-time employees. The meeting room would generally be available between 9 AM and 9 PM but additional hours could potentially be arranged. The city would not give out keys to renters but a city staff member would be present to assist the renters whenever an event is being held. Rental of the depot meeting room for 3 hours is recommended to be $105.

The city also plans to operate the gift shop at the depot stocking entirely Tennessee made products and souvenirs. The gift shop would have more hours than it has in the past operating from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM Tuesday through Saturday. The gift shop would also be open during any rental events at the depot as well.

The estimated revenue from rental for the first year of operation is estimated at $15,000 to $25,000 and as a clientele is built up that is expected to rise. In its best year, the Depot peaked at 450 rentals for the year and revenue at that level would be around $48,000.

The city is also seeking to have the depot listed on the National Historic Register.

Crossville Memories: Who remembers the Dixie Cafe?

Found this image in an eBay auction this week.  It is a 5 x 7 photo of the old Dixie Cafe and appears to be dated from 1950.  The information in the second image is on the back of the photo saying it was behind Walker's Shoes and across from the Tennessee Central Depot. 

I have never seen this particular image before but it is a great one with most of the people in it identified.  The eBay listing said that the photo came from a local Crossville estate sale.  Because the photo is an eBay auction it has the watermark on the photo posted there but it seemed like one that should be shared.  The asking price in the auction was $45.00 for the photo.  A great photo!

Crossville's CARFAX Advantage Dealer is

PARK PLACE MOTORS!

Ask them to "Show you the CarFax!"

August CIty Council agenda includes sidewalks, Chamber, airport committee, city manager and depot.

Crossville city council will take up a number of items at their regular August meeting Tuesday August 8 at Crossville city hall.

Items on the agenda include a public hearing and possible action on a TDOT grant to pay for sidewalk improvements in the downtown area. Council will also consider the contract between the city and the chamber of commerce and the scorecard the chamber has developed to report their work and progress to the city. Other items for discussion include the possible reestablishment of an airport committee, the evaluation of the new city manager Greg Wood's first six months, and a revised street closing policy.

The evening starts with the monthly audit committee meeting at 5 PM followed by a closed executive session concerning legal matters with city attorney Will Ridley. A public hearing on the TDOT transportation alternative program grant takes place at 5:30 and the council meets as the beer board at 5:45. The regualr agenda starts at 6 PM.

Downtown Crossville sidewalks

It seems that the council has talked about downtown sidewalk project for years, and they have. The council has made decisions and changed their mind over and over again. The last decision was to have TDOT come and do the corners they would do and the city would use the street department sidewalk crew to do the rest of repair and patch work over a lengthy period of time. Recently the city discussed a grant now called the transportation alternatives program, a different name but a similar grant that had been part of the downtown redevelopment program canceled about three years ago.

The current grant program will fund 80 percent of the costs of the project with the city paying the remaining 20 percent. The total estimated cost for the sidewalk work is just over $2.6 million. The city's portion would be almost $530,000.

PARK PLACE MOTORS

Near the new car store, Not near the price!

The project was discussed during the council's recent work session and the time line of environmental work, approvals and bidding pushes the construction completion of project back into the time frame of late 2020 when TDOT plans to repave the downtown area after delays from the previous attempts to complete the sidewalk projects.

The council needs to make a decision as the grant is due to be submitted on October 1 this year but the grant awards are not expected to be announced until October 2018.

A draft of a contract between the city and the Chamber of Commerce will be considered by the council. The contract has been under consideration as part of the city's funding to the chamber. During the recent work session, council member J. H. Graham asked that the contract address the inclusion of the city manager and marketing director in the process of industrial recruiting. Also discussed was the need to have agreements ready to go on property purchase credits for new jobs. This has been used for previous businesses with a lease and a purchase agreement.

Chamber of Commerce office

Council member Scot Shanks has brought up a proposal to reestablish an airport committee after a business that uses the airport brought some concerns to his attention. An airport committee made up of local pilots and airport supporters was abolished by the council in 2007 after some 50 years of existence. Discussion on the matter at the work session did not indicate support for the proposal but Mr. Shanks was unable to attend so the matter will come up on the agenda.

City manager Wood has been in his position for 6 months now and individual council members have provided feedback through an evaluation. The overall score covering 10 areas of work came in with an average score of 4 out of a possible 5 and council has provided additional written suggestions as well. The council could consider a salary increase.

Council will consider a change to a recently adopted street closing policy. Those changes could include no charge for joint or community events and a possible change in the location for cruise ins next year to the road behind the courthouse instead of Main Street.

With the C.A.T.S. Organization relinquishing the lease to operate the Crossville Depot there are two possible scenarios the city is looking at. One would let the local Crossville Model Railroad Club use the facility for their model train exhibit but that would not allow use of the facility for meetings. The other option is for the Palace Theatre to oversee the depot operation.  

Crossville Depot

Council considering TDOT transportation alternative grants for sidewalk and depot improvements

After returning a similar grant several years ago, the Crossville city council is considering applying for a grant from TDOT to help pay for downtown sidewalks and possibly other improvements at the Crossville depot.

City Council members L-R: J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt,

Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris and Scot Shanks

While no action was taken during the July, the topic is expected to come up at the August work session and regular meeting to consider applying for 80/20 grants that could fund sidewalk improvements and other pedestrian/bicycle improvements for non-drivers as well as possible work on the Crossville Tennessee Central Railroad depot.

Full city council discussion on TDOT grants

A public hearing is planned for the August 8th city council meeting date and the matter on the agenda for council's consideration of the city applying for the grants that are due October 3 this year. The total estimated cost of the project would be $3.2 million dollars with the city's match portion at $640,000.

PARK PLACE MOTORS is your

CARFAX ADVANTAGE DEALER!

Downtown sidewalk condition file photo

After some issues with fine print on some of the city's previous grants, the council said they want to see the completed grant before it is submitted.

Crossville Depot