City Budget gains final approval, council also approves hotel/motel tax and derelict hotel's days are numbered

Crossville city council has approved the third and final reading of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and approved an unchanged tax rate at 59 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The first version of the budget presented to the council stood at $1.5 million red and with a number of items removed and a few other items added to the budget the final version came in at just over $1.1 million in the red. Because the city has over $12 million in the general fund balance, the city finances are not in the red but the annual expenditures exceed the estimated revenue for the fiscal year.

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

Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris, and Scot Shanks.

The city's budget shows revenue totaling $19,425,353 and expenses of 20,597,073 with a final deficit for the year of $1,171,720.

Budgeted spending totals for the Police Department stand at $4.1 million, the Fire Department at almost $2.9 million and the street department at almost $2.4 million. Those 3 department's expenditures make up nearly half of the city's general fund budget.

The city's water and sewer budget do not utilize tax funding and their revenue is from the sale of water and sewer service.

The property tax rate of 59 cents, unchanged from the previous year was approved under the consent agenda and the budget was approved unanimously during the meeting. A public hearing on the budget elicited no comments from the citizens.

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Council also unanimously approved putting the hotel/motel tax into place on hotels operating within the city limits. This would go on top of the county hotel/motel tax that has been in effect for a number of years. The city adds 2 percent on top of the 7.5 percent tax the county charges and all these fees are over and above any sales taxes.

Council approved the request of property owners along a block of Thurman Avenue to return the road to two way traffic. The road has been one way for several years. The road is somewhat narrow and the planning commission had not approved the change but the city council has the final say on the matter and it was approved with 4 votes in favor and council member Pamala Harris abstaining. The parking along the road will be left alone.

Council approved a reduction in the inspection fees for the construction of the new Crab Orchard School. The fee to the county would be $21,000 but instead, the city council approved charging the cost of the time and travel not to exceed $7,000.

Under the city attorney's report, Will Ridley reported to the council that the court had approved the city's request to demolish the condemned Inn of the Cumberlands at Tennessee Avenue and Sparta Highway. Ridley said he was not seeking council approval for that action yet as he was still looking into some property ownership issues.

Condemmed Inn of the Cumberlands

Under public comments at the council meeting, downtown property owner Shirley Hughes expressed concern about parking in the downtown area especially about workers using space all day that are in front of other businesses. Hughes said she felt that there needed to be a parking lot for workers, especially county courthouse workers that would not interfere with downtown businesses.   

County May Not get Restaurant Tax but City interested in Partnering on Expo Center funding and operation.

The City of Crossville said they were interested in partnering with the county on funding and operation of the proposed expo center but the funding of bond payments through a restaurant privilege tax appears questionable for now.

Crossville city councilman J. H. Graham, left, expresses support

for partnering with the County on the Expo Center as other

members listen, including Danny Wyatt,

Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris, and Scot Shanks.

Crossville Mayor recapped briefly what the council learned at the recent work session and moved to provide the county with a letter of support for the concept of the proposed expo center and the potential for increased tourism, sales tax revenue and opportunities for our citizens. Council member Pamala Harris quickly supported the motion.

Mayberry said his motion was not about funding, only about the concept. Mayberry asked city attorney Will Ridley to explain what he had researched about a food and beverage tax.

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Ridley explained that currently the way the law was written it appears to only work for Sevier County in the state as the law required that a municipality located in a county considered a “tourist resort district and have a municipal airport, which we have; a helicopter touring facility which I'm sure we could get; and the hard part is getting the Great Smoky Mountains here.”

Currently, a restaurant privilege tax is collected in Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg only.  

Based on the law at the current time, Ridley said his opinion is that "Crossville could not charge a food and beverage tax now. That is not to say that the county of the city or any other individual couldn't petition the legislature to change the law.” Ridley pointed out the Bristol Tennessee had tried to get the law changed using Bristol Motor Speedway as their tourist attraction but they haven't made much headway.

Councilman J. H. Graham stated he wanted to go on record in support of the expo center and added he'd like to see the city and county work together on a 50/50 basis. Graham added that he would support not only splitting the cost of construction but also the cost of operation of such a facility.

Mayberry reminded the council that the motion on the floor was simply a letter in support of the concept and not yet a commitment of funding.

Mayberry's motion was approved unanimously.

Before moving to the next item on the agenda, Councilman Danny Wyatt said he'd like to make another motion adding that he felt the same as Mr. Graham. Mr. Wyatt made a motion to let the county know that the city was interested in partnering with them. Mr. Graham supported the motion by Mr. Wyatt.

Discussion between Ms. Harris and Mr. Wyatt included Wyatt's comment that the larger expense would be the ongoing operation rather than the initial construction cost. Mayor Mayberry commentated that the city had a number of large expenditures that the council had been talking about for quite some time that he felt should enter into the discussion. Mayberry added that he was not yet ready to enter into a partnership without more information.

The motion on the partnership was approved with three aye votes from Graham, Wyatt and Harris. Mr. Mayberry and Scot Shanks voted no.

Crossville CIty Council says "No" to 7 members unless public approves via referendum

Expansion of Crossville City Council to 7 members turned down by the council as the majority want to see the matter decided by public referendum.

Council member Pamala Harris, who originally proposed the change that would increase the number of council members from the current 5 to 7 mad the motion to approve the matter after it was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly earlier this year. Mayor Jame Mayberry gave a second on the motion to allow for discussion.

Council discusses the possible expansion of the council from

5 to 7 members.  L-R J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt,

Mayor James Mayberry, Pam Harris, and Scot Shanks.

Councilman Danny Wyatt said he did not plan to support the motion but added, “I would support this on a referendum to let the people decide.”

Councilman J. H. Graham advised that a majority of his constituents felt the city did not need 7 council members because of the expense and he added that there was concern about more members creating civility problems within the council.

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Comments by council member Scot Shanks indicated he had originally supported the idea but after hearing some of the concerns shared by Mr. Wyatt, Shanks said he tended to agree. Shanks added that the current ratio is one council member per 2500 citizens and most other cities the size of Crossville have 5 members of council too. The contacts that Shanks said he had received indicated the city should stay with 5 council members.

Mayor Mayberry explained that his plan was that if the expansion was approved that the city looks at setting up districts similar to how the county commission and school board are elected. He suggested there could be four council districts with 2 members elected at large for the entire city. Mayberry concluded that he agreed with Mr. Wyatt in the need for putting the change on a referendum.

To make the changes discussed or to put the matter on a referendum would require the matter to be voted on by the council and then sent back to the legislature for approval during next year's session.

The motion on the expansion to 7 members failed with 4 votes opposed and council member Harris the lone aye vote.  

Final Approval of 18-19 City Budget and Hotel/Motel tax expected at Council's Regular June Meeting

Crossville City Council should give final approval to the 2018-19 fiscal year budget during the meeting Tuesday, June 12 and approve the new hotel/motel tax as well.

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

Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Pam Harris

and Scot Shanks.

The schedule for council's regular meeting night starts at 5 PM with the audit committee, a public hearing on the 2018-19 city budget at 5:30, beer board at 5:35 and the solicitation board at 5:55 PM. The regular agenda gets underway at 6 PM.

The third and final reading of the budget is expected to pass easily. The budget shows revenue totaling $19,425,353 and expenses of 20,597,073 with a final deficit for the year of $1,171,720. The city holds a fund balance of over $12 million dollars to cover the additional expense over revenue.

The city's property tax will remain unchanged at 59 cents per $100 of assessed value.

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The council is expected to approve the new hotel/motel tax by the required supermajority as those funds have already been incorporated into the budget. The city originally requested a 3 percent tax on hotel rooms in the city over and above the county's 7.5 percent hotel/motel tax. That would have made Crossville one of the highest taxed in the state. The matter had to be approved by the Tennessee General Assembly and they reduced the tax to 2 percent before sending it back to the city council.

In other matters on the council agenda, they will consider a waiver of fees for inspections on the Crab Orchard School construction, consider contracts for the sale of 11 acres in the Interchange Business Park to an industry identified as “Project Colony” and a lengthy list of annual purchase bids.  

Additional Story on June's city council meeting at this link.

Crossville City Council set for Called meeting and work session Tuesday June 5 on budget, expanded council and more.

With the addition of a special called meeting before the June work session at 5 PM on Tuesday, June 5 it appears the Crossville City Council will approve the budget and city property tax rate by the regular June council meeting June 12.

With the first reading completed and the second reading on the agenda for a called meeting, Tuesday, June 5 the third and final readings are expected on the agenda of the regular June meeting on June 12. The city's budget is expected to be approved at $1.1 million in the red with some 10 times that amount in the city's general fund balance.

Other items on the called meeting agenda include the first reading of a budget amendment of year-end adjustments to bring the budget to actual expenses, third reading of the ordinance reimbursing the BOE for expenses of the CCHS drainage project and purchases of public works uniforms and a commercial mower.

Following the called meeting at 5:05 PM the council will go into the monthly work session in preparation for the June council meeting. The first item for discussion is a presentation from County Mayor Ken Carey and County Commissioner Wendell Wilson on a proposed expo center. The County is seeking help from the city for the construction costs estimated at $3.8 million. The proposed location for the expo center is between the current Farmer's Market and the Community Complex.

The area in red is the approximate location of the 

proposed County Expo Center.

Council is also scheduled to hear a presentation from Co. Sheriff's investigator Bo Kolloros and police chief David Beaty on a program to train city employees on what to do in the case of an active shooter. The training is called CRASE for civilian response to active shooter event.

Two city charter changes are up for consideration as well. Both have been approved by the council once, approved by the state legislature and each now faces a super majority vote becoming part of the charter. One change would add two additional members to the city council increasing it to 7 total members with a mayor and 6 council members. If the matter is approved it will affect the number of races for the city election in November with one additional 4-year term and one 2 year term on the ballot.

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The other charter change would approve the institution of a 2 percent hotel/motel tax.

Council will discuss a request from businesses on Thurman Avenue between First and Second Street to make the road two way from the current one way. The road was previously a two-way road and was changed to one way several years ago. While the lanes would be narrow, the city street department said there is adequate space though the planning commission has recommended leaving the street as one way.

The area in Green is the section of Thurman Ave

proposed for returning to two-way traffic.

Also on the agenda is the request from the County for waiver of building permit inspection fees on the Crab Orchard School project, installation of a water line on Fox Den Drive, and approval of road closures for the July 6 Rock the Block festival.

A discussion on a proposal of perks and rental fee adjustments for softball, baseball and soccer tournaments is on the agenda and a discussion on paying off water fund loans of about $1.4 million. The loan payoff proposal will save about $14,400 of cash flow each month along with a savings of interest of some $200,000 over the current terms of the loans.  

Crossville City Council OKs Budget $1.1 Million in the Red and Tax Rate on FIrst Reading

Crossville city council has approved the first readings of the city's 2018-19 fiscal year budget and unchanged property tax rate.

Crossville City Hall (file photo)

In a special called meeting the council approved the budget with a $1.1 million deficit that will be covered out of the city's over $10 million general fund balance. New funding from the Hotel/Motel tax is anticipated at $150,000 this year in the budget and some $200,000 annually in future years.

CLICK HERE to download a PDF of the budget.

Council also approved the first reading of the property tax rate, unchanged from last year at 59 cents.

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The tax rate approval was voted on as part of the consent agenda along with other routine budget amendments for the current fiscal year. The motion to approve was approved unanimously by the four council members present. Councilman Scot Shanks was out of town for the meeting.

Councilman Danny Wyatt asked for the budget vote to be taken separately and to have $40,000 in funds from the Hotel/Motel tax to be specifically earmarked for the economic development for possible future partnerships with one of several potential regional groups. City manager Greg Wood explained that all the funding from the Hotel/Motel tax was directed toward economic development and tourism so he didn't feel any additional earmarking was necessary. Wyatt moved to make the change anyway and to approve the budget. Wyatt's motion was also unanimously approved.

Two additional readings of the budget and tax rate are required with the next reading expected at the council's regular June meeting along with a public hearing on the budget. One additional special called meeting will be required to approve the budget by the end of June.

A public hearing on the city's capital improvement plan was held but none of the public attended and no comments were made. The plan was also unanimously approved.

Click here to download PDF of the Capital Improvement Plan.

Council deferred action on a request from the county for a waiver of fees related to inspection of the construction of the Crab Orchard Elementary School. Council requested additional information including an estimate of the time and mileage required for the services provided by the city.

Council approved the purchase of a Jet A fuel truck for use at the Crossville Memorial Airport at a cost of $20,000. The city's portion of the cost under a grant is $10,000.   

FIrst Reading of Crossville Budget and Tax Rate on Thursday Called meeting Agenda

The Crossville city council has a full agenda for the special.called.meeting set for Thursday, May 24 at noon.

Among the items on the agenda are the first of three readings required to approve the city's 2018-19 fiscal year budget and the property tax rate of 59 cents, no change from last year.  The budget stands at $1.1 million in the red with the balance to come from the general fund balance with 10 times the deficit amount. CLICK HERE to download a PDF of the budget.

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A public hearing on the budget will be held on June 12, prior to the Council's June regular meeting.

A public hearing is set on the city's capital improvement plan at the start of the meeting and approval of the plan is also on the agenda. Click here to download PDF of the Capital Improvement Plan.

Council will consider a request from County Mayor Ken Carey that the city waives the fees on building permits and inspections for the Crab Orchard school project.  The estimated fees are just over $20,000. 

The purchase of a Jet A fuel truck for the airport will be considered.  A used truck has been located at a cost of $20,000. A grant will fund half the purchase with the city matching the grant.

A few other housekeeping mattered are also on the agenda. 

Crossville City Budget just over $1 million in the red with another Council work session set for Thursday

The Crossville City Council will return to working on the upcoming fiscal year budget in a work session set for Thursday, May 17 starting at 5:15 PM.

Crossville City Hall

The meeting will be held in conference room 317 on the third floor of Crossville City Hall. So far the council has met twice in work session on the budget, looked at much of the budget and made some minor changes to general fund spending. In addition, the council has studied water and sewer fund budget and discussed non-profit funding as well. The work session is open to the public.

The city's budget currently stands at just over $1.1 million in the red but with over $10 million in the fund balance that level can be sustained. Last year's budget was approved with a $3.8 million deficit and the year will end with an estimated deficit of around $2 million in the red, about half the original number. A number of capital projects have been delayed and that funding is moved to the upcoming budget.

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For the 2018-19 fiscal year, General Fund revenue is estimated at $19.4 million with expenditures just under $20.6 million.

Current budget spending totals for the Police Department stand at $4.1 million, the Fire Department at almost $2.9 million and the street department at almost $2.4 million make up nearly half of the city's budget. 

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Council also has a special called meeting set for May 24 and a public hearing that night on the city's capital improvement plan. No information on the agenda for the 24th has been released yet and is not expected until next week.   

Crossville City Council Discusses Economic Development Partnership Opportunities and Use of Hotel/Motel Tax

During the Crossville City Council's second work session on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget, a discussion of the use of the proposed Hotel/Motel tax led to a discussion of future plans for economic development, business and industry recruitment.

Crossville city council work session

According to City finance director Fred Houston, he expects the new revenue to be handled as a separate enterprise fund in the city budget and he has looked at the estimated $200,000 revenue and earmarked $10,000 for the Sports and Events Committee plus $45,000 for the city's expense of the visitor's center in partnership with the county.

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Later in the discussion, it was pointed out that in the first year because the collection of the tax is delayed quarterly the first year's revenue would be closer to $150,000.

City Manager Wood explained that an additional $28,000 could be used for work on the proposed retail development on 127-N. He added the remaining funds could be used to help fund the chamber or the Playhouse other tourism and economic development activities.

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Council discussing the possibility of partnering with Roane Alliance or the Highland Initiative on economic development and looking at budgeting for such a buy-in.

City Manager Greg Wood has been investigating the possibilities and said both groups are interested in talking to the city about such a partnership. Wood added that Roane County was willing to discuss such a partnership but seemed less eager than Highland.

Councilman Danny Wyatt said the groups are regional and those kinds of partnerships are being pushed at meetings like the Governor's Conference.

Mayor James Mayberry added that he felt like Cumberland County was like a stepchild stuck out at the end of the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD) and UCHRA. “Our region is Cumberland County, Fentress County, and Bledsoe County,” added Mayberry. He said that the UCDD was trying to generate interest in a sub-region to include Cumberland, Fentress and Bledsoe Counties as a cooperative economic development group.

Councilman J. H. Graham commented, “That may be the best idea I've heard in a long time.”

Wyatt commented, “You've got to fit in somewhere. The definition of a fool is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. It has not been working.”

Mayberry asked the chamber's Brad Allamong how many site visits had come to Crossville and the response was 9 since July of 2017. Allamong added that the city made a huge investment in the Interchange Business Park of a quarter million and the county is in for a quarter million for the grant of half a million. He added that just this week ground was broken and work had begun on the 200,000 square foot pad.

“Now we're going to have something to market,” added Allamong. He also cited the Targeted Industry Study pointing out he had a list of hundreds of businesses that match with the area's current resources. Allamong continued that the next step is targeting industry currently in the high tax states. He said it was a similar idea as retirees that move from higher tax states to lower tax areas like Crossville.  

A busy Schedule for Crossville City Council and other Crossville Boards and Meetings

City of Crossville upcoming Meetings and Events from May 8 through May 18.

Tuesday

May 8              11:30 a.m.       Groundbreaking ceremony Interchange Park

May 8              1:00 p.m.         Palace Advisory Board

May 8              5:15 p.m.         City Council Audit Committee Meeting

May 8              5:45 p.m.         Meeting of the Crossville Beer Board

May 8              6:00 p.m.         City Council Meeting

Thursday 

May 10            5:00 p.m.         Call for Special Meeting

May 10            5:15 p.m.         Budget Work Session

Monday 

May 14            3:00 p.m.         Tree Board

Thursday

May 17            12:00 p.m.       Crossville Regional Planning Commission

Friday

May 18            11:00 a.m.       Catoosa Advisory Board

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Crossville Council May Agenda looks at accepting BOE sewer lines, CCHS drainage Project funding and Airport engineering.

The Crossville City Council holds its regular May meeting Tuesday, May 8 and the agenda could be a fairly short one.

Crossville City Council members

The meeting of the audit committee will be held at 5:15 followed by a meeting of the beer board to consider a beer license for Mr. Zips at 5:45 PM and the regular agenda starts at 6 PM.

During the council's work session held April 30, the members discussed items, most of which will be decided under the consent agenda of the regular agenda, including agreements to take over the three Board of Education (BOE) sewer lines. City manager Greg Wood explained that one of the changes that will happen under the new agreements is that the schools will start paying the outside city limits rates that are higher than they had been paying when they maintained the lines themselves. City Attorney Will Ridley said the BOE had already approved the agreements. Ridley also pointed out that the South Cumberland Utility District also had to approve the agreement for the Brown Elementary School line but he added he understood there was no problem with that and he expected it would be approved at the utility district's next meeting.

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Other items discussed at the work session and under the consent agenda will name the Eastern Bluebird as the official bird of the city of Crossville. A petition was presented to the city requesting the action and it was mentioned that the state president of the Eastern Bluebird Association lives here.

An application to the Boyd Foundation for funds to improve the Crossville Dog Park is also expected to be approved. The Boyd Foundation is a new funder under the control of current Tennessee Republican Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd and his wife. Council is also expected to approve a contract for the engineering of the Crossville Memorial airport runway and taxiway sealing and striping project and approval of a Department of Justice grant to help pay for police protective vests.

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Council will also consider a request from the Board of Education for reimbursement for part of the CCHS drainage project. The total project is $435,000 and parts of the project requested for reimbursement by the city include the storm inlet structure and the mainline storm sewer are broken out separately at $10,000 and $133,000.

The city's director of engineering Tim Begley has recommended the city reimburse the schools for the inlet structure as the city's drainage pipe connects to one side and the schools to the other side. In addition, it is unclear who owns the current structure that is partly in the city's right of way plus the current grate is substandard and would not support a vehicle if one left the roadway Begley said there could be a liability to the city. The discussion at the work session did not indicate the council would reimburse the higher amount for the drainage line that was entirely on the CCHS property.  

Crossville Council takes first crack at 2018-19 budget with a hard look at public safety items

During a recent work session, the Crossville City Council began its work on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget and will meet again to discuss it further on Thursday, April 10 at 5 PM.

The three-hour work session spent most of the time on the budget discussion and the budget information was provided by city manager Greg Wood and finance director Fred Houston.

Council members discuss the 2018-19 budget.  

L-R are Danny WYatt, Pamala Harris, Mayor James Mayberry,

J.H. Graham and Scot Shanks.

As the council began to review the budget, it stood at approximately $1.5 million in the red and the additional revenue from the proposed city hotel/motel tax was discussed. The city originally asked for a 3 percent tax but the bill was amended in the General Assembly to reduce the tax down to 2 percent. Before the new tax goes into effect, it must be signed off on by state officials and the Governor then receive a super-majority approval vote by the council as well.

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Council is looking at using the estimated $184,000 a year additional revenue from the hotel/motel tax to help fund part of the marketing department's budget, some of the money to the chamber of Commerce, expenses of the new Sports and Event Authority and possibly in the future some of the donation to the Cumberland County Playhouse.

The other proposed charter change to increase the number of city council members from the current 5 up to 7 members is also in the approval process without requiring a referendum. If the paperwork is received in time from the state legislature and receives a super majority council approval additional council seats could be on the November 2018 city election. If the new member elections make it on the November Ballot, the mayor and four council seats would be elected according to city attorney Will Ridley. He added that the elected council member in fourth place would only serve an initial 2-year term to even out the staggering of the future elections.

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Council also discussed the current fiscal year's budget that was originally estimated to be some $3 million in the red but because a number of projects have not moved forward due to outside issues and delays as well as other savings, Crossville finance director Fred Houston says the current budget should finish up June 30 with only a $1.5 million deficit.

Many of the capital items in the current budget will be moved into the new budget and according to discussions, the city still expects to maintain a $10 million fund balance at the end of proposed the 2018-19 budget.

Much budget discussion took place on public safety including police and fire protection. The city police department has had much turnover in the last 12 months and is having some difficulty in recruiting new officers for the force. Council discussed whether the problem was salary, benefits or something else. Chief David Beaty said that They had lost officers to other departments including Cookeville. He said even if the pay was raised Crossville could still not compete with Cookeville due to the retirement benefits and a bridge program.

Human Resources director Leah Crockett had researched through MTAS similar sized cities and what their department paid and the city of Crossville pay rate was behind those departments. An increase in the rate for the police department was discussed for across the board increases for all in the department except the chief and the three captains salaries. The increases will be determined before the budget is finalized.

Manager Wood said that even though the sheriff's office and some other area department's pay less they do not have the same officer retainage problems Crossville does.

The Fire Department was requesting a number of new items and safety equipment including pagers for volunteers, a so-called bailout kit and a second set of turnout gear. The bailout kit, according to Assistant Chief Chris South is worn under the firefighter's turnout gear and acts as an emergency rappelling system to exit a structure from the second floor or higher without just jumping.

Said South, “We've really taken a safety initiative approach this last year to try and prevent the unthinkable.” The department has 30 full-time personnel and about 15 volunteers.

The purchase of new turnout gear at $155,000 was discussed and South explained that due to the carcinogens that fire personnel are exposed to at a fire the current recommendation is that each man has a second set of turnout gear so one can be cleaned before it is used again to reduce that exposure.

Councilman J. H. Graham expressed concern about the rising cost of the fire department's budget saying it had risen $500,000 in the last 3 years to an annual operating budget of $3 million. He added the city is providing better service but he asked to have the additional turnout gear line and operating supplies both reduced by half to reduce the overall budget by about $100,000.

“We've done an awful lot for the fire department in the last 2 and a half years,” added Graham, “and we've got some other departments that need some help.” In addition, the city has two new firetrucks ordered as well.     

Council to hold Work Session Monday due to Election Day to discuss BOE sewer lines and Bluebirds and Sunday Liquor Sales.

With election day on Tuesday, the Crossville city council will hold their monthly work session a day early on Monday, April 30 and start work in earnest on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.

The work session starts at 5 PM and will be in the third-floor conference room at Crossville city hall.

The final item on the agenda is the presentation of the budget by city manager Greg Wood. While staff has been working on the document for a number of weeks, where the budget stands currently has not been made public yet.

Crossville City Council Members, City Attorney 

and City Manager. L-R Will Ridley, Danny Wyatt

Pamala Harris, Mayor James Mayberry, J.H. Graham

and Greg Wood

Other items for discussion on the work session agenda include contract agreement modifications between the city and the Cumberland County Board of Education (BOE) concerning sewer lines for North, South and Brown Elementary schools. The new agreements would transfer ownership, control and the responsibility for maintenance of the lines to the city. The BOE has requested that the city take over the lines.

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Council will also consider a request from the director of schools to help pay for the drainage project for the Cumberland County High School football field and track that has been a problem for many years. The total project is $435,000 and parts of the project including the storm inlet structure and the mainline storm sewer are broken out separately at $10,000 and $133,000.

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The city's director of engineering recommends the city reimburse the schools for the inlet structure as the city's pipe connects to one side and the schools to the other side. In addition, it is unclear who owns the current structure that is partly in the right of way and the grate is substandard and would not support a vehicle if one left the roadway and that could be considered a city liability.

Council will also consider a request received to name the Eastern Bluebird as the city bird. A petition has been submitted to the city requesting that the bird be designated as the official bird of the city.

Eastern Bluebird

By William H. Majoros [CC BY-SA 3.0

(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],

from Wikimedia Commons

Council will consider the engineering contract for the sealing and striping of the Crossville Memorial Airport runway and taxiway. The cost of the contract is on a TDOT grant with the city's portion fiver percent of the cost.

Council will also consider a grant application to the Department of Justice to fund 50 percent of the cost of police vests for the department.

Council will consider a change to the city's liquor ordinance to allow for sales on Sunday as has been recently approved by the state.