Crossville City Council Votes to seek More Raw Water Supply and narrowly OKs accepting BOE Sewer Lines

During the February Crossville city council meeting, the council approved moving forward with a program to seek to increase the raw water supply as recommended by engineering firm J. R. Wauford.

Councilman J.H. Graham makes a point during the council's

February regular meeting. 

In addition, a split council approved moving forward with accepting sewer lines from the Cumberland County Board of Education.

Wauford engineer Greg Davenport presented a report to the council during the February work session that listed 4 potential options and recommended that the city attempt to set up a meeting with the US Army Corps of Engineers and other regulators to discuss next steps.

Councilman J. H. Graham made the motion to move forward and his motion was supported by Councilman Danny Wyatt.

Council member Pamala Harris pointed out, “The benefits of doing this are knowing which direction to move toward as far as our future water supply. I think it is good for the public to know that we're looking out for our future.”

The motion to move forward was unanimously approved.

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There was less council agreement on the request from the county Board of Education for the city to take over three sections of sewer lines that serve North School, South School and Brown Elementary.

The motion to accept the request from the BOE was made by Mr. Graham and the second was made by Ms. Harris.

Mayor Mayberry said he had some concerns, mainly about the line from Brown Elementary including the city's utility district owning a line that runs through the middle of another (South Cumberland) utility district. He added that he was not clear what was involved in taking responsibility for the line and what additional manpower or expense would be required. Mayberry also mentioned future expenses and depreciation that would have to be budgeted for future replacement adding, “It seems like a losing proposition.”

Mayberry also said he felt it was too early to even look at inspecting the line as council member Harris suggested and he wanted to know about the legalities of the action but with the city attorney out with the flu he was not present to answer the Mayor's questions.

“I'm not going to vote to support this not knowing all the facts,” explained Mayor Mayberry.

Councilman Wyatt called on the city engineer Tim Begley for some additional information and Begley said the line to South was about 19 years old, the line to Brown is about 10 to 12 years old. Begley explained that the line to Brown was a “gray water” line and could not have a grinder pump attached to it. According to Begley, the school maintenance department reported only one break to the Brown line they knew of and it involved a car running off the road. He added that lead him to believe that the line could be a bit shallow in some places.

As the city has annexed additional area along Spruce Loop, they have taken over 300 to 400 feet of the line and haven't had any problems with it.

Mr. Graham commented to Mayor Mayberry's concern, pointing out that South Cumberland Utility has stated a number of times that they do not want to be in the sewer business.

Graham responded to another of Mayberry's questions about the future use of the line and if a pump station would be needed if more customers hooked up to the line and Graham said he felt a pump station would be needed. Graham also mentioned another possible line in the future along Dunbar Road but that would depend on the number of future customers.

When the vote on the measure was taken, Council members Graham and Wyatt voted in favor, Ms. Harris passed on the first round vote and councilman Scot Shanks said he was in favor but felt there were still things the city did not know. Shanks voted no “for now.” Mayor Mayberry also voted no and the attention returned to Ms. Harris for the deciding vote. After a brief pause, Harris voted “aye and the motion was approved.  

Tuesday City Council meeting takes up Raw Water Supply, Special Census and BOE Sewer lines

Crossville city council holds their regular February meeting on Tuesday the 13th and will hear the results of the citywide census taken late last year along with making possible decisions on the next move for expanding the raw water supply and taking over the ownership and maintenance of sewer lines to three county elementary schools.

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

Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris

and Scot Shanks 

The council's evening starts at 5:15 with the audit committee meeting followed at 5:45 by the beer board meeting with one application for Paparitos Southwest Grill on the agenda. The solicitation board meets at 5:55 PM and the regular meeting agenda starts at 6:00 PM.

The contractor who performed the special city census Arnold Harbolt will be presenting the results of the census count to the council during the meeting. The census may give the city additional funding from the state shared taxes that are distributed to cities on a per capita basis. The city has been successful in gaining additional revenue over the cost of the census for the last 20 years between the regular federal census.

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Council will also determine a direction for the city's push to increase the raw water supply for the plateau. During last weeks work session, the council discussed the results of a study of previous reports and estimates of demand prepared by engineering firm J. R. Wauford.

Wauford's report recommended looking at 4 options including, Raising Meadow Park Lake Dam and continuing to harvest from Lake Tansi, Raising Meadow Park Lake Dam and harvesting from Lake Tansi and Caney Fork River, Raising Meadow Park Lake Dam and harvesting from Lake Tansi and Holiday Lake and Harvesting water from Watts Bar Lake.

The engineering firm recommends the city plan a meeting with representatives of the US Army Corps of Engineers on the next steps toward the water supply expansion.

The council will also consider the request of the Cumberland County Board of Education that the city take over the responsibility for maintenance of sewer lines that serve North, South and Brown Elementary schools. The lines were built to hook the schools up to the city sewer service and all repairs and maintenance has been done by the school system.

At the work session, Councilman J. H. Graham said he was in favor of the action and felt it was something the city could do for the BOE. City manager Greg Wood said the line to South was about 20 years old and if the city planned to add more capacity to the Brown line at least one lift station would be required. In addition the city would map the location of the line once they take it over.

City Council Looks to Again Move Forward with Raw Water Supply Project

During the Crossville city council's February work session, the council heard the results of a study on the area's raw water supply prepared by the engineering firm of J. R. Wauford.

Engineer Greg Davenport presented the findings to the council and after a lengthy discussion, Davenport recommended that the city set up a meeting with the US Army Corps of Engineers to determine the direction of the next steps for the planning necessary to move forward. The city has been looking to raise its Meadow Park Lake Dam for a number of years in order to expand the capacity of Meadow Park Lake as a raw water reservoir.

Engineer Greg Davenport, standing, with the J.R. Wauford 

firm goes over the company's report on raw water supply 

needs for Crossville with members of the city council.

Davenport reported that the area of Crossville and Cumberland County is growing at a fast rate currently about 30 percent over 20 years but had grown even faster than that in previous times. “Sometime in the future, a new raw water source will be needed,” advised Davenport.

Crossville has been talking about raw water supply for the community for at least 20 years and the Wauford report looked at the previous studies on the topic and then looked to forecast water usage out 20 and 50 years into the future and determine the alternatives to supply water as needed.

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One of the question marks in the study is whether or not additional utility districts may buy water from Crossville in the future including Crab Orchard Utility District and the West Cumberland Utility District. Davenport said that Crab Orchard is currently looking at future needs and attempting to add at some water harvesting projects that might be difficult to permit. West Cumberland is currently looking to Crossville as a supplier rather than the current Bondecroft Utility District.

A number of years ago the city looked at the possibility of building a completely new lake but environmental issues lead them in another direction.  There are some potential problems with the Meadow Park Lake project that need further consideration.  The only other main supply option is to build a line and pump raw water up from Watts Bar Lake.  Most plateau residents have expressed opposition to such a plan.

The potential needs of the community include residential, utility districts and an industrial growth allowance as well. Davenport explained that when the city reaches 80 percent of its water production capacity it was required by the state to start planning for future expansion.  

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.

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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.    

Council's January Work Session Includes Charter Change, Raw Water, Central Communications, and more.

Could the Crossville city council use two more members? A possible change to the city charter is up for discussion at the council work session scheduled for Thursday, January 4 at 5 PM in the third-floor conference room at city hall.

Other subjects on the agenda include a presentation on raw water supply by J. R. Wauford engineers added to the agenda Wednesday, discussion of a 2018 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), discussion on the Central Communications Committee (CCC) contract, and discussion of a proposal on the purchase of the old handle mill site in cooperation with the county for additional parking at the library and for downtown events.

Following the work session, a closed executive session is planned for the council with the city attorney concerning “pending litigation” according to the agenda.

The discussion of the possible change to the city charter to increase the number of council members from 5 to 7 is to be lead by council member Pamala Harris.

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 Dam after it's reconstruction

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.

Wauford Raw Water Report (PDF) 

The city is considering a possible sewer rehabilitation project for a CDBG application. A public hearing will be held prior to the council meeting on January 9 for public input.

Council will discuss possible revision of the CCC contract as funding and operations have changed but the contract has not. It is unclear how other parties to the contract feel about any proposed changes.

For some time the city has been studying possible property for parking and other uses including a place to hold car show/cruise-ins that won't block Main Street through downtown. The area could also be redeveloped from the current eyesore by the addition of a “pocket park” near downtown as well. There are several issues including partnering with the county on the purchase if a price can be negotiated with the current owner. The development costs would be covered by the city if the land is acquired.

The proposed property is at the upper right 

of this map.  Other sites have also been 

looked at by the city as alternatives.