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.   

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 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 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.   

Property tax reduction proposal fails to pass council.

After an attempt to reduce the Crossville city property tax rate failed to receive enough votes for passage, the city council went on to approve the third and final reading of the city's budget and tax rate.

Councilman J. H. Graham caught some of the council off guard when right at the start of the meeting he made a motion to waive the rules to take up consideration of the tax rate first at the meeting. The rule waiver was approved and Graham said that he would like to see the tax rate dropped from the state certified 59.05 cents down to 55 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Graham gave several reasons for the action, including current strong sales tax collections and people who talked to him during the election saying they wanted property tax reductions from increases and reappraisals. Graham estimated that the change would reduce the property tax collections by $172,000 for the coming fiscal year or $43,000 per tax penny. Graham added that the reduction could be funded from the city's current fund balance expected to be some $13.5 million at the end of the current fiscal year.

“I feel very comfortable that the City of Crossville is in great shape as far as the fund balance in concerned,” added Graham

Council member Pamala Harris seconded the motion and noted that the city had a lot of expenses with projects and capital outlay that even that amount of reduction in revenue could create problems in the long run.

Mayor James Mayberry said he was comfortable at the current time but added, “There are lots of things that we want to do that we haven't even got to. Economist are talking about potential downfalls and cyclical economy slowing down and our biggest income to run our community is off of sales tax but we have no control over that.”

Harris brought up the proposed special census as a way to increase revenue as well. Graham said that the increase in state shared taxes could cover the loss of revenue. Discussion on capital expenditures followed that are planned for the next year and part of the future capital spending plan.

City Council members discuss a possible property tax 

reduction during a June 29 called meeting.

After a some further discussion, the vote was called for and failed in a 2 to 2 tie. Graham and councilman Danny Wyatt voted in favor while Harris and Mayor Mayberry voted against. Council Scot Shanks was out of town and unable to attend the meeting.

Councilwoman Harris proposed a smaller reduction and moved to make the tax rate 57 cents for the coming fiscal year but her motion did not receive a second.

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With that, Mayor Mayberry moved that the city property tax rate be set at the state certified rate of 59.05 cents for the 2017-18 budget year. A second on the motion was given by councilman Graham.

The motion passed with 3 aye votes and Mr. Wyatt opposed.

Later in the meeting the council approved the full 2017-18 fiscal year budget at a $1.9 million deficit that will be covered out of the estimated $13.5 million fund balance. The budget motion by Mayor Mayberry was seconded by Mr. Wyatt and passed with four votes in favor. Council also unanimously approved the resolution for the non-profit donations.

Crossville city council called meeting on June 29 agenda includes budget, tax rate and more.

Crossville city council will meet in a special called meeting June 29 with the third and final approval of the city's new fiscal year budget and tax rate on the agenda. The meeting is set for 5 PM and will be followed by a work session.  The work session agenda will be released next week. 

The new tax rate, certified by the state following the countywide reappraisal is $0.5905 per $100 of assessed value. The new rate is a 4 cent drop from the previous year's tax rate of $0.63.

Crossville City Hall

In addition to approving the final version of the 2017-18 budget with a $1.9 million deficit that will be covered by the city's large rainy day general fund balance, city employees will see a 2.5 percent raise. Council will also approve the list of non-profit donations.

Other ordinances on third reading that are part of the consent agenda will include the third and final reading of the budget amendment for the current year's funding of the Garrison Park redevelopment, the city's amended tree removal ordinance and the year end budget adjustments.

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Council will also consider second reading of the ordinance regarding sewer extensions outside the city limits but in existing developments.

The final item on the agenda covers discussion and action on helping replace an HVAC unit at the Fair Park Senior Center. One of the current units has failed and will cost $12,000 to replace. Council,man Danny Wyatt is proposing that the city split the cost with the county to replace it.

A work session for the July regular council meeting on July11 follows the special called meeting
More on the work session at this link.

Crossville city council approves 2nd reading of budget that includes unexpected raise.

Crossville city council approved the second reading of the 2017-18 budget under the consent agenda during the regular June Council meeting. No comments were made during a public hearing on the budget held at 5:30 PM.

The budget stands at $1,934,451 in the red.  Small routine changes and adjustments could still be made pending the third and final reading tentatively set for Thursday evening June 29 during a planned called meeting. One of the small changes that was discussed during the audit committee meeting earlier Tuesday evening was the fact that the council will receive a raise to their monthly salary of about $20 a month. The raise was unexpected and council did not know about it until city finance director Fred Houston advised them of the change.

Crossville city manager Greg Wood and council members

J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry,

Pamala Harris and Scot Shanks 

The city council salary is matched to the monthly salary of the Cumberland County Commission who will receive the same raise. The county commissioner's salary is based on a percentage of the salary of the Cumberland County Mayor Kenneth Carey, who also received a raise this year. Mayor Carey's salary is set by the Tennessee General Assembly.

The new monthly salaries will be $393.45 per month up from $374.71 and go into effect on July 1, 2017. The numbers were provided to finance director Houston by county finance director Nathan Brock.

Also approved was the tax rate for the city and while the certified tax rate due to the reappraisal has not been received by the city yet, there will be no increase and the certified rate from the Tennessee Comptroller's office will be the rate set. It is expected that the new rate will be received before the final reading on June 29.

Previous budget story

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Budget hearing and 2nd reading set for June 13 regular council meeting

Crossville city council meets for the regular June meeting on Tuesday June 13 and will hold a public hearing on the city's upcoming 2017-18 fiscal year budget as well as consider the second reading of the three required to approve it.

The meetings get underway with the audit committee meeting at 5:00 PM with the budget public hearing to follow at 5:30 PM and the regular meeting starting at 6 :00 PM.

Most of the council agenda is routine with even the budget and tax rate ordinance approvals in the consent agenda.  The third and final reading on the 2017-18 budget and tax rate is expected later in June with the new budget year starting July 1, 2016 

 Other consent agenda items include a budget amendment for Garrison Park renovations, changes to the tree removal ordinance and an amendment to the agreement between the city and Crossville Aero on the airport operation.  

The changes to the airport agreement increase the fuel flow fee from 5 cents a gallon to 10 cents per gallon and add the lease on the new hanger to the agreement. An additional 20 annual bid approvals for a year of purchases are also expected to be approved with the consent agenda.

Two bids that are not under the consent agenda is the proposed special city census. The low bidder has recently performed a census for the city of Farragut and is the low bidder with an estimate of just under $21,500. The only other bid received came in at $92,000. The city had budgeted $50,000. Catoosa Utility district is seek to purchase 204 water meters with funds left in their budget. The cost would be $29,360.

At the end of the agenda is an item on the development of the industrial site for which the city has received a state grant. In addition to approval of the grant contract, an agreement has been worked out between the city and the county for the joint funding of the matching funds that is on the agenda for approval. Cumberland County has already approved and County Mayor Ken Carey has signed the document.  

City budget work mostly finished with $1.9 million deficit to come from fund balance. First reading approved.

City budget mostly complete with deficit to be covered by fund balance--public hearing set for June 13 at 5:30 PM.

The marathon evening started with a special called meeting and passing the first reading of the 2017-18 fiscal year city budget in title only followed by a work session on the regular meeting agenda and finished up with discussion to mostly complete work on the upcoming fiscal year budget.

It was a long night for the Crossville City Council.

With the approval of the first reading of the budget and tax rate with no increase in the property tax rate, two readings remain for final budget approval and the council will hold a public hearing on the budget before the council's regular June 13 meeting at 5:30 PM. The second reading is expected to be on that agenda with a third and final reading tentatively set for near the end of June.

Because this is the reappraisal year, the state will certify a new tax rate that is expected to drop sightly due to the increase in value of real estate to keep the revenue to the taxing authorities consistent in light of those changes.

The budget and tax rate ordinance was approved under the called meeting's consent agenda with 4 yes votes as council member J. H. Graham was running a few minutes late to the meeting.

Crossville City Hall

Following the work session discussion on the budget including some decisions on the non-profit or outside agency donations, the final budget stands at $1.9 in the red. The deficit amount includes around $1.5 million in capital projects funded by the city. After paying off the short term notes listed below, the deficit will be taken from the expected end of year fund balance of $14 million leaving the city still with some $12 million in the bank as a “rainy day” fund.

Council also approved updates to the city's tree ordinance that will allow the city to remove trees that threaten public right of way that are on private property and charge the property owner for the work if they fail to remove the tree after being notified of the problem. Councilwoman Pam Harris asked for clarification and was concerned about disputes between neighbors over trees but that would not be covered under the ordinance, only threats to public right of ways.

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Council also approved paying off short term credit lines that were used to purchase new police vehicles and for paving. The two loans, totaling some $1.5 million will be paid off out of the over $15 million fund balance.

Council spent most of their time on the budget discussing the non-profit agencies and ended up leaving most of the agencies at the same amount as the previous year. Most agencies had been reduced by 10 percent last year and the year before. Discussions included giving increses to the Cumberland Co. Playhouse and the Fair Park Sr. Center. The playhouse was increased over the previous year to $30,000 and the Fair Park was increased to $25,000. At the current time the Chamber of Commerce remains at $77,400, the same amount as last year. The city manager Greg Wood indicated he is working with the Chamber on a contract to document the work they do on behalf of the community as part of their funding.

City Council to hold special called meeting and work session Tuesday June 6 on budget and other topics

The Crossville city council will hold a special called meeting followed by a work session on Tuesday June 6 starting at 5 PM. Both meetings will be held in the third floor conference room.

Items on the special called meeting agenda include the first reading in title only of the city's 2017-18 fiscal year budget and the tax rate. No increase in the tax rate has been proposed for city taxpayers. The latest version of the budget stands at $1.4 million in the red but additional changes are expected before the third and final reading of the budget is approved.

Council will consider a year end budget amendment to cover some budget lines that have gone over their budgeted amounts. The amendment would add $19,050 to administrative line items and $82,000 to the state street aid budget.

As part of the work on the 17-18 budget, the council discussed paying off some of the city's short tem loans using money from the general fund balance. On the called agenda is possible action on paying off two loans of $728,000 for paving and $807,000 for the purchase of police cars. If approved, the action would reduce debt service payments in the upcoming budget year.

Other items on the called meeting agenda include an amendment to the city's municipal code concerning tree removal of dead or dying trees in a timely manner when they create a hazard. Council will also consider moving additional funds to First Bank in Crossville, a contract for the urban and community forestry program and the purchase of a used tandem fifth wheel.

The regular monthly work session for the council is set to start at 5:15 PM.

Included in the meeting is a presentation by the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System to explain new programs they have available that they did not have when Crossville left the program several years ago.

Members of Crossville city council: L-R

J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry

Pamala Harris and Scot Shanks.

Council will consider the Request for Proposals that have been received for a performing a special census in the city limits. The recommended proposal has most recently done a special census for the town of Farragut.

Councilman Danny Wyatt has several items on the agenda that he would like to discuss including forming a committee to consider changes to the city charter, the purchase of the remaining handle mill property next to the Art Circle Public Library and the establishment of a sports recruitment committee to bring in sporting events to Crossville and Cumberland County. Wyatt also plans to discuss an evaluation program for new city manager Greg Wood at the conclusion of his first 6 months in office at the start of September.

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Council member Pamala Harris has asked for a discussion of striping Main Street after TDOT advised they would not repave that portion of the road until 2020.

Other items for discussion include a number of grant programs including a PetSafe grant for dog park equipment, a Narcan grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield, an Agriculture enhancement grant for additional trees and an ordinance on extending city sewer to developed subdivisions outside the city limits.

Council will set an alternate date for the July work session as the regular date falls on Independence day. Council will conclude the work session with work on the new fiscal year budget.   

Special Called council meeting Thursday 5 PM on Garrison Park, splash pad and sidewalks. Budget work follows

Crossville city council meets in a called meeting followed by a work session on Thursday starting at 5 PM in Crossville city hall.

The called meeting will include discussions and possible action on at least two items deferred from the regular council meeting last week. One topic is moving forward with the plans to redevelop Garrison Park on Fourth Street and the other is another round of discussion on downtown sidewalks, a topic that has been around since plans were first put forth for downtown improvements 14 years ago.

Garrison Park entrance

The council put off action to move forward and approve contracts for grant administration and engineering for the Garrison Park project until they got a response from the Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) about keeping the fence around the park and keeping the larger baseball filed known as Field A. Plans remain to remove the old grandstand structure built around 1949 as it is in poor condition and not ADA accessible.

The redevelopment plan for the park includes a splash pad, playground, new restrooms, a walking trail, and redoing the basketball court. The city was awarded a 50/50 match grant of $500,000 for the project.

Example of Splash pad in Cookeville's Dogwood Park

A discussion is also planned on a splash pad proposed for Centennial Park. The project was discussed last year and a motion to have the then interim city manager negotiate a contract with engineers on such a project. No contract was ever brought back before council and current city manager Greg Wood is recommending the council seek a design/build contract on such a project.

Council will hear information about the city manager and engineers recent meeting with TDOT officials on the sidewalk and Main Street paving project. TDOT will correct some of the downtown sidewalk corners to bring them up to ADA standards and current plans are for the city to do the rest. At this point the city hopes to know which corners TDOT will fix.

Deteriorated sidewalks in downtown Crossville

Councilman Scot Shanks has proposed the sidewalks be repaired by bidding the project out, a scenario that is estimated to be a 9 month process versus having city employees do the work, a process that could take 3 years.

Additional items on Thursday's agenda include approving the replacement of the traffic light signal at Lantana Road and Main Street. The project will be paid for 100 percent by funds from Surface Transportation grant funds with no local match required.

And one of the air conditioning units at the Crossville airport has failed and the city is taking bids for its replacement. That action will also come before the council and budgeted funds are available.

Crossville Memorial Airport Terminal Building

Following the called meeting, the council will meet in work session to continue work on the 2017-18 budget.

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Crossville council continues whittling on 2017-18 fiscal year budget but work remains.

After two lengthy budget work sessions, Crossville city council has reduced the 2017-18 fiscal year budget by about $500,000.  The difference between estimated revenue and expenses currently stands at $1.9 million in the red.

The Council still has to go through the water and sewer fund budgets but those are separate accounts and those changes have no effect on the general fund budget numbers.  According to city finance director Fred Houston, those funds are in the black as they currently stand.

Council has made no decision on non-profit donations and plans to put off a decision until they see how the budget numbers end up.

Council appears to be unwilling to add the 3 additional firefighters requested by fire chief Mike Turner to enable the department to use smaller trucks to respond to medical calls.  The council has expressed concern that the $133,000 cost for salary, benefits and training would continue annually and increase over time.

The city's 2016-17 for the current year budget was originally approved with a $2.2 million deficit but is now on track to end the year with a $900,000 estimated surplus.  And the previous year for 2015-16 ended with an almost $2.9 million surplus.  The city also has a rainy day fund that tops $10 million.

One proposal discussed would pay off some of the city's short term loans using the fund balance and that would further reduce the expenses for next years budget by some $800,000.  These loans paid for the fleet of police cars, some paving and the city's new radio system in partnership with the county.  Reports are that the radio system is working very well.

Crossville city council plans 2nd budget work session Tuesday

After spending over 2 hours on the city's 20017-18 budget last week, they will continue those discussions Tuesday April 25 at 5 PM.

The initial budget was over $2.4 million in the red and council heard about some of the changes and item in the current budget.  Employees would get a 2.5% raise if council leaves the money for that in the budget.  In addition, time was spent discussing the fire department's budget that is requesting 3 new employees for medical response but again puts off a new fire station proposed for Sparta Highway. 

Council talks 2017-18 budget.

The new budget goes into effect July 1, 2017.

Crossville city council holds called meeting and work session Thursday evening

Crossville city council has a busy night Thursday with a special called meeting and a work session all starting at 5 PM at Crossville city hall.

Crossville city hall

The called meeting includes discussion and possible action on the city's downtown sidewalk project. The sidewalk project has been discussed as far back as 14 years when a complete makeover of downtown first was discussed. As the years went by and the costs grew, the council dropped much of the downtown improvement program leaving waterlines and sidewalks. Plans to bid out sidewalk work was changed and now appears to be most likely done by the city street department over a 2 year period.

Downtown sidewalk

Tied to the sidewalk project is a new traffic signal installation at the intersection of Main Street and Lantana Road at the bottom of water tank hill. The changes are needed to level out the corners to make ADA accessible sidewalks through the area. The city is seeking grant money for that part of the project.

Also on the called agenda is approval of a memorandum of understanding related to a grant from the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association to assist with recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and several budget amendments.

The work session to follow the called meeting is on the city's capital plan and the 2016-17 operating budget.   

Videos from the Crossville city council special called meeting to approvie final action on the city 2016-17 budget.

First action taken on the budget was to increase the water and sewer rates.  Water rates going up 2 percent and sewer rates up by 5 percent.  Because of the finances of the department, a rate increase has been required by the state comptroller's office.  The comptroller's office wanted the rates increased all at once though in the discussion it was revealed that former city manager David Rutherford had negotiated a phase in of the increase.

Water and sewer rate increase discussion

Though the council says it wants to complete the downtown sidewalk project, the $3 million expenditure and loan was removed from the budget when an amendment to the budget was proposed by council member Danny Wyatt.  The council is waiting for information on the cost of the project if the city hires a 4 man crew that will be dedicated to sidewalk construction and repair.  Numbers on that program are being prepared by city engineer Tim Begley and public works department to be presented at the July regular meeting.

The final version of the city's 2016-17 budget remained in the red by $1.2 million with more than adequate funds in the rainy day fund to cover that amount many times over.  The tax rate remains at 63 cents with no increase over the previous year.

Budget approval and discussion and approval of amendment removing funding for the downtown sidewalk project. 

And the council approved the resolution listing the donations to the outside agencies and non-profits, all reduced by 10 percent from the previous year after a 10 percent reduction to most of them also in 2015-16 as well. 

Action on resolution of donations to outside agencies 

Crossville council called meeting for final approval of 2016-17 budget Monday June 27 at Noon.

Following the Friday work session and no changes to the budget document, the council will meet in special session Monday June 27 at noon and are expected to approve the third and final reading of the 2016-17 fiscal year city budget.

The general fund budget stands at a deficit of $1.2 million dollars but has millions in the rainy day fund to cover the deficit amount.  PDF file of the Crossville 2016-17 budget document.

In addition to the approval of the budget, other related items on the agenda include the water and sewer rate resolution that includes a 5 percent increase in water and 2 percent sewer rate increase. Water rate resolution PDF file

The agenda includes approval of the outside agencies of non-profits receive donations, (Non-profit donation resolution)  and the tax rate resolution at 63 cents with no change in the tax rate from last year,

Council will discuss and act on the city's radio system upgrade to join the county digital radio system and approval of a $10,000 grant through the Three Star program provide funds to Cumberland Rising, the anti-drug coalition, a change order for work on landfill pump station renovation and approval of road closures for the Chop Shop block party on June 9th.

Council holds budget work session--final approval on agenda Monday at noon.

The Crossville city council spent an hour Friday June 24 reviewing the 2016-17 fiscal year budget in preparation of approving the final reading Monday June 27 at noon.

The budget stands at $1.2 million in the red with final adjustments made by finance director Fred Houston.  Those adjustments include projects carrying over from one year to the next. Link to PDF file of the full 2016-17 budget document.

The budget includes funds for the city to join the county's radio system and a new detective position for the police department.  Councilman Jesse Kerley questioned the need for the new detective position at a cost of $50,000 to $70,000 a year.  He felt the funds would be better used for new sidewalks.

Police chief Rod Shoap told the council he offered the additional positions as one of several options to improve service to city residents.  Shoap said that the council makes the decision and with out the new position his department would do at least as well as last year and possibly better.

"It's my job to give you the best information and you make the best decision," Shoap told the council.

Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, right, makes a point on the discussion of the 2016-17 budget while council members Pamala Harris, second from right and Pete Souza third from right listen. 

The city's water and sewer budget includes a 2 percent increase in water rates and 5 percent increase in sewer rates.  Those increases have been directed by the state comptroller's office after reviewing the budget numbers for the department. 

Council discussed the changes in funding from the E-911 and additional money is budgeted for the operation as the E-911 board has lost some funding and will not be paying one third of the operational costs as in previous years.  The state law only requires that the E-911 use its funds to maintain the equipment.

At the very end of the meeting, councilman Pete Souza suggested that the council be polled to determine if any changes should be made to the budget that had been discussed of the budget as presented put on the agenda for third and final reading at the special called meeting on Monday June 27 at noon.  

Mayor James Mayberry said he wanted the budget as presented and Mr. Souza agreed.  Council member Pamala Harris said she felt the detective could be left in the budget but wait a few months before the position is filled until things can be ironed out.