On again, off again, Downtown Crossville sidewalk grant application OKed by the city council.

After returning a similar grant award when the downtown Crossville improvement plan was abandoned several years ago, the Crossville city council approved submitting a grant application that could help pay for $1.5 million in downtown sidewalk improvements during a special called meeting.

Downtown Crossville sidewalks

City council has talked about improving downtown sidewalks for some 15 years, originally as part of the multi-million dollar downtown project, but little has been accomplished towards it during that time.  The cost has been a factor in the decision not to proceed.  The currently proposed grant will pay for 80 percent of the approved work.

The grant, called the Transportation Alternative Program, is a program of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). The deadline to apply is October 3 this fall but awards will not be announced until around this time next year. If the city is successful, the bids are expected to be put out in November of 2019 and the construction phase runs from March to November 2020. Previously it was announced that TDOT planned to pave Main Street through Downtown sometime during 2020.

Crossville city manager Greg Wood, left, tells council about

the details of the proposed TDOT TAP grant project.

L-R: Wood, council members J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt,

Mayor James Mayberry and Scot Shanks.

Because the project is essentially identical to the one that the city previously planned most of the design and right-of-way work is already completed but TDOT will still have to review the project once again. The project starts at the Lantana Road intersection of Main Street and continues to the north side of Neecham Street. The main work will include sidewalks, ADA compliant intersections, and additional improvements. The city will pay from some of the work that the grant won't cover from tax funds. 

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The total estimated cost of the project is just over $1.5 million and the city's match of 20 percent is around $316,000. In addition, the cost of lighting materials that city crews will install is $295,000.

Evan Sanders of grant consultant Community Development Partners told the council that because the design work is mostly complete that TDOT should look on that favorably and the city has an excellent chance of getting the project funded.

During the discussion before the vote, city manager Greg Wood asked council for permission to pursue a possible partner to install fiber optic cable along Main Street in the conduit the city will be installing for streetlight power and traffic light controls. Wood said that that would protect the lines from ice storms and strong winds.

In addition, the city will be meeting with a company that wants to make a proposal concerning saving enough energy costs to help pay for the new street lighting the city is looking at installing.

The motion to approve the submission of the application and necessary budget amendment was made by councilman J. H. Graham and seconded by Councilman Scot Shanks. An additional $43,000 was added to the grant request to fund pedestrian signals that TDOT requires according to Mr. Sanders.

Councilwoman Pam Harris could not attend the meeting but the remaining four council members voted in favor of the motion and the application will be submitted.

An additional 7 items on the agenda were handled in a single vote. Additional readings of previously approved ordinance readings. One action was to apply for funds to help defray costs of replacing the K-9 police dog Cain.   

CPD Recognized at 2017 Lifesavers Conference and Law Enforcement Challenge with $10,000 grant

Press Release from Crossville PD

The City of Crossville Police Department received 3 separate awards from the 2017 Lifesavers Conference & Law Enforcement Challenge.

On Thursday, August 24, and Friday, August 25, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) hosted its 30th Annual Lifesavers Conference and 13th Annual Law Enforcement Challenge in Murfreesboro. Every year, the THSO hosts these events to celebrate, educate, and empower law enforcement partners and traffic safety advocates across the state. This year’s conference experienced record-breaking attendee numbers with more than 750 registrants.

56 Law Enforcement Challenge applications were submitted including 18 from West Tennessee, 15 from East Tennessee, 14 from Middle Tennessee, nine from the Cumberland Region, and one submission from each of the Tennessee Highway Patrol districts.

Award winners include:

Category: 26 – 45 Officers 1st Place: Crossville Police Department 
2nd Place: Martin Police Department
3rd Place: McMinnville Police Department

Special Awards Underage Alcohol Prevention Award: Crossville Police Department 

2017 Law Enforcement Challenge Award Winners
For the first time this year, Law Enforcement Administrator Brenda Jones distributed three grant funding awards to law enforcement agencies who participated in the THSO’s SAFE Campaign. The scope of the SAFE Campaign is to increase seatbelt usage with combined efforts of enforcement and education. All qualifying agencies participating in the SAFE Campaign with identifiable highway traffic safety issues were eligible to receive grant funding.

2017 SAFE Campaign Award Winners

1st Place ($10,000 in grant award funding): Crossville Police Department 
2nd Place ($7,500 in grant award finding): Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office
3rd Place ($5,000 in grant award funding): Lebanon Police Department

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Council gives OK to move forward with application for sidewalk grant-final approval pending details

Crossville city council approved moving forward with applying for a TDOT grant to help with the costs of upgrading downtown Crossville sidewalks.

The Transportation Alternatives Program through the Tennessee Department of Transportation provides 80 percent of the funding with the city providing a 20 percent match to pay for the project. While the project the city had previously planned totaled some $2.6 million the typical funding for this grant is about $1.1 million.

Crossville city council members discuss

sidewalk grant 

According to city manager Greg Wood, he and city engineer Tim Begley have been looking at ways to reduce the cost of the plan including taking out the section of the sidewalk in front of the Courthouse that is in good shape. In addition, the city is looking at other possible grants to pay for street lights.

Wood told the council he would like for the council to approve allowing them to continue working on the grant and to bring back the final proposal tot he council for their final approval. The grant application is due on October 3.

Council member Danny Wyatt made a motion to approve the recommendation of Mr. Wood and Mayor James Mayberry gave a second.

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Council member Pamala Harris said she still had some concerns about the timeline conflicting with plans to pave Main Street in 2020. Wood said they had talked to consultants and said that a conflict of a month or two would most likely not create a problem.

The motion was unanimously approved.  

After 9 years, City of Crossville calls $1 million EDA grant a success

City of Crossville Press Release:

In 2008, the City of Crossville accepted $1,000,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce for an Economic Development Administration grant to assist in funding an upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant capacity. As part of the application, the City talked to 5 local industries about their expansion plans in the coming years and used those plans as justification for the need to expand the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant. As required by the grant, the City Clerk recently filed a 9-year report on these same 5 industries. The results were outstanding and further demonstrated the value of working with our local industries to assist them in expanding their operations. During the 9-year period, the 5 industries reported a total of 685 new jobs created, with investments totaling $84,028,744.

Mayor James Mayberry commented that “We are constantly working with our local industries to support them any way we can, whether it be infrastructure needs or workforce development. We also continue to work with the County, the Chamber of Commerce, Tennessee Department of Economic Development and TVA to promote our amenities and what our community has to offer to potential industries for even more diversified job opportunities for our citizens. As shown by this report, the investment from local, state, and federal agencies yields great returns for our local economy.”

Chamber of Commerce President Brad Allamong concluded “While these type of capital improvements put a strain on limited local tax dollars, this $1,000,000 grant clearly shows how these investments can pay-off in the long term. Anyone would jump at an investment that would give us $84 to $1 commitment-even if that investment would pay out over nine to ten years! What is more promising is that fact that through this waste water expansion, we will continue to see returns in the years to come benefiting both business and our local citizens. A really great deal for everyone.”

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Crossville Council OKs Garrison Park budget amendment with some members still opposed to grant

The Crossville city council finally approved the third and final reading of a budget amendment needed to approve payment for work already done and paid for as part of the Garrison Park redevelopment project. One council member opposed the measure based on the project requiring that the fence around the park be removed.

The council started second guessing the project after discovering details that had been previously provided to them in agenda materials including that the fence around the park would be removed. The other controversy in the project is the removal of the grandstand built in the late 1940s that is in disrepair and unable to meet ADA requirements for handicapped access.

Prior to the July council meeting, members review the

Garrison Park concept plan.  L-R Pamala Harris,

Mayor James Mayberry, J.H. Graham, city manager Greg Wood

and Scot Shanks.

At this point, the council has approved acceptance of the grant contract from the State of Tennessee for $500,000 in a 50/50 match and has approved contracts with the engineering firm designing the project and the grant administrator in previous actions.

Council discussion on Garrison budget amendment

Some council members then looked at the details of the work and have appeared to want to slow the process until some changes can be made or abandon it all together. The state has told the city the grant agreement requires them do do certain things in order to complete the grant including the removal of the fence and grandstand. The state said that the fence could be put back up completely or partially if the city wants to. According to city manager Greg Wood, the current model for public parks is to have open un-fenced access to the amenities.

The project also includes a splash pad, a playground, new basketball court and restroom facilities at the park.

Councilman J. H. Graham moved to approve the budget amendment at the amount paid for the work and was seconded by Mayor James Mayberry.

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Councilman Danny Wyatt said he would not support the matter “because we've learned a lot of things over the last month or two.” Wyatt complained about having to tear down the chain link fence adding, “The taxpayers paid for this fence and it's in good shape.”

Mr. Graham commented that he only intended for the bills already paid to be covered under the budget and he was “not supporting any contracts or accepting the grant or anything else.”

After some confusion expressed by councilwoman Pamala Harris, city clerk Sally Oglesby explained to the the council that the grant had been accepted and the contracts approved months ago.

Prior to the vote being taken, Mayor Mayberry clarified once more that the vote was strictly on the budget amendment to cover expenses already paid for the previous fiscal year. The motion passed with three aye votes from Graham, Mayberry and councilman Scot Shanks. Council members Wyatt and Harris voted no.  

City council continues to drag feet on Garrison Park re-development project.

While the city's Garrison Park redevelopment project has a signed grant contract with the state, engineers and a grant consultant and work is progressing on design and engineering work, council's action at last weeks called meeting put off passing the third and final reading on a budget amendment funding work that has taken place during the last part of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

So far the council has not canceled the project, the work or the grant but only tabled the approval of a budget amendment pending additional information.

City council called meeting-sitting at table L-R 

Danny Wyatt, Pamala Harris, Mayor James Mayberry

and J. H. Graham

The discussion mainly concerned the fence that is currently surrounding the park that the grant application indicated would be removed. The LPRF (Local Parks and Recreation Fund) has said the fence can be replaced but are holding a position that the current must be removed as it was part of the grant application they approved.

During discussion, councilman J. H. Graham said that his phone calls over the previous two weeks indicated that if the fence had to be removed and field A was lost that his constituents were in favor of discontinuing the renovations until coming up with a better solution. He added that finding a ball park was difficult in the city of Crossville.

Concept for Garrison Park re-development plan

Garrison Park entrance and fence

City manager Greg Wood said that the city would have the use of the ball fields that belong to the local school system at the two high schools if they were needed. It was also clarified that field A was not being removed and was not part of the current grant or renovation plan.

The fence remains the main sticking point as Graham said “I have a real problem with taking down a perfectly good fence and building it back.”

Councilman Danny Wyatt said that there was 4000 feet of chain link in the park that he said was “somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000. “I'd like for a good level headed person to tell me why you would take a perfectly good fence down and create a safety concern,” commented Wyatt.

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Manager Wood explained that the current trend in parks is to have open access and not have fences all the way around them to encourage access to the park from all sides.

Wyatt said, “I'd like to make a motion to table this until someone can tell us why we have to take the fence down.

Questions arose on the fact that the city has already signed contracts for work done by the engineering firm Lose and Associates and Community Partners for grant administration. City attorney Will Ridley said that the city would have to pay for work that has already been done by the firms if the city were to back out of those contracts.

Questions about whether backing out of the grant would cause the city to be ineligible for additional such recreation grants was also discussed but manager Woods planned to meet with representatives of the city of Livingston for additional clarification on some of the issues since they just completed a similar grant. 

Councilwoman Pamala Harris indicated that the comments that they city could not get another grant didn't make sense to her since grants are usually awarded on a point system.  Said Wood, “If you don't close out one grant then it may be that you are not eligible to get another one.”

Wyatt's motion was approved with 4 votes in favor.

A motion to approve the year end budget amendments was approved by the council with little discussion and a unanimous vote of the council members present. Councilman Scot Shanks was out of town for the meeting.  

Crossville and Cumberland Co. accept $500,0000 ECD grant

Representatives of the City of Crossville, Cumberland County amd Chamber of Commerce receive the economic development grant to be used in the Interchange Business Park to create a construction ready pad for a 200,000 sq. Ft. Industrial building.

Pictured L-R  Jody Sliger, ECD, Chamber President Brad Allamong, County Mayor Kenneth Carey, Jr., Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, City Manager Greg Wood, TN Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Bob Rolfe, City Clerk Sally Oglesby, City Engineer Tim Begley, Assistant Commissioner of TECD Amy New

Previous story on grant.

City receives $500,000 grant to improve Garrison Park.

Crossville Mayor James Mayberry announced that the city has received a $500,000 grant for the re-development of the old Garrison Park of Fourth Street through the Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF).

The funds have been awarded by Governor Bill Haslam and Department of Environment and Conservation commissioner Bob Martineau as part of a $16 millions in funds for use by communities for recreation improvements.

The entrance to Garrison Park and at left the old grandstands built over 50 years ago.

The grant requires a match of an additional $500,000 of local funds and will fund the first phase of a plan to provide a splash pad, playground, restrooms, renovation of the basketball court, walkways along with the removal of the existing outdated grandstand and two baseball fields.  Plans are underway to incorporate features to recognize the history of the park that was the original location of the annual county fair.

In addition, the Crossville Parks and Recreation department has been working with the ball leagues using the existing fields and they will be accommodated at Centennial Park in future years.

Phase two of the plan will include development of a multipurpose field and open plan area.  The plan for Garrison Park were part of the recreation mater plan developed by the city several years ago and the need for additional recreational facilities was mentioned in the visioning meetings held around the community.  Also, council has discussed the need for such a facility to be near the center of Crossville for easier access by low income families.

Garrison Park concept drawing from Recreation Master Plan