By Jim Young / jimyoungreporter@gmail.com
Downtown Crossville, Inc. (DCI) gave the Crossville City Council a report on some of the projects they have in the works and the council gave DCI additional funds to complete a "Welcome to Crossville" sign and funds to operate into the new year.
DCI reported that they have office space now located on the third floor of the county's archive building. The space has been painted and carpeted and the office should be in full operation by Christmas, according to DCI's Frances Carson.
Members of the DCI Hardscapes Committee Carolyn Jozwiak and Corey Legare told the council that work was ready to get under way on the "Welcome to Crossville" sign at the site of the old water tank on Water Tank Hill and some $15,000 of services and material have been donated for the project. The installation will include a sign previously donated by Crossville, Inc. and made from tile produced at their local plant along with a rock waterfall designed by Woody Gregory of Gardens to Go. Other donations to the project include several tons of sandstone provided by Crossville Coal and transportation for the stone provided by Jeff Proffit Trucking.
The waterfall includes an underground water storage tank that allows the water feature to be used even during the winter. A large concrete slab that was part of the water tank will not have to be removed to install the water feature, saving some expense.
The total value of the project is estimated to be around $25,000 and according to DCI they have put together donations and services for some $15,000 of that total. Council members unanimously approved funding the $10,000 balance required to complete the project.
Frances Carson shared information with the council about qualifying as a certified Tennessee Main Street community. The program requires communities to meet national accreditation standards that includes broad-based community support, a comprehensive work plan as well as a sufficient operating budget, staff and volunteers. Carson discussed information gathered from the state Main Street program that said communities typically take between one to two years to learn about the Main Street program and how it works before being ready to commit the funding
Carson then outlined the necessary steps to move toward becoming a Main Street Community. Communication with the community is one of the keys to a program's success. Carson said that the city already has a historic district selected but some of the boundaries may need to be looked at and rules for the historic district will need to be developed.
Based on Main Street recommendations, a city the size of Crossville should have at least a $45,000 annual budget. DCI has looked at funding and programs for several other Tennessee Main Street programs sharing the information with the council. Some programs received funding from their respective city governments and some did not.
Councilman Carl Duer made a motion to remove conditions on DCI's previously approved $10,000 donation. That funding was to fund an engineer to develop a master plan of proposed improvements to the downtown area. Originally the funds were restricted by the city to oversee the work.
The council told DCI that they would begin working on the next fiscal year's budget after the first of the year and they would need to formulate a budget to present. Because DCI only had funding for the current year, councilman Boyd Wyatt moved that an additional $12,500 in funding be provided to the group into the new year. The group will be required to provide quarterly progress and financial reports to the city.
In other action, council approved an upgrade to the city hall security system at a cost of $7,450 plus the cost of key cards. The existing system is over 10 years old, suffering from breakdowns and difficult to repair. The system will reuse the existing wiring, magnetic locks and power supplies.
