The Cookeville City Council on Jan. 16 awarded the base bid for the Cane Creek Park expansion project and approved two bid alternates, authorizing the city manager to enter an agreement and issue a notice to proceed.

City staff reported the city purchased 31.39 acres in 2020 for park expansion and received a Land and Water Conservation Fund-style LPRF grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). TDEC increased the grant award by 25 percent, bringing the project total to $1,125,000; the grant requires a 50 percent local match, meaning the maximum recoverable grant amount is $562,500. The grant contract requires project completion by February 2026.

Public works staff said the bid base scope includes a picnic shelter, a parking lot sized for about 80 vehicles, a connecting access road, roughly 4,500 feet of trails to tie into existing park trails, benches, tables, trash receptacles and landscaping. The low base bid was $1,519,000. Alternate 1 (paving the entire new trail rather than leaving about 3,000 feet as mulch) adds $169,000. Alternate 3 (adding 5-foot chain-link fencing along the border) adds $114,000. The council approved the base bid and alternates 1 and 3, for a total award of $1,802,000.

Staff noted construction costs have increased since the original estimates and that the project will likely span two fiscal years. The city currently has $825,000 budgeted in the current fiscal year for the project; staff said they will monitor expenditures and request a budget amendment only if spending exceeds that amount before June 30. The council motion to approve the base bid with alternates passed unanimously, 5–0. The grant requirement to complete work by Feb. 2026 remains in effect.