Lenoir City Council approves Halloween street closures, $25 million financing resolution and routine measures

The Lenoir City Council approved a set of routine and community measures at its meeting, including closing downtown streets for the city's Halloween Town event, adopting a supplemental resolution involving $25,000,000 described by staff, renewing the city's workplace safety plan and declaring surplus equipment for auction.

Councilmembers voted unanimously to close Broadway at Beale Street, C Street and the parallel Deepak Street for the Halloween Town event on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. City staffer Miss Wofford said, "we're all real excited to be doing it again. I hope everybody will continue to come out. It is a very fun family activity." The council's action placed the closure on the agenda and approved the required street closings.

The council also adopted what the agenda described as a "supplemental resolution" authorizing an insurance-related payment of $25,000,000 tied to licensed system revenue from the city of Corpus Christi. The measure was presented as having been reviewed and approved by the utility board at its previous meeting; Councilmember Shields moved the resolution and Councilmember Brandon seconded. The council recorded aye votes during the roll call and carried the measure.

Other measures approved included: - Renewal of the city's professional safety and health program plan, noted by a staff member as a five-year renewal associated with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules; the council voted to adopt the updated rules and regulations. - Reserving two handicap parking spaces in front of River Oaks after a staff site visit confirmed space and a small ramp had been installed; Public Works staffer JJ reported, "I went up there and looked at it. It worked great. There's actually about 2 places right there that I've got marked on or that we need to line it off for them. And, also, I built them a little ramp off those spaces, which I already did that." The council approved the reservation by vote. - Declaring older vehicles and equipment from the fire department and small items from the police department as surplus and placing them on GovDeals for sale. The fire department list was described to the council by the chief, who said the items included older vehicles and equipment recommended for surplus. - Approving a request related to the non-judicial drug task force to pursue a vehicle paid from the state growth fund / asset-forfeiture funds; staff said the city acts as fiduciary for the task force and that the funds are collected through asset forfeiture. The council approved the process described by staff. - Granting permanent full-time employment status to Officer Dante Brown after a six-month probationary period and satisfactory evaluations; the council approved his appointment by roll call.

The council also voted to reject the street department truck bid and directed staff to look at other alternatives. During that vote Councilmember Shields recorded a "no" while other members voted to reject the bid. The council approved payment of bills as presented and then adjourned.

During public comment Sherry Hundley, executive director of CASA of the Tennessee Valley, introduced Amber Silva as a new county coordinator and invited council members to CASA's annual golf tournament at Wind River on Sept. 15. Hundley also thanked the city and county for recent paving work on Johnson and Browder Hollow, calling the repairs "job well done." Hundley said, "We have been advocating for the needs of abused and neglected children ... we've hit the ground running and [Amber Silva is] very impressive."

The meeting transcript records roll-call votes on each action and the motions were made and seconded on the record. Several items were routine or committee recommendations returned to council for final approval; the council did not vote to delay or table any of the measures discussed at length during the meeting.