Crossville work session: standing‑rules changes, grants, contracts and other items moved toward consent

At its April 1 work session, the Crossville City Council directed staff to place multiple routine, contract and grant items on next week’s consent agenda.

Key items moved toward consent included: - Authorization to continue negotiating with an attorney respondent to an RFQ for review of a contract with Crab Orchard Utility District (staff said Joe Wyatt was the sole respondent; staff noted his submission missed the advertised deadline because of a court commitment and recommended continuing negotiations). - A standing‑rules clarification: staff proposed clarifying executive‑session procedures so that the city attorney provides information to council in executive session (not to be used for deliberative decision‑making) and adding a requirement that any item agreed in work session to move to full council must appear on the following council meeting agenda for consideration. - Pedestrian bridge for the Greenway project: a low bid of $75,900 was reported; staff said the county received a $50,000 grant reimbursement and the remainder would come from grant funds tied to the Greenway program. - TDOT contract approval to relocate water and sewer utilities along State Route 70 (North/State Route 24) ahead of a bridge project; staff said the project will be bid out in May pending documentation and recommended approval of the TDOT contract. - Brownfield redevelopment grant application to remove underground fuel tanks near Social Brew; staff said one tank in TDOT right‑of‑way is slated for TDOT removal and two remaining tanks are city responsibility, so staff asked council to approve applying for a cleanup grant through the Upper Cumberland Development District. - Main Street program resolution and other grant resolutions (Project Diabetes, Healthy Built Environment) needed for applications to downtown and park improvement grants. - An ordinance amendment aligning local weeds and grass enforcement with state law (Tennessee Code Annotated), clarifying that enforcement authority reads “city manager or their designee,” and shortening some compliance timelines to match state statute as presented by staff. - Administrative and event items: temporary street closing approvals for Duongame (Oct. 25) and Friday evening street closures tied to DCI and business requests; appointment authority during a temporary city manager absence (staff said a submitted letter nominates Nathan Klaus as acting in the city manager’s absence and council agreed to add that item to consent); release of a financial guarantee for East Ridge Drive (planning commission recommendation); annexation and resolution items (Palmetto Drive; other small annexation requests); and several miscellaneous event/temporary street closures supporting downtown programming.

Staff recommended placing the items on the consent agenda and returning contracts and draft resolutions for formal approval at the council meeting. No final votes were taken on these items at the April 1 work session; council members asked for draft documents and additional clarification before consent‑agenda approval.

Ending: Staff will return draft contracts, resolution language and detailed budget attachments for the items above at the next regular meeting for formal action.