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Newport council approves budget amendments, signal grants, stormwater consultants and road repairs
Summary
The Newport City Council approved two budget amendments, authorized applications and partnering agreements for signal upgrades, hired consulting and engineering services for a downtown stormwater CDBG application, awarded a $90,558 road-repair bid for McSween Avenue, approved $16,000 to replace police ammunition lost in September flooding and authorized hiring a police records receptionist.
Newport — The Newport City Council on a single agenda approved two budget amendments, authorized grant applications for traffic-signal work, hired consultants and an engineer for a downtown stormwater project and awarded a storm-damaged-road repair contract, among other measures.
At the start of the meeting the council completed a routine roll call and approved minutes from a previous meeting before moving to old business. During the second reading the council approved Ordinance 2025-02, an amendment to the city’s annual operating and capital budget, and Ordinance 2025-03, a fiscal-year 2024–25 budget amendment for Newport School. Both measures passed on roll-call votes.
The council then turned to new business and unanimously approved Resolution 2025-04, authorizing the city to apply for a traffic-signal modernization grant. City staff said the grant would fund traffic counts and allow traffic engineers to recommend signal-timing changes and synchronization downtown and potentially along state highways within the city limits. A council member raised a specific timing concern for a left-turn signal near Western Alto and staff said they would follow up to check the signal’s setting.
The council also approved Resolution 2025-05, an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to upgrade the signal crossing at Fairview Street. Staff said TDOT would reimburse roughly 90% of the cost under the program and that the city’s out-of-pocket share would be nominal, about $1,100 for the proposed work.
To prepare a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application for a downtown stormwater project, the council approved Resolution 2025-06 to hire administration services (Community Development Partners) and Resolution 2025-07 to retain Mattern & Craig as the project engineer. Staff told the council that CDBG procedures in this funding round require the city to identify consultants before submitting an application and that, if the project is not funded, the city would not owe fees for work not performed.
On infrastructure, the council accepted a low bid from a construction firm listed in the packet as Brockville Construction for $90,558 to repair storm damage on McSween Avenue caused by the Sept. 27 storm. Staff explained federal and state disaster-reimbursem ent expectations: FEMA’s program is intended to cover about 75% of eligible costs, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) about 12.5% and the city about 12.5%, but reimbursements can take years and are not guaranteed. Staff said the city would need to appropriate the local share in a future budget amendment.
The police department requested funding to replace ammunition lost or damaged in the September flood. In the meeting packet the figure was listed as $6,850 but the police representative corrected that figure on the record and asked the council to approve $16,000 to replenish pistol, rifle and shotgun ammunition and to maintain training stocks. “During that flood, it decimated our ammunition supply,” the department representative said. The council approved the purchase.
Council members also approved hiring a receptionist/records clerk for the police department to allow the incumbent, identified as Ms. Grimes, to train a replacement before her June 30 retirement.
During a bids discussion, staff said Brockville’s recommended start date depends on material availability; if concrete pipe is in stock work could begin within three to four weeks. Staff also outlined a long-range goal to expand downtown amenities — including a potential farmers market and pavilion modeled on nearby communities — and said more formal proposals would appear at a future meeting.
During public comment a resident who identified herself as Rhodes asked whether upcoming federal changes to SNAP benefits could affect Newport’s elderly residents. Council members responded that federal policy is beyond the city’s authority but said local nonprofits and churches, such as Feed My Sheep and Bread Basket, had provided food assistance after the floods.
The meeting adjourned with no further public comment.
Quotes
“During that flood, it decimated our ammunition supply,” said a police department representative requesting funding to replace training and duty ammunition.
“We have posted through our departments for volunteers to come in,” City Administrator James Stinch said of a forthcoming community cleanup event.
What’s next
Staff will follow up on several items the council requested: checking specific signal timing downtown; preparing the CDBG application and related budget amendments if the project advances; and returning with a formal plan and policy for the proposed farmers market and possible reuse of the police building site.
