News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council approved a new five-year lease Thursday night for a parking lot on Church Avenue.
The city will pay Tennessee Tech $1 annually for the use of the land, which includes a 15-year option. Finance Director Brenda Imel said it is located between Spring Street and Broad Street, and would be part of expanded parking.
“We are pursuing a lease of adjacent properties, the other two squares there, the one in yellow and the one in red there, that would allow us to make a larger public parking lot,” Imel said. “We have a similar lease arrangement with First Baptist Church, put the property across the street here on the corner of Walnut and East Spring.”
The lease agreement said some of the parking could be used in recruiting an expansion of SAIC to the downtown area. The lot could include reserved spaces for the company.
In other business, City Council set a public hearing for May 2 on proposed zoning changes for methadone clinics and other medical facilities. Council approved the annexation of the remaining 129 acres of the new Putnam County Fairgrounds on Tennessee Avenue. Annexation will also begin a property on Nelson North Drive.
Judy Jennings appointed to the Historic Zoning Commission. Jennings will serve a five-year term. She replaced Chris Wakefield.
The city’s insurance plan for the new fiscal year renewed with no financial changes. Council also approved the audit contract for the new year, with only a slight rise in price.
The city also added 12 new streets to the official Cookeville City map.
