News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council hoping to schedule a work session to identify long-term priorities to rank and allocate capital spending.
City Manager James Mills said every budget year they try to identify capital projects they want to address in the coming year. He said there is a need to do a more long-term look at what the city needs to do, including from Leisure Services to Public Works to infrastructure needs.
“And I’ve asked all the directors of each department to put together a capital improvement list or a wish list if you would like,” Mills said. “Of things that need to be done over the next year or even the next decade.”
Mills said there are all kinds of projects that have come to the city’s attention including pickleball courts, the skate park, and various road projects. He said once the department heads put forth their wants, the city council will have that available to make recommendations about those priorities.
Mills said they are waiting to hold the work session until after the results of the city’s Community Input Survey is complete. He said they want to include the public’s response in their considerations.
“We’d like to wait on that and see what input we get,” Mills said. “We can’t think of everything. there are things out there we know the public may want that we’re not aware of. So this will give them an opportunity to let us know and then we can see whether or not we can include those in future budgets.”
The Community Development Department mailed surveys to 1,000 households in the City of Cookeville to get a random sample.
