Cookeville Trying To Find New Home For Red Dirt Pile

Cookeville has a large pile of red dirt that’s needing a new home.

The pile accumulated on the site of the city’s new police station at Neal Street and Old Walton Road.

City Manager James Mills said no one showed any interest after the city requested bids for the red dirt earlier this month.

“We’re gonna contact some people on our own to see if their interested. We may rebid it,” Mills said. “It took a long time and used up a lot of hours to move that top soil. I sure don’t want to have to haul it all the way out to the business park. We’ve talked about moving it to some other locations. We know some people doing fill work in the city. We’ll reach out to them.”

Mills said the city would pay an estimated $30,000 to have the dirt hauled away.

“That dirt has a value, especially for construction projects. People want that because it’s good fill dirt,” Mills said. “If nothing else, it will save us the cost from moving the dirt.”

The dirt needs to be moved before ground work for the new police headquarters begins in November.