Crossville Will Restart Public Works Director Process

The Crossville City Council authorized the city manager to restart the process to find a Public Works Director Tuesday night.

The council authorized the city’s first public works director earlier this year. But City Manager Greg Wood stopped the process over fears of COVID-19 and its impact on hiring. There was also a plan being floated to consolidate all of Cumberland County’s water utilities.

Mayor James Mayberry said that idea had been shelved because some utilities did not want to move forward.

“I don’t see it happening any time soon,” Mayberry said.

Mayberry said the 2005 Catoosa merger agreement called for a long-term discussion of a master utility serving Cumberland County. Mayberry said several utilities expressed concern about giving over ownership to their facilities.

Wood said he felt comfortable moving forward with a city public works director because the idea of a countywide utility appears dead for the moment.

The city manager will move forward with creating a job description and a selection process for the role. The public works director would be paid for jointly by both the city and the water department.

In other business Tuesday night, the city approved contracts with T-DOT for the relocation of utilities surrounding the Northwest Connector. The total price tag stands at $2.92 million. The council authorized the city manager to explore the price tag on master meters to reduce water leak. Wood said Crossville would move forward with purchasing some 3,000 water meters to replace outdated or non-working individual work meters. Council Member J.H. Graham III suggested the city look for outside help to install some of the 3,000 meters to more quickly deal with the leak issue.