Tag Archives: James Mills

Cookeville City Council will consider a $250,000 payment to help pay for road improvements on Tennessee Avenue. Some 900 feet of roadway will be brought up to industrial road standards to handle truck traffic from the new Fed Ex and Garrett Brothers Concrete Company facilities in the area. City Manager James Mills said recent work discovered that some three feet ... Read More »

New Cookeville gateway signage project awaiting T-DOT approval. City Manager James Mills said that the partnered project with Tennessee Tech must meet specific guidelines from T-DOT. He said that guidelines are even more specific when the project is on a T-DOT right-of-way. “They do this for any type of community that has these signs,” Mills said. “So that what we ... Read More »

City of Cookeville has started budget review process for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. City Manager James Mills said that department directors are currently working on their individual budgets. Mills said that when it comes to the process itself, he follows the same protocol the city has done for some 20 years which includes presentations from department heads. “They’re the best ... Read More »

What government entity does the Cookeville-Putnam County Animal Shelter fall under? Putnam County or Cookeville. The question unanswered. City Administrator James Mills said employees fall under the county pay scale, the city processes payroll and employees do not receive retirement benefits from either. “I would like to get formalized and get you guys to be treated like city or county ... Read More »

Improvements to a portion of Tennessee Avenue are being considered as part of the new FedEx ground facility and a new Ready Mix facility. The city of Cookeville is considering an agreement with TDOT to widen the lines in the area and widen the lanes in the area, and widen the shoulders, according to City Manager James Mills. “With the ... Read More »

Cookeville City Council will consider an amended agreement with Food City Thursday night allowing the company to open before the original infrastructure work is complete. City Manager James Mills said that the company wants to open April 6th. He said Food City has been a good corporate partner. “But this is not an ideal situation this is not the way ... Read More »

Land acquisition will play a key role in the next steps of Cookeville’s potential aquatic facility. City Manager James Mills said that no site has been selected for the facility yet. He said that the two biggest hurdles will be finding a 13 to 15-acre tract and paying for that land. “If anybody’s priced land lately, it’s expensive,” Mills said. ... Read More »

Multiple Cookeville department heads announcing retirement at the same time brings a time of great change to the city. That’s according to City Manager James Mills. He said that this was one of his biggest concerns when he first took his position. “I always called it a ‘great tsunami,'” Mills said. “I knew there were several people that started all ... Read More »

The city of Cookeville has received a clean audit report. Council members heard from Rich Lockwood of Blankenship CPA Group at a Monday afternoon work session. City Manager James Mills said that a clean audit is indicative of a good team. “A lot of that has to do with having good employees, people who know what they’re doing,” Mills said. ... Read More »

Cookeville City Council passed a resolution Thursday night asking state legislators to return more sales tax revenue to local municipalities. Council supported a Tennessee Municipal League initiative to revisit cities receiving 4.6 percent of state sales tax. The legislature increased the sales tax in 2002 and did not share the increase with cities. City Manager James Mills said specific legislation ... Read More »