News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton said she took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to learn at the governor’s conference in Knoxville.
Wheaton said she attended the conference for the first time to explore ways she can improve the city of Cookeville. Wheaton said at the conference she learned about artificial intelligence, workforce development, and infrastructure. Wheaton said the sessions reassured her that the city of Cookeville is doing a lot of things right.
“Our city has had a long-standing reputation for planning and being proactive in the way that we take care of the city of Cookeville,” Wheaton said. “And so it was encouraging to see a lot of the things that they talked about we are already doing, but also gave us some ideas to make sure that we are prepared for the future of Cookeville and the growth that we are experiencing.”
Wheaton said Governor Bill Lee reported that 90 out of 95 counties have seen growth in the state of Tennessee. Wheaton said her biggest takeaway from the conference is how crucial planning is for the city’s future.
“A lot of people are moving to Tennessee and a lot of people are moving to Cookeville,” Wheaton said. “We want to make sure that those growing pains that we experience are as comfortable as possible and the way you do that is by good planning.”
Wheaton said she really learned a lot about infrastructure planning. Wheaton said the city council has been pushing to improve the city’s infrastructure for quite some time.
“I know that to a lot of people, it’s not an exciting term but when you are a city leader infrastructure is a very exciting term and one that I really believe is the way Cookeville grows strategically and in a smart way.”
Wheaton said Cookeville should expect to see improvements to the city’s infrastructure. Wheaton said Cookeville has already made those steps as the city is expanding the water treatment plant, paving roads and sidewalks, and implementing automated meter readers for the electric department.”
“You have got to make sure that you got infrastructure there before you grow,” Wheaton said. “We are already integrating a lot of the things that they talked about at those sessions.”
Wheaton said Cookeville was well represented at the conference. Wheaton said she was proud to see other city officials attend and have the same initiative to want to make the city better.
