Newport City Council Tackles Large Agenda
The Newport City Council met last night and tackled a large agenda. The council approved rezoning of 226 Jaybird St. from residential to commercial. This is being done to help with parking for Cherokee Health Systems. The Woodland Park area was also rezoned as a recreation area so it can now be added as part of the Newport City Park. The council also went ahead with phase II of a contruction project on the depot next to City Hall. This phase will add crosswalks to the intersection to make it safer for pedestrians. That project will not cost the city any money as the project is funded by the state.
The council also approved a bid to rebuild the burn pit for the city’s street department. According to the city, the current burn pit is now 15 years old and beginning to crumble, and will soon not be certified by the state, so the burn pit needs to be rebuilt.
The Newport City Council last night also approved a $5000 grant for the Newport Police Department. That grant is from the Tennessee Highway Safety Office and will go to buy equipment for the police department.
The council also last night approved a bid to construct the new operations desk at the Newport Community Center. That operations desk is to be built at the new entrance to the community center. As you travel down Cosby Hwy, you’ve surely noticed over the last several months the new sidewalk and canopy over the Cosby Entrance to the community center. The goal is to move the main entrance to the community center from the Prospect Avenue side to the new entrance on the Cosby Highway side.
The city council also last night gave the go ahead for the Cocke County High School to set up a consession stand behind City Hall during the Duck Races coming up. This will be a fundraiser for the high school.