Newport City Council Meets For First Time In Two Months
The Newport City Council met last night for the first time since October. There was no council meeting in November since their meeting conflicted with election day. One of the first orders of business last night was to recognize Alderman MIke Profitt who has served as Vice-Mayor for the last 8 years during the prior two city councils.
The council got down to business and afterwards and approved rezoning several properties on west Main Street from light industrial to C-2 Commercial. This is being done to prepare those properties for further commercial development.
The city council also hired a firm to oversee the continuing storm drain project in downtown Newport. The city has a $400,000 grant for that project.
The council also last night approved the application for two grants. The first is for the Swift Water Rescue Team. A grant will be applied for in the amount of $200,000 to purchase new equipment. There is also a $128,000 grant that will be applied for the benefit the Newport Police Department. That grant is a Violent Crime Intervention grant. That grant comes from the Violent Crime Intervention Fund that Governor Bill Lee announced back in October. Part of that grant is for police departments to use for training and also for recruitment. Departments have until next month to apply for funds.
Speaking of funds, the city council last night also approved the extension of a letter of credit for the Newport Utilities with Commercial Bank.