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BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

The Elizabethton City Council is set to meet for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting this week as the August Agenda is set for this Thursday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.

And while the budget for the 2021-2022 year was already approved during the June regularly scheduled monthly meeting, some important amendments to the passed budget will be brought forth to the council members later this week.

One of the most heard about amendments to be brought up involves the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter after the Carter County Commission recently reduced their budget for the shelter by roughly $71,000.

With the cut, the Animal Shelter Board made the tough decision to eliminate animal control services and cut staff to balance things out. Because of this, City Manager Daniel Estes has proposed to increase expenditures for the Animal Shelter Board by $20,000 in hopes to bring back animal control within Elizabethton.

Another amendment that will be brought up during the regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday is one that centers around the Elizabethton Police Department and improvements to their firing range on Sugar Hollow Road within the city.

Elizabethton Chief of Police Jason Shaw will stand before the City Council on Thursday in hopes to add a few necessities that can provide better training for officers in Elizabethton.

Such improvements would include fencing to secure the firing range lot as well as a shoot house for better training in close and dynamic environments.

Along with amendments to be brought up at this month’s meeting, there will also be a few special recognitions from Elizabethton City Mayor Curt Alexander.

The first of these recognitions will be an acknowledgment of Joey Hilbert for his retirement and years of dedicated service working with the City of Elizabethton.

Along with Hilbert, the city will also be recognizing the month of September 2021 as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Finally, this month’s meeting will bring with it the request of several events happening within the city in the coming months. Such events are as follows:

• The Douglas Park Block Party — August 14, 4-11 p.m.
• The Chamber of Commerce’s Ride Into Fall — Each Thursday in September starting at 6 p.m.
• Covered Bridge Days — September 24, 3 p.m. – September 26, 6 p.m.
• Downtown Halloween Trick or Treat — October 29, 3-4:30 p.m.
• 2021 Christmas Parade — December 4, 6 p.m.