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By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

Elizabethton City Council gave its unanimous support Thursday night to seeking a $6 million federal grant that, if approved, would be used for the Downtown Elizabethton Improvement Project.

The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant is normally matching, with 80 percent coming from federal funds while the remaining 20 percent is derived from local dollars. However, since the project falls within a U.S. Census tract that is listed as an “Area of Persistent Poverty and a Historically Disadvantaged Community,” the city can seek 100 percent of the project’s cost from federal funds and is doing so.

If funded, the project would include making East Elk Avenue and East E Street bi-directional with on-street parking, adding bike lanes, improving utilities, signage, striping, and improving sections of sidewalks and sidewalks to be ADA compliant. There also would be improvements to Lynn Avenue and Sycamore Street, including Intelligent Transportation Systems traffic signal coordination and ADA-compliant sidewalk repairs.

Planning Director Rich DesGroseilliers said the scope of the project is drawn from the 2023 Downtown Mobility Plan. The city sought a $4.8 million RAISE grant in 2024 but was turned down. DesGroseilliers said the reasons that were given for that rejection led to changes in the project.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Simerly asked, “If we approve this, is there any way we can come back and void out the two-way traffic and stay with what we have, and still do all of the improvements?”

DesGroseilliers said that would be a question for the Federal Highway Administration and Tennessee Department of Transportation, and the grant application is a first step. “We won’t know until the end of June if we got the grant,” he said.

City Manager Daniel Estes added that the mobility plan is “conceptual in nature.”

“I think there’s a certain amount of flexibility because it’s a concept plan, it’s not a detailed design,” Estes said. Still, he said, when it comes to a grant application “that doesn’t mean you can step away significantly from the scope of work that’s being proposed.

“If you’re awarded, you’re awarded with the general idea of what the scope of work would be,” he said.

Council members also gave unanimous support to another federal grant proposal DeGroseilliers brought to the table, one that had the support of Elizabethton City Schools.

The Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grant for the Elizabethton High School Pedestrian Safety Project is a $196,000 grant involving four streets: Hudson Drive, Bemberg Road, Jason Witten Way, and West G Street. The project, if funded, would make existing sidewalks ADA compliant by adding ramps and crosswalks, and also purchase four portable dynamic message board signs.  

In a letter of support, Director of Schools Richard VanHuss writes, “The Elizabethton City Schools’ Board of Education believes this project will not only benefit the citizens and general public of Elizabethton and Carter County, but will benefit the state of Tennessee as well.”

In other actions, City Council:

— approved after a public hearing and second reading a change in maximum height requirements for structures – from three stories and/or 35 feet to six stories and/or 75 feet – in the B2 Arterial Business District. The change was among those in a list of items in the ordinance that included correcting typographical errors and matters of consistency.

— approved after a public hearing and second reading a change in the ordinance allowing occupied trailer coaches in approved trailer courts and certain areas to remain for 180 days as opposed to 30 days. The change is in effect until July 1, 2025, at which time it will revert to 30 days. Councilman Kim Birchfield voted against the change.

— approved after a public hearing and second reading the deletion of the existing Flood Plain Ordinance and approved a new Flood Plain Ordinance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency updates the zoning maps and ordinances roughly every 10 years and 2024 was the year for updated information. The update started before Hurricane Helene.

— approved on second reading and public hearing amending the general fund to account for Tennessee Arts Commission grants, the Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grant (BRAG), and the Tourism Enhancement Grant.

— approved agreements between Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program (HIDTA) for the Upper East Tennessee DEA Task Force and the Elizabethton Police Department.

— passed a resolution approving a memorandum of understanding with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to allow the Elizabethton Police Department’s participation in the Drug-Related Death Task Force. According to a summary provided to City Council, there have been at least four fatal overdoses inside city limits in the past year, and EPD responded to 28 reported non-fatal drug overdoses. Recent legislative changes allow for those who are found to have supplied the drugs used in fatal overdoses to be prosecuted for second-degree murder charges.

— approved a $46,706.53 contract with Ambrose LLC of Erwin to replace the downtown audio system. The company will install 49 weatherproof speakers, new wiring, four power amplifiers, and a wall mount security rack located inside the Bonnie Kate Theatre. A Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Downtown Improvement Grant will fund 75 percent of the cost.

— passed a resolution approving a $27,213 change order in the renovation that is underway at the Bonnie Kate Theater, which increased the Skilled Services LLC contract to $593,963. The change involves the restoration of “coving” along the area where the ceiling and wall meet. The resolution notes the project was initially bid under budget and the city has enough funds budgeted to absorb the cost.

— approved a resolution authorizing a five-year capital outlay note not to exceed $530,000 to purchase equipment for Elizabethton Municipal Golf Course, including two AR530 Contour Rotary Mowers, two LF570 Fairway Mowers, an AR331 Contour Rotary Mower, and two GP400 Riding Greens Mowers.

The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at City Hall, 136 S. Sycamore St.