Rocky Top seeking bids for sewer
Rehab funded by grant
Rocky Top plans to begin seeking bids this week in the city’s ongoing $4.1 million sewer rehabilitation project, Mayor Kerry Templin said during last Thursday’s City Council meeting.
The city in April received notice of an additional $1.38 million in assistance to pay for the work, this time an American Rescue Plan grant through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
That money is in addition to other funds transferred from Anderson County “to develop a comprehensive asset management plan and address the critical needs of water loss and excessive infiltration and inflow into its sewer system,” the department said.
Rocky Top plans to use the new grant to help rehabilitate 33,000 linear feet of sewer lines. The city is among 43 Tennessee communities to share in the latest round of grants totaling $203.2 million from the state’s ARP fund.
“It’s vital that our communities have the necessary infrastructure in place to support residents and local businesses,” state Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, said earlier in announcing the award. “This funding will help address existing issues and better prepare for future needs. I appreciate TDEC’s continued partnership and support.”
Tennessee received $3.7 billion from the ARP, and the state’s Financial Stimulus Accountability Group dedicated $1.35 billion of those funds to TDEC to support water projects in communities throughout Tennessee.
Of that, approximately $1 billion was designated for non-competitive formula-based grants offered to counties and eligible cities. The remaining funds will go to state-initiated projects and competitive grants.
Former Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster led the way in applying for the grants to rehabilitate the city’s water and sewer systems.
During his last five years on the job, Foster obtained more than $5 million in state and federal grants for the city, including funds to help pay for necessary improvements to the city’s sanitary sewer system.
In other business Thursday, the council:
• Approved renewal of contracts for the next year for both the city’s employee health and dental insurance policies.
United Healthcare’s health insurance plan was renewed with a 12% increase in premiums, and will cost the city a total of $378,000 for the year, or $31,000 a month. That’s up from $337,000 and $28,000 a year for the current policy.
Delta Dental was given another year’s extension of the dental policy, at an increase of 3.5%.
City employees do not have to contribute to their health or dental insurance, Mayor Templin said.
“We are one of a few cities in Tennessee able to pay all of our employees’ insurance,” he said.
• Approved on first reading a change to the recently implemented ordinance limiting certain fundraising activities in the city, including “roadblocks,” parades and bike races, to IRS certified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organizations.
• Agreed to contribute $5,000 for the purchase of a new football/sports scoreboard at the middle school field to replace an aging one that no longer works very well.
The contribution was recommended by the city’s Recreation Committee, which met just prior to last week’s council meeting.
The scoreboard is expected to cost about $20,000 to purchase and $5,000 to install. But the city hopes to obtain the bulk of the funding for it from Anderson County Schools, the Anderson County Commission, and local business donors.
“Hopefully there are some generous businesspeople out there,” Templin said.