Crossville City Council facing a $300,000 decision just one week after the November election as the city determines whether to preserve an option for a potential future dam.
Crossville City Attorney Randy York said the city has until November 11 to secure wetland mitigation credits connected to the project. That means the council will need to hold a special-called meeting sometime between November 3 and November 11.
“That’s a lot of money, and so you have to think about, as council members, what are we going to do if the referendum fails?” York said. “Are we going to try to keep these mitigation credits in place?”
York said the $300,000 would secure the credits while Crossville determines whether to continue pursuing the dam. The overall mitigation agreement is valued at $11.22 million for 6,000 stream credits and 45 wetland credits.
“If we don’t do anything, then they will move forward, take the mitigation credits and possibly form a mitigation bank and sell those credits,” York said. “We can try to buy those at that time at whatever the market rate is prevailing.”
Crossville could face millions in additional costs if the city later moves forward with the dam and has to obtain mitigation credits elsewhere. If the city decides against the dam, York said the mitigation issue would no longer matter.
The decision comes as Crossville also considers how to address the condition of the Meadow Park Lake Treatment Plant and meet the city’s future water demand. The city is awaiting information on a possible new filtration system, with potential costs ranging from $2 million to $20 million.
“What scares me, to be honest, is that it will take two years to build a treatment facility, and maybe up to six if we try to do a dam,” York said. “I worry about what happens in those time periods and what our demands, can we meet the demand that will be here 10 years from now?”
The University of Tennessee has requested a legal agreement by February 2027 for funding the mitigation project. A proposed payment schedule would require 75 percent of the remaining balance upon permit approval and the final 25 percent upon completion.
The November 11 deadline comes after voters decide a referendum concerning the city’s water assets. York said that the referendum itself would not approve a merger with the Cumberland Plateau Water Authority, but would preserve the city’s ability to continue considering those options.
In other business, the council postponed discussion of a water rate study until December when the new council is in place.