Cookeville City Council will consider the engineering contract with ASA Engineering to develop a master plan for the Depot Street Project after a discussion Monday.
City Manager James Mills said the master plan will include traffic studies and drawings for stormwater and utilities. Mills said the contract will cost the city an estimated $425,000. Mills said the city is hopeful that it is getting a fair price.
“We’ve spent some time reviewing it and meeting with officials from Assa about what we were looking for, and it’s pretty extensive in terms of the amount of information that’s got to be done,” Mills said. “And I also think it needs to be noted that the proposal includes construction drawings, so it’s more than just a master plan.”
Mills said a preliminary design for the project will be revealed at Thursday’s council meeting. Mills said throughout the process, there will be several opportunities for the community to provide input.
“The development proposal calls for many public meetings, at least six,” Mills said. “Meetings with stockholders that includes property owners, merchants. local historic groups, but there will be multiple meetings with the public to gather input, and we encourage the public to participate.”
Mills said the city wants to hit the ground running with the project. Mills said the city has a lot of work ahead in a short amount of time.
“We have a very aggressive schedule for this,” Mills said. “We hope to have a master plan done within three months. Construction drawings will take a little bit longer. Just so the public knows, the plan also includes looking at redoing the streets in the area, so this is gonna be a significant project.”
Mills said the city will have to make sure that it can afford the project as the city progresses throughout the preliminary phase.