City Council Meeting March 19th, 2026

The City Council meeting of Cookeville, Tennessee, held on March 19, 2026, included several procurement and contract-related discussions. The council approved the engagement of Blankship CPA Group for the fiscal year 2026 audit with a base fee of $58,600 plus additional fees for travel and specific audit components. They also approved a statement of work with Patterson and Dwire Engineers for various electric division projects and authorized a service agreement with Hometown Grid for an outage management system, which offers improved customer communication and cost savings compared to the current answering service. Additionally, the council approved a property exchange related to the Tennessee Central Rail Trail extension and held a public hearing on the proposed annexation of the Dodson Branch Road area, discussing associated infrastructure improvements and municipal service plans. The annexation plan includes significant water and sewer infrastructure investments estimated at over $6 million, with expected annual tax revenues of approximately $339,000. The council set a referendum election for the annexation and emphasized extensive public notification efforts. No other major procurement actions were noted during the meeting.