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After a brief hiatus to avoid the excitement of the Independence Day fireworks, the goats are coming back to Cement Hill this Saturday (Sept 10) and will continue working to clear the property of as much vegetation as possible.
In addition, Enviro-Goat LLC has graciously agreed to provide the goats’ services to the City of Kingsport for another year at no charge.
“We would like to thank Enviro-Goat and its owner Andy Armstrong for this generous donation,” said John Rose, economic development director for the City of Kingsport. “The goats have done a great job so far and there’s no doubt they’ll finish the work in fine fashion.”
Be sure to check out This is Kingsport’s Facebook page Saturday morning for a live broadcast of the goats being unloaded at Cement Hill.
The herd of nearly 100 goats were first placed on Cement Hill last fall with one simple mission in mind – eat as much of the kudzu as they can, all in an effort to effectively clear the property for future development. Unleashing these goats is an environmentally friendly way of clearing Cement Hill without using chemicals or risking employee safety, as some parts of the hill can’t be cleared by mechanical means.
The goats are contained inside an electric fence, and as they clear sections of the hillside, the fence will move. The city asks citizens to admire the goats from a distance, as they have a job to do. Enviro-Goat, as well as city staff, will regularly check on the herd to ensure their safety.
Cement Hill is slated to become a park with walking trails and overlook spots with work expected to begin later this year.
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The dog days of summer are nearly over, but the dog’s day at the Kingsport Aquatic Center is nearly upon us. Registration for the KAC’s 9th Annual Drool Pawty is now open.
On Saturday, September 10 from 1 to 3 p.m., bring your best pals to the pools for some aquatic fun at the Outdoor Water Park. Dogs get to swim, play and make new puppy friends in the toddler play area for a real dog day afternoon.
Admission is $5 per dog and free to owners. Limit two dogs per person, and the dogs’ handler must be over 18 and bring leashes with them. Your dogs must be up-to-date on all vaccines and vaccination records are required to register.
To register, visit www.swimkingsport.com and find the “Special Events” page under the “Programming and Calendar” link. You can also call 423-343-9758 for more information.
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Pavewell Paving Company will begin street resurfacing work next week (Sept. 7) on a number of streets in the neighborhoods in and around the Walmart Supercenter on Fort Henry Drive.
The resurfacing work involves 3.5 miles of streets on both sides of Fort Henry Drive, including such streets as Atoka Lane, Cliffside Road, Dan Gibson Drive, Hull Drive, Melrose Avenue, Randolph Street and Short Ridge Place.
This summer, Kingsport approved an $829,725 contract with Pavewell for the work. The project has a completion date of Oct. 29, 2022.
In recent years, Kingsport has budgeted $2 million to $3 million a year on street resurfacing, which amounts to 17 to 21 miles of city roads being repaved every year. In the current fiscal year budget, Kingsport allocated $2.7 million for street resurfacing.
In addition to city-funded paving, nearly $10 million in state funds was allocated last year for the repaving of 16 miles of state highways throughout the Model City.
For more information on Kingsport’s paving schedule visit www.pavekingsport.com.
The Rock Springs community has a new food and clothing pantry thanks to the efforts of a local Eagle Scout candidate and the Kingsport Fire Department.
Located in a small park beside Fire Station 7 on Rock Springs Road, the new pantry replaces a smaller “blessing box” established by Christ Fellowship Church five years ago. The new pantry is much larger than the original and contains dry goods, canned food, cereals, diapers and clothes. People are free to drop off items or take them as needed.
Prior to retiring, Kingsport firefighter Shane Warren identified the need for a new food pantry at Fire Station 7 and discussed the matter with Captain Justin Waycaster. Waycaster then contacted Troop 250 about the idea and Matt Munsey used it as his Eagle Scout project.
“They had a smaller food pantry that needed to be rebuilt and they wanted one that was bigger and more stable,” Munsey said. “I saw a need and they needed it, so we got it done.”
Munsey and a number of firefighters from Fire Station 7 designed and built the pantry, which took about 15 hours to complete. Christ Fellowship Church funded the project
The new pantry bears Warren’s name and the door to the original “blessing box” has been incorporated into the building. It hangs inside the pantry and reads – “Give what you can, take what you need!”
“Every man and woman who has worked at this station helped with the project and I’m honored to have my name on (the pantry),” Warren said. “In today’s society to see a young man work that hard it’s very humbling…he did an excellent job.”
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