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UETHDA coming to City Hall next week

The Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency will return to City Hall (415 Broad Street) next week to help low-income households apply for assistance in paying their delinquent utility bills.

On Wednesday, June 28th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., UETHDA officials will be in the lobby of city hall and in their RV in the city hall parking lot assisting residents.

UETHDA received federal COVID grant money to help low-income families pay utility bills through the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). Income limits depend on the number of people in your household. For example, a household of 4 can earn as much as $50,902 annually and still qualify for assistance.

If you qualify, the LIHWAP grant will pay $250 to your account, even if you owe as little as $10. Some customers receive as much as $5,000.

You will need to bring a copy of at least one social security card for someone in the home, a copy of a driver’s license or an ID card of the person completing the application, along with proof of income for the last 30 days for everyone in the home over the age of 18.

Since August 2022, the LIHIP program has helped 784 Kingsport customers with bills totaling $361,164. UETHDA has approximately $750,000 in LIHWAP funds remaining for its 8-county service area. The program is scheduled to end September 30, 2023.

If you want to turn in your application or ask for assistance sooner, please go to UETHDA’s office at 301 Louis Street or call them at 423-246-6180.

If you have a delinquent balance and don’t qualify for federal assistance, you can make a payment arrangement with Customer Service, including paying the balance over a 12-month period to prevent your water from being cut off.

You can call Customer Service at 423-343-9860 or visit City Hall on Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Paint Kingsport! – A plein art competition

“Paint Kingsport!” – an annual plein air painting competition – is returning to the Model City this year and will be held June 27 – July 1. The competition allows local artists to display their outdoor painting talents while highlighting some of the key landmarks and memorable scenery from across the city.

The week-long event kicks off with a plein air workshop on June 27 at Warriors’ Path State Park featuring Karen Philpott – an award-winning artist who will also serve as the judge for the competition. The workshop is limited to 20 participants, and you can register by going to www.kingsportartguild.com.

Then, on June 28-30, artists from across the region will compete for prizes during three days of outdoor, on-site painting across the City of Kingsport. Each artist will display a “Paint Kingsport!” flag so everyone is invited to come watch them paint.

Finally, on July 1, there will be two special events – a three-hour quick draw competition held in Glen Bruce Park from 9 a.m. to noon, and then a gala reception and wet paint sale later that evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Renaissance Center Gallery (2nd floor, 1200 E. Center Street).

All paintings from the competition will be on sale from July 2 to August 21.

The cost for the Quick Draw event is $15; the Plein Art competition is $50, and the workshop is $125. For more information or to register for any of these events, please visit www.kingsportartguild.com.

“Paint Kingsport!” is sponsored by the Kingsport Art Guild, Jerry’s Artarama of Knoxville and Franken Framers of Johnson City.

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Kingsport announces options on blue lid recycling carts

The City of Kingsport is now collecting blue lid recycling carts from residents. Residents have two options if they currently have a blue lid recycling cart:

1. Request the cart be picked up.

  • Submit your request using the ConnectKingsport app. Click on the “Report a Concern” link, then select “Turn in blue lid cart” under the Sanitation tab.
  • Call Streets & Sanitation at 423-229-9451.
  • Visit the Information Desk at City Hall (415 Broad Street) or call 423-229-9400.

2. Keep the cart as a second garbage cart for an additional $8 a month. Billing will begin in October.

  • Set up your additional cart using the ConnectKingsport app through the “Keep blue lid cart” selection under the Sanitation tab.
  • Call Streets & Sanitation at 423-229-9451.

Once the request for a pickup has been made be sure your cart is empty. A city employee will soon arrive to collect it. If you choose to keep the cart, a special sticker will be placed on it to signify your choice. With either decision, make sure your cart is visible from the road.

To maintain efficient and cost-effective services, Kingsport shifted its curbside collection of recyclable material to convenience center drop-off locations. Shifting to convenience centers will allow for the highest level of the material collected to be reused due to the ability to control the quality of each stream. When all recyclable material is placed into one cart in a “mixed” state for curbside collection, there is a high chance of contamination that leads to items becoming unsuitable for reuse.

Cardboard, mixed paper, aluminum and tin can be dropped off for recycling at any of the multiple convenience centers located in the city and the county, including:

  • 1921 Brookside Lane
  • 1550 Fort Henry Drive
  • 635 West Industry Drive
  • 101 Lakecrest Drive
  • 4154 Sullivan Gardens Drive
  • 333 Hill Road
  • 1717 Bristol Caverns Highway
  • 5970 State Highway 11E
  • Northeast State Community College
  • 804 Raytheon Road

“We are thankful to have so many convenience center locations where residents can continue their recycling efforts,” Deputy City Manager Ryan McReynolds said. “In addition, the City of Kingsport plans to build a new full-service facility capable of accepting recyclable materials, yard waste, household waste and construction debris.”

For more information about this process, please visit here.

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Survey now active for Lynn Garden corridor study

In case you were unable to attend a recent open house on the future of the Lynn Garden neighborhood, the City of Kingsport is encouraging you to participate in a short, online survey to let your comments and opinions be known.

The Lynn Garden Together Survey can be found here – https://bit.ly/46bJoMb. This brief survey collects feedback on the draft plan presented at an open house at Kennedy Elementary School on June 15.

For the past eight months, a Nashville-based consulting company has worked on a corridor study for Lynn Garden Drive, analyzing the short and long-term potential for the corridor. The company is expected to present its recommendations to the city later this summer.

The survey contains 15 questions about the Lynn Garden corridor, asking you to rate potential property uses as well as your top three priorities for Lynn Garden Drive. Your responses will be reviewed and considered by the consulting company in the drafting of its plan for the city.

For more information about the Lynn Garden Together project, contact Jessica Harmon at 423-229-9381.

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Plan your weekend activities with This is Kingsport

Are you sitting at home wondering what you’re going to do this weekend? Did you miss out on a fun and exciting event and did not even know it was taking place?

Don’t let that happen again. Sign up today for free text alerts and email updates from the This is Kingsport website (www.thisiskingsport.com). This is Kingsport is the place to go to find out what’s happening in the Model City.

If you want to take an art, dance or exercise class, learn more about our local history, know where public art can be found, join a sports team or take in an evening at the theater, then This is Kingsport is the site you need to visit.

This is Kingsport features a calendar of events to help you plan your activities, as well as a quick search buttons on the home page – This Week, This Month, For Kids, Downtown, Sports and Live Music. And a special section has been reserved for blogs by local writers, who write about a variety of topics. Everything from mountain biking on Bays Mountain to some of the best food trucks in our region can be found at This is Kingsport.

If you sign up for text alerts and email updates, you’ll receive a quick message every Thursday laying out the upcoming events you can attend. That way you’ll never be in the dark again of what’s going on in the Model City.

So sign up today by visiting www.thisiskingsport.com.

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Kingsport Senior Center sees strong membership growth in 2022

The Kingsport Senior Center experienced strong membership growth during 2022, adding more than 800 members to its ranks. The facility was fully open last year, and membership numbers grew to match pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, the Kingsport Senior Center had a successful year with an increase in volunteer hours, day trips and its virtual presence.

“We had to struggle and adapt to make it through the pandemic, but now we’re essentially back to normal and all of our facilities are fully open,” said Shirley Buchanan, director of the Kingsport Senior Center. “We’ve seen strong growth in our membership this past year and we’re hoping to grow it even more this year.”

Highlights from the Kingsport Senior Center’s annual report:

  • Membership grew from 3,221 in 2021 to 4,053 in 2022.
  • The average daily attendance was 441.
  • The wellness room logged 122,885 hours of use in 2022.
  • Virtual presence grew to more than 19 million impressions across social media.
  • Members volunteered 7,360 hours to a variety of agencies reflecting a cost savings to them of more than $220,000.
  • The Wii bowlers won another National Championship.
  • The atrium was upgraded and has since hosted dance classes, movie days, holiday events and many other activities.
  • There were 31 days trips in 2022 with 1,106 members participating.
  • The KSC received an $8,000 grant from the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability for the purchase of exercise equipment.

The Kingsport Senior Center is located on the first floor of Kingsport Renaissance Center (1200 E. Center Street) and offers membership for those ages 50 and older. The center offers a variety of programs, classes and activities to its members, including ones for arts and crafts, games, sports, fitness and cooking.

The Kingsport Senior Center has five branch sites – Lynn View Community Center, V.O. Dobbins Center, First Broad Street United Methodist Church, Colonial Heights United Methodist Church and the Kingsport Aquatic Center.

For more information visit seniors.kingsporttn.gov.

Link to: City of Kingsport
City of Kingsport, Tennessee