Sparta contributes $120,000 to airport

City of Sparta has made a contribution to Upper Cumberland Regional Airport that will help fund the growth of the entity.

Sparta officials approved a $120,000 contribution to UCRA during the April 17, 2025, meeting of the board of mayor and aldermen. Sparta will be joined in their contribution by the city of Cookeville, along with both White and Putnam counties.  The purpose of the contributions is to create a fund that will be ready should the airport need money for match grants that would help in the future as the regional airport continues to grow.

Sparta Mayor Jerry Lowery pointed out the airport brings a lot of traffic into the area as people are realizing they can use the smaller airport to avoid traffic in places like Nashville and Knoxville. According to the mayor, people fly into Sparta, rent cars, and then travel around the area to conduct business meetings or visit places like Fall Creek Falls. Additional future growth could mean more people eating, shopping, or staying in the area.

In another move to look ahead, the board approved a decision to allow the city’s fire department to participate in online bidding in search of a new truck for their department. The motion was made, and unanimously approved, to allow the department to bid up to $325,000 on a vehicle. The city already has been putting money aside over the course of the past several years for such a purpose and has $210,000 in an existing fund.

Other items on the agenda, all of which were approved with little discussion, included approving the cleaning and inspection of the wet well screen at the water plant dam at a cost of $15,298. The aldermen also approved $11,810.51 of repairs for the city’s sidearm garbage truck and $19, 785.09 - with funds being split between the water and sewer funds – for the repair of a dump truck.

The board also approved the purchase of two self-contained breathing apparatuses for the fire department. The city received a grant from the state in the amount of $47,000 and the purchase will be well under that amount at $174.12.

The next meeting of Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen will be 5 p.m., May 1, 2025, at Sparta City Hall. All meetings are open to the public as well as livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel.