Putnam County Commissioners voted Monday night to allow the Rail Trail Authority to increase the size of its board by one member.
Commissioner Grover Bennett serves on the board. Bennett said the increase will allow the Authority to invite a member of the Friends of the Rail Trail group to join the governing board.
“We’ve got some momentum going on the board now where we have a Friends of the Trail, of people in the community that are volunteering to want to help see this grow, expand,” Bennet said. “We want to see one of those people on the board to represent their group that’s going to continue to fund us and help us move forward.”
Bennett said said the Friends group numbers at least 30 members helping grow the rail trail. Last year, they raised between $30-$50,000.
The Algood and Cookeville City Council must also approve the addition, as members of the governing authorities for the Rail Trail group.
The trail currently extends from downtown Cookeville to Algood. Plans are in the works to extend the trail to Cane Creek Park. Plans to build the trail from Algood to Monterey ran into issues earlier this year with the railroad.
