A 2024 Sinkhole on Spring Street sits closer to repair after an agreement between the city and a local business.
The sinkhole developed last November in front of Cavender’s, interrupting traffic, and causing the break of several water lines. Part of the sinkhole sits on the Cavender’s Store property. City Manager James Mills said those breaks caused a loss of more than one million gallons of water.
“The incident was reported to our insurance provider who indicated through their engineers that the sink hole collapse resulted in the breaking of the waterline,” Mills said. “In the agreement before the Council, the City of Cookeville and the Cavender Family Living Trust will jointly participate in a more permanent repair of the sink hole.”
Mills said the repairs could surpass $50,000 to fix, with work scheduled on a permanent fix in the next two weeks. The process will take about a week.
T-DOT and the city got the street reopened hours after the sinkhole opened, but the road remains jagged and holes have reopened further in recent rains.
Mills said city crews with do the work. The city will seek assistance from T-DOT. Cavender’s will pay no more than $6,000 and grant the city a temporary construction easement.
“The Cavenders also would agree to forever release the city from any liability arising out of it relating to the repair of the sink hole,” Mills said.
