W’burg adding Pops in the Park, BBQ cookoff

The City of Williamsburg is gearing up for a busy spring and summer with some new events being added this year.

Pops in the Park will be held on April 23 at River Fog Park, which is the green space located at the corner of Main Street and Third Street.

Main Street Manager Jonathon Wyatt has arranged for the Williamsburg High School Choir and Band to perform in addition to the University of the Cumberlands Band, Mayor Roddy Harrison told the city council during its regular monthly meeting Monday.

The event will conclude with the Paint Creek Band performing.

Another new event this summer will be the inaugural BBQ in the Burg cookoff, which will take place on Saturday, May 21, in conjunction with the first Cumberland River Cruise-In of the season.

There are expected to be three contest categories to enter including pulled pork, ribs and pulled chicken. There will be a $25 fee per entry.

There will be a People’s Choice and a Judge’s Choice winner in each category.

Harrison said that the planning committee for BBQ in the Burg will be having a meeting Friday to finalize all the aspects for the cookoff, which will be released next week.

“We have several events coming up,” Harrison added.

Councilwoman Patty Faulkner inquired about the status of River Fog Park noting that it doesn’t yet look like the designs.

Harrison said that the city still needs to do some drainage work there, and Why Whitley, which is the group that secured grant funding for the project, is still working to get murals for the park and some other things.

Harrison added that he is expecting the River Fog folk music festival to return to downtown this fall. It has been canceled the last couple of years due to the pandemic.

If it doesn’t, Harrison noted that he has always wanted to do some type of Octoberfest downtown.

While several events will be held at River Fog Park this summer, Bill Woods Park will still be used for the summer block parties and movies in the park.

In addition, during Thursday’s meeting, the council:

• Approved the second reading of an ordinance rebating up to $346,875 to Firestone Industrial Products LLC to help cover the cost of its expansion project, which is expected to create 250 additional jobs. The funding would come from the occupational tax fees collected from the additional employees.

• Approved a $68,774.32 lease agreement for a 2022 skid steer. Harrison noted that the skid steer makes city maintenance workers more efficient with some of the things that they are doing, and it can be used for a variety of purposes.

It can be used to clean out a deep well that the city had been paying $1,400 to rent a piece of equipment to do in addition to other work.

• Discussed the Williamsburg Spring Clean-up, which will take place April 4-8 and April 11-15 on the Highland Park side of town, and April 18-22 and April 25-29 on the downtown side. During those time periods, sanitation workers will pick-up one pick-up truck size load of stuff from residents requesting it.

Residents can call the Williamsburg Water Office at 549-6036 when their pick-up truck load is ready to be picked up.