By Christopher Harris
Commonwealth Journal Aug 4, 2021
8 hrs ago
Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson puts down his signature to make things official after receiving the much-needed lease from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move ahead with the cityâs long-planned walking trail project along Lake Cumberland. Pictured are individuals key to the process: back row, from left, Burnside Tourism Director Frank Crabtree, Jr., city engineer Neal Shoemaker, and surveyor Anthony Thompson; front row, city clerk Crissa Morris, Lawson, and city attorney Molly Hardy. Christopher Harris I CJ
City council business is rarely an emotional affair, but the August meeting of the Burnside City Council showed the human side of small-town government.
Jul 16, 2021
Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson DONNIE BRAKE
Those with an interest in all things annexation could have been in for an interesting July meeting of the Burnside City Council. Instead, all was quiet on the southern front.
Perhaps the biggest piece of movement Burnside has been considering is annexation south on U.S. 27Â about three miles past the Burnside border down to âjust pastâ Keno Road. The idea is to allow more room for future growth for the âonly town on Lake Cumberland.â Any properties annexed in would do so voluntarily, by the property ownerâs request.
Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson noted that the land has been surveyed and the intent to annex has gone through the process of being posted for 60 days with no objection. Instead of taking a vote on it at the July meeting to make it official, however, the council decided theyâd be ready to vote in August.
Christopher Harris I CJ
Christopher Harris
Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson told me not to be humble about this and to make sure it got in the paper. So I shall abide by his wishes.
Not that being âhumbleâ is anything Iâve ever been accused of by those who know me well.
But Monday night, at the May meeting of the Burnside City Council, Lawson surprised me with a special recognition â and the gift of the ceremonial Key to the City of Burnside.
People assume that as writers, people like me know the power of words. In reality, I think I have come to understand the best is their fragility, their relative impotence. There are times in life when the limitations of ideas expressed through familiar sounds fail to capture what one is feeling in the moment. Usually, thatâs in times of heartbreak â there are so many times on Facebook when a friend has experienced something awful and all I know to say is, âIâm sorry,â knowing full well how powerless