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.
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
Close
Burnside City Clerk Crissa Morris (left) and Mayor Robert Lawson (right) listen during Monday s May meeting of the Burnside City Council.
Christopher Harris
By Christopher Harris
Commonwealth Journal May 5, 2021
5 hrs ago
Burnside City Clerk Crissa Morris (left) and Mayor Robert Lawson (right) listen during Monday s May meeting of the Burnside City Council. Christopher Harris
Monday s meeting of the Burnside City Council was about the budget of the present â and the possibilities of even bigger budgets in the future.
The most significant action taken at the May meeting was the passage of Ordinance no. 2021-001, stating the city s intent to annex a corridor of U.S. 27 going south, about three miles past the Burnside border shortly past Keno Road.
By Christopher Harris
Commonwealth Journal Apr 10, 2021
6 hrs ago
Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson had much to share with the city council on Monday nightâs meeting agenda â including an unfortunate update on a situation surrounding a deed that the city thought it owned but doesnât. Christopher Harris I CJ
âWeâre finding out that deeds in this town are off.â
And Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson isnât sure who in the long-gone past is to blame for that, but âIâd like to dig them up.â
The tongue-in-cheek quip during Mondayâs meeting of the Burnside City Council was born out of frustration given the situation the city finds itself in over plans to build a multi-use community center that would also contain offices and facilities for the Burnside Little League.Â