The City of Knoxville is fundraising to meet the threshold for a match grant received from Wellmark for the Competine Trail Project.

The $75,000 grant requires a corresponding $75,000 be raised and half of those funds must be newly raised from a source outside the city. City Manager Aaron Adams says staff are reaching out to local businesses to invest in the project. Adams says any public support for the trail will be accepted and the next step on the way to construction in the spring is to have engineers look at the proposed stretch to tighten up the cost estimate. The city has sold bonds to raise $700,000 for next phase, which will extend the present paving, near Knoxville Hospital and Clinics, across Highway 14 to the east towards Fifth Street. The long-term plan is to have the trail loop all the way around the city.