At Mayor Mike Steele’s request, the East Ridge Revitalization Committee is spearheading the first of three Energize East Ridge community meetings in order to, in the city’s words, encourage “a public conversation about energizing East Ridge so that we can create the best possible future for our citizens, our children and our children’s children.”

This meeting will be the first in five years to include both residents and businesses in discussions about the city’s future.

“It’s going to take all of us working together to energize our community,” said Mayor Steele. The meetings will build on work done in the 2002 Dare to Dream project. The goal is to hammer out a list of steps to take East Ridge to a prosperous future.

“It is easy for people to come and tick off a list of problems. What we’re going to ask them to do instead is help us envision solutions and begin discussing what we need to do together to make East Ridge the best city it can possibly be,” said Mayor Steele.

All residents are invited to attend and bring a friend. The first Energize East Ridge meeting is Tues., January 22 at the East Ridge Community Center from 7 until 9 p.m. Visit www.energizeER.com for more information.

The Splash Valley groundbreaking ceremony is Friday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. at the water park’s new site.

City services director Freida Wheeler showed off three Community Enhancement grant checks East Ridge was awarded this month after applying in July 2007:

- $50,000 will go to purchase solar lighting for the track’s dark patches
- $7,500 will buy computers and instruction classes for the senior citizen center
- $7,500 will buy a copy machine, television and preservation materials for the East Ridge History Center

“That $65,000 will go a long way,” said Ms. Wheeler. State Rep. Vince Dean (R-East Ridge) helped find the grant funds. The city hopes to obtain future grant money to install emergency phones at the track as well.

-- East Ridge History Center –-

Brent Lambert, chairman of the East Ridge History Center Committee, presented the state of the History Center at Thursday’s council meeting. He said the committee expects to host the center’s grand opening on Saturday, April 26, the month of East Ridge’s birth.

The museum is about $17,545 away from opening, though that money is available through the East Ridge Revitalization Program. The center also gets $45,000 per year from the city of East Ridge’s general fund, though only one third of that has been spent this fiscal year. Hamilton County has awarded a $25,000 landscaping grant.

East Ridge High School’s Leadership East Ridge Class of 2005 began the History Center, and the Class of 2006 chose an artist to complete a series of murals for the museum depicting historic East Ridge scenes.

The center was first known as East Ridge Archive Museum and received its new name in July 2007. Mr. Lambert said the “History Center” name allows it to host both museum exhibits as well as archives, which are photographs, event documentations and oral histories.

Mr. Lambert said the center has reorganized the archives to make space for exhibits, designed by Brent Hooper of the Chattanooga Regional History Museum. They should be finished in a matter of months, though the archives may take years more to organize completely. He said Beth Tatum, director of the center, has worked tirelessly to catalog the archives.

“Our committee is confident that the East Ridge History Center will be a source of pride within the community for many years to come,” said Mr. Lambert.

-- Ordinances –-

The council passed an ordinance prohibiting city employees placed on unpaid administrative leave by the city manager or his designee from accruing paid leave during that time.

The council passed an ordinance to replace 10 vaguely-worded ordinances addressing adult establishments with one all-encompassing ordinance.

-- Other Business --

The council appointed Garry Gray and Mimi Lowery to the Better Housing Commission.

The council agreed to research techniques to slow traffic on Springvale Road at the request of Paul Fletcher, a resident of that street who said he fears his autistic son will be hit by a speeding car.

“He has no sense of danger,” Mr. Fletcher said of his son. The council agreed to up police patrol in the area, place the mobile speed sign there to discourage speeding, and check with the city insurance carrier about installing speed humps.