The East Ridge Council voted Thursday night to authorize the mayor to accept grants for a new wide multi-use path along a section of Ringgold Road.
Vice Mayor Marc Gravitt said that the city’s grant writers have done an excellent job in procuring state money for East Ridge. He said that so far this year, the city has received $1.3 million in grants.
One that has been awarded to East Ridge is a TDOT Multimodal Access Grant in the amount of $949,833 from the state, which must be matched by $47,491 from East Ridge. Thursday night the council voted to authorize the mayor to execute a contract with Southeast Tennessee Development District, which will provide professional grant administration services for this grant. This money will be used for installation of a half mile, 10-foot wide multi-use path on the north side of Ringgold Road, and a five-foot sidewalk on the south side, along with median improvements.
The council voted in favor of the application and acceptance of the Transportation Alternatives grant from TDOT. To receive this, the city will put in $130,000 in order to receive the $520,000 grant match for a total of $650,000. The city’s share will be taken from the State Street Aid fund and will be used for phase two of a multi-purpose path along Ringgold Road.
The city will put in $130,000 in order to receive the $520,000 grant match for a total of $650,000. The city’s share will be taken from the State Street Aid fund and will be used for phase two of a multi-purpose path along Ringgold Road.
The council also voted to approve the annual bids for street department materials for fiscal year 2015-2016. This includes crushed stone, concrete block, sand and mortar, drainage pipes and asphalt. The bid for a road marking machine (painting machine) for the city’s traffic control department was also approved. Interim City Manager Mike Williams said that the best bid came in $18,000 lower than what was budgeted for it.
Officials with the new Walmart Neighborhood Market that is being built on Ringgold Road overlooked a clause in the city’s beer ordinances that specifies a 250-foot separation between businesses that sell beer and any residence. The new store is closer than that to one home, but because of a wooden fence that the business has constructed, a person cannot walk straight to the store. The shortest pedestrian route from the house to the store is 650 feet, civil engineer Ben Berry told the council.
Councilman Gravitt said that because of the economic impact from this grocery store, the sales tax the city will receive and the fact that nobody from this project has asked the city for money, he was in favor of granting a variance that will allow the sale of beer. The other council members agreed and voted for the variance.
Because of the layout of the city, it was decided that the council needs to look at the current ordinance. It was recognized that it is difficult to separate residential properties along the commercial corridor of Ringgold Road. This same problem has the potential of reoccurring many times with the opening of new businesses and restaurants.
Mayor Lambert told the council that in light of all the activity in and around Camp Jordan, he would like to see a master plan developed for the park. He has asked Stump Martin, director of parks and recreation, to be in charge of developing an advisory panel. He said this board could establish things “to shoot for,” but that the city would not be obligated to act on them. This proposal will be discussed in more detail at the next council meeting.
The interim city manager gave the council an update on the new fire hall. He said the lots have been cleared, a privacy fence has been taken down and he is ready to search for a qualified architect to evaluate, among other things, the site and how the building will be positioned on the lot. The architect will also help determine if the property can accommodate a three-bay building or advise if it should be rebuilt with just two bays like the one it is replacing. Councilman Jacky Cagle questioned if it would be an option to rezone the property in order to be able to build from property line to property line. Chief Williams also is planning to have building materials salvaged from the old building used in the new construction to keep costs down.
The developers of Jordan Crossing, the new retail development in East Ridge, paid $100,000 for a study and engineering of a new road that will be able to handle the traffic that is expected coming into the new shopping center anchored by Bass Pro Shops. They, however, will not pay for the construction of the road and freeway access improvements, which is estimated to be $3 million.
The city agreed to pay $1 million as did the state of Tennessee. Hamilton County is expected to pick up the last third.
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East Ridge will partially pay its share of the roadwork by using $500,000 out of the State Street Aid fund. That will leave $741,000 in the fund for other road projects.
Larry Clark, representing the Tennessee River Rescue, came to the meeting Thursday to ask for support from the city. The river clean-up will be held this year on Oct. 3, which is the first Saturday in October, from 9 a.m.-noon. He said in the past the city has provided dumpsters, disposal of the trash collected, and safety management from the fire and police departments. Mayor Lambert said the city would be supportive again this year and that the clean-up effort was appreciated.
Mr. Clark told the council that last year at the event, 60 volunteers worked to pull 70 tires from Spring Creek, and that 1,700 pounds of bagged trash was collected from the creek banks. This is the eleventh year for the river clean-up, he said, and statistics show that during those years, volunteers have removed 343 tires, 50 shopping carts and 20,000 pounds of trash in the area of Spring Creek and Ringgold Road to the city’s garage.