At the beginning of February, new developments emerged concerning the new cell phone tower that has been in the works for Lookout Mountain, Tn. for the past several years. Town Consultant Dwight Montague received a letter from Alan Crafton requesting changes to the contract his company, Tower Holdings, made with the town last September.
The letter asked for Tower Holding’s rent on the leased space to be reduced significantly.
Two months’ rent has already been paid at the contracted price of $2,550 monthly. This amount is considered to be the base rate and includes space for one carrier’s antenna. Mr. Crafton is asking to reduce that amount to $1,550. He is also requesting that the co-location rent for the antenna of three additional carriers be reduced from the agreed upon price of $1,150 each, down to $250. Another condition he would like to change is to delay the rent commencement date until either a tenant is secured or Jan. 1, 2018, whichever comes first. He also asked to remove the paragraph which gave the town an option to cancel it if the tower was not constructed by the end of 2016.
If he is unable to obtain the relief that is being requested, Tower Holdings may need to consider providing 30 days written notice to the town as permitted in the contract. Mr. Crafton said he asked for these concessions because he has been unsuccessful in obtaining any leases from the primary cell phone carriers.
Jim Murphy, the town’s legal consultant regarding the tower, said options are to accept the requests, reject them or re-negotiate.
Resident Mark Caldwell addressed the commissioners saying that the town negotiated in good faith to secure this contractor to build the tower and that Tower Holdings has had a full year to obtain providers to use it. He said it is now possible to communicate through a Wi-Fi system that makes a micro cell no longer necessary. “The point is,” he said, “emerging technology will negate the need for cell towers.” He said that he strongly objected to negotiating down since the decisions made were done through many public meetings as well as a bid process. It is also not fair to the competitors to negotiate it backwards, he said.
The commissioners agreed and with a unanimous vote rejected the request to modify the contract.
There will be a new voting location for the presidential preference primary and the county primary on March 1. The polling location is being moved to Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church’s Jan Harris Youth Building at 301 North Watauga Lane.
The second reading of an ordinance to update the town’s purchasing policy passed unanimously. Advertising will be required for any purchase over $25,000. At least three written bids must be obtained for any purchase over $10,000. Bids are not required but are allowed for purchases under $10,000. Prior to passage of this new policy, the town’s spending limit was $3,000 before obtaining bids.
The last payment has been made for a new Ford Explorer 4x4 and the added equipment that will be used by the police department, Mr. Montague said in the financial report. He also reported that due to the recent ice and snow, $7,000 in overtime pay has been incurred.
Commissioner of Public Works Walker Jones said that the public works department is very seasonable. There is consistency in some areas such as brush removal, but the recent ice and snow have required some employees of the department to work overtime and to work during the nights. He also said they have been staying an extra hour each day to take advantage of the chipper that has been rented for clearing debris from the ice storm. The extreme amount of rain has also been causing problems and the department has been busy keeping drains open. Director of Public Works Corey Evans has been spending nights at the public works building by himself in order to call employees into work if needed and this requires no overtime pay. “He has been watching the town’s money,” said Commissioner Jones. He also wanted to thank people for taking food to these men and said it has been appreciated.
Night out for Lookout will take place on Feb. 26 to benefit the school. Regular ticket prices are $60. but the price during early ticket sales is $50. The deadline for early sales has been extended until Wednesday night. Grandparent tickets are $50 and VIP tickets are available for $100. They include special seating, early access to the silent auction, an extra drink and raffle ticket. This will be an evening of good food and drink, a silent and live auction and will provide the chance to see your friends, said Commissioner of Schools, Don Stinnett.
In previous summers, the Hamilton County School system has provided money to keep the school’s library open for 100 hours during the summer. The school board decided against providing the funding for 2016. The town will help look for money from different sources, said the commissioner, adding that we are open to contributions.
Camp Invention headed by teacher Bryan Mann is scheduled for July 19-22.
The fire and police department statistics for January 2016 were presented by Jim Bentley, commissioner of fire and police. During the month, police had a total of 75 calls. They patrolled 4,565 miles, checked 15 burglar alarms that were all false, responded to nine assist citizen calls and 13 calls to 911. There were five auto accidents, one with minor injuries and 18 traffic stops. The police were called to one domestic assault, one disorder and made one arrest. There was one theft report involving a missing checkbook. Five medical calls were answered in January, and response was made to seven fire alarms. Five were false, one a car fire and one grill fire. Two new pole-mounted, movable speed signs have been ordered to deter speeding, said the commissioner.
Commissioner of Parks and Playgrounds Brooke Pippenger said the basketball season is now going on and is doing great. Baseball registration is taking place on the town’s website and practice should begin at the end of March. The first baseball games are scheduled for the third week of April and will begin with the annual baseball parade.
Mayor Carol Mutter announced the appointment and swearing-in of Flossie Weill as town judge that took place on Jan. 26. She is filling the unexpired eight-year term of Judge Johnny Higgason who died Jan. 21. Judge Weill will serve in the position until the next election. The mayor said that any attorney who is a resident of Lookout Mountain, Tn. who wishes to apply for the position should apply to the Hamilton County Election Commission by the deadline of April 7. The same applies to those wanting to run for town commissioner.
The mayor also said that Yessicks gift shop has moved to the space next door to its previous location. The old space is being renovated for a new business. Commissioner Stinnett added that the re-opening of Café on the Corner has energized the business area as well as giving a boost to Talus.