The Lookout Mountain, Tn., Police Department will be enforcing laws that have been treated with leniency in the past. In order to slow down cars, the police have upped the usage of radar, which led to 29 cars being stopped for speeding during the past month.
There will also be a crack-down on the use of golf carts and SLVs (slow-moving vehicles) on the roads. Chief Randy Bowden said that, although the two vehicles look alike, they are not.
Golf carts are not legal on the town’s streets, but SLVs are. The police will be checking to make sure that drivers of these vehicles are following all the guidelines. They must meet the same standards as automobiles, including being registered with the town, be titled, and have tags, seat belts, lights and a yearly mountain sticker. They also must be operated by a driver licensed in the state of Tennessee. Registration forms are available from Chief Bowden.
The commission gave Commissioner Jim Bentley permission to replace the obsolete parking meters around Point Park and the Incline with parking kiosks that will accept credit and debit cards. It has been determined that three kiosks are needed, which will cost $35,000-$36,000. There will also be related monthly expenses and credit card fees. The parking rates and fines will also be increased. With the amount expected to be collected, the new kiosks should pay for themselves in four months, said Town Consultant Dwight Montague. The old digital meters will be left along Lyerly Street.
Penalty fines for illegal parking are also being raised. These citations will be $40 if paid in 10 days, but will increase to $80 after that deadline. Overtime parking at metered parking spaces will be increased to $10.
Commissioner Bentley said there have been a number of complaints about bicycles. He gave a reminder that bikes must observe the same laws as automobiles.
Statistics from the fire and police departments for March 2017 showed the police had 86 calls, patrolled 3,054 miles, assisted eight citizens, answered 18 calls to 911, made 29 traffic stops and were called to two auto accidents. They answered 16 burglar alarms, all false, and there were no thefts or burglaries. However, there were intruders reported at three homes, where items were moved around but nothing taken. With a lot of construction taking place on the mountain, town residents are reminded to lock doors while not at home and to be vigilant of activity in their neighborhood. The fire department responded to three alarms that were all false during March and eight medical calls in Tennessee and one in Georgia.
Commissioner of Parks and Playgrounds Brooke Pippenger reported that despite a lot of work that has been done to fix plumbing problems at the Commons, the problem persists with the bathrooms. This week, the WWTA is scheduled to replace the sewer pipe leading away from the Navarre Pavilion.
Baseball season opens this coming Saturday with a parade from Fairyland School to the Commons. Teams will meet at 8:30 a.m. and leave the parking lot at 8:45. They are expected to get to the ball fields at 9 when the games will start for the season.
Commissioner Pippenger said that the “Weed Wrangle” held on April 8 focused on Point Park. She said that areas worked on last year remained clear of the invasive plants. She also thanked Jimmy Stewart for being such an advocate for the town. He has already held one seminar for homeowners on treating the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. A second seminar, where he will demonstrate the procedure, is scheduled for April 29. Commissioner Pippenger attended the first meeting and said the treatment process is simple and not expensive. The town also has some printed material available. An alternative is to hire a certified, licensed person to do the work. Treatments must be done whether the trees are currently infested or not or the trees will die, it was stated.
In the financial report for March, Mr. Montague said that expenses in the public works departmentwere far above normal in March due to $24,000 in repairs that were made on the garbage truck. There was also $5,100 spent on the broken water pipe and clogged sewer line at the Commons, with more cost expected.
A budget amendment will be necessary to appropriate money for these unbudgeted expenses, said Mr. Montague. At the next commission meeting the first draft of the fiscal year 2018 budget will be presented.
Every 10 years, MTAS, (Municipal Technical Assistance Service) recommends re-codifying ordinances. They are now working with Town Attorney Brian Smith to re-write the town code book for the cost of $3,500. The revisions should be completed by September.
The commission passed an updated public records policy on final reading Tuesday night. This lays out the terms for obtaining public records. To view a requested item, there will be no charge, but to obtain a copy it must be requested in writing. There will be a cost for multiple copies. Samantha Van Alstyne is the town’s public records request coordinator.
Don Stinnett, commissioner of schools, said that the gym at Lookout Elementary looks "fabulous" after the face lift made possible by contributions from the PTA. Important upcoming dates at the school were reported. The PTA will meet on May 9, school pictures will be made May 16, and on May 17 students will participate in a community walk to Point Park and a picnic. Field Day is May 22 and fifth grade graduation is May 24 at 9 a.m. TCAP testing begins on April 18 for third through fifth grades and will end on May 2. Math benchmarking will be done on May 1-3 for K-2nd grade. The first week of May is teacher appreciation week, and May 15-19 is Spirit Week at the school.
Walker Jones, commissioner of public works, told the commission that some roads on the mountain will be repaved this summer. He said it will be coordinated with the WWTA to make sure there will be no road cuts to replace sewer lines on newly paved roads. The dumpsters are available at the public works department the first Saturday of each month, now on a monthly basis, said Commissioner Jones.
In order to make an addition to a house at 628 West Brow Road, which was originally built too close to the property line, owner Carrington Montague asked the commission for a variance. Because he owns both that house as well as the one next door, Chief Bowden said that having the property line moved north would bring the house into compliance with the setbacks. The commissioners granted the requested variance.
A second and final vote approved the ordinance dealing with short term rentals that was passed at the last commission meeting. The ordinance prohibits these rentals anywhere other than the commercial district.
The next meeting of the Lookout Mountain, Tn., Commission will be Tuesday, May 9, at 5 p.m.