The East Ridge City Council is looking into regulations to curb the use of ATVs within the city limits.
At the last meeting of the council, about a dozen residents living on and around John Ross Road came to ask the city to stop the noise and dust caused by an ATV track that had sprung up in their neighborhood last summer. The track was built on a two-acre lot in a neighborhood zoned for single-family residences.
At the council meeting Thursday night, the owner of the track came to tell his side of the story.
He said the neighbors make it out like he rides the majority of every day and they claim he rents it out. “It’s a lie,” he told the council. He said there are just two ATVs that are ridden by himself, his two grandsons, his girlfriend and her son. He said they have used the track no more than five times since the first of the year.
After the last meeting, City Attorney Mark Litchford said he researched how other municipalities have controlled the use of these vehicles with options to regulate them through noise ordinances and regulations on unreasonable amounts of dust. He said the ordinances can designate times that they are allowed, or prohibit them entirely from R-1 zones. Whichever way the council decides to restrict them, it must be measurable so it will not be subjective and so it is enforceable, he said.
“I don’t think they should be allowed in R-1 neighborhoods,” said Councilman Larry Sewell. “You can’t enjoy your own back yard. None of us would want that next door to us.”
Not wanting to restrict children from riding casually and for short times, Mayor Brent Lambert said the city needed to find a balance and something that everybody can live with. Councilman Jacky Cagle suggested designating a period of time and having the police keep a log of the complaints and the times to see how frequently it happens. At the next meeting, a proposal will also be prepared for the council to consider about the hours and duration for riding.
The low bid of $725,475 from Yerbey Concrete Construction was chosen to do streetscaping along Camp Jordan Parkway leading to the Bass Pro Shop retail complex. This will include trees and irrigation, sidewalks and lighting along both sides of the parkway. Fencing around a lake will be the responsibility of the developers.
The new Fire Station No. 2 is currently under construction. The price of the new building was determined to be $1,476,310. In the last month, City Manager Scott Miller was given change orders for additions that were inadvertently omitted by the architect. To prevent delays and to keep the building moving forward, the council voted to approve $16,704 in additional expenses that should have been included in the original scope of the work.
The presentation of the fiscal year 2017-2018 budget was given to the council. The proposed budget has no property tax rate or fee increases, and the millage rate remains the same at 1.4227. This budget proposes six additional full time and one part time position. If approved, the city can hire four more police officers, a fire inspector and a grounds maintenance worker for the East Ridge High School grounds that the city recently acquired from the Hamilton County School Board. One part-time park ranger would be added for Camp Jordan.
A new sign ordinance has just been passed by the council and changes are already needed because the wording is too broad, said Mayor Lambert. The council is attempting to reduce sign clutter, yet a new billboard and a digital billboard, both on Ringgold Road, were approved partially because they meet the requirements set out in the sign ordinance. An off-premise monument sign was also given approval for 6642 Ringgold Road.
On second reading, 501 South Germantown Road was changed from R-1 to Office District. An office has always been on this lot so the owner would like for the zoning to match the use.
The council voted to appropriate $2,000 to schools that are in the city. The money will be divided equally between the four schools to spend as they see fit.
East Ridge will again contract with TDOT to mow at the I-75, Exit 1 interchange for the coming year. The city will be paid $8,820 on a reimbursement basis for mowing that area six times.
The low bid of $20,400 was approved for installing metal roofing on nine city buildings.
The application for and acceptance of three grants was authorized on Thursday night. The city will apply for the FEMA Fire Protection and Safety Grant. If received, the fire department would use the $20,000 to buy 500 smoke alarms and 250 CO alarms for a neighborhood saturation program. The city’s match would be $1,000.
The Leary Firefighters Foundation Grant Program, if received, would provide around $25,000 for the fire department without any match from the city. Fire Chief Mike Williams would like to use the grant money for more watercraft in order to be ready for any flooding that might occur.
An area of focus this year for the East Ridge animal services department is owner retention. Maddie’s Fund is a grant that would provide proper training of their pets for residents of East Ridge. An experienced trainer would work on bad behaviors at no cost to residents.
Councilman Brian Williams said he has been attending court sessions in East Ridge since he was elected and is concerned that many tickets and citations are dismissed. He asked the city manager to find out why and if there are reasons for it.
Councilman Sewell announced that there will be a clean-up of East Ridge Middle School this coming Saturday from 8 a.m.-1. Volunteers are needed. They should meet at the front of the school.