City Manager Scott Miller, Mayor Brent Lambert and City Attorney Mark Litchford
The East Ridge City Council on Thursday night approved CARTA service for those 65 or older and the disabled. If the final contract is approved by the council on Aug.10, the service would go into effect on Sept. 1.
Scott Miller, city manager, said the city had been working on a plan with SETHRA, but got a late better offer from CARTA.
East Ridge will pay $47,000 for the service that will be "on demand" and take riders to specific locations or to the CARTA stop at Eastgate that connects to downtown as well as Hamilton Place Mall.
Riders would pay $2.50 per trip ($5 round trip).
Mr. Miller said SETHRA's trips were limited to medical needs.
East Ridge also could wind up with full CARTA service starting July 1, 2018. The city will apply for a grant that would pay up to 80 percent of the cost over a three-year period. That would leave East Ridge paying $52,000 per year for full transit service.
"I think it's a big bang for the bucks," Mr. Miller said.
East Ridge officials have been working for four years to obtain CARTA service.
East Ridge plans to hire a planner/architect to do a master plan of the McBrien School site near City Hall.
Mr. Miller said one idea would be to move the fire and police departments into the former school and sell the fire and police site nearby on Ringgold Road, putting that location back on the tax rolls.
He said the animal control and traffic and streets departments might move to the location from flood-prone Yale Street.
A pavilion and basketball court might be built with an area for a farmers market, special events and possibly an ice skating rink in the winter.
Mr. Miller said the study would allow the city to finally carry out a "town center" layout of the former school and the current City Hall property.
The Frontier Park next door to McBrien will be reworked. The council approved seeking funding for that project. The wooden play units would be removed and replaced by plastic and metal equipment from locally-based Playcore. It would also include a Splash Pad.
Stump Martin, recreation director, said an East Ridge High graduate is designing the re-worked park, which will be called Frontier Park 2.0. A citizens committee will also help plan the park.
East Ridge also is looking at sprucing up West Ringgold Road, saying it needs improvements such as landscaping and sidewalks.
Mr. Miller said, "We need to bring it back as a viable part of our community."
He said the right of way is narrow in that section toward the tunnel and the project would be expensive - from $4 million to $6 million. He said the funds would come from tax proceeds from the Border Region District that includes the Bass Pro development at Exit 1 of i-75.
The city is also dipping into that fund for the escalating costs of constructing a new interchange at Exit 1. The new design will take vehicles directly into Camp Jordan and the Bass Pro site. That cost has risen to around $6.3 million.
Mr. Miller said the Border Region tax receipts could support total projects in the $14 million to $16 million range. He said that amount may go up significantly as the site at the park's entrance is further developed.
The council also approved a new budget on second and final reading that leaves the tax rate at the lowered Certified Rate of $1.3381 per $100 of assessed valuation. Mr. Miller said city finances are in good shape, including a $5.4 million reserve.
The prior tax rate was $1.42 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Patricia Cassidy, city court clerk, said based on her experience in the "24/7" job that the pay should be higher. She is recommending that it go from the current $54,000 to $65,000.
But it would not take effect until after the next election.
Mr. Miller said the city brought down insurance costs by switching from BlueCross to Cigna. BlueCross had called for a 15 percent rate increase. Cigna held it to eight percent. That saved the city $145,893.