Signal Mountain Council Debating Future Of Mountain Center; Vice Mayor Gee Goes Off Council After Marrying And Moving Out Of Town Limits

  • Friday, March 23, 2018
  • Gail Perry

A discussion regarding the Mountain Arts Community Center lease and memorandum of agreement with a non- profit organization that has been formed with a proposed to manage it took place at the Signal Mountain town council meeting Friday afternoon. City Manager Boyd Veal had created a document for the purpose of starting a discussion and to identify how the council would like to move forward.

 

Council Member Robert Spalding agreed with Mayor Chris Howley that council members had not had enough time to adequately read the agreement and were not prepared to make a decision.

Mayor Howley asked to postpone the discussion until the next agenda meeting. Later in the discussion, he asked for the non-profit to make a presentation of its proposal to the council, which has not yet been done.

 

Council member Dan Landrum asked to have a discussion at the Friday meeting, about whether the town would ever consider selling the MACC. Mr. Spalding said a better understanding is needed about the roles of the existing MACC board and the non-profit, and the relationship between them, before discussing a sale of the facility.

 

There is no offer on the table now to buy it, said Council member Amy Speek. She said, "We’re talking about a hypothetical offer." She suggested waiting until there is an offer to deliberate any sale. “The town needs to own it,” persisted Mr. Landrum, saying it is part of the heritage of Signal Mountain. I’m concerned that “the curtain is falling,” and the council is not going to do anything, he said. "I thought that we did pretty good by budgeting $300,000 to start making repairs to the building," said Councilman Spalding.

 

That first phase of work has just received approval from the state so it can move forward, City Manager Veal told the council. That means the back of the building will close, said Councilman Landrum. That is because the $300,000 designated for repairs was not enough to sprinkle that part of the building for fire protection. “I’d love to fund it, but where will the money come from?” asked Councilman Spalding.

 

The community foundation has $27,000 available to contribute, said Councilman Landrum, and the non-profit has raised $6,000 to add to that amount. “That has never been offered for the project,” said the city manager. Mayor Howley said if this group has the money to fund it, a possibility would be to add the back of the building to the sprinkler contract. “I want to make it clear that no one here has consented to a certain number to spend,” said Councilman Landrum, but he added that should not stop it from happening.

 

“It’s important to educate ourselves to make the right decision,” said the mayor before ending the topic.

 

The town scheduled three public meetings about the proposal from Tennessee American Water and Walden’s Ridge Utility, concerning the sale or management of Signal Mountain’s water system. The first was held on Thursday night. A second meeting will be held next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the municipal gym. A third meeting has been rescheduled from the original date because it is during spring break. The new date for the third public hearing is Tuesday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.

 

The council has agreed to commission a play for the centennial celebration. The council will provide the writer $600 up front so he/she can begin researching. A stipulation is that the play must be approved by the centennial committee before it is in production. The estimate of the cost, on the high end, is $8,000, but may be less with volunteer actors. The plan is to have three performances.

 

Authorization was given to apply for a Tennessee Highway Safety Office grant in the amount of $15,000. City Manager Veal said this 100 percent grant, needing no match from the town, is applied for annually. It will be used for replacement of some radar units and overtime for police officers.

 

A donation of $30,000 from the baseball league was made to the town for replacing batting cages that were destroyed adjacent to Rutledge Field. The town is expanding the original project, doubling it. The low bid for site work and the concrete pad is $26,400. The cages are expected to be about the same amount. A motion to accept the low bid for the pads was approved.

 

Mr. Veal gave an update to the new fire station that is now under construction. He said that the building is well ahead of schedule. October is the contract date, but it may be finished in September. During the work, he said cost reductions have been identified, so in addition to it being ahead of schedule, it is also under budget.

 

Mayor Howley told the council about an opportunity to purchase equipment for the gym that will be used by the fire and police departments that has been designed into the fire station. A family in Walden will sell the equipment for $10,000, saving the town $15,000, he said. Equipment has not been budgeted yet, but the cost could come from the police and fire budget, said City Manager Veal.

 

The mayor said in the wake of recent school shootings, that safety is a major concern.  He has been in contact with state Senator Bo Watson, state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood and Senator Bob Corker in an attempt to find a solution to safety issues concerning the entrance to Signal Mountain Middle High School. Because there is only one way to access the school, any blockage of the road leading to it could cause problems in an emergency situation. He is hoping to get seed money for either widening Sam Powell Drive or replacing a separate entrance to the school that was used during construction. By offering seed money, he hopes to get cooperation from Hamilton County and the Hamilton County Department of Education.

 

In the absence of Vice Mayor Dick Gee, the city manager announced that the vice mayor will be leaving the council because he is getting married June 16, and will be moving out of the town limits. There will be a 60-day transition period to consider how to approach the vacancy. He said that the council will be required to appoint someone as a replacement for the length of Mr. Gee’s term. On the record, congratulations to Dick, said Mayor Howley.

 

Both town meetings in June have tentatively been rescheduled. The regular council meeting will be held June 18 at 6:30 p.m. and the agenda work session will be June 29.

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