Lookout Mountain, Ga., is actively working on plans for the future growth and development of the city. At the May council meeting, Chairman of the Comprehensive Plan Committee Jimmy Campbell said that Phil Walker, who worked on a plan in 2009, has been hired as a consultant to guide the process and establish the scope of the work. The first meeting with Mr. Walker will be Tuesday. The public is welcome.
Jan Weaver, who is a member of the Comprehensive Planning Committee, has been formally approved as the newest member of the Planning Commission.
She will also assist in helping the city with grant writing. The Planning Commission last met on Tuesday when an ordinance to regulate keeping chickens was discussed.
Only one week remains in this school year, and members of the PTO are already planning for next year. Council member Caroline Williams, the council’s liaison with Fairyland School, said that the PTO is working with Walker County to determine allotments per student for 2018-2019. The number of students is growing, she said, and around 300 are expected. The PTO is trying to manage the growth. She said it looks like there will be three classes in each grade except fifth. With the QBE formula, the state determines how much is designated to educate each child, but she said that number is in 1984 dollars, so the PTO supplements classes, programs, teachers and other personnel at the school.
Activity in the police department in April shows that police patrolled 3,002 miles, made 27 traffic stops, issued 15 citations and gave 22 warnings. There were seven medical calls during the month, 10 assist citizen calls and three civil matters were handled. Response was made to 14 burglar alarms, there was one theft and six arrests were made. During the month there were four motor vehicle accidents, 11 suspicious vehicles investigated and police assisted six motorists. Assistance was also given to the Lookout Mountain, Tn. police department on six occurrences. Mayor David Bennett said the police departments in the two towns have an amazing partnership. The fire department answered one call in April.
Wes Hasden, chairman of the sewer board, reported that it operated in the black this past year and is expected to do the same next year. Repairs that are needed to a pump station have been budgeted on the high side in order to be prepared. The work needed is estimated to be between $40,000 and $60,000. Included in that estimate is putting in a by-pass that could be used if the pump station does ever go out, or for routine maintenance on a regular basis - not just for emergencies. He also told the council that for the first time this year there are no sewer bills that meet the criteria for getting service cut off. He said there should be a way to hold renters responsible for paying their sewer bills rather than passing it on to landlords who are unaware they are delinquent until a tenant moves.
The city also will try and find a solution to storm water runoff that ends up in some residents' yards, bringing debris along with it and ruining landscaping. Issues that will be looked at include the size of pipes, speed bumps in the roads that direct water into yards or neighbors that pile brush and yard debris on the high side of drains.
Mayor Bennett said that work is beginning on the city’s second annual Fourth of July parade that was so successful last year.
There should be more information ready to present about the Town Center development at the next council meeting, he said.
The Bee City Pollinator Festival will take place at Lookout Mountain School on May 20, with both the Georgia and Tennessee towns participating.
During 2018 a program was started to provide opportunities for the town and Covenant College to interact and connect. Four interns from Covenant assisted in selling car decals and collecting information such as email addresses. Solutions for other needs that the students recognized have been recommended, such as a computer program that could correspond and manage mass email, texts or surveys from the city.