The town of Signal Mountain has $358,637 remaining from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds it received and there must be a plan in place by the end of the year for how the money will be used. At the town council’s work session this week, plans were discussed for how that money should be allocated.
The amount of $52,700 has already been approved as payment for an air compressor for the fire department. Paving Mississippi Avenue, that is just shy of being one mile long, is also being considered for $90,000 of the ARPA money. That is a heavily traveled road because it leads to Alexian Village and into Old Towne. A stormwater project is expected in that area within the next five years, and the council is hesitant to pave a road that will need to be cut into. Mayor Charles Poss offered two options - paving the part of the road that would not be torn up or arrange for the stormwater project to be done before paving begins.
Police radios were ordered in 2022 for the fire department, but the invoice did not get closed out and it has not yet been paid, said Interim City Manager Matt Justice. Since this is a qualifying item for using the money, there was a consensus of the board to use $20,946 of it to pay for the three portable digital radios.
Tasers that the police department is using now are five years old and parts, maintenance and technical support are no longer available. Mr. Justice has recommended replacing the 13 tasers for the estimated amount of $63,367. The new models have benefits over the old by giving 10 opportunities to strike the target versus two, which the old ones give. The new tasers would require a new five-year contract and that would cover replacing the tasers or parts if needed.
Fire Chief Larry Sloan has been thinking outside the box to find a creative way to pay for capital projects for the Fire Department. He has proposed leasing apparatus and equipment rather than buying it. Annual contributions to the vehicle replacement fund would still be made, and the lease payments would come from it. The pressing need now is to replace one of the fire engines that would cost $980,000 today, and was the impetus of this plan, said City Manager Justice. The cost of leasing the fire truck would be offset by interest from the amount of money staying in the fund balance.
Public Works Director Wesley Stokes has proposed a billing plan for public works and would give residents a 30 notice before it begins. Residents would be billed on a quarterly basis to prevent the shock of receiving it just once a year, he said. The frequency that non-residential users would be billed is undecided, but most likely will be quarterly or twice a year. He hopes to send the notices by email, which would save $500 in paper and postage each year.
A plan for building sidewalks in Old Towne that began about 15 years ago is still undecided. A grant from TDOT was approved but the grant has many requirements from the town, with additional costs, including appraisals for rights of way and a number of consultants and engineering studies. The town could go forward on their own, but that would require repaying the state $113,000 in addition to whatever it will cost to build the sidewalks. And in the time that has passed, the original cost for the work has increased and continues to go up. The new estimated construction cost is $2.2 million, which Mr. Stokes said is much higher than the original estimate.
The council will be considering options such as downsizing the projects to do only areas that are in the most dire need or removing some of the old sidewalks and replacing them with grass. Mayor Poss said some areas in Old Towne need sidewalks and some do not.
There is an immediate need, said Vice Mayor Elizabeth Baker, which is to get certain sidewalks into safe usable condition that will be safe of walkers who often come to this area.
The town is running a deficit in every Parks and Recreation category, said Council Member Susannah Murdock after hearing a recreation fee study presentation from Honna Rogers, consultant with MTAS. The council is in the position of balancing what percent of the recreation services to provide and what can be paid for with help from the users. Part of the quality of life for living in the town is from the recreational opportunities, she said. The study looked at Parks and Recreation from a financial standpoint, said Ms. Rogers.
She said if an activity benefits fewer people or groups, the more they should help bear the cost. Activities that benefit the most people, she said, the town should bear more of the burden.
The use of and budget for the swimming pool has had enormous growth from two years ago, with the budget increasing to $53,000 this year. Suggestions for reducing costs were to analyze the way it is staffed and consider an increase in the fee to use it. She said possibly a family pass could include two adults and two children with a $25 charge for a number above that.
And concessions is really a food service, not a recreational expense, yet it has become a large cost for the town to operate it. This is an example of spending a lot of money to offer services to just a few people, she said. She suggested letting a group other than the Green Giants run it, or perhaps just having vending machines available.
Another idea is increasing the fees charged to leagues to cover the higher costs the city has experienced since the fees were established years earlier. The town has not been very successful in collecting fees for use of the ball fields, said Ms. Rogers. She suggested keeping good records of who is using them and how much that they are used by different leagues. Currently, the town does all the maintenance for the leagues, such as taking care of the fields and removing trash. The leagues just do the organization part. In the past, parents were in charge of those duties.
One way that the gym has been losing money is due to staffing. For example, when someone is not able to be there when it is open, somebody else is sent to staff it. And that person may be paid twice the amount of the person who has been hired for the job. And sometimes both show up at the same time. A closer watch is needed, it was stated.
Tennis and pickleball courts are a nice service, she said, but the only way that the town will ever make money there is if the courts are used by leagues. If the tennis courts or any other sports facility is used by leagues which charge participants, the town should be paid for their use, the council was told.
The recommendation is also to evaluate setting fees for non-residents. Determining the increasing costs for residents to use the facilities should be considered when updating costs for non-residents, said Ms. Rogers.