Dan Landrum, left, was sworn in by new Town Judge Gary Humble
The first order of business at the Friday afternoon Signal Mountain council meeting was swearing in the newly elected council members - Bill Lusk Susannah Murdock and Dan Landrum.Mr. Landrum will serve four more years on the council, as will Ms. Murdock and Mr. Lusk will be returning to the council after a two year absence, to fill the position for an additional two years. They join Amy Speek and Robert Spalding who both have two more years remaining on their terms.
The council elects the mayor from among its members.
With Ms. Speek and Ms. Murdock opting out of the selection process, Mr. Landrum was selected to be the mayor of Signal Mountain for the next two years on the second ballot. Ms. Speek was chosen to serve as vice mayor.
Town Attorney Phil Noblett presented an orientation and refresher to the council members about how government operates. Two issues that he told them will be imminent are the regulation of short term rentals and small-cell legislation. State laws are likely to put limits on policies of local governments regarding both issues, he said.
Signal Mountain has had a long-standing arrangement with the Orange Grove Center to operate the town’s recycling facility. Town Manager Boyd Veal told the council that Orange Grove has been working on a month-to-month basis while the town has explored other ways to operate recycling, and has decided that maintaining the same arrangement with Orange Grove and with no changes will be the best option. The town will pay $3,676 monthly with the amount not to exceed $44,112 a year. Councilman Lusk suggested giving Orange Grove clients the opportunity to work there.
An agreement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation was approved, which authorizes the expansion of the Coolidge Monument. Mr. Veal said many people are unaware of it. This vote will permit the town to add a sign to tell the story of Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge. TDOT will allow the use of 856 square feet of the right-of-way to expand the memorial and add a marker to the shoulder in order to call attention to its presence.
Whether to have a water rate study done by the advisory service MTAS will be voted on at the next council meeting on Dec. 10. The first vote on a budget amendment for spending that was not included in the original budget will also take place at that meeting.
The regular town council meeting takes place each month on the second Monday at 6:30 p.m. and the work session is on the fourth Friday of each month at 12:30 a.m. The council discussed the pros and cons of changing the work session to a night meeting. An advantage would be that more of the public could attend allowing the council to vote. Changing the times is flexible and could be done for every other meeting or on a case by case basis.
Traffic issues at the entrance to the Signal Mountain High School will be revisited by the council this year at the request of Council member Speek. Mayor Landrum suggested documenting specific ideas that have been made to alleviate the problems. This issue will be discussed at the Dec. 10 meeting.
Public participation at council meetings is limited to three minutes per person. A new method of timing the speaker was approved that will have a device visible to all, which will change colors as the time limit approaches as opposed to a buzzer to end the comments.
Signal Mountain Council members were sworn in by new Town Judge Gary Humble. From left are Robert Spalding, Vice Mayor Amy Speek, Mayor Dan Landrum, Bill Lusk, Susannah Murdock and Judge Humble.