The Monday meeting of the Signal Mountain Council was the last for council members Bill Lusk and Cheryl Graham. At the meeting on Nov. 23, three new council members will be sworn in, assuming the election is certified by then. Andrew Gardner, Charles Poss and Vicki Anderson will be joining Council member Susannah Murdock and current mayor Dan Landrum. The five-member board will elect a new mayor and vice mayor at that meeting, and Planning Committee appointments will be made.
Town Manager Boyd Veal will continue to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases and poll everyone that would be involved in a face to face meeting, to help determine if the Nov.
23 meeting should be held in person at the MACC. If it is in-person, remote participation would still be available to whomever feels more comfortable with that method.
The council passed a resolution to recognize employees of the town who are veterans of the U.S. armed forces. The resolution "honors these individuals who have supported and defended the principles upon which our country was founded, preserved our freedoms and who have saved millions around the world from tyranny." It specifically recognizes and give thanks to Jane Phipps and Mike Williams of the Police Department, Claude Clemons, Lewis Thatcher and Stacey Seals of the Fire Department, and Mickey Boles and Thomas R. Post of the Public Works Department.
The city manager said that Signal Mountain has passed a resolution like this for quite a few years in the past, but this year a provision was added to the personnel policy that makes Veteran’s Day a paid holiday for these employees. He said that the other town employees will serve the veterans by picking up any slack that day.
Now that installation of the new water meters is complete, some billing issues have occurred, primarily caused by the billing software, said the town manager. There have been some noticeably high water bills after the new meters were installed. Mr. Veal said that the old meters tend to be inaccurate and do not read all the water that goes through them, so people have seen a difference, he said. People should call if they see a problem so issues can be caught and adjustments can be made. He said the water utility department will work with people who might receive an extreme bill.
During the summer when Signal Point and the parking lot were closed due to the pandemic, the town received many complaints about cars parking along the streets in front of houses filled with people going to Rainbow Lake. Although the lot is now open, complaints continue to come and Mr. Veal said he expects some action will be needed. He said the town will continue trying to control parking without putting up a lot of signs. Vehicles that block fire hydrants can and will be towed.
City Manager Veal updated the council on work that is being done to improve the city’s website. He said he has met with department heads and discussed with them the functionality of the website since they are aware of what citizens need to do but are unable to, from the current website.
A proposal has been received but not yet been reviewed, for the control of stormwater runoff at the Signal Mountain Playhouse. Additional issues are now being considered which are expected to be a result of the new addition to the library.
Sam Guin, manager for special projects and compliance, told the council that Signal Mountain now has a Twitter page. Links to it can be found on the town’s website or from the YouTube Page.