The city of East Ridge has plans to expand Camp Jordan Park by acquiring 20 acres of adjacent land. The 7-8 acres where the stadium now sits was bought over 25 years ago using grant money. A requirement of that grant is that the land would forever be available to the public for outdoor recreational purposes.
The proposed plan is to trade that property and its dedicated use for newly acquired land at 517 Frawley Road which would then be “converted” to perpetual public use for outdoor activities in place of the stadium property. The conversion must be approved by the National Park Service and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).
This trade will allow the Chattanooga Red Wolves, a private organization, to use the facilities and make improvements to them.
The current owner, Bharati V. Desai, is asking $120,000 for the 20 acres, a lot of it being wetlands. Once acquired, East Ridge plans to use the 20 acres for outdoor recreational purposes including fishing, kayaking, canoeing, running trails, frisbee golf and paddle boarding. The purchase price would qualify as a reimbursement expense of the Border Region District. The sale is contingent upon approval from TDEC and the NPS. The plan will replace 7-8 acres in the park with 20.
The East Ridge Futbol Club annually hosts the Scenic City Soccer Cup which draws around 200 teams from across the Southeast. Because of the huge economic impact for East Ridge and the surrounding areas, the council voted to waive the fee for use of the soccer fields for the tournament, which will take place April 24-26 this year.
A request from Mat Wood representing Exit Two III was given approval. He has asked the council to permit the same uses in the C-1 Tourism Commercial District and C-2 General Commercial District on Camp Jordan Parkway, as was granted earlier for the Top Golf development. The indoor/outdoor activities that are included are multi-purpose recreational, outdoor theater, outdoor entertainment, golf driving range or mini-golf and outdoor seating/dining areas.
The council voted to enter into an agreement with ASA Engineering for improvements to Camp Jordan Park. There will be four additional soccer fields built and additional parking spaces between the amphitheater and the soccer fields and stormwater drainage will be improved. The engineering services were approved in an amount not to exceed $50,000.
The city’s yearly budget includes $500 for each East Ridge school. East Ridge Middle School has expressed a need for financial assistance with the Healthy Initiative Program to help with social/emotional/physical needs of students. The council gave approval to issue a check for $500 to the school.
The municipal code pertaining to temporary special event beer permits on city property was amended. After reviewing the existing code, Assistant City Manager Kenny Custer said it was determined that some conditions in the code were contradictory so discrepancies were corrected and the various codes were made consistent. The council voted to approve the amended municipal code relating to beer permits in an attempt to prevent having to make more revisions in the future.
A previous owner of property at 5330 Ringgold Road had the zoning changed from C-2 General Commercial District to M-3 so a climate-controlled storage facility could be built. The new owner, Southern Honda Power Sports, asked for the zoning to revert back to the original C-2 designation. The zoning change was authorized by the council.
Since 2010 East Ridge has had a Personnel Board which serves as an advisory panel relative to employment matters. Each council member appoints one person at the end of February annually. The appointments for 2020 were announced at the Thursday night council meeting. The new board members are Pamela Beard, Charles McCullough, Doris Rodgers, Robert Jones and Jane Sharp.
Lee Ramey was appointed to fill the unexpired term for Kelly Still to the Industrial Development Board, which will run through June 11, 2022.