Signal Mountain’s government will wait until the upcoming council meeting on Monday to decide about if or how the town will re-open.
“We will have a council meeting on Monday and I can’t really speak for the council until that meeting,” said Signal Mountain Mayor Dan Landrum. “We’ll make any decisions we need to make then.”
However, even if the council were meeting later today, they would not be able to make a decision. The mayor said the council needs to receive more information before they can come to a decision.
“What we need to do is get the governor’s order, which won’t be released until probably Friday,” said Mayor Landrum. “And we need to review what guidelines the state park is doing. So we have to go over that as a council, and then we’ll decide.”
Tuesday saw Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger announce Hamilton County would follow Governor Bill Lee’s lead and re-open on May 1. Earlier today, several municipalities of the county such as Red Bank and Soddy Daisy announced they too would be opening once again.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke had announced that Chattanooga would remain closed until more information was available. He did not specify the criteria that would need to be met in order to reopen Chattanooga.
Signal Mountain Mayor Dan Landrum posted the following message on his Facebook:
“Tennessee Governor's Bill Lee's latest order excludes Hamilton County, so it directly changes nothing for Signal Mountain, but it is a fair inflection point for discussing our next steps. It seems reasonable to ask if we will follow Chattanooga Mayor Andy Burke's lead.
"The nature of our council-manager form of government dictates a different approach from that of Chattanooga's Mayor. The position of Mayor in Signal Mountain is chosen by the Town Council, rather than a popular vote. The Mayor only speaks for the Town when doing so by a majority resolution of the council, with few exceptions. The Mayor chairs and guides the Council meetings, and that's where these decisions will be made along with input from Town Staff.
"I've been in ongoing discussions with the Town Manager, as well our Town Attorney, to explore and lay the preliminary framework for defining our new normal, including what it means for our recreation areas and what we, as a council, need to decide. I anticipate this topic to be the primary focus of next week's council meeting. There are also Federal and State laws that guide and limit what we can and can't do. We need to have open discussions about solutions for our parks that respect the science of how coronaviruses spread through human contact. Through these discussions, we can hopefully reach well-reasoned answers.
"Think about this as a tornado. There is a precise time when everyone in the path needs to shelter in place, and there's also a time when everyone can help with the cleanup. We're somewhere in the middle of an ongoing storm and need to discuss the next steps. We're no longer at "shut it all down," but neither are we at "open it all up," though both of those viewpoints have supporters.
"Social distancing is going to be with us for a long time as we enter the resurgence and abeyance cycle of COVID-19.
"As to observing social distancing rules, some do, some don't, and therein lies the ongoing dilemma. I'm hopeful that positive messaging, modeling of healthy behavior, and gentle nudging over shaming of our peers can prevail in Signal Mountain, but know the new normal is going to face some defiant pushback and will likely fail if enforced by fiat.”