The Signal Mountain Town Council on Monday discussed the possibility of partially re-opening the town. The meeting was conducted on Zoom and streamed on YouTube.
Town Manager Boyd Veal said there is a way the town’s beloved recycle center can be reopened. He said that last week the council formulated a plan that would turn the center into a drive-through facility.
“One car can come through at a time, where we would have room for staffing vehicles and people to wait in line,” said Mr.
Veal. “One car could come up, unload their stuff, and then the next car could as well. Pretty much immediately getting that figured out, we got a notification there would be a change in restrictions on the state level.”
Mr. Veal then said it was now a question of whether or not the town council wanted to operate in such a restricted manner now that so many other businesses are starting to open up.
Town Mayor Dan Landrum said Governor Bill Lee’s orders do not change what Signal Mountain does as a town with their facilities. The mayor advocated for continuing on with this old plan, citing a need to social distance well into the summertime.
According to Mr. Veal, the gravel lot adjacent to the center would be the entrance. Then vehicles would pull into the far gate, loop around where they have removed park stops, unload their recycles, and then pull out of the gate where pedestrian traffic would normally go. People would also be putting their cardboard into the compactor.
Mr. Veal said around 15 vehicles would be able to queue up, and that traffic would not stack out onto Taft Highway. He also said people would have to call ahead and have a specific day and time they would run by the center in order to avoid this problem.
It would be Monday through Friday, and would “mitigate large crowds.” When asked about it, Mr. Veal said the center can be open by midweek and that Orange Grove has agreed to this arrangement. This was approved by the council.
Councilman Bill Lusk agreed with keeping playground equipment closed for the time being. He said social distancing and having a mask is expected. He also said Rainbow Lake should not be opened for a while, since that place attracts people from out of the state. However, he believes opening smaller trails like Green Gorge would be fine.
Other council members had conflicted feelings about keeping Rainbow Lake closed. Amy Speek advocated for possibly opening it for a week, allowing people to “police themselves,” and then closing it if things get too out of hand. Councilwoman Susannah Murdock said this could cause “whiplash” among residents. The council did not vote on this.
“This week you can, this week you can’t, and we’ll let you do it, and then we won’t let you do it,” said Councilwoman Murdock. “I think that maybe we should just keep Rainbow Lake closed for two weeks, and then revisit it, and see if there’s a surge.”
Tennis courts was considered okay to open, as were baseball fields for general use. Mr. Veal said that those fields would not be open for organized sports. The council agreed gyms and the Mountain Arts Community Center should remain closed for two weeks at least. Pools would also have the challenge of trying to find lifeguards, as most people who would be lifeguards would be getting their certification at this time and unavailable.
At several points during the meeting, the idea of limiting facilities to use by residents only popped up. However, the council members seemed to agree that enforcing this would be difficult, if not impossible.
On the topic of pickup of garbage and brush, these have stayed in operation during the pandemic. City Manager Veal said this setup has worked “well” as of now. He said as more and more services are added to the mix, inconveniences may pop up. As of now, there is no change for large-item pickup between now and two weeks from today.
Mayor Landrum said there will probably be one more electronic meeting, and then the Governor’s order will end and in-person meetings will resume. The mayor said electronic meetings cannot continue unless the governor extends the order.
The mayor tossed around the possibility of live-streaming concerts at the MACC during the summer. He said the facility relies on large crowds, something that will not happen as things slowly open over the summer. He said a live-stream might help spotlight talented artists.