Along with a new city hall building, the new park Our Mountain Garden, and a system of walking paths being planned throughout the city, Lookout Mountain, Ga., is also establishing a new brand for itself. City employee Ashley Keck and Andrew Hampson, a student at Covenant College majoring in business administration, have been working to refresh the image of the city for residents and visitors. As the first step is creating a uniform image across all communication from the city, the logo has been redesigned and recolored in blue and green.
The same logo and same lettering will be used across the board such as for letterheads and for car decals. The city’s website will be worked on next.
The new city hall is moving along at a fast pace and is up enough that “you can already feel that it will be the heart of the community,” said Kevin Leckenby, the council liaison with the public works department. The new garden off of Witt Road is also nearing completion. City volunteer Jimmy Campbell, who visualized the new park and who has coordinated its implementation, said that the trees and shrubs were planted in early winter and 3,800 perennial plants and flowers will be added in April. There are discussions now about how to build the terrace while staying within the budgeted amount. In building the park and clearing away invasive growth between it and the house next door, most all of the vegetation had to be removed, leaving both sites exposed. He said that a green screen will be planted to block the view between the two.
The city will also be getting a new garbage truck and police cruiser. The council approved a resolution to enter into a leasing program with the Georgia Municipal Association for acquiring and leasing vehicles and equipment. GMA arranges financing for the leases. The vote was to accept a seven-year lease term for both vehicles.
The public works department has been busy the last month with street work, said Council member Leckenby. The work has successfully repaired leaks under roadways and diverted stormwater away from residences by building curbs. Resurfacing where repairs are being made will take place after road cuts are finished. The city is still looking for options to dispose of leaves more efficiently than transporting them to Rock Spring, where they currently are being taken. Work for replacing old gas lines along Lula Lake Road continues to be delayed due to running into rock.
An email will go out to residents about how debris and trash will be handled, said Mr. Leckenby. The public works department continues to have issues with kitty litter not being bagged and cans filled with dirt and dead animals. Each home has one city authorized garbage can and increasingly has been finding excess trash bags left on top of the cans, on the ground or in unauthorized cans. For those families that habitually have more garbage than fits in their container, a second can is available from the city for $400. Hang tags for brush and trash violations are being created that tell why it will not be picked up. They will be attached to the brush or garbage that is in violation.
For the last couple of years, the towns of Lookout Mountain, Ga., and Tn., have shared the cost associated with single stream recycling and the once monthly dumpster all located at the public works department in Tennessee. Mayor David Bennett said both programs have been extremely popular and well used and that the small location holding the bins cannot handle the number of cars or the quantity of the materials that are being left, so moving forward, the two towns will no longer be sharing the services. Lookout Mountain, Ga. will be setting up facilities at the city’s public works location on Lula Lake Road. When the details have been worked out, an email will be sent to residents.
This year, because of COVID, the school has had to make some hard decisions, said Caroline Williams, council liaison with Fairyland Elementary. The most recent, are that there will be no spring play or community art show this year. The spring festival, which is one of the major fundraisers for the school, has also been cancelled. That makes the second of three fundraisers that have been cancelled this year she said while appealing to residents to make donations to the school. She said the calendar for the next year has been approved, and that the school will return to 180 days versus the 170 days in the 2020-2021 school year. Being optimistic that things will be back to normal by the time classes resume next year, the fundraiser Music on the Mountain has been scheduled for August.
Council member Taylor Watson announced that two promotions have been made in the police department. Danny Ellis has been promoted to assistant police chief and Dewayne “Lew” Llewellyn has the new title of detective sergeant. In February, the fire department had a single call - to put out a brush fire at Rock City that was unintentionally started by tourists.
Despite efforts to make the streets safer, cars are continuing to speed and run stop signs. A resident of Hardy Road asked the council for help. A series of stop signs were erected last year, but he said most drivers pay no attention to them or the speed limit, “It’s an attitude on the mountain and happens everywhere, not just on Hardy Road,” the resident said. The problem is only expected to get worse in the summer when the Fairyland Club pool opens. Ms. Watson responded that during the COVID pandemic, police had been instructed to stop cars less often to reduce their exposure. Now, with conditions improving, she said that will be changing and that the police warning period is over.
In his report, City Manager Kenny Lee said that owners of abandoned and unoccupied houses are being contacted about keeping the houses and yards cleaned up, maintained and in compliance with the city codes and ordinances. He said enforcement will be done by compliance as opposed to complaint.
BRAG ( Bike Ride Across Georgia) has been scheduled for June 5-12. The participants will depart from Fairyland School and will end in Columbus, Ga. Cyclists will be staying in local hotels and camping on the FES ball field, said Mr. Lee. Evening festivities are planned for June 5 at Rock City including a live band, with residents being invited.
A new purchasing policy has been adopted which will require purchases greater than $500 to be approved in advance with a purchase order and documentation. It will also require approval from the city manager and mayor. Recurring charges such as utility bills and spending for emergencies will be exempted from this process.
Appreciation was shown for the new city manager. "Kenny has done an exceptional job of turning around management of the city," said Council member Arch Willingham. "He has been figuring out problems immediately, addressing them and finding a solution."