Chattanooga is now planning on moving forward with the second lowest bid for a hotel to provide 100 rooms for the homeless, East Ridge officials said Friday after a meeting with city officials.
The second lowest bid is in a hotel in the Chattanooga city limits, instead of the Budgetel in East Ridge that got East Ridge officials up in arms.
The homeless topic was the most discussed matter at the East Ridge council meeting.
Two residents of the city spoke to the council with different views. One told the council he was disturbed and embarrassed about the mayor and council members’ initial reaction to the proposal for the homeless to be moved to East Ridge. He said that the arrangement would provide a safe room and access to social services for those that need it.
Another resident told the council that allowing it would be a point of concern for him, saying he had seen other such residences and knows the conditions and environments these places created. With his understanding that the arrangement would be temporary and just until June, he questioned Chattanooga’s goal. “Is there a permanent plan to move them anywhere?” he asked. He said Chattanooga has a larger police department than does East Ridge to deal with issues this could cause. “It’s passing the buck,” he said.
Councilman Jacky Cagle said that he did not like the way the council and mayor found out about the plan. He said if they had come to an agreement with East Ridge beforehand, possibly a place could have been found for the people to live. East Ridge has its own homeless population, he said, but not the large number that would be moved into the city.
Vice Mayor Mike Chauncey agreed and added the concern that the Budgetel is already not in compliance with the city’s long-term stay ordinance. City Attorney Mark Litchford said this is not a new issue and that the city has been looking into it. It is a question of code enforcement, he said, and officials will ensure that the hotel is in compliance with the city’s ordinances.
We truly understand the homeless problem, said Mayor Brian Williams, but we were unaware of the actions that Chattanooga had taken, and we found out about it from a posting on social media. He said at that time he tried to contact Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke but was unable to meet until Thursday morning.
After the discussion, he said Chattanooga decided to “pause” the involvement with East Ridge. It should have been done through an interlocal agreement, he said. "It is not easy to make a decision without having any facts and when you are blindsided," said the mayor. He said that the homeless condition is a dire need in the region, and that East Ridge is still trying to gather information, but that Chattanooga did not think about the burden it would put on East Ridge's resources and taxpayers.
East Ridge has an extended stay ordinance that would affect the plan for homeless people to be moved to the hotel for three months, said City Manager Chris Dorsey after a meeting with Chattanooga on Friday morning. It should have been done with an interlocal agreement, he said. Mr. Dorsey said Chattanooga has a much larger budget than East Ridge and is fortunate to have services or community services department that can help with these issues. He said that East Ridge is fortunate to have churches and volunteers to help.
The city has received 18 applications for liquor licenses for the two stores that will be allowed to open in East Ridge. Mr. Dorsey said four are for District A in the east side of the city and 14 are for District B on the west end. Council member Esther Helton said it was obvious where people want to be, and asked for a third zone to be created around the Exit One development. The proposal will be on the agenda of the council meeting for April 8.
The city manager also announced that the westbound Bachman Tunnel on Ringgold Road will be closed while bank stabilization is being done. It is expected to be reopened April 16. In the meantime, traffic will be rerouted to South Terrace and Germantown Roads and the traffic light at that intersection will be adjusted for the additional traffic.
Items on the agenda for the April 8 meeting will include discussion of building a new dog park and approving bids for the construction of the new playground and installation of the utilities needed for the water feature.