Assistant City Manager Kenny Custer announced his resignation after working for East Ridge for 20 years. He said he started at the bottom as a volunteer firefighter at 18 years old working for free and worked his way up, spending a little time at the top. He said he was happy at East Ridge and in his job, but has an opportunity that he cannot pass up.
He sees East Ridge having a lot of great things taking place in the future.
He plans to continue in his role until the end of July. Both Mayor Brian Williams and City Manager Chris Dorsey wished him the best and expressed appreciation for his years of service to the city.
The revitalization of East Ridge is continuing with investments being made by business, sports organizations and the city itself.
The long process of determining who will have the opportunity to own the first two package stores that have been allowed in East Ridge was settled with a drawing among the applicants that met all city requirements. At the city council meeting Thursday night, certificates of compliance were issued to the two winners - Harsh Patel for the store on the west side of town at 3940 Ringgold Road, and Suhash J. Patel for a store at 6009 Ringgold Road on the east end of the city.
Construction of the complex being built for the Chattanooga Red Wolves is on-going and the first home game of the season was held in the completed stadium on Saturday.
The city is also making investments with new recreational facilities being planned and built. Vice Mayor Mike Chauncey has been working toward getting a dog park built in the city and has applied for a grant to help. When he met with Jack Berry, owner of All Fences, and walked around the quarter acre site near Springvale Park, Mr. Berry offered to donate the fence, a gift valued at around $12,000. Councilman Chauncy is also seeking donations for park benches. If the grant is received, he said it will allow even more amenities for the park.
A splash pad and new playground that is replacing Pioneer Frontier Park is also moving forward. The council approved a proposal from Integrated Builds to install the utility services for the parks. The cost for labor and all materials needed for the installation of utilities will be $82,511.
With all the new developments and 120,000 cars moving through the I-75 Interchange at Exit 1, the city wants to make sure the area is attractive. The council approved a contract with TDOT for mowing services there. The $8,820 that TDOT pays the city is for six mowings a year, however, the public works department actually mows it every eight to 10 days. Although it is a loss of money for East Ridge, Assistant City Manager Kenny Custer said that if the city declined the contract and the work was done by a private contractor, East Ridge would have no say-so in how it looked. He told the council members that he would investigate a plan to replace areas of grass with wildflowers to reduce the mowing.
A resolution was passed on Thursday, to purchase a Kubota tractor for $31,110 that will be able to pull various equipment, including a new “pull-behind mower” that was also approved.
A moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications for and installations of any new outdoor advertising signs was extended for six months.
An interagency agreement between the city and various entities representing Hamilton County’s Child Protective Investigative Team was approved at the request of Police Chief Stan Allen. He said it will allow the city to participate in child abuse and neglect investigations without regard to the city’s boundaries.
An agreement with the FBI was also authorized. East Ridge will assign one officer to an FBI Safe Streets task force. The officer will work for East Ridge part time and for the FBI part time. This will give FBI resources to assist the city in investigations.
The East Ridge police department will use the company Gunbusters for destroying weapons that have been used as evidence by the court, once they are released. Chief Allen said some weapons can be traded in for other needed equipment, however some are useless and cannot be traded in or sold for various reasons. Those will be stripped for parts and what is left will be destroyed. There is no charge to the city for this service.
A new police vehicle was approved for purchase in the amount not to exceed $42,000. It will replace a vehicle that was totaled in a roll-over at the beginning of April. The amount of $26,125 was paid for the wrecked SUV from insurance and $6,995 for equipment will come from the city’s drug fund.
Chief Allen also reported that twice a year, police make donations to a charity in the city. The money comes from officers who pay the department to be able to grow beards. This time the department raised $695 that was donated to the East Ridge Food Pantry.
City Manager Dorsey presented the first draft of the 2021-2022 operating budget for $16,369,719 for the general fund. A three percent cost of living raise for employees is included. Dates for budget workshops will be announced on the city’s website. The first reading of the budget is June 10 and second and final reading is on June 24.