Lookout Mountain, Tn., Commissioner of Police Jim Bentley on Thursday addressed the town's ongoing issue with the Incline Railway. Although the upper station is in the town of Lookout Mountain, the Incline, owned by CARTA, does not pay any property taxes. With all boarding now originating at the St. Elmo station, people riding the Incline do not pay for parking on the mountain, which officials said is impacting the town greatly.
During the COVID pandemic, the Incline started selling tickets only at the bottom station in St. Elmo. Because of that, the rides have been starting at the bottom, and that is where cars have been parking. Officials said earlier that this move has caused a large decrease in revenue for the town with no share of the ticket sales and less money collected by the parking kiosks between the Incline and Point Park. Mayor Walker Jones estimated a loss of around $50,000 in ticket sales that are customarily received and $50,000-$75,000 lost in parking revenue.
Brooke Pippenger, town manager, suggested that since Incline passengers ride up the mountain, look around for a minute, and ride back down, chances are they don’t want to get in their cars and drive back up since they’ve already seen it.
Commissioner Bentley pointed out that Chattanooga was recently designated a top winter destination, and Lookout Mountain is a large reason for that. The Incline relies on the town for fire and police protection, and its tourist shop is in the town.
The commissioners plan to meet with the CARTA board to address this issue, which is a six-figure issue for the town.
Paul Johnson, the town’s certified public account, reported that the crux of an in-depth financial report revealed a clean audit. As well, assets are up and liabilities are down, and Mr. Johnson said everyone would hope for a year like that. The town is in great shape fiscally.
Jennifer Waycaster said that property taxes are coming in, with about $600,000 collected and $2.2 million due. Expenditures include two new police vehicles and upgrades to the fire truck, which totaled $86,000. The public works department spent $210,000 paving Bragg Avenue.
The commissioners approved a change in the uniform allowance for town employees. Eligible after six months of employment, employees will have an annual stipend for uniforms instead of biannual. Currently only the dispatchers are required to fill out time sheets, but at Ms. Waycaster’s suggestion, the commission approved required time sheets for all employees.
The commissioners welcomed Joe Hailey back to the board; Commissioner Hailey served previously as the liaison with parks and playgrounds. Flag football was a success but many games were rained out, unfortunately. Between heavy use with football and soccer, the fields have taken a beating and need a little repair work in the upcoming months.
Commissioner of Schools Karen Leavengood reported that Benchmark testing is underway at LMS, with the lower grades completing testing this month. Grades third through fifth were tested earlier in December. Benchmark testing monitors student growth and improvement over the year. The LMS robotics team recently competed in the Tennessee Valley Robotics competition against 17 local teams and qualified for the regional championships this month. The team also received the Rising Star Award. Night Out of Lookout is coming up Saturday, March 25.
Lookout Mountain citizen Melissa Youngblood asked the commission for permission to sell a small strip of her property to her sister, who lives next door. She said the small parcel is only for “a little breathing room” between the two properties. Town attorney Brian Smith said he believed the water company owned the strip as an easement and that Ms. Youngblood should check with Hamilton County.
Commissioner of Public Works William Valadez reported that most of the leaves had been picked up, which was a challenge with all of the rainy weather. Mayor Jones complimented the festive Christmas trees at the fountain that Chris Crimmins donated in honor of his late parents and the public works department installed and lit.
Commissioner Valadez said that there are issues at the recycling center because folks put things in the collection bins that are not recyclable, such as plastic packaging in cardboard and even mattresses. Recycling on Lookout Mountain will not work if people do not do it correctly, he said.
The next town meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 5 p.m.