By the first council meeting in February, the search for Signal Mountain’s new town manager had been narrowed down to two applicants. At the Feb. 14 meeting, the Signal Mountain Council decided not to move forward with either of the two candidates.
Honna Rogers, consultant with Municipal Technical Advisory Services (MTAS) which is advising the council in the process of filling the vacant position, said that she had sent a survey to each council member after the special called meeting on Feb.
7, after which two candidates remained. The response she got was unanimous not to move forward. Council member Andrew Gardner said those interviewed for the job were just not the right fit for Signal Mountain.
Starting over again, Ms. Rogers said she would begin advertising for the next round of applications in hopes of receiving enough for her to score the candidates in time for the March 21 meeting. The next step will be to schedule interviews at the beginning of April. Mitchell Moore, who has been working as the interim town manager for several months, has other obligations and his contract is up March 4 after which he will be unable to continue, so Ms. Rogers will also help look for another interim city manager on Signal Mountain’s behalf.
Mr. Moore told the council that in the past month, he has spent much of his time in the search to fill multiple other job openings. Positions in the town that are vacant include Water Utility director, finance director/recorder and executive administrative assistant.
The town has also been looking for volunteers to complete several of Signal Mountain’s boards. At the meeting Monday night, some board appointments were approved. Bill Brouillard was appointed to the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Katie Anderson, Lauren Hughes and Rachael Crumbliss, to the Parks Board, Clay Crumbliss and Lisa Crowder to the Personnel Committee and Aaron Westrate to the Recreation Board.
Two resolutions were passed on Monday. A contract was awarded to install slip lining in stormwater pipes near 608 Dunsinane Road for $38,050 with a 10 percent contingency, for a total of $42,350. Also approved was the distribution of the water fund in lieu of ad valorem tax payments (tax equivalent) on property of the public works within the town of Signal Mountain, to the town’s general fund in the amount of $43,695 for fiscal year 2021-2022.
Police Chief Mike Williams recognized two officers who took the initiative to do work which saved the town many thousands of dollars. He told the council that Detective Randy Poland and Lieutenant Daniel Fletcher installed additional police equipment such as lights, prisoner transport systems and deer guards on three new SUVs that the police department recently received. This work is customarily contracted out, adding a significant amount to new vehicles. The two officers did this while performing their regular job, said the chief.
A volunteer has been in charge of streaming the town’s meetings to make them available for residents to watch online. This person is not able to cover all the meetings that are held. The cost of hiring someone to do this is not in the budget, said Council member Elizabeth Baker so the council needs to decide which meetings will be live streamed. Mayor Charles Poss suggested the possibility of outfitting the room so the council could do it themselves., or asking for volunteers from the high school who may be interested in doing it as a special project. For the time being, only the regular council meetings will be live streamed.
The audit report for the year ending in June 2021 was given to the council by CPA Brian Wright with Johnson, Murphey and Wright. He reported that the town had received a clean opinion.
A special work session meeting has been scheduled for Feb. 26. The next regular council meeting will be held on Feb. 28.