The town of Signal Mountain has been without a permanent town manager since the beginning of the year after the retirement of Boyd Veal. There have been two searches for a replacement, the first ending without finding a suitable candidate. Since January, the position has been filled with two interim city managers. At a special called meeting, Josh Ray was selected for the job on Friday. Mr. Ray most recently was employed by the city of Shelbyville, Tn. as the city manager for a little over a year before being terminated at the beginning of March, 2022.
The Signal Mountain Council held a special called meeting prior to their work session on Monday night, to discuss negotiations related to his acceptance of the job. In a contract submitted to Town Attorney Harry Cash, Mr. Ray requested for the town to pay up to $10,000 in expenses related to his move. The council chose to itemize the expenses rather than consider it as one sum. The offer will include a salary of $115,000 and $3,500 to cover the cost of the move of around 100 miles. He will also be entitled to temporary housing paid for by the city for three months in the amount of $1,800 per month.
The package he is being offered will also have a monthly car allowance and a city-issued phone. The phone plan will be the same that all employees of the town receive, which at this time is around $38 a month, versus the $80 that Mr. Ray asked for. The benefits will also include a severance agreement that has been designed to encourage him to stay. It will be a base amount of three months’ salary plus an additional amount for every year he works for the town.
Mayor Charles Poss told the council that Mr. Ray is receptive to being mentored by past Interim City Manager Mitch Moore. In conversations with the mayor, Mr. Ray has also indicted he is interested in the job and will accept it if the numbers can be agreed upon.
The counter offer from the city and a contract should be received by him on Tuesday, and the council is giving him a hard deadline of Thursday to give Signal Mountain an answer.
A special called council meeting has been scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. to review the agreement and vote on a contract with Mr. Ray. The meeting is open to the public.
Following the conversation about the next city manager, the council discussed the plans to create a water interconnect with Walden. It would help to assure a source of water for both towns in the event of an emergency. Walden would like for Signal Mountain to install a 12-inch water main to join to their 12-inch pipe. Engineering studies done by Signal Mountain in the past have shown that a 12-inch pipe is not necessary, and that the system would function with three existing six-inch pipes, along with one eight-inch pipe in another location to join the water main in Walden, it was stated. Signal Mountain’s water company manager, Matt Justice, said a 12-inch pipe there is not needed because there is not growth in that area of town to support it.
The bigger problem is the cost to build a booster/pumping station. The elevation in Walden is greater than in the town of Signal Mountain so if water is directed toward Signal Mountain a gravity system can easily move the water in that direction. But a pump station is needed to get water from Signal Mountain to Walden because it is uphill. The $344,000 cost to build that pump station is the problem, said Mr. Justice. Grants can be used for the city to buy materials, but not to build the pumping station. An outside third party, to manage the planning, engineering and to function as a product manager, will also be needed.
By using grants, the town could save five percent of the cost. But doing this project could use half of the ARPP funds, said Mr. Justice. The other projects that are needed in the town are not even known yet in order to prioritize them, said Council Member Elizabeth Baker, Over the next several weeks she will ask department heads how they would prioritize the grant money.