After two failed searches for a town manager and two interim city managers since the retirement of Boyd Veal, Elaine Brunelle has been hired to fill the position. In the agreement with the town, compensation will be an annual salary of $110,000 and the same benefits provided to other employees, 10 vacation days and a $600 per month vehicle allowance. A unanimous vote of the council approved the contract at the meeting Monday night.
Items that were discussed at the council work session include a review of the town’s oversight of the Signal Mountain Elementary Preservation Fund (SMEPF), which is currently running the Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC).
In October 2021, the town entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the SMEPF for daily operations and management of the Mountain Arts Community Center, formerly managed by a MACC Board. With the new agreement the MACC board was suspended until further discussion, which took place on Monday.
The council is happy with the programming and work done to the building, but not with the financial reporting. From the financial report it received, the council was unable to know what was spent on the programming and what was spent on the building. When the agreement was made, the town council gave the Preservation Fund authority to make decisions without the council’s approval, but some financial responsibilities are taken care of by the town which also owns the property and building and leases it to the Preservation fund. To ensure that arts programming continues there for a long time in a manner that the town wants, the council wants to have some oversight. The question is if that comes from filling the MACC board and if so with how many members, or if oversight should come from directly from the council in some form. No permanent decision was agreed upon, and it will be addressed again in six months. Until then, Council Member Elizabeth Baker will be the council representative to meet with the Preservation Fund to let them know the council’s concerns.
The Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) ,which provides assistance to cities and towns in Tennessee, is helping Signal Mountain with two studies. It has been a long time since the city codes were updated and that is needed. The process to update each code is lengthy since each one is gone over line by line to see if it continues to be relevant and to make revisions. The town will pay $7,300 for the detailed in-depth look into the code.
MTAS will also be conducting a study for each of the town’s departments. Prioritized by the council, the first department to be reviewed will the Fire Department, followed by Building Codes, the Parks and Recreation and the Police Department. The administrative and finance departments will be studied last.
Signal Mountain is planning to develop a social media policy and at the council meeting the board made suggestions of what guidelines to include. Suggestions include a way to remove people using false identification such as comments that come from a fake person. Which platforms to select, such a Facebook or Twitter, and the ability for the town’s boards to have a page.
Signal Mountain will be acquiring equipment so meetings can be live streamed or recorded for posting later. Another feature that would be useful is to be able to project content from a computer onto a screen for all present to see, such as for conducting interviews. Some sound equipment is already available, but cameras and streaming equipment is needed and the old and new can be used together. The council members are looking for multiple cost estimates. Ease of operation for the system will be important. Itemizing the cost of each element is wanted so it will be known which elements are too expensive.
There was also a discussion about if bonds are needed for elected officials and clerks. Per the city code, council members, town manager and recorder must have a $250,000 surety bond. Employees who handle and disperse money must have a $100,000 bond. This went into effect in 2005 but the town has been out of compliance with no employees bonded. Before voting on authorizing purchase of the bonds, the city manager was asked to find if they were transferable if a new person took over a position, and if the town’s insurance would provide the same coverage. Ms. Brunelle was also asked to find if this is required by the state law and, if so, for which positions.
Public Works Director Loretta Hopper had to come back to the council for an additional $25,000 to buy a tractor with a boom arm that was approved previously. When the order was being placed, she was told the company had inadvertently sent the quote for the wrong type of tractor. This piece of equipment will replace one that is no longer functional. The additional cost was approved for the tractor that will take six-eight months to receive. In the meantime, one is on loan from Hamilton County to mow and trim.
An interconnection between the Signal Mountain Water Company and Walden Ridge Utility District has been suggested for the two communities to ensure the availability of water in the case of an emergency. The council approved for Matt Justice, water utility director, to offer $60,000 toward the cost, with Walden contributing labor which is about the same value. This will leave enough money that comes from the state to help make repairs on Signal Mountain’s pump station.
Signal Mountain has 1,200 customers on the WWTA sewer system. Who will do billing for sewer services is in the process of being decided. Currently, sewer fees for those customers are being included on the town’s water bill. At this time, there is no formal agreement between WWTA and Signal Mountain’s water company for the cost of this billing service. Until there is a written agreement, Signal Mountain will charge WWTA $4,500 a month to bill the sewer customers on Signal Mountain, Mr. Justice told the council. He and the city manager will negotiate the best rate they can for doing the billing. If WWTA ends up doing their own billing, the customers will begin to receive two separate bills, one for water and another for sewer.
The next Signal Mountain Council meeting will be August 8 at 6 p.m.