The city of East Ridge is returning money it received from a grant because it has been decided that to proceed with the project would not be in the best interest of the city. Scott Miller, city manager, told the council that the Tennessee Safe Routes to School grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation had been applied for and received in 2014-2016. The work was meant to increase safety getting to and from East Ridge Elementary School. The scope of the project was scaled back when the multi modal construction on Ringgold Road started and the originally planned sidewalks for the west side of Belvoir Avenue leading toward the school were eliminated.
What was left of the plan was only a walkway from the school to John Ross Road, where the sidewalk just stopped. The design submitted for the grant had no connection north to Ringgold Road and City Manager Miller said it was not safe to drop students off where the sidewalk ended at John Ross.
He said to make the sidewalk useful it would need to connect to Ringgold Road, and that would cost an additional $250,000 to $300,000, which the city would have to pay for. Money from the grant could not be used to extend the sidewalk beyond where it stopped in the original plan. The work that a grant pays for, must match what the city originally submitted to TDOT when applying for money from the state. Mr. Miller recommended and the council agreed and voted to abandon the project and return $15,860 which had already been submitted to TDOT for consulting services.
When the next grant opportunity becomes available, a new sidewalk design will be submitted.
On the recommendation of the city’s Industrial Development Board, the council members voted to enter into a development agreement with Kelley X-Ray Co., 1500 Fruitland Dr. The business that sells X-Ray equipment invested $855,000 to develop the building that is in the Border Region District. Over the life of the agreement, the company is projected to make $2.4 million taxable income. With the agreement, 30 percent of that will go to the developer to help cover their investment and 70 percent will go to the city. City Attorney Mark Litchford noted that this development is evidence that growth in East Ridge is moving west as the result of the Border Region program.
In his report, the city manager said that the second round of leaf collection has been completed south of Ringgold Road. There are portions of the city on the north side of Ringgold Road that remain to be done. He said that if residents have more leaves that need to be removed after the second rounds are complete, they should call city hall and give an address for the city to pick them up.
Work on the sidewalk/multi modal project along Ringgold Road continues and shifts from location to location and from one side of the road to the other, interrupting traffic and causing inconveniences, it was stated. Mayor Brian Williams said that the work is more involved than people can see. He said much needed improvements are being made to infrastructure in conjunction with the work and upgrades are being made for handling stormwater. Also, new gas lines are being put underneath the sidewalks.
Progress reports on the multi modal work will be put on the East Ridge website so residents can have a better idea of where they will encounter lane closures and detours.
A selection committee has chosen the architectural and engineering firm MBI to design the city’s new animal shelter. The next step will be to work out the scope of their services and negotiate an agreement. It is expected to be ready to present to the city council at the March 3 meeting.
Mr. Miller also is hoping to get approval from the council at that meeting to bid out replacing the roof over one quadrant of the city hall building. A rough quote to do the work is $62,000. And bids have been received to build a maintenance shed at Camp Jordan. The results will be presented to the council March 3.