The town of Signal Mountain will have a new fire chief after two rounds of interviews. An unnamed candidate has accepted the job and will begin Oct. 16. Until then, Capt. Will Maxwell, interim chief, will continue in the position. The council members and town manager thanked and praised him for stepping up when needed. Councilman Andrew Gardner said the interim chief has not just maintained the status quo, but has made improvements during his tenure.
The fire department will be the beneficiary of several grants that the city has received. The Assistant Firefighter Grant from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) awarded a two-part grant that the fire department will use to purchase fire hoses and nozzles. This new equipment will allow all of the fire trucks to have the exact same nozzles and hoses and will replace old ones that have broken down. The grant for both is $37,800 with the town having to contribute just $1,1933, or five percent of the total.
ARP (American Rescue Plan) money will be used for a variety of expenses, one of which is new fire ventilation fans that the department uses. Currently, the trucks carry a generator to power fans, but the new ones will be battery powered. Interim Fire Chief Maxwell said purchasing the fans will be less than it would cost to buy one new generator, which is around $30,000. New equipment such as pumps, fans and saws that fire departments use are now all battery powered, and the grant will help modernize what Signal Mountain uses, he said.
There is a deadline to determine which projects can be done with ARP funds and to allocate the money to the qualifying projects. Discussion took place about identifying the exact deadline for eligible uses and what projects will be the most beneficial to citizens of Signal Mountain. Stormwater management is high on the list because owners of all developed property will benefit. And there will also be a future benefit by staving off an increase in stormwater fees. At the next meeting, the town manager will present an updated list of projects that qualify and the deadlines that must be met.
The city will also be receiving money from the THSO (Tennessee Highway Safety Office) with another grant. Chief of Police Mike Williams will be authorized to accept a $25,000 grant from the THSO. This grant is received each year, said Town Manager Elaine Burnelle.
The town’s four-post lift is completely unusable now, said Ms. Brunelle. This mechanical lifting system is used by the town to service and maintain vehicles and equipment. The council was told that a lot of money and time is saved by doing the maintenance in-house rather than taking it to outside service facilities. This equipment is used a lot, typically 20-30 times a month. One estimate of $22,219 has been received for the purchase of a new one.
A discussion took place about giving the town’s Design Review Committee (DRC) more responsibility and authority for making recommendations. To begin with, the public arts ordinance will be handed over to the committee to make recommendations.
At the Sept. 12 council meeting, the town manager recommended having a Memorandum of Understanding with several organizations, including the sports leagues that play in Signal Mountain. The council talked about developing an MOU specific to sports that could be used as a template to create others for the various organizations. The goal is to have the organizations to be self-sufficient by generating revenue from fees that they charge. Those in turn would be used to reimburse the town for related expenses. On Monday night the council decided to initially keep the MOU template simple and add other things to it as needed.
A formal commendation will be presented at the next regular council meeting for Karin Glendenning, who is retiring as director of the library after 17 years. Susannah Murdock, who is the council liaison with the library board, reported that John Atkinson will take over as acting library director while interviews are taking place for a permanent replacement.
Items discussed at the work session will be voted on at the regular council meeting on Monday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m.