Children in Lookout Mountain, Tn. will have something new to do during the winter, said Commissioner of Parks and Playgrounds Jim Hailey. Beginning Dec. 14, the gym at Lookout Mountain School will be open to residents from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and other days that it will be open will be announced. Scott Shell will be present and in charge during the times the gym is open. The schedule will be put on the website bluesombrero.com and on the town’s website lookoutmtn.com.
After football ends next week, Johnson Field, surrounded by the walking track at The Commons will be shut down completely until spring to protect the turf. In the past month Commissioner Hailey has had the grass evaluated by several professionals in turf management and has found that the condition of the grass is better than he expected.
Lookout Mountain School has won another award. It has just been named as number eight out of the top 10 schools in the state of Tennessee. Emily Haney is now in the middle of her second year as principal and at the commission meeting she highlighted some of the many successes at LMS during the first half of the school year. Decisions are made on data and from tracking trends to determine what is good for the students. And there has been an increase in extracurricular activities such as field trips, competitions, programs and interactions with the community.
Next year the school is expected to have 20 open seats for the Hamilton County school choice program, the same number as this year. The number of spots available without overcrowding the classrooms will be confirmed in February. Commissioner of Education Karen Leavengood would like to encourage residents to show their appreciation of the school by supporting the annual fund for this valuable asset on the mountain.
The focus of the public works department now is brush and leaves, said Commissioner of Public Works William Valadez. His goal is to have the leaf piles gone and streets cleaned up by Christmas. The large evergreen tree that is customarily decorated in the grassy area across Scenic Highway from The Commons died this year. The public works department employees will instead be hanging lights at two other locations - the fountain and a large tree on West Brow Road. And, he said that the trucks are ready to go when they need to spread salt on icy roads.
The new Flock license plate readers have been installed at each entrance to Lookout Mountain, Tn. for a few months now, and are proving to be valuable. One Sunday afternoon at the end of November, Chief Dale Taylor said the police got a hit from the cameras for a stolen license plate. In just minutes, the police identified the truck that was towing a box trailer and found it on East Brow Road near the Incline. The driver was detained after it was found he had an extradition warrant. The Lookout Mountain, Tn. police obtained a search warrant and found multiple stolen items from a variety of states. The individual has an extensive crime history, and the font used in a tattoo across his chest suggested that he is part of an organized motorcycle gang in this area.
The police cannot be everywhere, said the chief, "and these LPRs let you know that along with the roughly 58,000 cars coming into the town each month, we have criminal activity coming through our neighborhood."
“This is a great tool, and it is working for us,” said Fire and Police Commissioner Jim Bentley. He also said that problems at Sunset Rock are occurring again, and the police are getting calls from neighbors living close to the trail. He warns that residents will be seeing an increase in police presence in that area.
The town’s personnel policy regarding vacation time is being rewritten mainly in order to make clear the understanding of the current plan, said Town Consultant Brooke Pippenger. A few changes to the vacation policy are aimed mostly at the police department because of the irregular hours that the officers work.
Ms. Pippenger said in November, Lookout Mountain brought in more money than was spent, and property tax revenue is beginning to come in so that money can remain in investment accounts. Mayor Walker Jones said Lookout Mountain, Tn. is a property tax-oriented city because the few businesses in town do not generate a lot of sales tax revenue. During the month, out of the ordinary expenses included remodeling the restroom off the lobby in Town Hall and the last payment for improvements to the concession stand at The Commons.
The sign ordinance was under discussion again this month spurred on by the recent proliferation of political signs. The commissioners are still putting together the ordinance and how it will be enforced without being extremely heavy-handed. Regulations that are meant to clean up the mountain include that any sign must get approval from the town marshal (Chief Taylor) and all signs must be permitted. All signs are limited to 18x24 inches in size and must be placed 10 feet off the street and not in the town’s right-of-way. No advertising signs will be allowed at all. Political signs can be put up 60 days before an election and must be taken down within seven days after the election unless the race is ongoing, such as with a runoff. By having this ordinance, the town officials have leeway in enforcing it. The actual rules governing signs will be included in next spring’s flyer that is mailed to all households. They will also be posted on the town’s website.
Two variances were granted on the first reading. An addition can be made to a home at 263 Stephenson Ave. after a setback change was approved. The setbacks there are 35 feet off the street. This home has road frontage on three sides with a four-foot variance being needed on one side for the addition. The second variance that was approved is to allow Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church to put up a monument sign made from the same stone as the church. It will be put in front of the entrance and can only have subtle up-lighting facing the building. The sign is not expected to affect anyone.
Mayor Jones gave a tribute to past council member and mayor Carol Mutter, who died last month. She was the town’s first female mayor and held that position for six years. He said, “She was quite a lady” and very active in the community on the mountain and in the whole Chattanooga area. She will be missed, he said.
The Christmas breakfast for town employees will be on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at the Golf Club. The mayor asks for all residents to contribute to the Christmas fund which is used as gifts for town employees.
The next Lookout Mountain, Tn. Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 5 p.m.