The Signal Mountain Police have recently completed another traffic study for James Boulevard, one with hand held radar and the other with a speed sign. It was done in response to concerns from residents along the road that traffic is going too fast.
Councilman Andrew Gardner said that studies on this road have been done four times since he has been on the council, and they have not recommended lowering the speed limit. The part of the road that was evaluated has a current speed limit of 30 mph. The data collected by hand-held radar units measured 400 cars and the radar signs collected data for over 7,000 cars and both resulted in very similar numbers. The average speed of vehicles was 31 mph. Data from the sign showed 101 cars were travelling 10 mph over the limit and nine vehicles were 15 mph over the speed limit.
It could be a perception problem because the sidewalk comes close to the road in some places, said Mayor Charles Poss. But Councilman Gardner said the best method is to use statistics and there is no objective evidence for lowering the speed limit. It was noted that most of the incidents that have taken place there have been from drivers not paying attention, and the speed limit doesn’t control that. The town may consider putting a permanent speed sign along that stretch of what is considered to be a major thoroughfare.
Discussion took place about the way that the town manages fall leaves. Public Works Director Wesley Stokes is preparing for the leaf season by making decisions about the equipment that the department uses. The council will investigate different procedures for efficiency including the requirement that residents bag their leaves before taking them to the curb rather than continuing to buy and maintain expensive equipment.
The public works department has two relatively new leaf machines that are pulled behind hook lift trucks, and each takes one person to operate. Although they are the same age, one set is in good shape and the other has a lot of problems. Mr. Stokes said it was a lemon and that was not addressed properly when the problems started. Because there needs to be two machines working every day during the season, a choice will need to be made for whether to spend $13,000 to make repairs or spend $375,000 to replace the faulty machine and truck. The town also owns an old leaf vacuum that needs 3-4 people to operate, which can be used as a back-up. The council favors repairing the truck and leaf vacuum and will revisit the request to replace it next year depending on how it preforms this fall. Director Stokes has instigated procedures such as pre-trip inspections for all vehicles that will be done every day to identify problems early to improve fleet maintenance.
Town Manager Matt Trollinger has requested that each department put together various projects for using ARPA funds. Some items that have been listed are replacing the lights at the ball fields with LEDs and new poles, building an accessible for all playground, re-doing the tennis courts, replacing bathrooms at Althaus Park, replacing the swimming pool filter that would save water and money by stopping a leak, improving drainage around town hall and completing Old Town sidewalks. Mr. Trollinger will “grade” and list the projects and the council members will rank them individually,and ask the citizens to do the same and see how the two mesh. Mayor Poss noted that ranking of importance does not necessarily mean giving the most importance to the cost of the project.
The original TDOT grant on the Old Town sidewalks was received 15 years ago and is still on hold because requirements continually increased as did the cost of materials and labor, so that the original grant amount received would not cover the costs. There is $100,000 of that money remaining that will have to be repaid if the project is not done.
Director Stokes said he has become aware of a new Transportation Alternative Grant from TDOT that could be applied for. The plan that was recently proposed by Mr. Stokes is for the public works department to rebuild the sidewalks that are in the direst need, then contract out the remainder of the work. That would reduce the scope of the work and the grant money originally received could cover the contracted work. The town has already hired ASA Engineering to do an engineering proposal with a reduced scope of work.
Although the council members would like to get a new grant that would pay for 95 percent of the cost, they are not anxious to get involved with another TDOT grant that would almost certainly mean starting from scratch with all new studies, engineering, easement acquisition and other requirements the state asks for. And it is a competitive grant, meaning that the town may not receive the grant even if it is applied for. If the plan developed by Mr. Stokes is chosen, with pubic works rebuilding the sidewalks that are in the worst shape, the estimated cost to the city would be around $160,000. The council will make a decision for the way to proceed at a later meeting.
The council traditionally creates a list of strategic goals for the upcoming year. This year, the goals will be established and it will be the town manager’s job to suggest ways to implement them. Then it will be the council which will decide how to proceed. The goals may be a continuation of the same strategic plan that was created for 2024, possibly adding new ones to the list.
Also on the agenda for the next council meeting on Aug. 12 will be consideration of a Native Plant Ordinance. It was recommended by the Signal Mountain Tree Board and put into ordinance form by Town Attorney Harry Cash. The ordinance is to use native plants on town-owned property and to avoid using any plants on the state of Tennessee’s invasive plant list. If native plants are not appropriate, the city manager will seek professional advice for choosing which plants to use.