Several Signal Mountain Residents Victims Of Expensive Scams; School Lockdown Scare Turned Out To Be Squirrel Hunter

  • Tuesday, January 14, 2025
  • Gail Perry

Three Signal Mountain residents were victims of expensive scams, Signal Mountain Police Chief Mike Williams told the Town Council. An arrest has been made for one incident where $340,000 was lost.

Chief Williams said this was part of an off-shore scheme going around the Southeast. Two other elderly individuals lost $20,000 and $70,000 when they fell for the scam originating in Kennesaw, Ga, with final deposits made in Mexico. 

That was just part of a busy last quarter for Signal Mountain Police. Police dealt with vandalism at the public works building. There was an automobile theft traced to a man at Signal Mountain Middle School. A serious auto accident on Signal Mountain Road involved a validated gang member who was well known to the Chattanooga Police gang unit.

There was also a report of assault and abuse of a minor that involved Child Protective Services and the school. Police conducted a drug burn and radar signs and lights were installed around the schools.

Another case was a report of a man in the woods with a gun that resulted in locking down schools. The man was found to be squirrel hunting and was not charged because he was doing nothing wrong, said the chief. 

Matt Justice was sworn in as Signal Mountain’s permanent town manager at the Monday meeting. This time, the council  knew what they were getting since Mr. Justice has served several times as the interim between previous town managers, while at the same time being head of the city’s water utility. At the first meeting in his new position he was praised for his organizational and management skills.

“The council only directs one employee, and that is the town manager,” said Mayor Elizabeth Baker. “This time we got it right with Matt Justice. His leadership with all the department heads, quick response to needs during the snow event this week and the high level of communication with the public were excellent.” Commissioner Andrew Gardner added that he had heard thanks from several citizens for the hard work and progress seen from the city’s staff, and he credited that to leadership. He said that "good leadership enables the go getters to go above and beyond.”

In his first report of the year, Mr. Justice told the council that the city is closing out the finance director applications. He said a number of good resumes have been received and that 14 are experienced in some type of finance and accounting. In other business, the town has switched the postage system it uses saving $40 each month. Now the city is facing preliminary audit challenges that will begin in early February, he said.  

The department heads reported activity during the previous quarter. Some highlights from the reports include Library Director John Atkinson informing of the success of programs held during the holiday season that were well received by residents. Santa’s Book Nook  was a popular event with volunteers from Friends of the Library assisting children shopping for books as gifts. This also served as a fundraiser for the library. Money raised by this group has been used for unbudgeted items, such as  refurbishing the interior of the building with new paint and furniture. The council also approved, on the first of two readings, to establish the option of online use of the library. This will give public access to the library’s digital catalogue to non-residents for a $35 annual fee.

Public Works Director Wesley Stokes told the council that his department now has a new lead mechanic who has identified problems and is capable of fixing issues in house. Recycling cardboard has been successful in keeping 14 tons of it out of the solid waste compactor. The city can sell cardboard where it has to pay to have other recyclables hauled away. Citizens have responded well to the town’s participation in White Oak Bicycle Co-Op which distributed donated bikes to those in need. Roofs on town buildings have been repaired and insurance paid for the work after storm damage was found to have caused the damage. Guide arrows were installed on the Rainbow Lake Trail, and ditches have started to be cleaned out coming up the mountain.

The fire department had 167 calls in the last three months. Of those 11 were fire related and included three-four chimney fires. Most of the calls were rescues. The department participated in 11 mutual aid calls with nearby municipalities and the city received mutual aid twice. The fire department also installed seven smoke alarms for residents and cleared areas on Rainbow Lake Trail so that ATVs can be used for rescues.

The Signal Mountain Water Utility did water sampling and now has completed the inventory of lead lines that was started a year and a half ago. Water sampling showed that there were no abnormal findings or alerts. Upcoming is the booster station improvement that will help with low pressure on the top of the mountain, said Mr. Justice. Also coming will be landscaping around the pump station that will match the aesthetics of the town. And some evergreens that have been topped under power lines will be replaced with lower growing vegetation.

Reappointments were made to various town boards. These are Mike Richards to the Construction Board of Appeals, David Dreed, Elaine Preston and John Wynn to the Historical Committee, Michaela Farmer will continue to serve on the Tree Board and Marcia Coooper on the Planning Commission.

Discussion took place about reducing the number of members on the town’s parks and recreation department from nine to seven. It is now difficult to get a quorum of five, with the current number of members. Recertification of the town being a Tree City USA requires a commitment of $2 per capita for tree services. It was decided  that what the city pays for leaf and brush pickup and right-of-way maintenance will qualify to reach the amount. But tracking the expenses will  be done to verify the costs.

 

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