The town of Signal Mountain allocated ARPA funds (American Rescue Plan Act) before the required deadline. Two of the projects that are planned for utilizing that money are to replace five bay doors at fire station #1. The other project is to renovate the restrooms in all town-owned properties. Both were put out for bid and those proposals have just recently been opened.
The cost of the fire department doors came in at $30,317 ,which is $19,000 below the estimated price of $50,000. That excess balance can be used to pay toward another project that came in over budget, which is renovation of bathrooms in town-owned properties. The work that is planned includes making the restrooms ADA compliant, installing new water efficient fixtures and energy efficient lighting, painting and making sure that plumbing/electrical is up to code.
Public Works Director Wesley Stokes told the council that the bids for restrooms had been done individually in case the costs were too high to renovate all at the same time. And that is what happened. Of the total amount of $282,290 dedicated to the bathroom remodels. The facilities at the pool alone came in at $160,163. Mr. Stokes said if all the bathrooms were upgraded, it would leave a deficit of $151,760. There was a consensus of the council to proceed with improvements of the pool bathrooms only at this time.
After the audit process last year it was discovered that the town of Signal Mountain had overspent for paving by $819,000. To correct the mistake, the town took out a loan and began making payments to itself of $20,000 each month for paying it back. By December this year, the loan balance was down to $179,495 and the final payment is scheduled to be paid in Selptember.
Town Manager Matt Justice told the council that it looks like state shared revenue is coming in higher than usual this year and that money can supplement the state street aid fund used for maintaining the roads. He recommended to continue making the $20.000 monthly payments to itself until the end of this fiscal year when the loan balance will be down to $59,495 and at that point, forgive the loan.
A public hearing and final vote took place at the meeting for adding the option of online use of the library for non-residents. For an annual fee of $35 those people will have access to the library’s digital catalogue. After the final reading passed, the library will begin a waiting list of interested people. The library board has made a recommendation for a vacancy on the board for Jay Woods. He will be voted on by the council at the next meeting.
The council decided to leave two vacancies on the parks and recreation board with the purpose of reducing the number of members to seven from the current nine. It has been difficult to get the large number of board members to attend meetings. Nine members was the result of merging the parks and the recreation departments, officials have said.
The council approved the purchase of a new police interceptor cruiser for the amount of $56,096 that will be bought using a state contract.
A grant that is available for the fire department was discussed. This Fire and Rescue Squad grant would pay 100 percent with no out-of-pocket match for equipment it would buy. Before agreeing to apply for this grant, the council wants to have more clarification about the equipment and how often it would be used and the need for replacing it, since there might be unforeseen costs in the future.