The town of Lookout Mountain, Tn., has finally reached agreement on a dressed-up new cell tower that will be at City Hall.
The engineering firm of Neel-Schaffer was hired by the town as an independent consultant to determine the best options for appearance and function of a new cell phone tower. At the commission meeting Tuesday night, their report was made public.
It recommended locating a close mount tower in front of city hall that will accommodate four carriers.
The ground equipment will be enclosed in two small buildings with individual rooms for each carrier. They will be in front of and below the driveway in a linear configuration with the tower between them. A wall in front of the structures will be built using mountain stone columns and board and batten siding to match city hall. That is what will be visible from the commons below. A driveway will come directly from Scenic Highway so that access by the fire and police departments will not be interrupted.
A unanimous vote was to accept the engineering company’s recommendation. This will enable the town to move forward on the issue by providing the conditions that are needed to obtain bids from the two companies vying to build the tower, and for creating lease documents.
Commissioner of Fire and Police Jim Bentley told the room that when he became commissioner he knew the employees were good but did not really know how well trained and dedicated the fire and police departments are. In the last couple of weeks statistics have been released by the state of Tennessee and Hamilton County that show how the departments performed in 2014.
Mr. Bentley said that dispatchers go through two audits each year, and the TBI reported that on Lookout Mountain they were 100 percent clear, with performance better by far, than what is required.
According to the state reports, the Lookout Mountain, Tn., police have in-service training that exceeds state requirements. A number of officers have certification in advanced aspects of law enforcement and several officers are certified instructors that have been asked by the Federal government to teach active shooter training to the National Park rangers. Additionally, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s department has said that the town’s law enforcement is far ahead of the curve in school security.
The fire department has achieved Class 2 rating by the Insurance Service Office (ISO) which sets rates for insurance companies. Out of 47,000 departments evaluated last year, there were just 720 designated as Class 2. This puts Lookout Mountain in the top 800 in the country.
Statistics from December, compiled by Chief Randy Bowden show that police received 73 calls, patrolled 4087 miles, and answered 19 burglar alarms that were all false. Response was made to nine assist citizen calls and 15 calls to “911.” There were no auto accidents and 15 traffic stops. One arrest was made which was serving a warrant for the U.S. Post Office. During the month there were no burglaries and four thefts. Three theft reports were made when people just noticed that something was missing. In the other one, a suspect was identified and sent before a grand jury in just two weeks time. There were 19 medical calls including five mutual aid calls in Georgia and four false fire alarms.
Report cards were given out the day after students returned to school from winter break, reported Commissioner of Schools Don Stinnett. Important dates on the school calendar he noted include the spelling bee on January 14, MLK Jr. Day on Jan. 19 when there will be no classes, the book fair from Feb.2-6, a P.T.A. meeting Feb. 3 and Grandparent’s Day and Night Out for Lookout both on Feb. 27. He thanked Chief Bowden for conducting another police training day at the school last Saturday.
Commissioner of Parks and Playgrounds Brooke Pippinger announced that basketball is currently in progress and that the sign-up days for baseball will be Feb. 14 and 21. Basketball goals have been put up at the new tennis courts, she said and a backboard has been ordered but not yet delivered. The baseball parade is scheduled for April 18.
The town has plenty of salt and is waiting for a good snow to be able to use it, said Walker Jones, commissioner of the public works department. A new leaf machine has now been delivered and put into use. Mr. Jones said the department is in the middle of a few paving projects. Currently, work is being done on the alley between Hooker and Morrison Streets and on North Bragg Avenue. The long-time problem of erosion under Bartram Road is being evaluated by an engineering firm that will provide options for making repairs. The dumpster will be on the mountain next, on the first Saturday in February.
Town Consultant Dwight Montague gave the financial report for December. He said the town received $800,000 in property taxes during the month and that sales tax collections are ahead of last year both statewide and locally. The first payment from the Tennessee Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant for the new tennis courts has been received and a second is expected to be paid soon, he said. Registration fees of $5,000 were received from the summer camp at the commons. Lookout Mountain, Ga. made a payment of $4,000 for the community website and County Commissioner Joe Graham donated $1,200 from his discretionary fund to add to the $2,000 budgeted by the town for a security system at the school.
Expenditures during the month included $35,000 paid for the new leaf machine. Legal fees have now exceeded the budgeted amount of $60,000 said Mr. Montague. It is hoped that will be recouped from lease payments that will come from the cell phone tower.
The Sexton family made a donation to pay for the installation of a sculpture by Wayne Trapp that they gave the town several months ago. It will be placed in Jane’s Garden.
The Café on the Corner is going to be rebuilt, said Mayor Carol Mutter. Plans are now being submitted for the new building. The next step will be to seek bids for construction.