A new group of Signal Mountain Town Council members is looking into taking over county schools within the town boundaries.
Two newly elected board members, Amy Speek and Dan Landrum, joined the council Friday afternoon at the first work session after the election. The election of mayor and vice mayor for the next two years came first on the agenda.
Dick Gee, mayor for the past two years asked that his name be removed from consideration as mayor for personal reasons and because he said that with the challenges that the city is facing, he felt that another member’s skills would be a better fit. He nominated Councilman Chris Howley for the position that was unanimously approved by the five council members. Councilman Robert Spalding nominated Dick Gee for vice mayor who also received a unanimous vote of approval.
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Some hot topics on that were on the agenda drew a room full of residents. Mayor Howley told the board that he had been approached by individuals who had done extensive research advocating for Signal Mountain to create its own school system. He said their story was intriguing but he did not know if it was accurate. He said he was neutral about it, but that “we owe it to ourselves to look into the viability.” He said he could only go along with it if the conclusion shows it would have a positive effect on the residents of Signal Mountain, it has a neutral economic impact, and if recommended by an advisory committee, that the whole town could decide the matter with a special referendum.
The group that came to the mayor had visited Memphis to study the split of the school system there. Red Bank and East Ridge are also considering creating their own schools systems, said the mayor. Councilman Gee noted that this has been done successfully in other Tennessee Towns. Town Attorney Phil Noblett said that Tennessee codes must be met which requires that a school system include grades one through 12.
Mayor Howley recommended that the council compile questions to be answered by the group. Councilman Landrum said he also wanted to see supporting documentation from them and time to verify it before deciding to create an advisory committee. “What’s the harm in forming a committee?” asked Council member Speek. The mayor made a motion to create an advisory committee to look into the viability of Signal Mountain creating its own school system at the next meeting. Attorney Noblett said that the number of people on the committee would be limited to seven members, of which a majority must come from the Town of Signal Mountain, and that it could not exceed four years. More can participate, but not be on the committee.
The vote was unanimous for approving the motion. At the next council meeting on Dec. 12, participation from the public will be allowed.
The question of how to proceed with renovations of the Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC) was another topic that received a lot of attention. Earlier in the week, the town held two public meetings, to get input from residents. City Manager Boyd Veal told the council that the single point that tied most of the comments together was to preserve the original 1926 structure. The same sentiment was not expressed about the other three sections of the building that were later additions. Councilman Gee said that if it is decided to spend the large amount needed for repairs to the oldest part of the community center, it is important to know that is supported by the public.
The town began working on this over a year ago, when problems were first discovered with the building. Different scenarios, concerning repairs or replacement of varying portions of the building have been made, with differing costs. $1.2 million is the estimate to repair the original 1926 building referred to as building A, and $5.9 million to redo all of the buildings, with variations in between, depending on the extent of the work. Mr. Veal suggested taking a hard look at each phase, and deciding the basic levels that would be acceptable. Ms. Speek suggested the possibility of using volunteers to perform some of the work.
Funding the project with grant money was discussed, but the city manager said that funding could not be used retroactively, and he suggested identifying the most promising areas for obtaining grants, before starting the work. Another consideration is that most grants require a match from the municipality, so the town would have to guarantee that amount up front. Councilman Gee commented that the town did not get a grant in the past because Signal Mountain is not “needy.” “Are you willing to wait for grant funding?” asked the mayor.
Mr. Gee favored moving forward to restore Building A, and proposed that the back portion, that will eventually be torn down, be used during the construction for conducting the MACC programs. He also said that the whole project could be done in stages. If we save only the front, it does not serve all the MACC programs, said Mayor Howley. He said he did not think a decision could be made until concrete numbers were received.
Improvements to the water system began in order to address adequate hydrant flow. In the process, Tennessee American got involved and requested acquisition of the system, which required a RFQ, leading to Walden Ridge expressing interest as well. Mr. Veal said with all the other projects going on in the town, there are too many things on our plate. Major projects take time to engineer and design, said the city manager, and as of now, the system is still owned and operated by the town.
Signal Mountain did contract with an engineering firm to design a plan to address the issues it was facing. Work needed on James Boulevard in Old Town was included because water lines running under the street should be replaced before repaving the road. Acceptance of the low bid of $999,000 has been recommended by the engineers, and the city manager recommended proceeding with all the projects as a whole versus segmenting them.