Anthony Wakim, an Eagle Scout, was mayor for the day
photo by Gail Perry
Signal Mountain Mayor Dick Gee presented the annual “State of the Town” report at the council meeting Monday night. A full report was in print form. In his speech, the mayor hit on what he considered to be the highlights for the fiscal year of 2014-2015.
Ask a realtor the criteria for determining the value of a house, he said, and the answer is always “location, location, location and as a place, we certainly have one of the best you can imagine.
Accolades such as the number one place to live, the second safest place to live in Tennessee, and the 15th best suburb in America have been used to describe Signal Mountain in recent years. But location is not all there is, he said, we need to run it.
In that regard he said Signal Mountain was fortunate to have Town Manager Boyd Veal running the business of the town, saying that he had taken it upon himself to complete courses and receive the Certified Municipal Finance Officer designation from the State of Tennessee.
The staff follows up on his leadership. Police Chief Mike Williams came to the town this year from the position of Assistant Police Chief of Chattanooga. He has made a significant difference in the moral of the police department, said the mayor. Due to his outstanding leadership, officers have had the opportunities to do extensive training and have constantly gotten better at what they do.
Fire Chief Eric Mitchell runs a most professional fire department, said Mayor Gee. This department not only handles fire emergencies but 62 percent of the calls are for medical assistance and all shifts are staffed with Emergency Medical Technicians. Chief Mitchell is also in charge of the building codes departments that issues permits and conducts inspections. This year construction value totaled $11,575,161 and permit fees were $61,059. Also, another responsibility has been given to Chief Mitchell. which is facilities maintenance of buildings owned by the town.
The public works department has succeeded in collecting over 3,000 tons of garbage this year, and diverted 95 tons of recyclable material from the landfill through the recycling center. Curbside pick-up collected 2,000 tons of leaves and this department is also responsible for collecting brush. The department head, Loretta Hopper also deals with stormwater improvements and has improved or upgraded drainage throughout the town.
The water department is currently being reviewed, and the town has two interested entities interested in pursuing the purchase of the water facilities.
The library that is headed by Karin Glendenning is being reconfigured to include a conference room. It provides wonderful summer programs, said the mayor. “For a town our size, there’s no better library in the south,” he said.
The state of the MACC is bitter sweet, he said, because while it was thriving as a community center, concerns about problems with mold have caused the city to shut it down until the problems are corrected. Plans are yet to be determined for how to move forward with this project.
The recreation department being run by Jarred Thompson served 2,000 youth in organized programs during the year, a significant increase from the year before. Mayor Gee was proud to announce that the community pool received a score of 100 during the health inspection in 2015.
You also need money to run a town, and fortunately, Signal Mountain is blessed, he said with a steady stream of income. Population stays fairly constant and income is sufficient and predictable so it is easy to manage the budget. The biggest challenge is to control spending, he said.
New capital projects underway include replacing the public works building, James Boulevard, and beginning a new fire station as well as dealing with the problems at the MACC.
Quality of life attracts people and if you live in Signal Mountain, you are around some of the greatest people you could hope to meet, he added. “I believe people here live in the best town in the state of Tennessee,” he ended.
Following the mayor’s presentation, the council dealt with regular business including approving a PILOT (Payment in lieu of taxes) for the water utility that is run by the Town of Signal Mountain as a business. Different funds must be segregated by the town so that taxes paid to the water system would be required to be put into the water fund. The town has the ability and chose to create the PILOT which will permit tax equivalent payments to be distributed to the General Fund in the amount of $26,168 which will allow the money to be used for purposes other than the water system.
A budget amendment was also approved, totaling $76,245 for unexpected expenditures that occurred during the year. This included designating $53,933 for paving, $15,794 for building speed humps, and $6,458 for audio equipment that is now being used by the town council.
A citizen’s advisory committee of seven people has been appointed to the Centennial Celebration Committee. It was discovered that in a city ordinance, most committee members were restricted to one year terms. In order for this committee to be allowed three year terms, the council amended the ordinance so that the centennial committed is exempted until the completion of their duties.
Mayor Gee made the suggestion to create a citizens advisory committee that could function as a working group. This is seen as a way for volunteers “to plug in.” They could participate in a way outside the norm of city government, to contribute ideas, talents and time to improve the city.
The future of recycling on Signal Mountain was a topic of discussion Monday night, and a public meeting will be scheduled for citizen participation. There are three options at this time: Orange Grove may be able to continue working with the city because a new facility is being built. The town could choose to change to curbside recycling and take back operations from Orange Grove, or hours could be reduced at the recycling center. Part of the decision may be based on the changing price for recycled materials. It was noted that curbside may cause an increase in costs for the city because there could be less participation. The current center is open to Walden and residents of Sequatchie County, not just Signal Mountain. Another consideration, said Commissioner Spalding is that even though single stream recycling increased participation, materials can be sold for a higher price when separated because it eliminates cross contamination.
The chairman of the Tree Board told the council that the town has qualified as a “tree city,” and so will receive 300 trees to give away on Saturday, March 14. Tulip poplars, pin oaks and paw paw trees will be available. The current tree cover of the town is 71 percent. He said the tree board’s objective is to keep it that way. “If you cut down a tree, plant another one,” he said.
The town proclaimed Anthony Wakim, an 8th grader at Signal Mountain Middle/High School to be Mayor for the Minute. He has obtained the highest rank of Eagle Scout at a very early age, said Mayor Gee. He has a perfect school attendance record dating back to kindergarten, and participates in school and church activities.