The regular East Ridge City Council meeting on Thursday began with a special presentation to two very special police officers.
On June 3. East Ridge 911 received a call about a man who had overdosed on an unknown substance. Two East Ridge police officers were dispatched to the scene. The man was discovered lying on the bathroom floor and in full cardiac arrest not breathing. Officer Cory Hinsch and Officer Tim Allison pulled the man into the hallway and immediately began to perform CPR. They continued with the CPR until EMS arrived on the scene.
Shortly after that, the man was revived and began to breathe on his own. If not for these officers, the outcome may have become a tragic death. Police Chief J.R. Reed presented both officers with a plaque that honors them for saving the man’s life.
Officer Allison has been with ERPD for about four months and Officer Hinsch for a little over a year. Chief Reed was very proud of both men for their quick response and action in a moment of crisis.
Contributed photo – Chief J.R. Reed, center, awarded Officers Tim Allison, left and Cory Hinsch with a plaque in recognition of them recently saving a man’s life who had overdosed.
Chief Reed also announced the retirement of his third in command, Captain Tim Mullinax. Capt. Mullinax has served ERPD for 27 ½ years. and supervised Administrative Services, which consists of the Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Records Division, Property & Evidence, Fugitive and Special Operations Division, including the SWAT team. The city council members remarked on how much he will be missed.
Chief Building Official Kenny Custer briefed the council on the need for two contractors to perform mowing and corrective maintenance for private properties. If a residence’s grass is 12 inches tall, a 10-day warning is presented to the property owners. If no action has been taken by day 11, the city can go and do the work needed to improve the appearance of the property. Custer stated that there are more than 400 problem properties that the city is dealing with.
The city’s employee health insurance will change from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) to a Cigna plan. The cost of health insurance for employees will be $1.9 million with Cigna. BCBS had proposed a 38 percent increase in premiums, officials said.
City employees will have to pay an 8% increase. BCBS will still be the provider for dental and vision care, officials said.
The newly created East Ridge Housing Authority (ERHA) will have it’s first meeting soon. The city will be posting the information on the meeting date and time and the ERHA meeting is open to the public. A tentative meeting date will be June 30 at noon at City Hall, officials said. Mayor Lambert will be contacting the committee members to make sure everyone appointed to the ERHA can attend.
The council discussed the fact that not everyone is happy with the new traffic light at Ringgold Road and McDonald Road. The traffic light was installed by TDOT and not the City of East Ridge, officials said.
With the July 4th holiday around the corner, the council made clear that it is illegal to discharge fireworks within the city. This, despite the fact that East Ridge is home to several fireworks vendors.
If you have a neighbor shooting off fireworks, you can call the police. The parties involved will receive a warning on the first offense, however, on the second offense the individuals can be issued a citation for said fireworks activity.
The council also entertained the idea of accepting donated benches installed at the soccer fields at Camp Jordan. There will be more discussions on placement and how to prevent benches from “growing legs” and disappearing from the site.
The Southern Sacred Sounds Concerts at Camp Jordan is July 29. Advanced tickets are $10 and $15 on the day of the show.
The end of year budget is in the process of transferring some extra funds to the General Fund for the City to operate until the 2017-2018 budget has been approved.
The city council approved on second reading six ordinances dealing with changes in the codes and and its fee schedule. These fee increases are still in comparison less than most cities, officials said.
The council passed on second reading Ordinance 1046, which regulates the operation of ATVs on residential property. The council had wrestled for several months about the need for such regulations after a number of citizens complained of ATV activity on a vacant lot on John Ross Road.
On July 1, 2017, a new state law goes into effect which allows those with weapon carry permits to enter all government properties with their weapon. City Council meetings and Municipal Court will continue to ban weapons, but otherwise, one can carry a gun as long as they have a carry permit.
Fun Time Foods was the only vendor to submit a bid for concessions at Camp Jordan. They will have a three-year contract with two, one-year extensions available as an option. The City of East Ridge will receive 34 percent of the concessions sales.
Councilman Larry Sewell stated that people have been complaining about the high prices for food and drinks at Camp Jordan. When the council voted on the resolution accepting the bid, Councilman Sewell was the only member to vote no on the contract with Fun Time Foods. He feels that the 34 percent of sales the city gets is unreasonably high and suggested a lower percentage would help to bring costs down for the consumers.
City Manager Scott Miller has agreed to a contract for another year of service to the city. The Mayor and Council praised his work and efforts on behalf of the City of East Ridge calling him a “great asset” for the city. He declined a proposed raise in lieu of a small increase to his retirement fund. City Manager Miller also carries over one week vacation that he did not use in fiscal year 2016-2017.
