Rather than forming a committee of citizens to look into possible options to alleviate traffic and improve emergency access to Signal Mountain Middle/High School, the Signal Mountain Town Council is now planning to form a staff committee to recommend a solution.
The issue involves working with the state and county governments that own the land surrounding the school, explained Town Manager Boyd Veal, who suggested at the council’s Dec. 28 work session that they form a staff committee instead.
“I don’t know if this is going to be a good fit for a true citizens’ committee,” he said.
The committee will likely be composed of Veal, Public Works Director Loretta Hopper, Special Projects and Compliance Manager Sam Guin, Police Chief Mike Williams, someone from the school who is familiar with the issue, and Vice Mayor Amy Speek, who previously brought up forming the citizen committee at the council’s December meeting.
Veal said the committee will first go over options that have already been discussed, such as building a roundabout to help alleviate traffic and getting permission from the county to cut a second entrance through county property adjacent to the school. The council wants to bring experts such as a traffic engineer or police officers who direct traffic at the school into the discussion.