I was so happy that the attendance for the April 13 East Ridge City Council meeting was wonderful! I signed in for citizen communication portion of the meeting to get my five minutes and then eight or so people also put down their names.

I was cheering inside that maybe some people were here about an important issue, and I was not disappointed.

I spoke to the council first and handed them a picture of the East Ridge side of the Bachman Tunnels and said “look how there is trash all over the place.” I spoke about how the “Beautification” project should look at spending some money on this mess. They replied, “Oh, that is TDOT responsibility.”

Well, they work with TDOT on a lot of projects they want all the time, so I got the impression nothing would be done. I also called “The Barn Nursery” and checked to see if East Ridge would be recognized as tax exempt on anything we buy there, and they said YES

I am not sure if it bothers anyone else or not. I told them it was embarrassing to be in such shape.

I then proceeded to ask if there was any progress with CARTA concerning the Care-A-Van transportation of our disabled or elderly citizens. The City Manager said that they have not heard from CARTA yet. Seems like the Council should just suck it up and finally make a decision to do the right thing!

Then, the residents of Myrtle Avenue and Schmidt Road were in attendance to discuss the dangerous driving and speeding taking place on their streets. Some were begging the Council to do something because it is such a burden on their minds.

They were polite and passionate when they would talk about the speeding and traffic on their roads when the high school lets in or out. Residents even reported that the teachers are speeding dangerously as well. I had first heard about this on Facebook, however, the Council said this was the first they had heard about the situations.

The Police Chief was present at the meeting and said he would place some undercover cars there that can evaluate the traffic. I hope that they followed through with the ERPD undercover division.