City Passes Budget Twice Last Week
Members of the Burkesville city Council met twice last week to finish up the budget, the interlocal agreement for emergency service’s 911 dispatching, and other last-minute considerations.
By Greg Wells
CCN—Editor
At the second meeting of the Burkesville City Council last week, questions regarding the nature of spending outlined in the budget were raised by council members Connie Cravens and Shawn Riddle.
Mayor Laurel Irby told them that any expenditures from the budget would have to be approved by the council, so they would have an oversight of the spending within the line items.
Council members continued to express a desire to have exact figures and exact line items for the budget, and the City Clerk Marquetta Riley told them she had that data and had it printed out for them during the meeting.
After the first City council meeting, earlier in the week, the council had approved the first reading of the budget, then at the second meeting they approved the second reading. When asked why the budget has not been advertised for the public to see, Irby said they didn’t have to until after the second reading.
That budget, which was passed on second reading, includes job performance raises for police and other city workers and can be seen in this week’s edition of the Cumberland County News.
Other items discussed included the hiring of a part-time employee for the city’s parks. Irby said the position was needed to cut down on overtime since David McIntyre is the only person overseeing the parks at present. That position was included in the coming year’s budget.
The mayor stressed the need for a community service committee which would coordinate community service work in Burkesville.
She mentioned that since the city no longer has an animal control officer, that money could be spent by that community service committee.
Cravens and Riddle both spoke up, reminding the mayor that those funds were already transferred, by a vote of the council, to the county to pay for animal control in the city at last month’s council meeting.
Also approved at the Friday meeting of the council was a motion supporting a local charitable group’s creation of a sober living home on the corner of Cliff and Owsley Street. The council was told that the success rate of someone leaving a treatment center went to over 80% if that person can transition back to the community in a sober living facility.
Council Member, and Drug Court official, Glen Murphy spoke in support of the facility. He and members of the audience who have been through the trials of becoming clean and sober spoke passionately about the need for this program in the community to make success more likely for those working to escape the hold drugs have on their lives.
The city’s enter local agreement with the county for operation of the emergency 911 Dispatch Center was approved, with one no vote from council member Trevor Owsley. He and others on the council had expressed dissatisfaction with the mayor’s inclusion of a provision allowing for a coin toss in the event of a dispute between the city and the county on the percentage distribution of debts and property should the center be closed.
Another member of the council expressed his opinion that it was ridiculous that such a thing would need to be included.
