Budgeting Underway: Second Meeting to Come
The full city council gathered on June 18 for the first of the two meetings they will be having this month. PHOTO | Greg Wells
By Greg Wells
CCN–Editor
The Burkesville City Council amended the current City budget to cover expenditures of grant funding for improvements to Hilltop Park, another to set the City Clerk’s pay at $27.55, and another to adopt the budget for the coming year.
In the drafts prepared of both the current year budget and the coming year budget as prepared before the meeting, $1.6469 million was the estimated revenue and expenditures for both years, exactly.
Those were the first readings of those ordinances; a second reading will be necessary before the end of the month for them to be legally binding. That meeting was set for 3pm June 24.
Also approved at the meeting was the purchase of three laptops in the current fiscal year for the police department, an application for a grant to replace an aging water tanker for the fire department, and permission to pursue the purchase of a water vending system to allow farmers and others to purchase and dispense bulk water into trucks, trailers, and totes even when the water plant is not open.
A proposal to apply for FEMA money available from the January ice storm was examined and rejected as it would likely be more costly to do the paperwork than the city would receive in funding.
Police Chief Wesley Long said recruitment to fill a vacant police officer position has been initiated, and interviews will begin. New tasers have been issued now that issues have been resolved with the units. Old patrol vehicles have been sold, but new pistols have not been purchased as quotes have not come in.
The department handled 285 complaints, 112 traffic stops, 18 citations, 13 lockouts, 11 traffic collisions, 6 criminal arrests, 19 alcohol-related calls in the last month, he reported.
Water department is examining the installation of an aesthetic wind screen in the fencing around the water plant across the street from Veterans Memorial Park, pending quotes for the cost of materials and installation. Road department is hoping to get paving completed on two streets, Baker and South High, before the end of the fiscal year. Sanitation department is searching for more bids on replacement for the bed of one of the garbage trucks. A $9,427 estimate has been received from one company. The Parks department reported removing a tree that had been previously trimmed, but showed no signs of recovery and was deemed a danger in future storms.
