After last night's city council meeting, we're now down to one meeting left in this administration. There was not a lot of business on the agenda, but we did take action on one item.
The Marion County Commission requests funding each year from each municipality to help with resources they provide to the county. The amount requested is determined by population numbers with the larger municipalities taking on the larger portion of the funding. It should be noted that the County Commission takes on approximately half of the funding and the municipalities split the other half. The funding requested of Guin is as follows:
Communication - $21,548.15
Drug Task Force - $11,480.43
Emergency Management - $3127.99
Communication is primarily for the base communications of the entire county. The Drug Task Force is self explanatory. Unfortunately, we have used their services much more that we'd like here in Guin. The cost involved in the cleanup of these labs alone would run into tens of thousands of dollars per year per municipality without the service provided by our Drug Task Force. The Emergency Management Agency provides our county with those services needed during disasters of any kind.
The City Council agreed to fund our portion of these appropriations given the services they provide and the criticality of those services. The appropriations will be paid monthly rather than in a one time lump sum payment.
The other item on the agenda was old business related to the total cost the city incurs for our garbage service. Over the last several years, we've seen significant increases in our per ton use of the transfer station, fuel surcharges, environmental fees, and several other increases associated with providing this service. Given those increases, the city has to find a way to cover the shortfall we've seen in recent years associated with this service. There are a couple of options on the table for covering that shortfall including rate increases or contracting the work out. We have tabled action on this item until the next meeting so we may have a complete understanding of the issue.
Notes of Interest:
The Marion County High School volleyball team is ranked number 10 in the latest state high school volleyball poll for 1A. Amy Parker and her kids have been very successful in recent years in a sport which is fairly new to our high school. If you get an opportunity, please take time to go out and support these ladies.
The Marion County High School football team plays at home Friday night against Parrish High School. The team is very young this year and is taking it's lumps in a very competitive region for football. Please take time to go out and support these young men. They work very hard each week and need our support.
Missy Miles has completed the mural downtown behind our city fountain. She has done amazing work and has really improved the aesthetic quality of our downtown area.
An access road is currently being built into our industrial property along Interstate-22. Work should be completed in the coming weeks. This road will be an important recruiting tool as we look to bring industry to Guin.
Please encourage those candidates who still have signs up around town to remove them. Signs can be very helpful during a campaign, but those candidates also have a responsibility to clean them up when the campaign ends. We should all want our city to be beautiful and attractive to our citizens and those who visit. These signs take away from that beauty.
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4 comments:
bobby why is guin paying the city workers overtime to water the plants in guin.i thought they had auto water system installed.this could be a way to save money.maybe no one know how to turn them on.as high as gas is it look like they would turn the water on to these plants and trees?
It is my understanding that watering has to be done for the hanging pots which have no water lines run to them.
As we tighten our belts, though, in our struggling economy, we will be evaluating each and every expense the city incurs and will eliminate costs where feasible.
why doesn't the city buy the old shopping center and the old shell station, fix it up and try to attract and promote retail businesses? people would shop here if they had more choices and another grocery store.
The City of Guin was offered an opportunity to purchase the shopping center several years ago and chose not to given the amount of money required for repairs and upkeep. We do, though, have a desire to help those private owners who want to recruit businesses to their property. In turn, those owners have a responsibility to improve their product and make it desirable for those who might be interested in investing in Guin.
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