July 19 Council Meeting

I had a feeling our first council meeting after the wet/dry vote would be well attended and it was, but not for the reasons I expected. Coach Don Jones attended and brought a number of people in support of him. Coach, with the help of the Marion County Drug Task Force, proposed a resolution to the city council regarding methamphetamine production in the state of Alabama.

As we all know, meth use and production in this region is rampant and statistics provided by the Drug Task Force show that it's only getting worse in Marion County. So, Coach Jones approached the council to approve an ordinance which encourages our state leaders to make pseudo ephedrine a class 3 drug which, in turn, would then require a prescription for any drug containing it. This approach has worked very well, in other parts of the country, to curb the production of meth. Mississippi recently made this law and, in a very short time, they've already seen a decline in the number of arrests for producing this drug. Of course, the mayor and city council approved the resolution and will present it to Senator Bedford and Representative Millican this week. My hope is that our community and our leaders will get behind this important project. Methamphetamine cannot be made without pseudo ephedrine and it's my belief, and the experts' belief, that this is the best route to ending production of this devastating drug. Great job Coach!

In other news:

- The City of Guin presented both schools their quarterly disbursements from the 1% sales tax.

- Guin Elementary School asked for and received money from the school tax reserve fund to make safety improvements to front entrance of the school.

- The city council agreed to purchase a truck from NW AL Gas for $3300. The truck will be used by the street department.

- Discussed building a concrete pad for storage of plant mix used in patching city streets. Action was tabled to a later date so that we may obtain more information, as well as, additional bids.

Bobby

Guin Voters Decide Wet

As most of you know by now, voters decided by a margin of 617 - 388 to sell alcohol within the city limits of Guin. Now that we've completed this part of the process, the real work begins. Your mayor and city council have worked very hard to develop an ordinance which is designed to protect our community and maintain the quality of life we know now. We'll continue to review the ordinance and make changes as needed to provide our community the very best protection possible.

As we move forward from this very divisive vote, we need to remember what makes our community great. And that's the love we have for each other and for our community. Over the last several weeks, I've watched as friendships were strained, faiths were tested, and good names were dragged through the mud. That's not what I came to love about this great city we live in. I hope and pray this community will ultimately heal from the wounds of a very emotional and divisive process and work together to move our community forward.

Bobby Bellew

Hello Again!

It's been almost a year since I posted last. My apologies to those who were reading on a regular basis. My little girl has kept my wife and I very busy leaving little time for blogging. I do hope to get back to posting on a semi-regular basis though. Until then, I want to give you some quick hitters on some of the topics facing our city at this time:

- We have a rather important vote before us next Tuesday. As you are probably well aware, we go to the polls next week to decide if we want to sell alcohol within the city limits of Guin. I encourage you, no matter your viewpoint, to go vote. I also encourage you to read Saturday's Journal Record to get a rundown of the alcohol ordinance we put in place last week in the event of a yes vote.

- The Holiday Inn Express which was announced recently is finalizing paperwork for their financing. Their ground breaking should occur in the coming weeks.

- The Toyota plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi recently announced plans to ramp up and produce vehicles by the fall of 2011. The city of Guin and Marion County are working hard to bring spin off suppliers to our area. Statistics show that for every 1 job created by a auto manufacturer, 12 supplier jobs are also created. With 2000 jobs planned for Toyota, that's 12,000 supplier jobs that have to go somewhere. Why not here?

- We had another great July 4th celebration last weekend here in Guin. The fireworks show was probably the best I've seen since I've been in the area. The crowd was amazing. It's always nice to see those from surrounding communities and counties come to Guin for their Independence Day celebration. And thanks to all those who work hard to put this event on.

That's all for now. There will be more later as we move forward from this vote on Tuesday. Take care.

Bobby Bellew

August 3, 2009 Council Meeting Notes

Several items on the agenda this evening. First, the school principals were presented with their allotments for 2nd quarter's 1% sales tax revenue. Each school received in excess of $15,000. The council then heard from David Cooper on the effects the supension of a .5% of the city school tax might have on each school. Representing the school advisory board, he also recommended, and encouraged the city to re-evaluate our financial situation bi-annually to determine when the full allotment of tax revenue can be restored to the schools. I, personally, will make certain the city council does re-evaluate our financial situation as frequently as possible and restore the full 1 percent at the earliest possible time. The principals also gave us an update on their previous quarter's expenditures. They're both working very hard to provide our children the very best education possible and I appreciate their efforts.

Communicom cable was also present to discuss additional channels that might be added to their lineup. They have intentions of adding WVUA from Tuscaloosa to their lineup, but don't yet have a channel assigned. Their representatives are asking the city to allow them to put it on the government access channel assigned to the city of Guin. Additionally, there are two local cable channels who are vying for the same spot and we, the city of Guin, have to decide what we want to do with that particular channel on your local cable company. This is a topic we don't know a lot about, so we tabled the decision until we can know more about the details of a government access channel and how the different choices might positively or negatively affect the citizens of Guin.

Other Notes:

- Approved a resolution which would allow the mayor to act on the city's behalf when pursuing a grant that might allow us to fund the remodeling of our national guard armory.
- Approved a 1 year contract with Kay Marshall to design and maintain the city's websites (includes our industrial board site).
- The mayor assigned committees to each department/board within the city. Those city council members will attend the scheduled meetings and work with them closely to provide our citizens the very best services in the most efficient manner possible.

Thank you all for reading. Have a great week!

Hello Again!

After several months, I'm getting back to more of a normal routine and will begin posting again. As you may have noticed, we, as a council, have been back page material in the last several months. That's a testament to the professionalism this administration has shown while doing the city's business. Unfortunately, we can't always remain on the back page. Tomorrow, decisions made last week by our council will probably make front page headlines of the Marion County Journal Record (http://www.myjrpaper.com/).

As you all know, the city lost Champion Homes last year and other manufacturers have cut back to survive the recession our country is currently in. As a result, we've lost approximately $110,000 in yearly occupational tax. That, combined with increased costs and lost revenue in other areas, puts the city in a significant financial shortfall for this fiscal year, as well as, the forthcoming year. We have an opportunity to refinance one of our largest bonds to a lower interest rate saving us over $100,000 per year in interest payments, but to do so, we have to show positive cash flow and do it as quickly as possible. So, at the end of last week, based on recommendations from auditors, we agreed to increase our city sales tax by 1% to 3% and temporarily suspend payment of .5% of the sales tax designated for our schools.

Understandably, this is not going to be a popular decision and one I'm personally not satisfied with. It is designed as a short term/emergency band aid for a larger cash flow problem. We HAVE to and will become self-sufficient as a city. And as soon as we see improvement, it is my goal and my promise to encourage my colleagues to give the schools their .5% back. It is also my goal to eventually rescind the 1% increase in sales tax we recently agreed to. It is our responsibility as a city to keep our own house in order and be as efficient as possible, spending only when we NEED to. While we've already identified over $100,000 in cuts throughout the city's departments, we've only realized a small portion of that. We will filter through each department within the city cutting where we can and holding each employee accountable for each nickel spent within the city. We will require purchase orders to be signed by department heads for each and every purchase. In more profitable times, some of these things were not as important, but maybe should have been.

I fully understand and believe that we cannot tax ourselves into prosperity. Unfortunately, we were at a point where something drastic had to be done to help us get into a positive cash flow and this decision was made. My hope is that this will help us get over this hump quickly and allow us to refinance our larger debt. When we do so, again, it is my promise to each and every one of you that I will encourage and fight to give the .5% back to our schools and ultimately rescind the additional sales tax. I encourage any comments from you guys and will do my very best to answer each and every question. By the way, there are several good things going on in our community. They include a number of annexations (including our land at the interstate), new businesses, a new manufacturing facility, and clearing work being done at our land on the interstate. I'll cover those topics in future posts.

April 6th Council Meeting - Journal Record Article

Please visit http://www.myjrpaper.com for an update on the April 6th council meeting. As mentioned previously, I was unable to attend the council meeting due to Ava's arrival and did not have details of the action taken. Keep in mind that the online version of the Journal Record does not have an archive feature and all current articles will be removed when the next version is published on Wednesday.

Quick Update

My apologies for no update on the April 6th council meeting. I didn't make the meeting as I was in Tuscaloosa for the birth of our beautiful little girl. I will get you an update after the April 20th meeting and will try to include action taken during the previous meeting.

For those interested, Heather and I brought Ava Kerrington into the world on April 6th at 5:46 P.M. She weighed only 4 pounds 6 ounces, but is a completely healthy little girl. We appreciate all those who thought of us and prayed for us during this time.

One final note: U.S. Senator Richard Shelby visited Guin on Monday, April 13th. He made a short statement about his current work and then took questions from those in the audience. Senator Shelby was open and honest and attempted to answer each and every question presented. I appreciate the work the Senator does for our state and for his willingess to stand on his principles. It's always good to bring someone of his caliber into our community. The exposure we get as a city is invaluable.

March 16, 2009 Council Meeting Notes

Another quick update outlining news from the March 16th council meeting:

- Implemented a computer use policy which will help protect the city's interests, as well as, our citizens.

- Agreed to allocate approximately $8300 to sealing and striping for the Fred's/Websters parking lot.

- Accepted low bid by Shoals Electric for construction of traffic signal replacement at the downtown intersection. The construction will include traffic lights mounted on "arms" attached to poles similar to what we're using for our downtown lighting.

- Agreed to set aside the last two weeks of April for "spring cleaning". Citizens will be allowed to set up a time during those two weeks for the city trash truck to pickup items not normally picked up by our automated truck each week. Those items may include household junk or small limbs. There's normally an extra charge for this service, but for those two weeks, there will be no charge. We do encourage everyone to take advantage of this service. It's important that we all do our part to keep Guin beautiful.

- Approved a $2000 payment to Pyro Productions for the fireworks show they put on each year for us on Independence Day. This show is such a wonderful thing for our community and brings thousands of people to our area each year that normally don't visit.

- Noted that Senator Richard Shelby will be meeting with the public at the Collins Life Center on April 13th. He will be speaking at 2:30 P.M. It's important that we all show up and show our support. His work can and does mean a lot to our community and our country.

Again, sorry for the short update, but things are busy right now awaiting our first child. Please keep Heather and me in your prayers.

City Notes - March 14, 2009

I have to apologize for my lack of posts recently. I've been in the midst of a large project at work which is finally complete and we've spent a lot of time getting ready for our forthcoming edition to our family. Once little Ava arrives and things settle down a little, I'll get back to posting on a regular basis.

For now, I wanted to give you a couple of quick updates on what's been going on at recent council meetings:

- The elementary school has started an after school program with a grant they recently received. Early indications are that the program is very successful. The city council agreed to provide $1500 from the discretionary fund to provide scholarships for those kids who qualify for need.

- The advisory board proposed using $5000 of the discretionary fund on reducing the principal of the note used for building the high school softball field. While not being opposed to the idea, I abstained noting that I wanted to know more about the loan itself. The original intent was the city would take on the loan and the payments would have been made by the booster club. I know the booster club has made a couple of payments, but I wanted to know the terms of the loan and who's been making the payment since. The proposal did go through and that's ok by me, but I still want to know more about how this note is being paid.

- The city council reappointed Richard Wates to a position on the Industrial Development Board. We also appointed Stan Junkin, Ken Randolph, and LeAnn Burns to vacant positions on the Board.

- Matt Leduke was appointed to the position of city judge for a term of two years.

- A decision on using RPS for our ambulance service has yet to be determined. There were several issues that needed to be resolved before making a decision. I think most of those questions have been answered and we can move on with this item in the near future.

- Discussions have been on going about how we can recover our costs for the Independence Day celebration we have each year. There are several ideas on the table, but nothing has been set in stone yet. This is a celebration I personally enjoy each and every year. It brings in thousands of people to our area and it gives our city a great image that's important during such tough economic times. We have to show potential investors that our city is a great place to work, live, and play and this is one way of doing that. I want to make it clear that I am not in favor of eliminating this event to help reduce costs. I personally believe eliminating this event would cost the city more in the long run.

- The access road into our property along Corridor X is moving along nicely. If weather cooperates, the project should be complete in the coming weeks.

- Indications are that our city tax revenue for the first few months of the year are better than normal. During this economic slowdown, it appears as if our local residents are shopping closer to home. I encourage you to continue to do just that. The local tax revenue is important for providing for our local schools, local infrastructure, and for funding the quality services we provide to our community.

That's all for now. Please keep Heather and me in your prayers as we prepare for the birth of our little girl.

Guin City News For January 2009

There wasn't much to report for the first council meeting of the year, but much more during our second meeting.

In new business, the council approved a resolution for a possible LETS (police) grant which would provide our department with an award totaling approximately $26,000. The city would be responsible for a 10% match ($2600). The grant would allow us to purchase a police car and a couple of taser guns. The city will find out at a later date if we were awarded the grant. We also heard from Zane Miles, Guin's park director. He gave us an update on the activities on going at the park, a proposed 2009 budget, and some issues at the water park which will need to be addressed before it opens. One note on the 2009 budget - Zane has identified approximately $45,000 in budget cuts as part of the city's efforts to become a more efficient business. Great job on Zane's part. In other park news, the council reappointed Richard Wates to a spot on the park board. Several other boards have vacancies and we'll fill those during later meetings.

The principals of both the elementary and high school were in attendance to update us on how each school used the city tax money during the fourth quarter. There's a lot of good work going on at both places. Mrs. Brown, in her short time in Guin, has really brought some excitement to the elementary school and wants nothing but a first class school for the kids in this community. Mr. Sizemore is new at Marion County High School and is just getting his feet wet, but he seems to be a very impressive gentleman. Those who work closely with him have raved about what he's done thus far. I look forward to great things from him and everyone involved with our local schools. They also received their quarterly allotments. Each school received $13,957.91 and $6,978.00 was put into the discretionary fund.

We also took up the business of appointing our city judge who's term runs out at the end of January. There was one council member absent, so we tabled the issue to a special called meeting. That meeting occurred on Wednesday, January 28th and the council agreed to appoint Matt Leduke to that post. Matt is a tremendous asset to our community and I have no doubt, he will, as always, do a tremendous job for the city of Guin.

Finally, in old news, we again tabled a decision on an ambulance service for Guin. There are still questions about the service RPS might provide the city of Guin. Hopefully, we'll get some final answers from RPS at our next meeting and move on to other business.

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. I'm going to try to get more active in the near future to keep you all updated on what's going on in your community. Thank you, as always, for reading.