City Finances Draw Heated Exchange Between Councilmen
During the last Piedmont City Council meeting on February 4th, there were loud exchanges between some of the Councilmen after the vote to pay the City’s bills deadlocked with a 4 to 4 vote. Jubal Feazell said the Council had agreed to keep a $400,000 minimum balance in the General Fund and paying the $595,029.48 bills listed, would put the balance $27,000 under the $400,000. He said he would vote for paying the bills less the $5000 for the Gym Membership listed for the Fire Department provided the bills could be paid as the revenue was available without letting the general fund get below the minimum. A motion was made to pay bills and it passed. The bills were approved for payment as the revenue is available. There were several outbursts among the Councilmen over the controversial issue.
In other business, the vinyl siding for the Scout House was tabled, the appointment for the Commercial Development board was tabled. The Council did approve the purchase of a new heavy duty equipment trailer for the Street Department in the amount of $34,500. The funds for this purchase were derived from the sale of surplus equipment on Gov Deals. The Council had a proposal from a local business owner to purchase a 10 acre tract in the Industrial Park for $43000 but some Council members felt this was not enough and ask the Mayor and Clerk to make a counter offer for a higher price.
The next City Council Meeting is Tuesday, February 18 with planning session at 5:30 and the regular meeting afterward.
The Complete meeting can be listened on the WEIS Radio News Site at weisradio.com.
