Officials in Grayville have quite a decision ahead of them. Two gentlemen from different companies gave presentations to the Grayville Council at Monday night’s regularly scheduled meeting with regards to water tower maintenance. Phil Knight from Suez and Darrin Clarke from Maquire Iron, Incorporated spent time discussing the issues that face the 400,000 gallon pedisphere on West Mill Street and general proposals for how they believe their companies can tackle said issues. A crew from Suez inspected the tower (built in 1993) in mid September. It will still be weeks before Grayville is prepared to move forward on a plan or to seek alternate avenues.
Also revealed following Executive Session at Monday night’s Grayville Council meeting, municipal employee Greg O’Neal will be moved from the Gas Department to the Street Department with a replacement to be hired at a later date. That follows news at the first October meeting that Grayville Police will be headed up by a new Police Chief, David Burrows. He’ll take over for Chief Roy Mann who is moving with his family to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Burrows is expected to officially take the helm on November 12th.
Finance Commissioner David Jordan has been crunching numbers specifically since Borowiaks closed and says the municipal government is going to be forced to be very careful with spending based on his findings.
“This past month it was down over $8,000 from last year at the same time. So with that course, that’s looking like this year we’re going to run about $30,000 less than anticipated because of some of the things that have impacted our community and our state. So just a word of caution those are things we’re looking at and going to have to deal with.”
Mayor Travis Thompson reported another abandoned property had been taken down, noting that the owner paid for the dumpster and it was the first property taken down using city workers.
Commissioners also approved to set the Tax Levy at a 2% increase which is expected to bring in $287,235.06. That number could change however due to other factors.
The City also broached the subject of asking the Grayville Days Committee to set up a 501©3 organization. There does seem to be some concern however due to the costs involved in setting that up and insurance for their fundraising events. Mayor Thompson and City Attorney Jay Walden say the suggestion isn’t based on any riff, or problem and that it’s simply how the organization should be set up. Walden says…
“With good reason, the committee acts independently, manages its expenditures and income, and yet as I understand, it all runs through the city, under a city number, which makes the city responsible for things that they don’t actually control. The way all of these work, in my mind, is you’ve got a separate entity, create a charitable entity, where the money goes to it. Now, that being said, you know the city is still going to be involved as much as ever. None of that changes as far as contributions to make sure this thing goes because it benefits the City but it, from an attorney standpoint it makes more sense if you set it up that way. So that was my recommendation. It would make sense. In order to do it you’ve got to make sure all the hard-working people on the committee understand what’s going on and that they have an ample amount of time to get set up and that it works smoothly and it’s not a pain in the neck for anybody. That certainly is my recommendation. It would be best probably for everyone involved.”
There’s certainly more to come on that front.
Council also approved an increase in the fine for stealing utilities from $100 to $250 and further discussed contractor’s, especially those from out of town, abusing their use of the Grayville Brush Dump.
