Forest Hills was previously served by the Mount Olive well, which has been shut down. Providing treated surface water to the area meant a reverse in the direction of water flow, dislodging residue inside the pipes. The water and sewer department has been flushing the lines regularly, and the water quality has improved, but several households in the area still have discolored water.
“The problem is taking longer to fix than we expected,” Councilman Jimmy Davis said. “In the meantime, if we’re going to be selling these people water, they ought to be able to drink it.”
Council President Horace Patterson added, “This is an emergency situation, and ... when it is resolved, I take it we will come back and end the emergency.” Davis agreed, and Councilman Eddie Tucker said he believed a vote to declare the emergency was required before taking other action.
Interim City Manager Brian Muenger said the water would be provided only to residents “with prolonged issues,” and the program would be administered by Water and Sewer Director and Personnel Officer Cathy Fuller.
The other action item was approval of the application for a Community Development Block Grant worth $250,000, with a $35,000 local match. The money would go toward improving drainage in Edythe Sims Park.
According to Tucker, large quantities of water have been coming off the nearby housing projects washing onto the baseball field and the playground. “It’s causing a lot of erosion. We’ve had to rebuild the walking track twice, and it only lasts for about a year. We’re wasting money, and people could get hurt,” Tucker said.
The two resolutions were considered together and passed without further discussion.
The only other item discussed was the budget, particularly in light of comments made during a Library Board meeting earlier this month.
“Dr. Davis and I met with Mr. Muenger, and looked at the projections,” Patterson said. “Based on what we’re taking in and what we’re expending, we’re looking at a shortfall of about $1.5 million.”
Muenger said the city would probably close out the current fiscal year with about a $1 million surplus, but that would not be enough for the council to meet its goal of 8 percent in reserve at the end of the next fiscal year.
“We’re all just going to have to pull together,” Patterson said. “None of us will like it, but the economy is effecting us just like every other city in the country.”
”We’re not unique,” Davis agreed. “There will need to be some pain in all departments, and we need a sound fiscal policy going forward.”
Patterson said he was confident that Muenger was on top of the situation.
Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood2dailyhome.com.
(Acts 1953, No. 847, p. 1138, §2.)
Just think if the city paid the council relative to their job performance. A savings to the city budget would be noticed. We need a council that will earn their pay! By earning their pay then the city could move forward.
Now then we have the council and the present interim city manager singing from different sheets of music. One claimes a one and a half million dollar shortfall while the other claimes a million dollar surplus.That is nothing new,things have been out of tune for a while!
Patterson states he is confident that Muneger was on top of the situation. As for me confidence is what is lacking in the present administration.
Let's clean house at election time!