The Century Council approved Century City Manager Vernon Prather's request a transfer of $3,900 of LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) funds for the infrastructure project of installing an interconnect of Century water to Central Water Works as a secondary source of water at its May 18 council meeting.
The money will pay invoices submitted by Municipal Engineering Services, Inc. for utility relocation.
Of the total, $3,500 would come from the water fund and $400 from the water and gas fund.
Prather said the funds were available for debt service and infrastructure projects, which have to be approved by the council.
In a motion made by Councilman Ben Boutwell, which was seconded by Councilman James Smith, the motion carried unanimously.
Councilman Luis Gomez expressed concern about how much LOST funds are being used and how to keep up with how much is used and how much is available.
“Keep in mind, of those LOST funds, we are allocating these funds, yes, but every month, we get $17,000 to $20,000 that goes into that fund,” said Century CPA Robert Hudson. “So we are replenishing these funds to the tune of about $220,000 to $240,000 per year.”
In other business, Town Planner Debbie Nickles requested council approve her submission of a grant application to the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to get $30,000 grant funding to finish updating land development code.
“To be honest, I have not worked on preparing any part of the grant application at this time,” said Nickles. “I did not want to spend the time doing that without having council approval for me to write the grant and submit it.”
Nickles asked approval for her to do the work, but she has not prepared a cost. She said the grant would cover her cost and not cost the town anything. The deadline to submit is June 5.
Nickles said she would have to hire some help to assist her with mapping and she has no idea how much that cost would be, but she assured the council that $30,000 would be enough to complete the job.
In a motion made by Councilman Ben Boutwell, which was seconded by Councilman James Smith. The motion carried unanimously.
Nickles also requested the council approve writing a letter of support for the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society in support of its application for a grant to replace the roof on the Leech House Museum, which suffered some damage during a tornado that touched down.
Nickles said the leak is putting exhibits in the museum at risk.
In a motion made by Councilman Lius Gomez and seconded by Councilwoman Sandra McMurray Jackson, the motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Henry Hawkins asked the council to approve the adoption of a burn ban issued by the county due to the recent dry conditions.
“Whether we adopt it or not, the county is going to enforce it,” said Hawkins.
In a motion made by Councilman Gomez to adopt the county's burn ban, which was seconded by Councilman Boutwell, the motion carried unanimously.
