City Commissioners Discuss FY23 Budget

By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor

Trenton Mayor Alex Case spoke with the City Commissioners about the upcoming work and schedule regarding the fiscal year 2023 budget during the Monday, Sept. 12 meeting.

“We are a little behind with the tax commissioner. She is needing something pretty quick to get to billing, so we can get the bills out, if we’re going to keep our millage the same. We really need the budgets to put in to see where we’re at,” Case said.
Case set budget workshop sessions for Sept. 13 and Sept. 15.

“We need to bang this out, we have got to get this in. Get with each of your department heads. Everyone should be looking at this,” Case said.

Case noted that there would be a public hearing for the budget, as well as a special called meeting to approve the budget. Times for those meetings are yet to be determined.

Also, during the meeting Commissioner Monda Wooten asked about the possibility of a moratorium in order to limit the number of liquor stores coming into the city.

“We’ve got three now that are approved and are underway. In our little small town, I think that’s more than enough,” Wooten said.

“Since we’ve had so much issues with zoning, and we know that we have some new laws that have just come out. It would be a good idea to hold off on anything else. We found out that things are just not set right the way it was. We need to really look at this and get it set right so we don’t get in a situation like we were again,” Case said.

“We got in trouble with the last ordeal and it was our first go. I felt pressured. I had people out in the community pressuring me. I understood that, but I kept saying that we needed to look at what it was going to look like 5, 10, 20 years from now,” Wooten responded.

Commissioners agreed to set a moratorium in place until the ordinances and the zoning in the charter are adjusted.

Commissioner Terry Powell reported that the Civic Center was rented for 97 hours for the month of August. There were seven animal control work orders. Jenkins Park has been active with Dade Middle School softball games. Powell also noted that the parking lot has been sealed and stripped.

Commissioner Mike Norris reported that the Police Department answered 381 calls for service during the month of August. The department conducted 1,763 business checks, answered 17 burglar alarms, six theft reports, six domestic calls, 26 suspicious activity calls, and 15 vehicle accidents. There were 160 traffic stops, resulting in 97 citations. Collected fines for the month were $8,713.

Commissioner Lucretia Houts reported that the Sewer Department had 38 underground locates for the month of August, five emergency locates, and 11 sewer calls. The building inspectors had one remodel, two property reviews, and three new constructions. Six electrical, heat and air, and plumbing inspections were conducted. The Fire Department responded to six fire related calls, nine accidents, three medical calls, were on standby for 13 calls, and were dispatched and cancelled in route for 41 calls.

Commissioner Wooten reported that the Street Department had 67 work orders for the month of August. The department has been busy cutting and mowing right of ways, and cleaning drains.

Wooten also noted that 41 of the city’s American flags were replaced. The city puts out more than 41 flags, but Wooten said that those 41 in particular were old and ragged.

Mayor Case reported that there was a new federal grant pertaining to sidewalk pedestrian projects.

“We’ve talked about this forever. We want to put sidewalks to the Dade County High School and Dade County Middle School. We also looked at phase 1.3, which is the Town Creek walk, which will be from Wolverine Drive over to the interstate cul-de-sac. Hopefully we will see some good out of this. It’s worth a shot, hopefully we can get something moving,” Case said.

Case also noted that the city has received the second round of American Rescue Plan Act funding. The money will be earmarked for Sewer Department work.

Case presented the financial report. The general fund revenue for the month of July was $122,050.80. Total expenses for the month of July were $147,253.85.

Mindy Haworth, Manager of the Dade County Public Library, reported that there are new popular programs at the library this month, including yoga for seniors. Another new program is Discover Trails, which will focus on learning about and hiking the Cloudland Canyon Connector trail system.

Jane Dixon with the Alliance for Dade reported that the Plum Nelly Depot Art Show, held at the end of August, was a success with 25 artists showing their work, and 375 people attending the event.

Dixon also noted that there will be a Job Ready Dade Fair Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Dade County High School.

The next City of Trenton Board of Commissioners meeting will be Oct. 10.