Alliance for Dade and Library Continue Successful Summer Season, City’s Budget Season Begins

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

At the beginning of the July 10 City of Trenton commission meeting, the commissioners approved the meeting minutes from two special called meetings: one about zoning for food trucks and the other about adding brewpubs to the city ordinances.

Sandy White then gave an update from the Alliance for Dade, reporting that 330 people visited the Alliance’s booth at the 1945 Fair. She noted many upcoming events happening around the county, including Sittons Cave tours (hosted by Cloudland Canyon) and Cars & Coffee Cruise-In (sponsored by The Vapory). Contact the Alliance, visit their website or social media pages, or stop by the visitor’s center for more information about these and other events.

Steve Beaudoin (police chief) read the June police report in place of Mike Norris (police commissioner). The Trenton PD answered 327 calls in June and completed 974 business checks. 137 traffic stops resulted in 55 citations being issued.

Lucretia Houts (fire and utility commissioner) reported that the Trenton Fire Department answered 80 calls in June, 10 of which were fire related and 32 of which were canceled en route.

As discussed at several meetings over the last year, the city has been working on infrastructure for the sewer system. Houts reported that they received a bid amounting $873,400. The commission approved ARPA expenditure for this project.

During his mayor’s report, Alex Case discussed the Georgia Municipal Association’s Annual Convention which he, Monda Wooten (street commissioner), and April Keith (city clerk) attended. Case attended a meeting about Downtown Development Authorities, and he reminded the commission that funds for the DDA will need to be considered when creating the 2024 budget.

He repeated that there are certain requirements for those who may serve on the board and training will be needed for these folks. He added, “We’re looking for tax incentives, anything that can help the local businesses.”

He then discussed taxes, another topic at the convention, saying, “Another class I went to was taxation…We’re fixin’ to work on budget, and everybody got their notices of their [property] values.” He noted the increasing appraisal amount and estimated taxes, which led many residents to submit appeals.

Case continued, “[Property taxes are] a small portion of what our budget is…A big one that was talked about for a lot of cities is the hotel/motel excise tax.”

The city’s budget-season timeline begins slightly later than the county and school board timelines. Case reminded the commissioners that they will need to meet about budgetary needs this month.

Mindy Haworth reported that the library’s summer reading program continues to be a great success. She reported that in partnership with the Dade County Schools’ summer feeding program, the library served 350 lunches throughout June