Degges named city administrator for Baldwin

In a 3-2 vote, the Baldwin City Council agreed Monday night to include $60,000 in the new budget for a city administrator position to be held by Karen Degges, beginning Aug. 1.

Council member Robert Bohannon made the motion to approve this action. Council members Jeff Parrish and Sandi Rudeseal voted in favor of the motion. Beverly Holcomb and Rodney King voted against Bohannon’s motion.

Council member King suggested funding the city administrator’s position for six-months, beginning Jan. 1, 2012, instead of filling the position in July.

Bohannon had asked Degges to submit two scenarios to the council at its next meeting, one showing the city administrator’s position funded for only six months and another for a full year.

The council also approved, in a 3-2 vote, a motion made by Bohannon to include the following in the 2011-12 proposed budget: hire a part-time revenue officer with an annual salary of $22,620 effective 9-1-11; keep current full-time city clerk at an annual salary of $30,160; make part-time finance analyst full-time at an annual salary of $36,000; keep part-time accounts payable clerk at an annual salary of $19,305; and add in-house animal control expenses of $2,650.

At Monday’s council meeting, the council also unanimously approved including a two percent pay raise for all city employees in the proposed 2011-12 budget.

BUDGET HEARING COMING UP

A budget hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 18, to present the 2011-12 budgets to the public for review. The hearing will be held in the courtroom at the Baldwin Police Department. The proposed general fund budget totals $1.51 million in revenues and $1.48 million in expenditures.

The mayor, council members and department heads will be on hand at the budget hearing to hear comments and answer questions from the public about the proposed budgets.

The proposed enterprise fund budget totals $3.07 million in revenues and $3.11 million in expenditures.

Degges said a member of the city’s 2010 auditing firm, Rushton and Company, would also be on hand to go over the city’s recently-completed audit.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business at Monday’s meeting:

•the council unanimously approved the 2012 Banks County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) intergovernmental agreement for the use and distribution of proceeds from the 20012 SPLOST for capital outlay projects. Baldwin’s projects include sewage system, water system and road improvements.

•the council approved using Habersham County SPLOST IV funds to replace the city’s SPLOST V account for the following projects in 2010-2011: chipper truck, $6,000; Engineering Management Inc., Park Avenue paving services, $4,600; water treatment plant pump building, $28,500; J. Warren Road pump replacement, $7,400; and one two-barrel fire hydrant replacement, $1,721.The council was just made aware in the past couple of months of the funds left in the Habersham County SPLOST IV account.

•the council unanimously approved council meeting minutes for January through May meetings – minus the Jan. 17 meeting which were already approved. King abstained from the vote. “King said, “I abstain since I didn’t have a chance to go over all the minutes. I have been taking care of my Mom.”

•city clerk Mirinda Dispain advised the council that the June meetings minutes, plus the minutes from Thursday’s and Monday’s meetings, would be presented at the July 25 council meeting for adoption. Dispain said she is attempting to get the minutes caught up so that the minutes from one meeting will be approved at the next meeting.