City of Woodruff Cites

Prolonged Pump Price Pain

Spoke to Chris Shipman of The Woodruff News today about the growth in fuel expenses for the city over the last few years. Fuel expenses are on target for the city's budget so far this year, but with the last few weeks' increase, that trend may be in jeopardy.

In order to illustrate how the rise in the cost of fuel has impacted the city budget, here are some numbers:

In FY 05-06, the city budgeted $40K for fuel. It actually spent $53K.

In FY 06-07, the city budgeted $60K for fuel. It actually spent $61K. Those were 50% and 15% increases respectively over 05-06.

In FY 07-08, the city budgeted $70K for fuel. If the expense trend holds steady, the city will spend nearly $76K for fuel. Those are 14% and 25% increases respectively over 06-07.

For FY 08-09, the city will budget $79K for fuel. That is a 13% increase over 07-08. And who knows what the actual spending might look like.

So, over the past 3 fiscal years and into the next, the city's fuel budget will have increased by nearly 100%. And over the last three fiscal years the actual spending will have increased by 43% with no apparent ceiling on the price of diesel.

Those are impressive numbers. Unfortunately, they're impressive for all of the wrong reasons.

Beaver Story on News Channel 7

The only thing that would have made this story better was to have Chris interview Carl Spackler. Check out the video report about Woodruff's great "Beaver Deceiver" experiment.

Weekly Update 5-16-08

TO: Woodruff City Council

FROM: Scott Slatton

SUBJECT: Weekly update

DATE: 16 May 2008

Administration Department
1. Please see the attached May regular meeting agenda.
2. Attached is Jeannie’s code enforcement list.
3. News Channel 7 interviewed Mayor Bell and Scott for a story about the beaver damming problems on Jimmies Creek.
4. Mayor Bell attended the grand opening photo-op for 2 Morrow’s Bakery.
5. Please see Cindy Kelly’s letter of resignation from the planning commission.

Fire Department
1. The department hosted firefighters from around the region for the first week of a month-long SCFA pump operations class.
2. Scott interviewed two fire chief candidates.

Police Department
1. Officers “arrested” a large group of Woodruff residents and business owners in support of the Woodruff Relay for Life. Total “bail” amounts will be announced next week.

Street Department
1. The former street department building on Teague Street was demolished and disposal begun.
2. SCDOT officials met with city officials to discuss strategies for mitigating the beaver problems along Jimmies Creek and other road-related issues.

Sewer Department
1. Water service was disrupted for 118 sewer customers for non-payment of sewer fees.

May Council Meeting Agenda

WOODRUFF CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008
6:30 P.M.

CALL TO ORDER – MAYOR BELL

PRAYER – Rev. Bill Thomason - West End Baptist Church

PUBLIC HEARING ON FY 2008-2009 CITY BUDGETS

MAYOR’S REPORT
A. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: 04-28-08, 05-13-08

OLD BUSINESS
None scheduled

NEW BUSINESS
A. FIRST READING OF ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TO SIGN REGULATIONS - Mayor Bell
B. AWARD OX TAYLOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT BID
C. APPROVAL OF POLICE CAR LEASE/PURCHASE AGREEMENT
D. FIRST READING OF FY 2008-2009 BUDGETS
E. APPROVAL OF POLICE SOP’s - Chief Dawkins

MANAGER’S REPORT
A. FINANCIAL REPORT
B. DEPARTMENT REPORTS - Police, Fire, Sewer
C. COUNT FOR ANNUAL MEETING ATTENDANCE
D. ANNOUNCEMENTS
· City offices closed Monday, May 26, 2008, in observance of Memorial Day
· Fred’s grand opening, Friday, May 30, 2008, 8:30AM.
· Regular city council meeting, Monday, June 30, 2008, 6:30PM, city hall

ADJOURN

Final Budget Preparations

The city council got a lot of work done last night at its second budget workshop. A variety of important decisions were made regarding the Fy 2008-2009 budget for which the first of two readings will be rendered at the May regular council meeting this coming Monday. Among the decisions the council made were:

Contingency plans to transfer funds from the city's general fund to the sewer fund to replace the McEdco pump station if it either fails prior to USDA funding approval or if the city is not approved for funding from the USDA
Approval of presentation of the proposed 3-year, 15% sewer fee increase as a part of the budget
A change in the employee health insurance deductible from $500 to $1000 in an effort to save over $15K
Inclusion of the lease/purchase of four new police cars in the budget
Appraisal of the city's former Street Department property on Church Street

Council also approved the requests for Hospitality Tax funds from the PRT Committee for events and tourism-related activities and the Historic Preservation Committee for funds to renovate the City Center at Historic Woodruff High School (city hall). The total funds requested were over $158K, with a portion of those coming from the tax's cash reserves.

With these decisions made, the FY 08-09 budget is pretty well set for first reading Monday night. However, a couple of items could change the budget between now and June 30. Among them are:

The final assessed values for the city. The county is working to complete its 5-year reassessment, so figures will hopefully look dramatically different for Woodruff
The cost of residential garbage collection for which the city has solicited bids. What those numbers look like could have a tremendous impact on the budget
Salary requirements of the fire chief and building inspector candidates. If the salaries the city has set are too low, then funds will have to be found and added

Overall the budget process has gone quite smoothly. Barring any drastic changes, it appears no tax increase is necessary, despite the fact the city will fall another year behind in its ability to generate future revenues due to Act 388. More next week.

Another Eyesore Bites The Dust

One of the important jobs our city government performs is that of clean-up cop. City Codes Manager Jeannie Huey constantly patrols the streets in an effort to find derelict vehicles, properties, high grass and other nuisances. She sends property owners letters requesting the problems be corrected or they might be summoned to court. Unfortunately, Jeannie stays quite busy with this part of her job.

However, it's quite hypocritical of the city government to issue such notices when some of its properties look as bad or worse than those it cites. So, in a long-overdue effort to try to lead the way on derelict property cleanup, city crews today began demolition of the city's former Street Department shop.

This cinder block building has been vacant for decades and was an eyesore near the city's downtown. An offer to lease it was made to the city years ago, but that offer was rejected. With no practical use for the structure, it was high time it came down. The city's most recent former Street Department property is still vacant and requires frequent mowing. As part of the FY 08-09 budget I have proposed that the city council put that property up for sale as it has some value and a great location. If a use isn't found for it though, it may fall victim to time and decay just like its predecessor above.