Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Addresses Budget, Vacancies

A lot of business was conducted by the Gurdon City Council Thursday, Dec. 17.

The meeting was moved from its normal second Monday of the month to Thursday to accommodate the Gurdon Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Parade, which was moved from Thursday, Dec. 10 to Monday, Dec. 14, because of bad weather.

The council was given a copy of a proposed budget for 1999, but no action was taken as the panel will study the document. Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said a special meeting may be called before the regular January meeting to try and adopt this budget.

He told the council members the half-cent sales tax passed in Nov. 1997, has brought in $53,000 to date, with $8,925 in November 1998, alone.

Capital improvement for the animal control department received $8,000 in the form of a grant from the Cabe Foundation. This money was used to purchase a truck for the animal control officer.

The city bought the vehicle from the Gurdon Street Department, as street superintendent Jim Caldwell got a new truck. However, at this time, the transaction hasn't been shown on the city's books.

This is because the council must formally approve the purchase of the equipment, even though the city basically bought it from itself. This will be done at the January meeting.

Solid waste, Smith said, has $6,700 from a grant in its budget with the money to be used to buy a recycling trailer. However, Smith is trying to raise more money to make the purchase, as the grant funds aren't enough to meet the city's needs.

With work being done on the water tank on 10th Street, Smith said, the construction crews have damaged the surface of the road, which was recently paved. But, he said, the contractor has been contacted and agreed to do the necessary repairs to the damaged area of the street.

The council heard from Carmita Crawford, a representative with Prepaid Legal Services asking if any city employees would be interested in this purpose.

The plan, she said, works much like an HMO as there are provider attorneys, each with different specialties.

Those in the plan have access to the barristers as needed, with their problems being referred to attorneys specializing in those particular areas.

This, she said, covers the entire family and includes teenage drivers.

There are two plans, Crawford told the council, one for $25 per month and the other for $16 monthly.

Smith said those employees interested in joining Prepaid Legal Services could do so at their own choosing, and the monthly dues would be taken out of their checks through payroll deduction.

Crawford said for the city to qualify for the plan, at least five employees must sign up.

The council also had the first reading of a no smoking ordinance for any city owned property.

Smith said this will be done over three meetings to give the council members time to discuss the issue with their constituents.

Should the ordinance pass, it will include a $50 fine for violators. Under terms of the ordinance, smoking inside any city owned or leased property would be prohibited.

There will be designated areas for smoking at these locations.

The council's final order of business was to make recommendations to fill vacancies on the city's governing body.

Mickey Jones is in ward 1, with Gene Flowers in ward 2 and Karen Parker in ward 3. This leaves wards 4-6 vacant.

Ward 4 was vacated when Edna Cooper moved outside the city limits. Smith said no interest in this position has been shown by those living in the district.

In ward 5, councilman Philip Giles failed to turn in the necessary paperwork to run for reelection, but has expressed interest in keeping his seat on the council. No one else has expressed a desire to serve from this ward either.

Then came ward 6. This position is currently held by Glenn Hughes, who did not seek reelection, but has since said he'd like to stay on the council.

But, Smith said, another person from this ward, Johnny McGuirt, has expressed a desire to become a member of the council.

Jones recommended appointing McGuirt to the panel as he has more time to devote to city business.

She told the council she had spoken with both men and both are her friends, but felt McGuirt would be able to better handle the position as Hughes has several other things keeping him busy.

This motion was seconded by Parker, with the council approving McGuirt's appointment.