"From the Mayor's Desk" as published in Tribune Progress 12/09/09

FROM THE MAYOR'S DESK

Greetings from City Hall.
Here is an update concerning the City of Bartlett operations.

Financially the City ended the month of November in pretty good shape. There was a reasonable surplus after all bills were paid, including the monthly payroll. The $28,700.00 reinvestment from the Bartlett Electric Coop was an unexpected but welcome surprise. That has been deposited to the general fund. Another welcome happening is that the penalties (approximately $38,000.00) by the IRS we anticipated due to late payments of payroll taxes in the past have been forgiven by the IRS. Credit this to the efforts of Ms. Mattie Ingram, councilmember Grove and city attorney Paige SAenz. All “overdue” taxes were paid a few months ago and the anticipated penalties were forgiven by the IRS. In face the city received a refund of $1,800.00 or so from the IRS.

The city council hired Ms. Jana Henderson to the position of “city secretary” and she took over the job Monday, Nov. 30. For the time being Ms. Ingram, former interim city secretary, will remain as an administrative assistant, assisting Henderson in getting acquainted with the job of city secretary.

Ms. Ingram and council member Grove continue to work on determining revenue and disbursements from Oct. 2008 thru Sept. 2009. I expect that to be completed the end of this week, so we may begin to make propert adjustments to the budget.

Also, we anticipate that beginning in February work on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project will begin. This project has been in the making for several months and will involve the laying of a new eight-inch water line down Pietzsch Street from Lillian west under Hwy. 95 and under the railroad tracks to Emma Street, connecting with another new water line running south from Clark to Jackson streets. The present line, which is under the south side of Clark Street, will be capped off and bandoned in place. This will provide better water pressure to the east side of town as well as abandoning the ancient troublesome water line under Clark Street.

Additionally, a system is now in place where should you need to contact the “on duty” Bartlettpolice officer when he is not at the police department. Each officer has a city-provided cell phone and, by dialing 527-3733 or -3733, the call is automatically switched to his cell phone. Of course, if an officer is not on duty, you need to call 911 (Emergency) or 933-5412 (Bell County Dispatch) for non-emergency Bartlett police assistance.

Next, the repair and maintenance of our 400,000-gallon ground water storage tank on Jackson and Southwest Front Street. This will begin soon as a company sets up a pump and tank system which will provide water pressure throughout the city while this GWST is “off line” so repair and cleaning can be done by Utility Services Company.

That’s about all for the time being, but I’ll provide an update such as this from time to time. I expect the next regular city council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21 in Town Hall. I urge you to attend and see first hand the progress being made. There are not any “illegal council meetings” taking place and the city is not in dire straits as some would have you believe. Yes, talk with your elected city officials for straight answers rather than gossip and information.

Thank you for your time and support.

Arthur J. White, Mayor

Debbie McKeon

Tribune-Progress