The budget and proposals from various departments were among the topics discussed Tuesday by Martinsville City Council members.
Greg Maggard, the managing director of operations and infrastructure, presented the Public Works budget proposal of $2,782,986.
Council member Lawrence Mitchell broached the placement of “Welcome to Martinsville” signs.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot of maintenance done on equipment. The personnel is not there, the budget is not there,” Maggard replied.
Refuse Collection is requesting $2,136,950, and is expected to help pull in more revenue for the city.
“I would love to see us put on eight new accounts per year,” said Maggard.
Street Maintenance is requesting $4,442,559 and is planning to pave new roads.
“You said we are internally capable of doing two miles of road. Is there a way to upgrade our equipment or people and get reimbursed by the state to do such a thing,” Vice Mayor Aaron Rawls asked.
“It’s contracted out,” said Maggard. “We are going to go out to bid in probably August of this year for fiscal year 2025. So that we can get twice as much.”
Questions about reappropriations also were raised.
“Do we have a limit for each department within their budget when there is carryover?” Mayor LC Jones asked.
“You have to reappropriate it. There’s no such thing as real carryover,” City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides said. “There’s no limit to what you can carry over, except what you want to. It’s not really carry-over, it’s reappropriation in the next fiscal year.”
Director of Telecommunications Mike Scaffidi addressed the budget for the telecommunications department, and noted his goal for the year is visibility.
“A lot of people know us. They know what we are doing, and they’re looking forward to having us in their area,” Scaffidi said.
MiNet, Martinsville’s internet service, currently has a total of 373 customers, including both residential and business accounts.
“We believe that initially, we are going to penetrate 40 percent of the market,” Scaffidi said. The department’s proposed budget is $2,280,031. The major increase in the budget for telecommunications is due to salaries and training.
Durwin Joyce, director of the Electric Department, presented a request of $24,435,068.
“We have pretty much depleted the fund balance, and we’ve got to work on building that backup, and part of it is making sure that the rates are breaking,” Ferrell-Benavides said in response to a coming rate increase.
Deputy Registrar Sara Workman noted her department’s requested budget of $221,189, with a planned new equipment purchase due to a company buyout of DemTech.
Fire Chief Dan Howell presented the fire department’s requested budget of $3,414,507. A major new expense is coming from the way that drug boxes are handled in the state.
“For decades, we’ve been able to just go to the hospital and just exchange the box. Free of charge,” said Howell, but that process is changing. The EMS Council is currently looking into purchasing agreements to help reduce the cost of buying drug boxes.
The council scheduled two public hearings on the upcoming budget.
“You have to schedule a public hearing, which is basically a week in advance, and you cannot adopt the budget to the week following that,” Ferrell-Benavides said. The first hearing will be held on May 9, with the second reading scheduled for May 16. “There will not be a tax rate increase.”
The city school budget also is a work in progress due to the state working on the budget.
In other matters, the council:
*Heard a presentation from Keith Holland, director of Community Development, about murals for the second meeting in a row.
Rawls expressed concern about mural upkeep. “All the cost, material, and upkeep is encoded to the property owner,” Rawls asked.
“Yes, there will be no cost associated with the city,” Holland said.
Mitchell commented on a complaint about a mural that separates ‘Martins’ from ‘Ville’ already painted in the city.
“Why is Martinsville separated” and why is it “not one word,” Mitchell asked.
*Voted to remove building height restrictions on buildings.
“Building heights have been historically tied to how big of a ladder truck you had in your fire department,” said Holland. “With current building designs fire safety standards, you do not need to have the kind of restriction.” The current height restriction clashes with the proposed Holiday Inn Express.
The restriction also will remove handicap space requirements. “We really don’t need to spell that out. That’s in the state building code,” said Holland. Zoning amendment procedures would also see a change.
*Heard a presentation during the work session from Ariel Johnson.
*Recognized National Correctional Officers and Employees Week.
*Recognized National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
