Barry approves TIF roof project, motor fuel tax resolution
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By DAVID CAMPHOUSE
At its Monday, Jan. 9, meeting, Barry’s city council approved using $20,000 of the city’s TIF funds to place a new roof on the building that previously housed “The Paper” at 725 Bainbridge Street.
The council also approved a motor fuel tax (MFT) resolution to resurface and repair sections of Barry city streets.
According to Barry City Administrator Jeff Hogge, two primary areas of concern to be addressed by the MFT repairs will be around the Western Community YMCA and on Bainbridge Street.
“The big run will be on Bainbridge, running from Mason all the way through Grand until it dead-ends,” Hogge said. “Also, we’ll take care of the road going into and around the YMCA and the parking lot.”
Hogge said that the portion of Bainbridge Street to be repaired was 2,415 linear feet. The roadway around the YMCA is 1,087 linear feet, and the YMCA’s parking lot is 10,005 square feet.
According to Hogge, several other areas around town will also be addressed with the MFT funds.
“There’s more in there, too,” Hogge said. “Plus our annual allotment of cold patch.”
MECO engineering presented the city with an estimate for the street repairs of $88,474.20.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the council heard an overview of the city’s audit report from Quincy account firm Arnold, Behrends, Nesbit, and Gray for the past fiscal year. Hogge said the firm gave the city a positive review regarding its fiscal standing and accounting practices.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary,” Hogge said. “They basically rated us as fine and above board. They told us to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Hogge said the city’s positive financial well-being is due in large part to holding relatively little debt and paying off the community’s water tower loan early.
“We’re in a pretty good financial position, because there’s just not a lot of debt hanging out there,” Hogge said. “With us paying off the water tower last year, that was a good thing. Our payments were about to start jumping up.”
The council also discussed the proposed interconnection between the city’s water system and the Pike County Rural Water District. The city had been working on revising language in a proposed agreement between the two entities
Hogge said that the next step in the process would be to set up a meeting with the water district to discuss terms of the interconnect agreement.
Also on the agenda for the council meeting was a discussion of the annual contract between the City of Barry and Pike County Animal Control. A proposed contract was not received from the county, so the matter was tabled.
“Typically in January we get a bill for the year, but we haven’t received it yet,” Hogge said.
Former Pike County Animal Control Warden McKenzie Ballinger recently resigned from her position amid budgetary concerns. January Lotus Lawless has since been named as the new warden.
