Guin council discusses Spring Fest, July 4th costs

GUIN — The Guin City Council held its first regular meeting of December on Monday, Dec. 1.
After approving the minutes from the previous meeting and the agenda, the council discussed the city’s finances.
Mayor Bobby Bellew said he would like to see a breakdown of the ins and outs of every department to get everything coded properly so the city can create a budget specifically for each department.
The council also discussed the cost of events like Spring Fest and the Fourth of July fireworks show.
“We spent, last year, $25,000 on Spring Fest, and I don’t know that we recovered very much,” Bellew said. “So that was a loss to the city. I’m completely ok continuing that festival, but we need start ensuring that we can break even as much as we can.
“We could also combine it with July 4. We don’t have to make a decision tonight, but I’d like for you guys to start thinking about that, maybe start talking to constituents and see what their thoughts are and come back with a recommendation, maybe at the next council meeting for how we handle those two celebrations.”
The council discussed that the amount spent on fireworks for last year’s Fourth of July was around $12,500. The cost of the two events together was around $37,500.
“I don’t know exactly how to calculate the tax impact for people shopping in town or buying gas in town for those two events,” Bellew said. “But I think there certainly are some options for doing a better job.”
No decisions were made on that matter during this meeting.
The council then approved making a one-time payment of $500 to each full-time city employee and $250 to each part-time employee out of funds paid to the city from the housing authority.
The council also discussed the then-upcoming Christmas parade and the new extended route which ended with a Jingle Bell Jubilee immediately following at Westside Custom and Collision.
The council also discussed records retention policies as the city works to clean up and sort city office space and deal with the large volume of records that have accrued over the years.
Police Chief Daryl Spencer shared that a situation regarding nuisance dogs had been taken care of successfully before the council entered executive session to discuss matters of safety measures and economic development then adjourning.