Mayor Dan’s Weekly Blog
Friday, February 20,2009 - Friday, February 27,2009
Greetings from the Mayor's office. I don't know what the weather will be like this weekend, but I hope it will be nice enough for all of us to get outside and have some fun. I was in Montgomery this week and it was warm enough to go swimming. Maybe we can work this weekend on getting the pool ready to open.
I got up early this morning and went to Cooper and Company TV Show. We discussed the projects we have submitted to try to get money from the stimulus package. Several folks have called about list of projects on different web sites. They see these lists and think all of them are approved, but they aren't. They are submitted to be considered by whomever will be making the decisions about which projects will be approved.
After the show, Kay met me at Cracker Barrel and we had breakfast. We saw Joan and Edwin Jenkins having their breakfast.
I later met with Evan Thornton, our Financial Director and an Investment Banker to discuss refinancing bond issues. We feel this is a good time to look at refinancing because the interest is lower and we can add new money without increasing the payments by a huge margin.
I later went to the Utility Building and met the auditors for an exit interview after completion of the annual audit of the Water/Wastewater Departments. All of the audit information indicates that the Department is doing well.
Gary Scrogging and I had lunch today at LuVici's today and discussed business related to our Utility Departments.
I went to the open house for the new Health Department on Highway 31 South at 1:00. There was a huge crowd attending and touring the new facility. It is a beautiful building and meets the needs of the staff and the public.
Judy Smith, the Area Administrator, was in charge of the open house and introduced all the dignitaries who attended. David Seibert and I are not dignitaries, but both of us spoke and welcomed the crowd to the occasion.
Donald Williamson, our State Health Officer was present to speak about the new department, and he thanked everyone for their efforts to make this facility available to our community. Reverend Kevin Ward, Pastor of the Salem Springs Baptist Church did the blessing for the occasion. He is David Seibert's Pastor.
I spent some time in the office this afternoon dealing with a problem that has arisen within our Planning Commission. We did not use the proper name of a property which the city wants to be subdivided in order to sell to a prospective industry.
I talked with members of the news media about various items of city business this afternoon.
I brought myself a haircut at the Lifestyles this afternoon. The lady pleased me with the way she cut my hair today. The business at this place seems to be doing well and does not seem to be affected too badly by the economy.
Kay and I, and our son Charles, went to LuVici's tonight for dinner with Mark and Phyllis Whitt. Their son Daniel, wife Jennifer, and daughter Stella were there also. We had a very enjoyable time and enjoyed the food. We saw Brenda and Jerry Daly , and we saw David and Patti Seibert, their son Chris, and his children there.
Mark and Phyllis came back to our house to see our new granite counter tops, and to have a cup of coffee. Kay's son-in-law, Allen Aldridge, had installed the new sink and hooked together all the plumbing. The new counter top is beautiful and I will have to be careful whenever I place a plate or glass on it. I am sure I will have some type accident with the counter top before too long.
Saturday morning I went to the Chili Challenge at Athens High School. There was a big crowd eating chili when I arrived. I made the rounds and had a taste of every chili in the place. There was a lot of pretty good chili and some I did not think was so good. This is the first time I have not participated in the Chili Challenge, and it seemed a little funny going around tasting everyone else cooking. They had the silent auction and some very good entertainment for everyone.
Kay and her classmates had their monthly luncheon today while I was at the Challenge. They had a good time and Charlotte Stewart attended. I don't think they had seen her in a long time and they really enjoyed her visit.
Our family went to Moulton late this afternoon to the Sizzling Steakhouse to celebrate our son-in-law Allen Aldridge's birthday. My sister Joan and her family came, and Allen's Mom Brenda Aldridge, her daughter Donna and husband Tony also came. Allen's cousin Chris and his daughter came for a short visit. Donna's Daughter Leslie was there. Two of our family friends also ate with us. We sang Happy Birthday to Allen and it sounded real good. The food was good and plentiful. The Chenaults are partners in the restaurant. Ms. Chenault is the sister of our friend, Carolyn Whitlock. Carolyn and Ted are members of our Sunday school class.
We rode around Moulton for a while, and I carried Joan to show her where we lived about sixty years ago. She doesn't have memory of living there because she was very young when we lived there.
We came back to our house to have dessert that we purchased at Publix supermarket. It was delicious.
Sunday morning Kay and I went to Church and Sunday school. Our lesson in Sunday school today was about stewardship and tithing. Larry Hicks did a good presentation of the subject. Our choir sang a song this morning that we will sing tonight at the Worship Fest. Brother Jenkins had an excellent sermon about repentance and turning away from the sins we have confessed. We are all prone to confess, but continue to commit the same sins over and over.
We had an excellent lunch today of spaghetti and chicken. We also had a wonderful fruit salad and cupcakes for dessert. Three of our kids and one grandchild ate with us today. We had a leisurely afternoon and I hardly moved from my recliner.
I went to Church tonight for our Worship Fest. The choirs that participated in the Fest included: Southside Baptist of Decatur, First Baptist of Hartselle, Westmeade Baptist of Decatur, Central Park Baptist of Decatur, `Decatur Baptist Church, First Baptist of Decatur, Central Baptist of Decatur, and our own choir here at First Baptist in Athens. I cannot tell you how wonderful the music was tonight. Each choir was prepared and did the best they had to offer. There had to be five hundred or more choir members present tonight. This is one of the best worship services I have attended.
My Diabetic Doctor, Dr. Michael Hennigan, sings with the Decatur First Baptist choir, and one of his office ladies sings with the Decatur Baptist choir. My cousin Gary Hammons, City Councilman from Decatur, and his wife sing with Decatur First Baptist.
Kay and I had supper at home tonight and watched some of the Oscar awards. I don't like the awards, but I watched to see if the Curious Button movie would win any prizes. Kay and I saw the show and I really liked it. Of course it did not win much. They gave the best actor award to Sean Penn. He may be a good actor, but he is an idiot, in my opinion, not for his political views, but because he comes across as hating anyone that doesn't agree with him.
Monday morning I had Monica McConnell and Alex Kelly as my guest on Monday Morning With The Mayor show from the showroom of McClarey Ford. We discussed their recent trip to Washington D.C. to attend the inauguration of President Obama.
Monica is the daughter of David and Patti Seibert, and is the instructor of the gifted program at Limestone County Vocational Tech school. Alex is a senior at Clements High School, and will be attending Old Miss after high school. She transferred from Athens to Clements when her family changed residences. This was a great show, and I hope some of you got to hear it. Monica and Alex are very gifted in their ability to talk and communicate.
Our Public Works Department sponsored a blood drive today in honor of Neil Elkins, son of our Street Superintendent Larry Elkins. Neil is suffering from Leukemia and is awaiting a bone marrow transplant. I went by to donate blood, but they could not find the veins in my arms. I told them to stick me and see if they could find them, but Lifesouth does not do this. I have had Red Cross probe for them with the needle. The event was successful even though I could not give. They got 51 pints of whole blood, and 5 pints of platelets.
The City Council met for a regular meeting tonight and the following items of business were on the agenda:
1. Held a Public Hearing for Kim's Food Mart for the sale of alcohol.
2. The Council tabled a resolution to award the contract for the Elm Street Industrial Complex Railroad Improvements.
3. The Council introduced a resolution to approve the administrative services of Roth, McHugh, and Associates, LLC.
4. The Council approved the contract for Martin Luther King Jr. Industrial Park Sewer Extension.
5. The Council approved an adjustment of the 2009 Electric Department Budget.
6. The Council approved a cash advance for the Gas Department.
7. The Council approved a resolution for Pryor Field grant processes.
There was quite a bit of discussion from several supporters of a new library tonight.
Tuesday morning I went to WKAC for the regular call-in show after each Council meeting. We had a good discussion today about the proposed stimulus monies that will be coming down the pike soon.
I ate lunch today with Johnny Dill, our Fiscal Consultant, Evan Thornton, our Finance Director, and Councilmen Wales and Gill. We discussed the re-financing of existing bonded indebtedness and some other city business.
I received a call from one of our consultants that our Water/Wastewater Departments will be receiving a matching grant of one million dollars from the 2009 Federal Budget very soon. This is not money from the stimulus package, but from a grant that Rep. Bud Cramer applied for. Rep. Parker Griffith has carried this through and kept it in the 2009 budget, so we are very fortunate to get this. We don't know all the details as yet, but I am sure it will take several months before we will have access to the money.
After lunch, we rode out into town to look at some properties that are of interest to the city. We are also discussing the possibility of updating our Master Plan in the area of roads and streets. We feel that we do not have enough east/west corridors in the city.
Kay and I went to Village Pizza tonight for dinner. They were busy but we did not have to wait. We had a veggie pizza and enjoyed it very much. We saw several people we knew. Suzanne and Doyle Weeks, their daughter Ashley, and her son, Little Itchy Wiggington and his family, Judge Jerry Batts getting a pizza to take out while his wife Marylyn was having dinner with several friends. We also saw and talked with Riley Wade and one of her friends there tonight. We have known Riley for a long time, and she is a wonderful person. She teaches at West Limestone school.
I listened to President Obama's speech to the Congress tonight and to the rebuttal afterward that was given by Governor of Louisiana.
Wednesday morning I had breakfast with David Seibert at LuVici's. We discussed some business that is of interest to the County Commission and the City Council.
I spent most of the morning in the office taking care of business.
I met this afternoon with Councilman Wales and Public Works Director, James Rich. We discussed several items of business and areas of concern in Councilman Wales District.
We later visited the old City Power Plant building in Big Springs Park that is being renovated by our Public Works Personnel. They are doing a great job on this building, and it is slated to be used by our Chamber of Commerce's Tourism staff when it is finished.
I went with Brian Thornton, our Assistant Fire Chief, to check out an illegal discharge of some type material in a local creek. We met and talked with the EPA representative from the State office. It seems to be a soap-based discharge and the immediate thought is that it is not anything that will harm humans. We have seen no evidence at this time of fish kills. The State people and our Fire Department will stay on top of this event.
Thursday morning Evan Thornton, Harold Wales, and I traveled to Montgomery for a workshop with the ADECA people. This is the office responsible for approving grants for cities and counties in Alabama. Bill Johnson, Director of ADECA, told us that his office has had stimulus package request from cities and counties in Alabama for six and one-half billion dollars. The amount of money ADECA will receive from the stimulus package to meet these requests is seven million dollars. That means most every project submitted will not be funded through this agency.
The real purpose of our trip to this meeting was to learn the proper ways to submit grant applications, and to find out the changes in the different programs from last year. We are re-submitting an application for a sewer project in Cottonwood sub-division that was not approved last year. This is a critical project for this area, and we hope to be successful with our attempts to get the grant this year. We arrived back in Athens around 6:00 p.m.
Friday morning I went to the Cooper and Company show to talk about the events coming up that will raise money for the Jessica Elkins Meningitis Awareness program. This will include a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, March 7, at Applebees, and a beauty and ugly walk that night at Athens Middle School for the same purpose. I hope you will support these events and if you cannot come out, please send a donation in Jessica Elkins memory to the cause.
I don't know how much rain fell last night, but it probably will cause some flooding in low areas. Our electricity went off around 4:30 a.m. this morning and remained off until around 7:00 a.m. I haven't found out why they were off for so long, but I have had some calls wanting to know why.
Go out to the Veteran's museum tomorrow morning for the regular Coffee Call. They need your support.
I guess this is enough for this time.
Take care and I'll see you next time.
Mayor Dan